Juvenile Law Center: Philadelphia | 50 Years and Counting! First Law Firm in the U.S. Devoted Exclusively to Juveniles [Part 1]
CEO Riya Saha Shah and Jamie Silvonek were recently featured on The Pursuing Justice podcast with host Harriet Hendel (sponsored by the Innocence Project of Florida). Listen in as Riya speaks about Juvenile Law Center's work, from our historic fight in the Kids for Cash scandal to the fight to bring children condemned to die in prison home. In the second part, hear directly from Jamie about her fight for freedom and redemption.
Riya is the C.E.O. of the Juvenile Law Center located in Philadelphia, PA. She leads litigation policy advocacy and amicus efforts to reduce the harm of the juvenile and criminal legal system. She is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law where she was a Civitas Childlaw Fellow. At the University of Michigan, she earned her B.A. in Psychology and American Culture. Before attending law school, Riya was an elementary school teacher. Riya is Co-Chair of the Children's Rights Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation.
Jamie Silvonek has been incarcerated since the age of 14. She is now 24 having pled guilty to plotting to kill her mother with her 21 year old boyfriend. She was sentenced to 35 years to Life. She was charged as an adult. The Juvenile Law Center has represented her since her conviction. A petition for commutation has been filed on her behalf to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. Jamie is a published author, a college student and a dog handler with Canine Connection.
To learn more about the Juvenile Law Center, visit https://jlc.org/
Read the press release about Jamie’s commutation petition, which links to the commutation packet and the op-ed she published in the Morning Call. https://jlc.org/news/juvenile-law-center-files-commutation-petition-behalf-jamie-silvonek
Kids for Cash: https://jlc.org/luzerne-kids-cash-scandal
Juvenile Life without Parole: https://jlc.org/issues/juvenile-life-without-parole
