Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and one of the lead lawyers in Floyd, has joined F.J.L.C.’s legal team for the seizure lawsuit. (Melissa Friedman, a leading attorney at the Legal Aid Society, which represents children in family court, has joined the team as well.) Azmy was glad to learn that the team was being advised by a group of parent activists, not only because they were the ones who had a firsthand understanding of the issues at stake but also because it was their ability to sway public opinion that would make the lawsuit count. Legal results without an organized movement to sustain public outrage, he knew, were fragile and ineffective.

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