Legal Advocacy & Impact Litigation

We work strategically and collaboratively with co-counsel partners, community organizations, and named plaintiffs to bring impact litigation that represents broad classes of children and youth across multiple public systems.

Browse Legal Cases

Focus AreaCase Jurisdiction

StatusCase TypeLocation

Dallas County Truancy Court

Filing Date2013-06-10

This civil rights complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Justice on June 12, 2013, concerns a particularly harmful aspect of the school-to-prison pipeline in Texas - the use of criminal courts to prosecute youth for truancy, and the way that school district's violations of students' civil and educational rights directly contribute to this problem.

Inactive

Sigma Beta XI v. County of Riverside

Filing Date2018-07-01

This lawsuit alleges that Riverside County, California, through its Probation office, targets, ensnares, and discriminates against children by stripping them of their constitutional rights.

Active

Loleta Schools Civil Rights Complaint

Filing Date2013-12-18

Loleta Elementary is the only non-charter school in Loleta, and was overseen by Sally Hadden who served as both the superintendent of the District and school principal. Many of the complaints specifically concern the treatment of Native American students by Ms. Hadden.

Active

SurvJustice v. DeVos

Filing Date2018-01-25

This lawsuit was filed on behalf of SurvJustice, Equal Rights Advocates, and Victim Rights Law Center, three national public interest organizations, to stop U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Trump Administration's Title IX policy.

Active

San Juan Unified School District Civil Rights Complaint

Filing Date2017-12-18

This civil rights complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education on December 18, 2017 alleges Mira Loma High School discriminates against African American students through its racially hostile educational environment.

Inactive

M.B. v. Tidball

Filing Date2017-07-03

Every day, the approximately 13,000 children in the foster care custody of the state of Missouri are exposed to an unreasonable risk of serious physical and psychological harm because the state fails to maintain an adequate oversight system to ensure that psychotropic drugs are administered safely and only when necessary.

Active

Jessica K. v. Eureka City School District

Filing Date2013-12-18

NCYL brought this case on behalf of four students to challenge years of intentional discrimination by the District based on their race, sex, and disability status. The District has perpetuated a racially and sexually hostile environment in District schools, and has failed to properly evaluate, identify, and accommodate students with disabilities, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and federal and state civil rights laws.

Active

Denise Cowan v. Bolivar County Board of Education

Filing Date1965-07-25

On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education, holding that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” A year later, on May 31, 1955, the Supreme Court issued a second order directing compliance with Brown “with all deliberate speed.”

Active

Sullivan v. Zebley

Filing Date1990-05-08

Staff attorney Alice Bussiere represented amici before the US Supreme Court in this case, which expanded by some 450,000 the number of poor children able to obtain both cash benefits and Medicaid coverage through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

Inactive

Browse Resources

Educational Advocacy for Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth in California

Access to a meaningful education is a fundamental right that promotes upward mobility across generations.

FAQ: Using the Caregiver Affidavit as a Non-Relative or Relative “Sponsor” of Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth

Fact Sheet: English Language Assessment for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in California Schools

Fact Sheet: Using the California Caregiver Affidavit for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Recently Released from ORR Custody

Fact Sheet: Enrolling Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Recently Released from ORR Custody in California Schools

Know Your Rights: Student Protests

To help students know their rights when it comes to First Amendment activity on school campuses, NCYL has compiled the following resources

The Urgent Need for Child-Centered Artificial Intelligence Policies

Never before in all of human history have the sleek threads of technology been so tightly woven into the tender fabric of a child’s daily existence. In the arena of technology and artificial intelligence, where innovation and implementation are developing at extraordinary speed, children and youth are being presented with extraordinary opportunities for learning and entertainment as well as substantial risks to their well-being and rights.

What to do if your student experiences harassment in Williamson County Public Schools

Addressing identity-based bullying or harassment in public schools

When your child first tells you they are being bullied based on their identity, it can be an emotionally triggering discovery. As you navigate your conversation, collect the following information to help you best advocate for your child’s well-being.