The Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center Commission must face claims it failed to meet mental-health needs of a class of unaccompanied immigrant minors in its custody, many of whom have been traumatized by violence in their home countries and have been punished for misbehavior by SVJC staff, after the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday overturned a trial judge’s ruling.
The trial court should have reviewed the children’s claims for a substantial departure from accepted standards of professional judgment, rather than for deliberate indifference in violation of the Eighth Amendment, Judge Roger L. Gregory said for a split panel at the U.S. Court ...