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

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

Committee to Defend Reproductive Rights v. Myers

Filing Date1981-05-08

NCYL staff attorney Abigail English, working with other advocates, won a ruling from the California Supreme Court that poor, pregnant women, including teenagers, have a right under the California Constitution to state funding for abortions as well as for prenatal care.

Inactive

Terry D. v. Rader

Filing Date1978-05-08

Working with Legal Aid of Western Oklahoma, NCYL attorneys, including David Lambert, challenged appalling conditions and practices in Oklahoma training schools, including hog-tying, beatings, and lengthy periods of solitary confinement. The lawsuit resulted in the closure of five juvenile institutions.

Inactive

Bryan Independent School District

Filing Date2013-02-20

Bryan Independent School District's use of school resource officers to issue criminal sanctions for a range of minor student misbehavior unlawfully impacts African-American students, who are "cited" at a rate four times that of other students, according to a complaint filed by attorneys with Texas Appleseed, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Center for Youth Law.

Inactive

Sanchez v. California Interscholastic Federation

Filing Date2015-02-02

This case filed in Trinity County, California Superior Court involved the rights of homeless youth to fully participate in school, including extracurricular activities. CIF, the governing body of interscholastic sports in California, had wrongfully delayed and blocked homeless student Zachary Sanchez from playing sports.

Inactive

Dyer v. California Interscholastic Federation

Filing Date2008-11-01

On November 24, 2008, NCYL won a major case in California, securing fair and equal treatment of foster youth who play high school sports. The victory has led to major changes affecting thousands of foster youth.

Inactive