Describing the case as "one of the most challenging I've had in almost 32 years as a judge," Frederick H. Weisberg announced Wednesday his much-awaited verdict in the Banita Jacks murder trial: guilty.

The D.C. Superior Court judge convicted Jacks on 11 of the 12 counts she faced: four counts of felony murder, four of cruelty to children, and three of first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of her three youngest girls, Tatianna Jacks, 11, N'Kiah Fogle, 6, and Aja Fogle, 5.

The judge acquitted Jacks only of premeditated murder in the killing of her oldest daughter, Brittany, who was 16.

Read More "Banita Jacks: Convicted of Murder" »

HAPPENING NOW: Judge Frederick H. Weisberg has found Banita Jacks guilty of the murder of her four daughters. The Post reports:

Weisberg convicted Jacks on four counts of felony murder in the girls' deaths. Weisberg also found Jacks guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of the three youngest girls but acquitted her on the premeditated murder of her oldest daughter. She also was found guilty on lesser charges, including child cruelty.

No word yet on what happened with yesterday's last-minute insanity appeal. More forthcoming.

Banita Jacks, wearing a dark gray dress, looked unsteady as she rose to face the judge. She spoke quietly only to confirm she knew her rights and had chosen not to take the stand during her nine-day trial. Apparently, she was content to let the lawyers detail and debate her conduct. Anyone hoping yesterday's closing arguments in D.C. Superior Court might reveal something more about the woman at the center of this murder case will have to keep guessing.

Both sides exchanged final volleys about the reliability of forensic evidence and the credentials of witnesses. Neither side mentioned the central question: the lack of an insanity plea.

Read More "Jacks Prosecutor Calls Mother’s Home a “Prison of Torture.”" »

On Friday, the seventh and penultimate day of the Banita Jacks murder trial, Judge Frederick H. Weisberg denied defense attorney Peter Krauthamer’s last-ditch move for dismissal.

The judge rejected Krauthamer’s claim that there was no evidence to support the twelve charges against Jacks, who is accused of killing her four daughters. The charges include premeditated first-degree murder and cruelty to children.

Krauthamer spent Friday afternoon working to discredit State Prosecutor Deborah Sines’ forensic evidence. It was his last chance; closing arguments in the trial will be Monday.

Read More "Banita Jacks Trial: Defense Moves to Dismiss" »

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would like you to know that she was misunderstood when she said that a wise Latina woman would come to a better decision than a white man.  Yes, she's been repeating this line since the soundbite came out almost six weeks ago, but it seems to be the main focus of her confirmation hearings.  "Objectivity" was the word of the day, as Sotomayor faced tough questioning from the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Shock of all shocks, the voice of reason came from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who announced that unless something went terribly wrong, the judge would most likely be confirmed by the Democratic majority.

But enough about rule-makers.  All the rule-breakers, in DC and beyond, are after the jump. Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Law and Order Edition" »

This morning, D.C.'s Child and Family Services Agency was once again the subject of a U.S. District Court hearing. The issue before Judge Thomas F. Hogan: Whether to hold the city in contempt for violating his court order and failing to meet stipulated benchmarks.

The plaintiff's, Children's Rights, a New York-based advocacy law firm which specializes in exposing troubled child welfare agencies and turning them around, was in its element. The District's lawyers were no match for Children's Rights founder and executive director Marcia Lowry. While both sides disputed whether or not the agency met those benchmarks---with the city attorney lamely complaining that some of the benchmarks were too difficult to meet---Hogan seemed most annoyed with point No. 4 of his stipulated order. It stated that the city must consult with the assigned court monitor as well as Lowry's group during the selection of a new CFSA director.

Lowry had contended that Children's Rights was not consulted. Hogan stated from the bench that the city had "blatantly" failed to comply with this aspect of his court order.

This evening, Loose Lips (aka Mike DeBonis) reached AG Peter Nickles and asked him to comment on Hogan's statements. Let's just say Nickles argument was less than legalistic. His response was all about feelings.

