Opinion ID: 148956
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Gregory Elliot (Dr.Elliot), Next Friend to Sam, Tony, Danny, and Michael[14]

Text: Dr. Elliot is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Brown University with a focus on child maltreatment. Dr. Elliot admitted he has not met the children or their relatives but explained that due to his research on social psychology and child maltreatment, he is familiar with the circumstances foster care children face while in the state's custody. He understands that a Next Friend is someone ... of legal competence who acts on behalf of minors who have no legal competence in the court. Dr. Elliot testified that after studying the complaint and the documents filed in the case regarding the children's situation, he believes the children have been placed in dire circumstances and concluded it was in the children's best interests to pursue the present suit. The district court found that because Dr. Elliot had not met the children and had not reviewed the children's family court and medical files, he could not serve as Next Friend. We do not believe this automatically disqualifies him as a Next Friend, however. Dr. Elliot testified he is aware of the issues and problems children face in foster care and he is familiar with the perils to which Plaintiffs have been exposed. He showed that due to his expertise and research he has a good faith desire to pursue the children's best interests in federal court. We find no evidence that Dr. Elliot is akin to the often feared ideologue that pursues an action for purely political or ideological reasons. Nothing in the record questions Dr. Elliot's good faith or indicates that he is pursuing the present suit for reasons other than a genuine concern for the children's well-being. Dr. Elliot is adequately prepared and willing to actively prosecute the types of claims the children have raised against the state of Rhode Island. We thus find that Dr. Elliot is an appropriate Next Friend. Although appointment of a Next Friend is not mandatory, nothing in the record intimates that the proposed Next Friends are not acting in good faith or that they won't be able to pursue this suit on the children's behalf. We thus find that the proposed Next Friends are suited to represent the children in this case. [15]