Infinitum Legal, P.S.

03/01/2022

https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article258853903.html

The state Supreme Court unanimously reversed a lower court’s decision in a child dependency case, finding that a child was removed from the care of relatives

02/21/2022

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/mental-health/abandoned-in-the-er-when-kids-are-left-at-hospitals-the-state-is-no-longer-taking-charge-of-their-care/

This system nees to do better for families and children.

When kids are abandoned in Washington's emergency rooms, Child Protective Services is no longer taking them into custody. The state's argument: In the ER, kids are technically safe.

12/01/2021

Across the country, an unregulated system is severing parents from children, who often end up abandoned by the agencies that are supposed to protect them.

09/28/2021

So glad I got to speak with the reporter working on this story. We need the governor and DCYF to step up and take some action to help these youths, regardless of what happens at the federal level.

"These young people don't tend to have the kind of safety nets that other young adults do," says an advocate. Some, including at the agency in charge of the foster system, are talking about continuing aid further into adulthood.

08/17/2021

The state has been in violation of a federal injunction numerous times in the 30 days since the agreement was signed.

05/21/2021

I’m so proud of the youths that bravely spoke out and told their stories. The “child welfare system” should be ashamed of how it “parents” kids in foster care. I’ve had too many of my youth clients further traumatized by the same system that claims to protect them. It’s time for change!

A KING 5 investigation found a years-long pattern of child welfare workers dangling basic necessities as a way to get "hard to place" foster youth to follow orders.

04/08/2021

Something that comes as no surprise to those of us that represent incarcerated clients. This is a pervasive problem that extends far beyond the King County Jail.

Black people jailed in King County generally face more severe discipline and more restrictive confinement than incarcerated people of other races, according to a sweeping audit of the King County Department Adult and Juvenile Detention’s (DAJD) jail operations.

04/07/2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/us/jail-baby-shark-charges.html

Inmates at an Oklahoma jail were handcuffed to a wall and forced to stand and listen to the ubiquitous children’s tune on repeat.

02/23/2021

An incredibly powerful message:

A call to topple a racist law in Oregon and Free the people it imprisons.

02/19/2021

https://www.thelily.com/she-was-arrested-for-leaving-her-kids-while-she-worked-an-outpouring-of-sympathy-followed/

Shaina Bell’s story highlights structural problems that fail parents, advocates say.

02/04/2021

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/01/when-mental-health-crisis-lands-you-jail/617599/

Interesting read on how a mental health crisis is criminalized

Two families called 911 to get help for their sons. They didn’t know that they’d be thrusting them into a complex and often brutal system.

02/03/2021

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/29/alabama-prisoner-died-101-degree-cell-what-happened/4306113001/

Tommy Lee Rutledge's core body temperature reached 109 degrees before he was pronounced dead in a prison infirmary on Dec. 7.