The appeals court for the region that includes West Virginia has reversed the dismissal of a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of West Virginia foster children.
The years-long court case was dismissed last year by U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin, who had concluded the federal court system does not have the jurisdiction to set the kind of detailed policies that are properly carried out by the other branches of government.
The opinion issued Thursday by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is at odds with that, saying the federal courts do have such authority, that the children in the case have constitutional standing to have the courts address their situation and that the case should go back to the lower court for further consideration.
“Because federal courts not only have the authority, but also a duty, to remedy systemic constitutional rights violations, we reverse,” the appeals court wrote in the majority opinion.
More than 6,000 West Virginia children are in state custody.
The foster care lawsuit was filed in 2019 on behalf of thousands of children. The suit was filed by A Better Childhood, a national child advocacy organization, Disability Rights West Virginia and Shaffer and Shaffer, a West Virginia law firm.
The lawsuit alleged rampant issues with institutionalization for children, moves outside of West Virginia, available community-based mental health services and overextended caseworkers.
Lawyers for the State of West Virginia have contended the state has steadily improved its child welfare system to the point of undermining the plaintiffs’ allegations.
Justices on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the children have constitutional standing because their allegations of systemic abuse, neglect and understaffing constitute ongoing injuries that may be considered through judicial intervention.
The decision permits the lawsuit to proceed toward trial to address the welfare of thousands of vulnerable children.
Senior Judge Henry Floyd of South Carolina wrote the majority opinion, which Judge Pamela Harris of Maryland joined. Judge Allison Jones Rushing of North Carolina wrote a separate opinion, concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part.
The Fourth Circuit reversed an earlier judgment of the district court and remanded the case back to it for further proceedings. However, the appeals court declined the plaintiffs’ request to reassign the case to a different district judge, finding that the “appearance of fairness and impartiality” does not require it.
Last year, Judge Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia dismissed the case and acknowledged that his decision would be jarring.
“I recognize the constitutional bar to the case is an unsatisfying result to years-long litigation demanding improvement of West Virginia’s foster care system. I know that there are children who deeply suffer in the custody of the State,” Goodwin wrote.
“This compelled dismissal is in no way an endorsement of the system as it remains. But the United States Constitution prohibits this court from assuming control of West Virginia’s foster care agency.”
Goodwin wrote that the plaintiffs were asking the court to step beyond constitutional limits, seeking judicially crafted policies that would, in effect, place West Virginia’s foster care system under indefinite federal control.
That could have included court-ordered reforms of the state Department of Human Services to oversee agency hiring, budget allocations and caseworker caseloads. None of that is within the constitutional authority of a federal judge, he wrote.
“This court cannot take over the foster care system of West Virginia. Constitutional limits prevent the court from crafting public policy and administering state agencies. West Virginia’s foster care system has cycled through inaction, bureaucratic indifference, shocking neglect, and temporary fixes for years,” Goodwin wrote.
“The blame squarely lies with West Virginia state government. When elected officials fail, the ballot box is the remedy.”