Institutonalized Juveniles v. Secretary of Public Welfare

Outcome: Case argued twice in US Supreme Court

Description: 442 U.S. 640 (1979), vacating and remanding 459 F.Supp. 30 (E.D. Pa. 1978) (Three-Judge Court); 87 F.R.D. 463 (E.D. Pa. 1978); 568 F.Supp. 1020 (D.C. Pa. 1983); 758 F.2d 897 (3d Cir. 1985); 78 F.R.D. 413 (E.D. Pa. 1978). Bartley v. Kremens, 402 F.Supp. 1039 (E.D. Pa. 1975) (Three-Judge Court), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 431 U.S. 119 (1977). In these cases, argued two times in the United States Supreme Court, the high court ultimately decide that, although children committed to mental institutions do have constitutionally protected liberty interests, they do not have the right to a lawyer and a hearing before commitment as the lower court twice held. The Supreme Court did find that, on admission, children do have a right to a neutral fact-finder and that parent alone may not commit their children.