June 2009 Archives

News Alert: in a surprising decision Supreme Court ruled today that school strip-search of student was unconstitutional - more on this soon

USSC Update - IDEA permits reimbursement for private sped services even though child never attended public school Link

Legislators call for DA's removal after OK pedophile gets 1 year in jail in plea deal for raping a 4 year old girl Link

More on this important topic from the Miami Herald:

A first detailed look at the youngest foster children on mental-health drugs offers a disturbing glimpse into the state's failure to heed a 2005 law -- and its own policies.

Florida child-welfare administrators are largely ignoring a host of rules put in place to protect children from potentially dangerous -- and sometimes unnecessary -- drugs, according to a detailed state review of the records for more than 100 young foster children who are being given powerful psychiatric medications.

Caseworkers under contract with the state Department of Children & Families are failing to comply with almost every benchmark governing the use of psychotropic medication among foster children, according to the DCF report, obtained Tuesday by The Miami Herald.

Recent revelations come only four years after state lawmakers passed legislation to curb the use of mental-health drugs among children in state care. The law requires, among other things, informed consent from a parent or judge, second-party review of doctors' prescriptions for the youngest children, and annual reports to the state Senate.

Among the most troubling findings, child advocates say, is the state's almost complete failure to seek a second opinion from a psychiatrist under contract with DCF before administering mental-health drugs to the youngest children in state care -- younger than age 6.

Front-line social workers, judges and child welfare administrators, how are you addressing this issue in your states?

Editorial "seldom is there a reason not to impose maximum penalties on [child] predators" who scar victims forever Link

Judge Sotomayor's ruling in this recently decided child pornography case might be an issue in her upcoming confirmation hearing. The defendant, Jon David Falso (shown at right), is also the first target in our firm's effort to seek civil damages for victims of child pornography utilizing Masha's Law, the legislation we helped create in 2006. A civil trial is scheduled for February 2010. The defendent's attorney in our case vows a fight to the Supreme Court possibly giving a newly confirmed Justice Sotomayor another chance to consider the case of confessed and convicted child pornographer Jon David Falso.

1st Amendment rights for high school student MySpace parody sites create district court split - 3rd Cir to resolve Link

Case Update: 3rd Cir prevents parent from reading Bible during public school kindergarten favorite book program Link