Current:Home > NewsAppeals court overturns contempt finding, removes judge in Texas foster care lawsuit -Wealth Pursuit Network
Appeals court overturns contempt finding, removes judge in Texas foster care lawsuit
View
Date:2025-04-15 02:40:01
A federal appeals court has ordered the removal of a federal judge and overturned her contempt finding and fine against the state of Texas in a lawsuit over the state’s struggling foster care system.
In a ruling released late Friday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Judge Janis Jack’s contempt ruling and $100,000-per-day fine violates the court’s constitutional limits of power over individual states.
The appeals court also said that Jack had disrespected the state and its attorneys during the long-running case, noting that she at one point remarked, “I don’t know how the state sleeps at night with this. I really don’t.”
“The judge exhibits a sustained pattern, over the course of months and numerous hearings, of disrespect for the defendants and their counsel, but no such attitude toward the plaintiffs’ counsel,” the ruling stated.
The judge’s demeanor exhibits a “high degree of antagonism,” calling into doubt at least “the appearance of fairness” for the state, the ruling added.
An attorney for those who filed the lawsuit alleging that the state routinely fails to investigate complaints of abuse and neglect raised by children in its care said Saturday that the group will appeal the ruling.
“Frankly, this is a sad day for Texas children,” attorney Paul Yetter said in an email.
“For over a decade, Judge Jack pushed the state to fix its broken system,” Yetter said. “She deserves a medal for what she’s done.”
The case began in 2011 with a lawsuit over foster care conditions at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the child welfare arm of Texas Health and Human Services.
Since 2019, court-appointed monitors have released periodic reports on DFPS progress toward eliminating threats to the foster children’s safety.
A report earlier this year cited progress in staff training, but continued weaknesses in responding to investigations into abuse and neglect allegations, including those made by children.
In one case, plaintiffs say, a girl was left in the same, now-closed, residential facility for a year while 12 separate investigations piled up around allegations that she had been raped by a worker there.
Texas has about 9,000 children in permanent state custody for factors that include the loss of caregivers, abuse at home or health needs that parents alone can’t meet.
veryGood! (11)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- This airline is weighing passengers before they board international flights
- In California, a Race to Save the World’s Largest Trees From Megafires
- Dominic Fike and Hunter Schafer Break Up
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Q&A: How White Flight and Environmental Injustice Led to the Jackson, Mississippi Water Crisis
- Mega Millions jackpot rises to $820 million, fifth-largest ever: What you need to know
- NPR's Terence Samuel to lead USA Today
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Inside Clean Energy: US Electric Vehicle Sales Soared in First Quarter, while Overall Auto Sales Slid
Ranking
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Amazon must pay over $30 million over claims it invaded privacy with Ring and Alexa
- This Kimono Has 4,900+ 5-Star Amazon Reviews, Comes in 25 Colors, and You Can Wear It With Everything
- Texas Is Now the Nation’s Biggest Emitter of Toxic Substances Into Streams, Rivers and Lakes
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Experts raised safety concerns about OceanGate years before its Titanic sub vanished
- Leading experts warn of a risk of extinction from AI
- Listener Questions: the 30-year fixed mortgage, upgrade auctions, PCE inflation
Recommendation
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
A year after Yellowstone floods, fishing guides have to learn 'a whole new river'
Dominic Fike and Hunter Schafer Break Up
What we know about the 5 men who were aboard the wrecked Titan sub
2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
Germany’s New Government Had Big Plans on Climate, Then Russia Invaded Ukraine. What Happens Now?
Mobile Homes, the Last Affordable Housing Option for Many California Residents, Are Going Up in Smoke
Hollywood writers still going strong, a month after strike began