Children

Supreme Court tells state to reconsider screening child victim from defendant

In 2021, a Mississippi jury found Jeffrey Clyde Pitts guilty of sexually abusing his 4-year-old daughter. When the girl testified against her father in court, a screen was placed between her and Pitts to protect her from trauma.

Nov 25, 2025 10:30 AM CST

New Jersey’s top court is first to reject evidence of shaken baby syndrome as unreliable

Testimony that merely shaking a baby can produce internal bleeding near the brain and in the retina is too unreliable for admission in criminal cases of child abuse, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in a 6-1 decision last week.

Nov 25, 2025 9:23 AM CST

Lawyer goes to bat for son over Little League suspension for celebrating home run

When a 12-year-old baseball player hit a home run in the sixth inning of a game, he did something to celebrate: He flipped his bat in the air. An umpire ejected him from the game for tossing his bat. Under Little League rules, an ejection also required him to be suspended for one additional game. The boy’s father, a lawyer, decided to take the league to court.

Oct 16, 2025 9:11 AM CDT

Supreme Court sharply questions law banning conversion therapy

The Supreme Court sounded deeply skeptical Tuesday about a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for gay and transgender minors, suggesting the justices may scuttle the statute and similar restrictions in nearly 30 states.

Oct 7, 2025 1:28 PM CDT

A Mother's Trial: Nurse wrongly accused of child abuse forges career bridging law and medicine to help others

“You don’t know when you’re going through this that the doctor you’re talking to is investigating you,” Alexcia Stees says. It was the beginning of a long journey during which Stees, a mother of three, would stand accused of child abuse and build a new career to help others in similar situations.

Oct 1, 2025 1:55 AM CDT

Dangers of cellphones, teen drama, bad judgment detailed in new Netflix documentary

Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is a documentary that follows a group of students in Beal City, Michigan, as they navigate a townwide mystery as to who’s harassing junior high student Lauryn Licari.

Sep 29, 2025 2:10 PM CDT

ABA project celebrates 10 years of supporting unaccompanied youths

The Children’s Immigration Law Academy has evolved into a national program that helps build the capacity of nonprofit organizations that represent children who face deportation. Among its initiatives, it provides training, technical assistance and resources to legal and social services providers and pro bono attorneys.

Sep 16, 2025 9:01 AM CDT

Approaching retirement age? Go back to law school—in a different country

Maybe you can identify with this. You are at the socially acceptable retirement age. Very few people, especially in your age group, understand why you are still working. “Are you retired yet?” “Oh, I’m sorry.” “You can’t take it with you!” “Before long, it will be gone, gone, gone!”

Sep 10, 2025 9:01 AM CDT

ABA’s ProBAR ‘jumped into action’ to stop deportation of unaccompanied children from Guatemala

As the situation involving unaccompanied Guatemalan children unfolded last week, the ABA’s South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project stepped in.

Sep 5, 2025 12:05 PM CDT

Texas Showdown: Legal battle looming over Ten Commandments in schools

With a new state law set to kick in Monday requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom in Texas, many school districts this week are scrambling to figure out what to do. Some are holding off following a federal judge’s recent ruling against the mandate. Others are racing to fundraise for donated posters of the commandments.

Aug 27, 2025 8:43 AM CDT

Supreme Court clears way for Mississippi law requiring parental consent to use social media

The Supreme Court cleared the way for now for a Mississippi law that requires age verification to use social media and parental consent before minors can create accounts, a setback for the technology group that challenged the measure.

Aug 14, 2025 2:09 PM CDT

There’s an uptick in laws aimed at keeping kids safe online, and following them can be difficult

In 2024, legislators unanimously passed the Maryland Kids Code, a law that requires tech companies to design online products and services in children’s best interests if it’s likely the age group will be accessing the offerings.

Aug 1, 2025 12:35 AM CDT

Mandatory reporting law includes conversations from confession if child abuse is suspected

Is a new Washington state law, which requires priests to report suspected child abuse or neglect, including information from confessions, an assault on the Catholic Church and thousands of years of religious doctrine and practice? That’s what the U.S. Justice Department says, asserting that it won’t sit “idly by when states mount attacks on the free exercise of religion.”

Jul 21, 2025 9:23 AM CDT

SCOTUS rules for parents with religious objections to LGBTQ storybooks in schools

Parents with religious objections to LGBTQ-inclusive storybooks in public schools are likely to succeed on their constitutional claim that the school board must give them an opt-out option, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision Friday.

Jun 27, 2025 10:29 AM CDT

New Amazon Prime documentary explores high school ‘WebcamGate’

As a parent watching Amazon Prime’s Spy High, it’s scary to hear students talk about their school-issued computers’ webcams turning on by themselves. The documentary explores what happened in 2009 at a suburban Philadelphia high school, including a school accusation that then-student Blake Robbins sold drugs. This accusation was based…

Jun 25, 2025 2:14 PM CDT