LFAA Resources

Guidebook on Use of Experts in Juvenile Justice Proceedings

This memorandum examines the role, admissibility, and strategic use of expert witnesses in juvenile justice proceedings, with a focus on federal standards and the laws of New York and California. While the Federal Rules of Evidence apply the Daubert standard to assess the reliability of expert testimony, both New York and California adhere to the Frye standard, which emphasizes general acceptance within the relevant scientific community. These standards apply similarly in juvenile cases, but some states, like California, have qualifications that the expert testimony addresses issues uniquely relevant to minors, such as developmental psychology, trauma, and mental health....Read more

Challenging the Department of Homeland Security Guard Interdictions and Pushbacks

The research memos focus on the US's policy of denying access to asylum protections for migrants apprehended at sea and its policy of denying Trafficking Victims Protections Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) protections to unaccompanied children apprehended at sea. These policies have led to the unjust denial of access to asylum to many Haitian migrants and their forced return to danger and persecution. This research memo focuses on whether there is a strong legal basis for challenging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Guard interdictions and pushbacks, without providing inspections, and the right to apply for asylum, of noncitizens who have reached U.S. waters....Read more

Child Protective Service Workers and Qualified Immunity (Correct)

This memo discusses the effects of systemic bias in the child welfare system and how qualified immunity of child protective service workers leads to violating families’ rights. This memo serves to highlight the determinantal impact qualified immunity has, and the legal landscape families have to face....Read more