Mr. Howard has been an active litigator for over 40 years. Before entering private practice, he served as Director of Litigation for Memphis Area Legal Services and the National Center for Youth Law based in St. Louis and San Francisco.
He won numerous federal court injunctions and monetary damage awards against (1) state social service departments for failing to process welfare applications and provide assistance and food stamps to eligible recipients and their children, and to protect their confidentiality rights; (2) against state education and health agencies for their refusal to facilitate the vaccinations of poor children required for their admission to preschool and the first grade; (3) against state prisons and county workhouses to improve conditions of confinement and to provide due process rights to inmates before the imposition of institutional punishment; (4) against state courts for denying the right to counsel to children charged with delinquency and status offenses.
His multi-state civil rights class actions led to nation-wide reform and raised minimal constitutional standards on behalf of young persons in state custody. He obtained court orders to close draconian youth homes and training schools, favoring the development of foster homes and community-based care and to secure the right to medical treatment and education. His cases led to prohibition on the use of corporeal punishment and long-term solitary confinement, as well as chemical (thorasene) and mechanical restraints (hog-tying and strap boards), and the use of adult jails for the incarceration of children.
He expanded the procedural rights of juveniles caught in the judicial system to check the unfettered discretion of judges and law enforcement officials. Those due process protections included the right to counsel, preliminary hearings, non-punitive detention and appellate review. The constitutional principles gained in many of his cases served as precedents and were codified into state law and the model ABA Juvenile Justice Standards that continue to guide legislation and court rules of procedure. His federal habeas corpus petition on behalf of a death row inmate was instrumental in creating the actual innocence test established by the Supreme Court.
In addition to civil rights litigation, Mr. Howard concentrates on labor and employment law. His appellate victories have set precedents favorable to employees and union members in many areas of the law, including sexual harassment, age, race, and retaliation discrimination, expanding standards of liability and available remedies in disparate treatment cases.
His employment litigation has been joined by the Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to challenge discriminatory policies and practices in a number of large corporations and public agencies.
He has presented numerous continuing legal education programs and lectures. His commentary in law review periodicals and treatises include Introduction to Litigation Advocacy, Law and Tactics in Juvenile Cases, Publicity in Juvenile Court Proceedings. (Cite).
As a consultant to the Justice Department, he lectured throughout the country to state agencies on the use of civil rights class actions to achieve equal justice under the law in order to foster programs of treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention, and to curb the propensity toward and misuse of incarceration.