For years, together with Ted Howard, Wiley Rein, we have challenged the inhumane treatment of immigrant children at the Shenandoah Valley Detention Center in Virginia. This week, the Fourth Circuit ruled that, when considering detention conditions, courts must apply a Youngberg professional judgment standard and not deliberate indifference. This is very important not only for our clients, but a huge victory for all detained youth in the Fourth Circuit.

Deaf prisoners may finally have the right to use videophones to communicate with the outside world. Thomas Heyer, a deaf prisoner at the federal prison in Butner, NC, communicates through American Sign Language. Together with Ian Hoffman and Andrew Tutt, Arnold & Porter, we challenged the Bureau of Prisons’ failure to accommodate his disability and this week, the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of Mr. Heyer’s First Amendment right to a videophone.