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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Closing Arguments In Wone Case," "World Cup Roundup," "Photos: Terry Huff"
Morning All. You better enjoy Metro today and Saturday. Those big fare increases are set [...]
In a 46-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan held today that D.C.'s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is not yet ready to come out from under its court oversight. This represents a significant setback for Attorney General Peter Nickles, who has pressed to end the court-appointed monitoring of the troubled agency.
Hogan [...]
The entity that manages the shelter at D.C. General is called Families Forward, Inc. The organization, based at 1012 14th St. NW Suite 105, boasts that it operates a full-service facility manned round-the-clock by staff. In other words, it runs the Mandarin Oriental of homeless shelters:
"Families receive 24-hour services, which include shelter, meals, case management, [...]
As chair of the Committee on Human Services, Councilmember Tommy Wells presides over one of the toughest tasks facing any local politician: conducting oversight of the Child and Family Services Agency. The last few years have not been kind to the city's social workers. Banita Jacks could have served as a catalyst for sweeping reforms. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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) [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
