Marsha Levick
American juvenile justice lawyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marsha Levick is a lawyer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. She is a co-founder and Chief Legal Officer of the Juvenile Law Center[1] and recognized as a leading expert in juvenile justice.[2][3][4]
Career
Marsha Levick finished the Friends Select School, Pennsylvania[3] and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University Law School.[1]
She and three other Temple University Law graduates founded the Juvenile Law Center in 1975.[3][5]
She had led the Juvenile Law Center litigation before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court related Kids for cash scandal in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.[2][1]
She co-authored child advocates' amicus briefs for a number of cases before the Supreme Court: Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida, J. D. B. v. North Carolina, and Miller v. Alabama and served as a co-counsel in Montgomery v. Louisiana.[1]
She is an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Temple University Beasley School of Law.[6]
Personal
Her father was an oncologist and her mother was a psychologist who founded the first graduate-level art therapy program in the country at Hahnemann University Hospital.[3]
Levick is married to Tom Innis, a Philadelphia public defender.[3] She has two daughters from a previous marriage.
Notable cases
- Pennsylvania Kids for cash scandal: Levick represented juveniles in two of several class action suits.[7][8]
Awards
- 2015: The Philadelphia Award; Quotation: "Mrs Levick's career-long commitment to advancing and safeguarding the rights of Philadelphia's youth has changed the face of juvenile justice not just in Philadelphia, but across the nation"[2]
- Awards from professional associations:[1]
- Temple University’s Women's Law Caucus Professional Achievement Award (2006)
- Pennsylvania Bar Association Child Advocate of the Year Award (2008)
- Foundation for the Improvement of Justice Award (2009)
- Pennsylvania Prison Society Award for Meritorious Service (2009)[9]
- Philadelphia Bar Association's Andrew Hamilton Award (2009)[9]
- American Association for Justice Leonard Weinglass Award (2010)
- American Bar Association Livingston Hall Award (2010)
- Rutgers-Camden Black Law Student Association Champion of Justice Award (2010)
- Clifford Scott Green Bill of Rights Award, Federal Bar Association, Philadelphia Criminal Justice Section (2010) (co-recipient)
- Philadelphia Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section Thurgood Marshall Award (2011) (Co-recipient)
- Other awards:[1]
- Philadelphia Inquirer Citizen of the Year (2009) (co-recipient)
- The Legal Intelligencer, Women of Distinction (2010)
- Good Shepherd Mediation Program Shepherd of Peace Award (2010)
- Friends Select School, Distinguished Alumnae Award (2011)
- Arlen Specter Award, The Legal Intelligencer (2013)
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Catcher in the Rye Award (2017)