Recent news

Washington, DC –  Juvenile Law Center filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court yesterday in support of Brendan Dassey, who is seeking the high court’s review of his 2007 conviction of the  murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. 

The Wisconsin State Assembly introduced bipartisan legislation in the Wisconsin Capitol to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. The move comes after years of federal and state investigations into the facilities, and a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center, with pro-bono assistance from Quarles & Brady. The suit successfully resulted in a preliminary injunction this past summer meant to halt the unconstitutional use of solitary confinement and other inhumane conditions and practices.  

A proposed amendment to the state constitution of Florida would ensure that children in the foster care system have access to counsel. Today, Juvenile Law Center joined partners in the state and nationwide calling on the Florida Constitution Revision commissioners to support this move, which is known as Proposal 40.

Today Juvenile Law Center, along with several other advocacy organizations, filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in the Unites States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, on behalf of Cyntoia Brown, a Nashville young woman who received a life sentence with the opportunity for parole after 51 years when she was just sixteen years old. Cyntoia’s case recently garnered national media attention when several celebrities, including Rihanna and Kim Kardashian West, spoke out against this unjust and unconstitutional, sentence.

Today Juvenile Law Center, the oldest public interest law firm for children in the country, is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Leadership Prize. The group’s annual Leadership Prize is awarded to outstanding advocates working to advance the rights and well-being of youth in the child welfare and justice systems. The work of our awardees has substantially improved the lives of the country’s most vulnerable youth.

The Walker administration and the Department of Corrections announced today that they will be closing the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake state-run youth correctional facilities in Irma. The decision comes following an injunction secured by the ACLU of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center (with pro-bono assistance from Quarles & Brady) through a class action civil rights lawsuit in federal court centered on the use of solitary confinement, pepper spray, shackling, and strip searches of children.

Yesterday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Department of Justice’s critical guidance on the use of costs, fines and fees for youth in the juvenile justice system. The guidance, which clarified existing law, was written by the Justice Department’s Office for Access to Justice, Office of Justice Programs, and Office for Civil Rights under the Obama administration.

Juvenile Law Center, the nation’s oldest public interest law firm focused on children’s rights, today denounces the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill in the U.S. Senate as uniquely harmful and damaging for young people in the child welfare system.