Filed Date: Jan. 11, 2020
Case Ongoing
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This class action civil rights lawsuit alleged abuses at a New Hampshire youth detention center, the Youth Detention Center (YDC), in the 1990s. An alleged victim of that abuse filed this suit on January 11, 2021 against the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, YDC, the state Division of Juvenile Services, the state Division of Children, Youth, and Families, and hundreds of individual defendants. The plaintiff was represented by the private law firm Rilee & Associates and the case was assigned to Justice John C. Kissinger, Jr. for the Superior Court of Merrimack County. Plaintiff's complaint described a series alleged systemic abuses involving rape, solitary confinement, and emotional abuse. Plaintiff, who experienced these alleged abused as a teenager, explained that he did not begin to connect the actions of individual abusers to the institution until 2017. The plaintiff alleged that employees of the YDC raped and physically assaulted juveniles for decades, and conspired to cover up the crimes. Plaintiff sought to represent a class of all other men and women who were survivors of abuse from YDC with claims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental or emotional abuse, solitary confinement, and deprivation of education.
The complaint alleged violations of state and federal law. The state law claims included negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy, and a violation of the right to education enshrined in the New Hampshire Constitution. The federal claims included violations of Title IX as well the Eighth and the Fourteenth Amendment. The federal Constitutional claims were brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
On May 25, 2021, Justice Kissinger ruled on defendants' motion to dismiss. He dismissed the complaint in part, including the class action, but his opinion left the door open for additional individual suits against YDC and its staff. Justice Kissinger reasoned that the putative class definition would make it impossible to identify class members and, even if they were identified, their varying damages would require too many mini-trials. Accordingly, the court likewise dismissed the class-based claims for civil conspiracy and the claims alleging Fourteenth and Eighth Amendment violations. Also, the court dismissed plaintiff's state constitutional claim alleging a violation of the right to education. On this point, Justice Kissinger explained that the right to education in New Hampshire was a public—not an individual—right and therefore was improper for tort claims.
However, Judge Kissinger allowed the remaining claims to proceed on an individual basis. These claims included negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, a § 1983 claim for failure to promulgate rules to prevent the alleged abuse, and the remaining federal claim of Title IX. Further, Justice Kissinger explained that statutes of limitations were not a bar to plaintiff's individual claims because the discovery rule applied. The court agreed with plaintiff that a child released from state custody after suffering years of abuse would likely not understand the abuse or that it was caused by institutional failures.
Since Justice Kissinger's May 25th ruling, several other alleged victims have brought individual suits against YDC with similar claims to plaintiff.
This case is ongoing as of January 31, 2022.
Summary Authors
Jordan Katz (1/31/2022)
Ramsey, Jennifer S. (New Hampshire)
Rilee, Cyrus F. III (New Hampshire)
Devine, Laura D (New Hampshire)
Palmeira, Amanda Noelle (New Hampshire)
Last updated Aug. 30, 2023, 2:26 p.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory: New Hampshire
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Jan. 11, 2020
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Men and women who are survivors with claims of physical abuse, sex abuse, mental/emotional abuse, solitary confinement, and deprivation of education from their time at Sununu Youth Services Center (SYSC), formerly known as Youth Development Center.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Denied
Defendants
Sununu Youth Services Center, Private Entity/Person
Youth Development Center, Private Entity/Person
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (Concord, Merrimack), State
Department of Health and Human Services, State
Division of Juvenile Justice Services, State
Division of Children, Youth, and Families, State
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq.
Constitutional Clause(s):
Due Process: Substantive Due Process
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General:
Staff (number, training, qualifications, wages)
Policing:
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Sex w/ staff; sexual harassment by staff
Assault/abuse by staff (facilities)
Type of Facility: