In case you’ve been under a child welfare rock, there has been a storm brewing for the past year regarding the handling of unaccompanied immigrant minors in Florida’s child welfare system. It started in Miami with two cases: BYGM and KBLV. The opinions are worth a read to get a feel for exactly what is going on here.
In August 2015, I posted two oral arguments, without comment because I — along with many others — am working on those cases. The decisions for those two cases came down on December 30, and both were against the children. Those opinions are here: EPN and BRCM. A third opinion I wasn’t expecting also came down: SFAC. Thoughtful dissents by Judge Salter show how these rulings have exploded into dismissals of cases around the state.
In the meantime, another bad case out of West Palm has been accepted for review by the Florida Supreme Court: OICL. It is set for oral argument on February 2, 2016.
Today, we received word that BYGM and KBLV have been stayed by the Florida Supreme Court pending the outcome of OICL. If you have a private petition dependency case pending in any tribunal and it’s under threat from OICL/BYGM/KLBV, I suggest asking for a stay or abeyance until the Florida Supreme Court can have its say.
I’m providing the BYGM order here for use in your motions.
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