Trial delayed in sweeping West Virginia foster care lawsuit brought by children
(Greenleaf123 | Getty Images)
Foster kids' wide-sweeping lawsuit about West Virginia's troubled child welfare system will not go to trial in March after the state successfully sought a delay.
The class-action suit, filed nearly five years ago, alleges that the state sent children to unsafe homes, overworked Child Protective Services workers and left kids to languish in the system. While the state Department of Human Services said there have been improvements, many of the system's problems persist while there are 6,080 kids in foster care.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin postponed the trial until May 6.
The delay comes after a private lawyer representing the state said he couldn't attend a pretrial meetinging scheduled for February because he would be out of the country for his mother's 70th birthday celebration.
A Better Childhood, a New York-based nonprofit that brought the suit on behalf of foster kids, objected to the delay due to the state's 'lack of diligence in addressing this scheduling conflict,' according to court records.
'This failure to find an amicable solution is discouraging,' Goodwin wrote in the order.
The suit has faced numerous hurdles since it was filed after the state sought to have the case thrown out and it was moved to a different judge.
Attorneys for A Better Childhood said they've struggled to get key documents about the foster care system, and last year, the state was sanctioned for failing to preserve emails from former top foster care officials related to the case. The misstep could cost the state $172,000 in sanctions, according to fees requested by plaintiffs.
The state has paid more than $6.3 million to Brown and Peisch, a law firm in Washington, D.C. that has provided the state's legal counsel in the case since 2020.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CaaStle Meltdown: P180 Sues ‘The Hunsicker Enterprise' for Conspiracy
It took Christine Hunsicker 14 years to build CaaStle up into what looked like a pioneering fashion rental service with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a $1.4 billion valuation. But it took almost no time at all for the start-up case study to move from helping to buy fashion brands to devolving almost entirely into scandal. More from WWD Vince Sees Q4 Sales and Profitability Gains, but Projects Q1 Declines Amid Macro Uncertainties Fashion's Enron? P180 Blasts CaaStle's Christine Hunsicker in Fraud Lawsuit CaaStle Gets $2.75M Bridge Loan to Plan Chapter 11 Filing and Weigh Strategic Transactions Hunsicker was working with Brendan Hoffman's P180 to buy control of Vince Holding Corp. in late January and just two months later was out as CaaStle's chief executive officer, accused of doctoring financial statements, racking up losses of more than $510 million and more. The narrative is flipping again, from business breakdown to legal fallout. Already law enforcement was said to be investigating. Now P180 — which was cofounded by Hoffman and Hunsicker and minority-owned by CaaStle — is arguing in a new federal lawsuit that Hunsicker is more than a solitary bad actor, but the 'ringleader of a conspiracy' that violated the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. 'This case is a tale of lies, betrayal and cover up,' said the P180 suit, which was filed May 27 and also names Jaswinder Pal Singh, George Goldenberg, Scott Callon and Chirag Jain as defendants. They are all tied to CaaStle. A spokesperson for the rental service did not immediately address WWD questions regarding the company or the suit on Tuesday. Hunsicker could not be reached. The federal case follows similar lines as a New York state suit that P180 filed against CaaStle, but adds more details and implicates more players. It is still Hunsicker at the center, though. Hoffman had worked with her before, during his first stint as CEO of Vince, when he dabbled in rental. But it was later, after he left the top job at Wolverine Worldwide in 2023, that Hunsicker made him a real rental believer. According to the suit, Hoffman came to believe that, 'Apparel retailers could reclaim — and perhaps even multiply — their valuation by increasing their marginal gains on discounted merchandise. For years, valuation of apparel companies had declined to be just pennies per dollar of revenue. Hunsicker promised e-commerce scale — specifically, technology and logistics that would enable regular clothing shipments to customers on a massive level — that would allow apparel companies to increase their margin on what otherwise would be discounted merchandise.' In a nutshell, the premise was that renting out instead of discounting goods that don't sell at full price would boost margins. It was a revelation profound enough that Hoffman created P180, marrying his expertise and relationships with Hunsicker's 'self-proclaimed technological and e-commerce prowess,' the suit said. 'What Hoffman did not know — but which eventually has become clear — is that Hunsicker is a world-class fraudster ranking alongside the likes of Bernie Madoff and Elizabeth Holmes,' the suit claimed. 'She lied to the world to make it appear that CaaStle was a success, lied specifically to Hoffman about CaaStle and hid CaaStle's financial data from Hoffman. She presented herself as a skillful and successful entrepreneur who built a robust e-commerce business, raised hundreds of millions of dollars for it and commanded a board of notable leaders in corporate governance. 'Hunsicker, though, did not act alone. She had co-conspirators…with whom she created her house of cards. Hunsicker and her co-conspirators repeatedly stated or implied that CaaStle had a large scale, a huge subscriber base and spectacular financials.' Instead of 'hundreds of thousands of subscribers and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, CaaStle itself had just a fraction of those subscribers, barely had any revenue, had supposedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars it received from investors, and had no viable business,' the suit said. 'The whole thing was a sham perpetuated by a pattern of persistent lying, obfuscation and, eventually, cover-up.' The suit repeatedly refers to the alleged conspiracy as 'The Hunsicker Enterprise.' Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, said the complaint 'recasts' the scandal, replacing a single mastermind with a conspiracy. 'It appears intended not only to get ahead of a government investigation but also to distribute the blame — and thus the potential financial liability — for alleged extreme financial misrepresentations, and also to tap into the enhanced damages available under RICO,' Scafidi said. 'If, as JFK noted, success has many fathers but failure is an orphan, this lawsuit aims to bring in as many key CaaStle players as possible for paternity tests — and the discovery process is likely to be in-depth and painful. 'The concept behind CaaStle was very compelling, and from a social perspective it's a pity that the circular and sharing economies of fashion seem so hard to monetize. But the big winners here may be the legal teams working to unravel the plot twists,' she said. There will be plenty to work with. P180's suit claims that 'The Hunsicker Enterprise' induced it to take self-dealing loans and had money 'fraudulently transferred out' of its bank account to both CaaStle and personal accounts. The alleged conspirators also overstated CaaStle's capabilities while P180 lined up investments in Vince and Altuzarra. Separately, CaaStle denied allegations in two cases filed against it in state court, one by a company that owns the name Express over use of the name Express Style Trial and the other by P180. CaaStle tried to get the state court suit by P180 thrown out, claiming it doesn't have standing to bring the case. But a P180 spokesperson said, 'CaaStle filed a motion to dismiss on a technicality that will soon be remedied and will not prevent the case from moving forward.' Best of WWD The Biggest Legal Battles Shaping the Fashion Industry Today PETA Asks Lululemon About Slaughterhouse Practices China's Livestreaming Star Viya Fined $210 Million for Tax Evasion
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Watch Me Whip rapper sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing his cousin
Silentó, the rapper behind the 2015 viral hit 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),' has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fatal 2021 shooting of his cousin. On Wednesday, the 27-year-old Atlanta-based artist, real name Ricky Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possessing a gun while committing a crime and concealing the death of another. As part of his plea deal, another murder charge was dropped. Silentó was 23 when he was arrested by DeKalb County police and charged with the murder of his 34-year-old cousin, Frederick Roots III, in January 2021. At the time, police responded to a report of a person shot outside a home in a suburban area near Decatur, Georgia. When they arrived, they found Roots bleeding heavily from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they found 10 bullet casings near Rooks's body, and security video from a nearby home showed a white BMW SUV speeding away shortly after the gunshots. A family member of Rooks told police that Silentó had picked up Rooks in a white BMW SUV, and GPS data and other cameras put the vehicle at the site of the shooting. Silentó confessed about 10 days later, after he was arrested, police said. Ballistics testing matched the bullet casings to a gun that Silentó had when he was arrested, authorities said. Rooks' brothers and sisters told DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson before sentencing that Silentó should have gotten a longer sentence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Silentó was a high school junior in suburban Atlanta in 2015 when he released 'Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)' and watched it skyrocket into a dance craze. Silentó made multiple other albums, but said in an interview with the medical talk show The Doctors in 2019 that he struggled with depression and had grown up in a family where he witnessed mental illness and violence. 'I've been fighting demons my whole life, my whole life,' he said in 2019. 'Depression doesn't leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure,' Silentó said then, urging others to get help. 'And while everybody's looking at you, they're also judging you.' He added: 'I don't know if I can truly be happy, I don't know if these demons will ever go away.' Silentó had been struggling with his mental health in the months before the arrest. His publicist, Chanel Hudson, has said he had tried to kill himself in 2020. The rapper was arrested twice in 2020 — once following an incident involving a hatchet and another time on reckless driving charges. Additional reporting by The Associated Press
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Columbia protester and self-proclaimed ‘Jew-hater' had direct link to Hamas' terror cell, disturbing phone records reveal: DOJ
A 'Jew-hater' who protested against Israel on Columbia University's campus and contemplated setting a student on fire allegedly had a direct link to Hamas' deadly al-Qassam Brigades militant group, The Post can reveal. Tarek Bazrouk — awaiting trial after being indicted on three federal hate crimes against Jewish people — was 'a member of a chat group that received regular updates from Abu Obeida,' the official spokesperson for the brigades, according to allegations in federal documents. The accusation is the first evidence of an agitator receiving information directly from Hamas and taking action during protests on the university campus. Bazrouk, 20, who was not a Columbia student, also frequently wore the green headband used by Hamas terrorists and boasted to friends about having relatives overseas who were part of the terror group, prosecutors claim in a letter filed with the court. While on Columbia's campus during protests in April 2024, Bazrouk allegedly texted a pal saying he lit a flare and considered lighting someone on fire, but that there were 'too many' people around for him to take on, otherwise he 'would've hurted [sic] them.' Columbia University said it has no record of Bazrouk being on campus and wanted 'to be clear that this individual is not affiliated with our University in any way,' adding that the school 'strongly condemns antisemitism and violence, and we are horrified by the violence and hate crimes described in the indictment.' Bazrouk, a US citizen born and raised