Juvenile Law Center (Pennsylvania)

Robert Schwartz & Marsha Levick. Robert Schwartz co-founded Juvenile Law Center in 1975 and has been its executive director since 1982. With over 30 years at Juvenile Law Center, Schwartz is a national leader in advocating for children's rights and has extensive experience in all areas of juvenile law. In his career at Juvenile Law Center, Schwartz has represented dependent and delinquent children in Pennsylvania… See full bio.

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Story: Juvenile Law Center is the oldest nonprofit, public interest law firm for children in the United States. Founded in 1975 by four graduates of Temple University Law School, Juvenile Law Center has become a national advocate for children’s rights and has been at the forefront of reforms across the country, working to enforce and promote the rights and well-being of youth who come into contact with the justice, child welfare, and other public systems.

Throughout all of our work, Juvenile Law Center strives to ensure that laws, policies, and practices affecting youth in the child welfare and justice systems are grounded in principles of adolescent development and other relevant research. Our advocacy has contributed to several landmark United States Supreme Court rulings, including:

• Eliminating the death penalty for juveniles (Roper v. Simmons, 2005)
• Eliminating juvenile life without parole sentences in non-homicide cases (Graham v. Florida, 2010)
• Finding that age is relevant in determining whether minors can reasonably believe that they are “in custody” and therefore subject to a Miranda warning (J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 2011)

Juvenile Law Center played a central role in exposing the Luzerne County, PA “kids-for-cash” scandal, where the rights of thousands of children were violated by juvenile court judge Mark Ciavarella—the children were quickly adjudicated delinquent (found guilty) and often sent to a for-profit detention center that was providing cash kickbacks to the judge. The juvenile court scandal made national headlines, and is believed to be the most egregious judicial scandal in the history of our legal system.

Juvenile Law Center successfully petitioned the state Supreme Court to vacate and expunge the adjudications and records of the more than 2,500 Luzerne County youth and filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of those children and their parents.

Juvenile Law Center continues to shape policy and practice at both the state and national levels through litigation, appellate advocacy and submission of amicus briefs, policy reform, public education, training, and strategic communications.

Evidence of Impact Summary:

Experts say that Juvenile Law Center has accomplished tremendous things in Pennsylvania that no other state-level juvenile justice organization has been able to accomplish, and that Juvenile Law Center has provided legal expertise in cases across the country related to juvenile justice issues that has resulted positive decisions leading to systemic changes in juvenile justice and child welfare systems.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

According to experts, Juvenile Law Center is strong particularly in terms of its leadership, staff, and its connections to major policy and decision-making bodies throughout the state.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Experts have said that this organization could improve with more staff members and with a good focus on continuity of leadership.
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Robert Schwartz co-founded Juvenile Law Center in 1975 and has been its executive director since 1982. With over 30 years at Juvenile Law Center, Schwartz is a national leader in advocating for children's rights and has extensive experience in all areas of juvenile law. In his career at Juvenile Law Center, Schwartz has represented dependent and delinquent children in Pennsylvania juvenile and appellate courts; brought class-action litigation over institutional conditions and probation functions; testified in Congress before House and Senate committees; and spoken in over 25 states on matters related to children and the law.

Schwartz's career has not been limited to Pennsylvania, but has included fighting nationally and internationally for juvenile rights. From 1992-98 he was chair of the Juvenile Justice Committee of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section, a position he resumed in 2006. In 1993 he visited South Africa to help develop a legal system for children. Since 1991 he has been a gubernatorial appointee to the Commission's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee, the State Advisory Group that distributes federal funds in Pennsylvania and advises the governor regarding juvenile justice policy. Schwartz in 2005 became chair of the Advisory Committee to the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch; he is also chair of the Board of the Philadelphia Youth Network.

Schwartz is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Andrew Hamilton Award, presented by the Philadelphia Bar Association "for exemplary service in the public interest," the Livingston Hall Award, presented by the American Bar Association, and the Stephen M. Cahn Award, presented by the National Association of Counsel for Children for career achievement. He is a graduate of Haverford College and Temple University School of Law.

Marsha Levick co-founded Juvenile Law Center in 1975 and served as its first Executive Director until 1982. From 1982-1988, Levick served as the Legal Director and then Executive Director of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York. Throughout her legal career, Levick has been an advocate for children’s and women's rights and is a nationally recognized expert in juvenile law.

In her current capacity as Deputy Director and Chief Counsel, Levick oversees Juvenile Law Center’s litigation and appellate docket. She has successfully litigated challenges to unlawful and harmful laws, policies and practices on behalf of children in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Levick also spearheaded Juvenile Law Center’s exposure and subsequent litigation arising out of the Luzerne County, Pennsylvania “kids-for-cash” scandal.

Levick has authored or co-authored numerous appellate and amicus briefs in state and federal appeals courts throughout the country, including many before the US Supreme Court, and has argued before both state and federal appellate courts in Pennsylvania and numerous other jurisdictions. She has received numerous awards for her work, including Temple University’s Women's Law Caucus Professional Achievement Award; the Pennsylvania Bar Association Child Advocate of the Year Award; the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice Award; and the American Association for Justice Leonard Weinglass Award.

Levick is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University Law School. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at both the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Temple University Beasley School of law.

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