The lead lawyer for tens of thousands of foster care children in Texas said Sunday that he will appeal a decision handed down Friday by a federal appeals court removing the federal judge who has overseen the litigation for 13 years and whose orders have forced Texas officials to greatly improve how they investigate accusations of abuse in the state’s foster care system.
Houston trial lawyer Paul Yetter told The Texas Lawbook in an interview Sunday that he believes the opinion by the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit focuses too much on procedure and not enough on specific evidence involving dozens of mentally challenged and disabled children in the foster care system who remain in serious danger because of the lack of attention from Texas officials.
“We were not surprised but incredibly disappointed in the Fifth Circuit decision,” said Yetter, founder of Yetter Coleman. “We think it is extremely important to give the full Fifth Circuit the opportunity to look at what is happening and to look at the evidence.”
“Our goal in this is simple: Our children must be kept safe,” he said.
The Fifth Circuit, in a unanimous decision, blasted U.S. District Judge Janis Jack for “implied bias” against Texas officials and for telling lawyers for the state of Texas that state officials should “go over and above the minimum standards for protecting Texas children. The Fifth Circuit panel then ordered Judge Jack removed as the judge in the cases he has overseen since the case was filed in 2011.
The Fifth Circuit also reversed Judge Jack’s finding that Texas officials were in contempt of court for not following her orders to make specific improvements.
“All Texans owe Judge Jack a debt of gratitude for all she has done to help protect our children,” Yetter said. “There is no question that the system is better than it was when we first filed this litigation in 2011. Investigations of abuse are much more timely and much more accurate and faster in getting children out of dangerous situations. But this is only because of Judge Jack’s orders for the state to do this.”
Yetter said his law firm started its inquiry into the Texas foster care system in 2007 when a couple of younger associates approached the firm about “taking on some more impactful pro bono litigation.” He said the firm repeatedly heard complaints about abuses and tragedies within the Texas foster care system.
Since then, a couple dozen lawyers have worked tens of thousands of hours on the litigation.
Yetter said the firm’s appeal to the full Fifth Circuit will focus on the evidence that dozens of children with disabilities or delayed mental development remain in danger and that the state is refusing to tackle the problem. Instead, he said, the Fifth Circuit chose to focus on the entire system rather than the specific children at risk.
“Even the state does not deny these facts and that there is a problem,” Yetter said. “The stakes here are too high. The lives of these children are really at stake.”
Paul Yetter of Yetter Coleman is the lawyer for the plaintiffs, while Allyson Ho of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represents the state of Texas.
The case is M.D. v. Abbott, Fifth Circuit case number 24-40248.