Read More "In CFSA Case, Nickles Plays Defense" »

This morning in U.S. District Court, Judge Thomas F. Hogan took up the on-going legal battle over the District's Child and Family Services Agency. At issue was whether or not the agency could be held in contempt. Hogan devoted much of his consternation on the how the District went about picking Dr. Roque Gerald (pictured) to head up CFSA.

At the time of Dr. Gerald's selection, City Desk questioned whether the District violated Hogan's order. We wrote:

Read More "Judge Hogan Critical Of CFSA Director Selection Process" »

The City Council finally approved Dr. Roque Gerald so that he can now drop the "acting" from his title as director of the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). Gerald took over last summer at a time when the agency was reeling from the Banita Jacks case. It also had to deal with problems that predated the Jacks case such as increasing quality investigations, providing timely investigations of neglect/abuse cases, and attending to a backlog. The backlog had only ballooned in the aftermath of Jacks.

Read More "Dr. Roque Gerald Is No Longer Just Acting" »

An independent monitor, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, has just released its reporting on the state of D.C.'s Child and Family Services Agency. The monitor notes up front that the agency has stabilized since the Banita Jacks fallout and credited Acting Director Roque Gerald with boosting morale. But it notes:

"There are many areas of practice where the District continues to fall far short of the standards required in the LaShawn Amended Implementation Plan (AIP). Additionally, as is documented
in this report, there are multiple examples of inconsistent performance over time, suggesting that long-term sustainability of progress has not been achieved. The Quality Service Reviews
(QSRs), which assess the quality of case practice, continue to show inconsistent results."

The problems that the report highlights are significant.

Read More "Indie Monitor: CFSA Still Struggling" »

Yesterday, more than a year after Banita Jacks was arrested for murdering her girls, the D.C. Inspector General has issued its comprehensive report. The full report is available online and is a must read for anyone who actually thinks CFSA needs less oversight, less court involvement.

The IG's office provides a timeline of events. Here's what caught my eye:

• May 1, 2007: A CFSA "Investigations Worker" and a D.C. cop visit the Jacks house. No one answers the door. But old junk mail is observed---the same junk mail from a previous visit---in front of the door. Also still at the door: a letter previously left by the CFSA worker.
• May 2, 2007: The CFSA worker goes to the house. Again, no one answers the door.
• May 16, 2007: Investigations Worker erroneously believes that the family has relocated to Charles County, Maryland. This came from another government worker. "Therefore recommends to his supervisor that the investigation be closed," the report states. "CFSA closes the case, and the Investigations Worker then sends a fax to Charles County Child Protective Services..."

Read More "Banita Jacks Case: Breakdowns, Lies, And Laziness" »

Last night, City Desk got a bit of news on the triple homicide case---that the family did have contact with social services in 2006. Today, the Washington Post has an in-depth look at the problems between Erika Peters, her children and her live-in boyfriend.

The live-in boyfriend, Joseph Randolph Mays, was charged in the murders Saturday night.

The Post reports that Kimberly Trimble, Peters' sister, notified authorities about Joseph Mays' alleged abuse of one of the children: "Trimble said that about two years ago, she contacted the District's Child and Family Services Agency to report that Mays had shaken his daughter. A year after that, she said, she warned the principal at Holy Redeemer Catholic School to look out for marks on her sister's children. She said she did not remember what became of either warning."

This brings us back to CFSA and its involvement. Today we reached Attorney General Peter Nickles for a little more clarification.

Read More "‘The Family Was Stable’" »

In July, Children's Rights, the New York-based group behind a long-standing lawsuit against the District over its handling of children filed a contempt motion in U.S. District Court over the pre-and-post-Banita Jacks troubles at CFSA.  The court battle over CFSA continues to be hot.

Last fall, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan issued an order stipulating a series of directives. One of those stipulations involved the future selection of a permanent director at CFSA. On Tuesday, Fenty announced his selection of interim director Roque Gerald to take over in a permanent capacity. Hogan had stipulated that "the Court Monitor and Plaintiffs will be included in the selection process for the permanent Director."

It is that order that is now being seriously questioned. When appointing top posts, Fenty isn't known as a big outreach guy. His appointment of Chief Cathy Lanier is exhibit A. Now his selection of Gerald is coming under scrutiny.

