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Civil Rights
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Civil Rights
The Civil Rights Section forges new areas of recovery for civil rights victims and works to prevent the stripping away of constitutional protections. The Section focuses on trial strategies and recent developments in constitutional challenges and Section 1983 claims.
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---Leonard E. Weinglass In Defense of Civil Liberties Award ---
The Leonard E. Weinglass In Defense of Civil Liberties Award is given to an individual—usually, but not necessarily, an attorney—who has made a notable contribution to the defense of civil liberties by bringing, trying, or resolving a suit, or by otherwise protecting or advancing civil liberties, in a way that has had a significant impact in the past year or over the course of his/her career....Learn more about the award
A note from the Chair
On the morning of Monday July 12, 2010, the Civil Rights Section is conducting its education program at AAJ’s convention in Vancouver. A special highlight will be the awarding of the Leonard Weinglass Award to an extremely deserving attorney.
Marsha Levick is the Deputy Director and Chief Counsel of the Philadelphia based Juvenile Law Center. Ms. Levick’s credentials and achievements are extraordinary. What she did this year, however, is unparalleled.
Ms. Levick uncovered the “Kids for Cash” judicial scandal that rocked Luzerne County, Pennsylvania – perhaps the most egregious judicial scandal in the history of the United States. Two judges, the juvenile judge and the president judge of Luzerne County, took approximately $2.8 million dollars in bribes, closed down the county owned and state licensed juvenile detention center, and forced the county into an exorbitant lease of a juvenile detention center that had been built on spec. The juvenile judge then denied between 4,000 and 6,000 children basic due process, such as lawyers, a presumption of innocence, etc., and kept the new juvenile detention center filled. Fifty-four percent of the children did not have lawyers, and a huge number were incarcerated.
Through sheer force of will, Ms. Levick discovered this and eventually obtained an order from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which at first denied her Kings Bench petition, but eventually granted it, vacating every juvenile conviction in Luzerne County during that five year period. All records have been expunged. The terrible injustice has been exposed. Ms. Levick, along with several AAJ members, are now engaged in class action and multi-plaintiff litigation against all of the co-conspirators who participated in this stranger than fiction scheme.
The Civil Rights Section will honor Ms. Levick for her heroic work. I hope as many of you as possible will attend the convention, attend our education program, and be active in our section. I will see you there.
Barry H. Dyller
Chair, AAJ Civil Rights Section
