Ceilings leak from time to time. Public restrooms reek. This was the second time the little girl would wait. The first was Sept. 18, when the trial was originally scheduled. After hours of delay that day, the case was postponed to Oct. 9.
All juvenile courts deal in misery, but conditions in Allegheny County's compound the suffering.
Juvenile court is the place where three full-time judges order children to be taken from abusive and neglectful parents. It's where judges permanently sever parents' legal rights to their children. It's the court that sends delinquents, some as young as 10, away to reform school. In this place, families are ripped apart. But to call Allegheny County's juvenile court a river of tears would be a compliment.