in New York, was also arrested next to the campus in December 2024 for one of the three attacks against Jewish people of which he stands accused. It is not clear how Bazrouk got on campus, which is private university property, but Columbia was beset with anti-Israel protesters shielded by masks throughout 2024, resulting in the NYPD being called to flush them out in April that year. At the time, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said 'professional outside agitators' were behind the escalated protests, which at one point saw an illegal takeover of one of the university's buildings. In Gaza, Hamas has previously taunted Israeli hostages by boasting that its tentacles are everywhere and 'bragged about having Hamas operatives on American university campuses,' specifically showing now-freed hostage Shlomi Ziv photos of antisemitic protests at Columbia, according to a lawsuit. Bazrouk's cellphone was 'littered with pro-Hamas and pro-Hizballah [sic] propaganda' showing his 'support for organizations that have murdered thousands of Jews and Israelis, killed and wounded US citizens and repeatedly avowed that they want to destroy both the United States and Israel,' federal prosecutors allege. The phone was found to have a picture of a late al-Qassam Brigades founder, terrorist Yahya Sinwar, who is credited as the architect behind the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre against Israel. He was killed in 2024. He also had a picture of Obeida and one of an individual waving a Hamas flag, and an al-Qassam Brigades meme, which reads: 'By God I would not trade the Al Qassam Brigades for the world and everything in it. May God be pleased with them and allow them to break the wicked enemy through him.' Also included are quotes from text messages in which Bazrouk allegedly identified himself as a 'Jew hater,' labeled Jews 'worthless,' exhorted 'Allah' to 'get us rid of [Jews],' called an acquittance a 'F—ing Jew,' and told a friend to 'slap that bitch' in reference to a woman with an Israeli sticker on her laptop, according to court documents. Bazrouk also told a friend that he was 'mad happy' to have learned that certain of his family members overseas are part of Hamas, the filing claims. Prosecutors also claimed that Bazrouk had traveled to the West Bank and Jordan for approximately three weeks in September and October 2024, which also poses questions regarding what he was doing there. Federal prosecutors told The Post they could not go into more detail than what was included in their indictment against Bazrouk, as they build their case against him. Bazrouk's defense attorney, Andrew Dalack, told The Post he rejects any connection between his client and Hamas, or any other terror organization, but did not comment further. Bazrouk's alleged crime streak stretches back to the same month as the Columbia building takeover. On April 15, 2024, he allegedly assaulted three Jewish people at a Gaza war protest outside the New York Stock Exchange. During that incident, Bazrouk allegedly lunged at a group carrying Israeli flags, according to the federal filing, and as he was being hauled away by cops, he allegedly kicked a Jewish college student in the stomach. In a text message four days later, he wrote that if he 'ever see(s)' a Jewish person, he is going to 'boom boom them,' according to prosecutors. He is also accused of slugging a Jewish Columbia University student in the face while allegedly ranting about Hitler and the Nazis in an unhinged flag-snatching tantrum near the Ivy League campus on Dec. 9. The victim in that ordeal, 22-year-old Jonathan Lederer, told The Post at the time that Bazrouk allegedly stole his brother's flag and then hit him for trying to intervene. One month later, Bazrouk again allegedly targeted a protester with an Israeli flag draped on his shoulders at a protest near Union Square on Jan. 6, according to prosecutors. Bazrouk, who was wearing a keffiyeh on his face, allegedly punched the victim in the face with a closed fist. Although Bazrouk was arrested after all three instances, he 'remained undeterred and quickly returned to using violence to target Jews in New York City,' according to US Attorney Jay Clayton of the Southern District of New York. Bazrouk has been in jail since May 7 this year, after feds charged him with three hate crimes over the string of alleged antisemitic attacks. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. At the time of his arrest, federal agents searched Bazrouk's Manhattan home — where he lived with his parents and other family members — where they found a replica firearm, spent shell casings from a real gun, brass knuckles, and several weapons including four knives, including a switchblade which was in the pocket of one of his jackets and a hunting knife, per court documents. Investigators also found $750,000 in cash in a safe. At a May 20 bail hearing, Dalack said the money was likely profit from his job at Exotic Clouds, a smoke shop where he worked in Hartford, Connecticut. He was arrested in that state in December 2024 for 'operating a drug factory,' possessing drugs and having an intent to sell them. Federal documents detail how police also found 'large quantities of marijuana products' worth $25,000 at the business. Prosecutors argued that Bazrouk should be denied bail because he is allegedly a 'danger to the community and risk of flight … underscored by his support for terrorist groups, his avowed hatred of Jews, his history of violent threats and intimidation, including of a Jewish child at a New York City School, and his access to numerous weapons.' Bazrouk's actions are far from unique, according to Jewish groups. The lawsuit filed on behalf of former Hamas hostage Ziv and others names several groups it accused of having 'acted as Hamas' foot soldiers in New York City and on Columbia's campus.' Many similar accusations have been made against groups across the nation that have staged protests on campuses in favor of Palestinian causes — with many people not realizing they are throwing their support behind terror groups. 'We know groups in the USA have shared and promoted content from Hamas-run chat groups. We see this at protests around the country that have Hamas or Hezbollah flags,' warned Oren Segal, the Anti-Defamation League's SVP for counter-extremism and intelligence.
