CHARLESTON – A nonprofit group that protects constitutional rights has filed an amicus brief in a West Virginia case, saying the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals should affirm the dismissal of a case.
The lawsuit, Jonathan R. v. Morrisey, was filed in 2019. It asks the court address shortcomings in West Virginia’s foster care system. Specifically, it asks federal courts to engage in structural oversight over state agencies carrying out traditional state functions.
The Liberty Justice Center filed its amicus brief June 20, saying the court should affirm dismissal of the lawsuit because it says the plaintiffs are asking federal courts to act beyond the scope of the judicial branch’s constitutionally delegated authority.
Goodwin
U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin dismissed the case in February, ruling the plaintiffs’ demands would require the court to essentially become the overseer of foster care in West Virginia. However, under the United States’ constitutional system, state governments must bear the responsibility for addressing those shortcomings.
““This court cannot take over the foster care system of West Virginia,” Goodwin wrote in the opening of his 19-page opinion and order. “Constitutional limits prevent the court from crafting public policy and administering state agencies.
“West Virginia’s foster care system has cycled through inaction, bureaucratic indifference, shocking neglect and temporary fixes for years. The blame squarely lies with West Virginia state government. When elected officials fail, the ballot box is the remedy.
“In recent times, the public has turned to the courts for answers to intractable policy issues. It is not difficult to understand why. When government fails — when promises are made and usually broken, when reforms are always delayed or abandoned — people turn in desperation to the judiciary. But there are limits to what the courts can do.”
Following Goodwin’s dismissal, the plaintiffs appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In its June 20 brief, the Liberty Justice Center supports Goodwin’s dismissal, saying the separation of powers prohibits the judicial branch from making or enforcing such ongoing, structural policy changes.
“The center is interested in this case because the center recognizes the importance of having a judiciary robust enough to protect individual rights, yet sufficiently constrained so as not to impinge upon those rights itself,” the brief states. “A properly ordered judiciary likewise should be capable of checking overreach from other branches of government while not exceeding its own authority in the process.
The director of the Liberty Justice Center’s amicus practice elaborated.
“Judges are not policymakers,” Reilly Stephens said. “It’s a simple fact, but one that is essential to preserving the separation of powers and our constitutional rights.
“No matter how well-intentioned the injunction sought in this case may be, the court does not have the authority to grant it. For that reason, the court of appeals should affirm dismissal of this case.”
The Liberty Justice Center’s is being represented for this brief by attorney Joel S. Nolette from Wiley Rein in Washington.
U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case numbers 25-1232 and 25-1239 (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:19-cv-00710)
