Minors’ Health, Shelter Laws Escape Further Appellate Review (1)

Washington laws protecting minors’ access to mental health care and shelter services without telling their parents will remain in place following a federal appeals court’s decision Friday not to revisit a case challenging them.

Three judges disagreed with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision denying rehearing by either the three-judge panel who sided with Washington or the full court. The dissenters said the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged the laws interfered with their fundamental parental rights, and the panel decision ran afoul of precedent from both the US Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit.

The parents and ...