Bill would publicly ‘smear’ youths who sue Kentucky juvenile justice agency, critic says

Under one sentence tucked into an otherwise uncontroversial Senate bill, the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice could publicly disclose confidential and embarrassing criminal, medical and psychological records it held on youths who were housed in state custody if they later sue over the conditions of their confinement.

Senate Bill 242 is meant to “smear” people in order to discourage them from speaking out about abuse that happened to them as minors, said Laura Landenwich, a Louisville attorney who represents two young women currently suing the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Those women say they and other girls were abused, neglected, humiliated and deprived of health care, education and basic hygiene in 2022 at the state-run Adair Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Columbia.

More plaintiffs are expected to join the suit in coming days, Landenwich said.

The Department of Juvenile Justice has tried to bully the women by filing motions in state court to unseal their juvenile court records, arguing that “the general public has an interest in receiving the full context and details,” Landenwich said, quoting from the state’s motions.

Instead, the judge overseeing the federal lawsuit has signed a protective order at the women’s request, requiring that such confidential information be filed with the court under seal, outside of public view.

“What our clients did or didn’t do to get into Adair County has nothing to do with how they were treated inside that facility,” Landenwich said. “This is truly an attempt to smear these girls publicly in order to try to dampen the public outrage against the DJJ.”

“But they’re all going to think twice if, by coming forward to report what happens in these facilities, the whole world is going to know, forever and ever, all of the traumatic things that happened that put them in the system,” she said.

The Senate passed the bill unanimously on Friday and sent it to the House for further action, with no discussion about the language that would disclose youths’ confidential information.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Benton, did not respond Monday to requests for comment.

In a prepared statement, the Department of Juvenile Justice said the bill would let the agency present all of the facts necessary to defend itself from accusations made in court.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services already has similar rights under state law to make confidential information public during lawsuits brought against it by an adult who was the subject of that information. The Senate bill is phrased a little differently, saying “an adult or a juvenile.”

“Overall, it allows the Office of Legal Services to respond to the lawsuit and publicly acknowledge receipt and responses filed in court,” Department of Juvenile Justice spokeswoman Morgan Hall said.

“In no way is this part of the bill meant to negatively discuss a juvenile’s record. It simply allows the cabinet to respond to allegations with the correct information that it otherwise is prohibited from doing,” Hall said.

A different section of the bill gives the Department of Juvenile Justice the authority to publicly release certain information about youths who escape from custody, Hall added, such as their name, home county, a photo and a physical description.

Much of the 52-page bill addresses the need for better mental health services for youths in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, including plans to open a 16-bed treatment center in Louisville on the grounds of Central State Hospital. It also includes plans for two new girls-only detention centers.

But one sentence buried deep in the bill would give the Department of Juvenile Justice the right to use youths’ private records in its public legal defenses.

By filing a suit against the department that “publicly reveals or causes to be revealed any significant part of the confidential matter,” plaintiffs are assumed to have waived their right to confidentiality, the bill states.

Landenwich said she doesn’t believe this bill would survive the legal challenge that she will bring against it if the legislature passes it. Kentuckians have the right to sue their government without fear of reprisal, she said.

“The language itself is unconstitutional,” Landenwich said. “It’s a First Amendment issue. The girls have a right to seek redress from the government by virtue of the courts. What that bill does, it’s retaliation against them for exercising their First Amendment rights.”