The Plaintiffs--Children's Rights--say they were never consulted during the selection process. "We were not included in the process and I think given the problems the agency has had over the last several years the choice of the director was critically important," says Children's Rights Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry. She adds that this violated the court order.

Read More "Did CFSA Director Search Violate Court Order?" »

Yesterday, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced his nomination of Roque Gerald to become the permanent director of Child and Family Services at a press conference. Gerald had served as the agency's interim director since this past July. Fenty called his nomination a "shot in the arm" and touted Gerald as an old-hand within the troubled agency which apparently is a net plus.

What may be troubling is the possibility that Fenty's people did not interview anyone else for the position. Even before the Banita Jacks case, the agency faced serious questions about its case management and the thoroughness of its investigative work. The agency is currently in the midst of a huge court battle. And its problems are vast.

Charles Allen, Councilmember Tommy Wells' chief of staff, says his office is not aware of any other candidates being vetted for CFSA's top job. I asked him if anyone else was interviewed. "We're not aware of one," Allen says. Calls to the mayor's office have not yet been returned.

Read More "The One And Only Roque Gerald" »

If at first you don't succeed, try, try try and try again. Today in D.C. Superior Court, Banita Jacks was deemed mentally fit to stand trial. D.C. Superior Court Judge Frederick H. Weisberg had previously ordered Jacks to be mentally evaluated three times. In each of those three times, Jacks refused to cooperate. This past Fall, the judge ordered Jacks' transfer to St. Elizabeths. She was then diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and prescribed Haldol.

Now, the Washington Post, reporting from today's hearing before Judge Weisburg notes:

"But in the hospital's most recent report filed yesterday, hospital staff said Jacks had made progress and was no longer taking medication. They also asked the court to keep Jacks at the hospital until her trial to 'assure her competency.'"

Does this make any sense? She's competent to stand trial as long as she remains at St. Elizabeths. Jacks was arrested last January after marshals found the bodies of her four daughters in her home. The news of the murders rocked Child and Family Services and became national news. Jacks has since refused the assistance of two defense attorneys. It is unclear whether Jacks still wants to represent herself at trial. It is also unclear how Jacks is suddenly off meds and competent.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan did what no one else in the city seemed to be able to do: He ordered CFSA to come up with a plan to fix itself. He gave the troubled child welfare agency a two-week deadline.

Hogan's directive spells certain trouble for the already troubled agency! CFSA has definitely heard the words "plan" and "deadline" before Wednesday. It's understanding those words that's given the agency fits, according to Marcia Robinson Lowry, the executive director of Children's Rights, the national advocacy group that has watchdogged the agency for decades. Children's Rights spurred this latest round in U.S. District Court after filing a contempt order in late July.

It is the concept of deadlines and plans that caused Children's Rights to take action in U.S. District Court.

“We had certainly been concerned for at least the last four or five months," Lowry told me in early August. "CFSA was supposed to have agreed to an acceptable 12-month plan in January. It became clear they were not going to be able to do that…They couldn’t come up with a satisfactory plan. Finally, we withdraw our objections to [a] six month [stabilization] plan. It was March already and they did not have a plan that we thought was adequate. Since the period was half over, we decided to do a 12-month plan starting on July 1. We expected to have an adequate plan by the end of June. We did not get an acceptable plan by the end of June.”

Lowry's group met CFSA officials several times to express its dissatisfaction. Those meetings, Lowry says, were disappointing and failed to address the agency's lack of progress on righting the agency. The meetings sometimes included D.C.'s top lawyer Peter Nickles.

Nickles did confirm to City Desk that Children's Rights' main beef with CFSA concerned the agency's failure to address its issues in a systematic way. The agency just never could get specific enough to satisfy Children's Rights, Nickles says.

[Nickles told the Post in July: "I had looked to Marcia and the plaintiffs as partners to improve the agency," Nickles said. "This has sort of taken my invitation and said we'll hold you in contempt."]

Lowry says that given the agency's bad marks in a November '07 review and the handling of the Banita Jacks case, the agency should have been more aggressive.