The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
43°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Judges nix appeal saying some migrant kids may not need soap

In this July 9, 2019 photo, immigrants play soccer at the U.S. government's newest holding center for migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas. A panel of judges has dismissed an appeal by the U.S. government that contended detained immigrant children might necessarily require soap for shorter stints in custody under a longstanding settlement agreement. A three-judge panel for the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, dismissed a challenge to a lower court decision that authorities failed to provide safe and sanitary conditions for the children under the 1997 settlement. (Eric Gay / AP)
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO – A panel of judges has dismissed an appeal by the U.S. government contending that detained immigrant children may not necessarily require soap for shorter stints in custody under a longstanding settlement agreement.

A three-judge panel for the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday dismissed a challenge to a lower court decision that authorities failed to provide safe and sanitary conditions for the children under the 1997 settlement.

The panel wrote that assuring the children eat enough edible food, have soap and toothpaste and aren’t sleep-deprived are essential to their safety.

A U.S. government lawyer in June argued the settlement was vague about what is required to determine a facility is safe and sanitary.

A federal judge in 2017 found the government had breached the agreement.