Parents: Do You Remember The Fourth Amendment?
If you’re a parent living in the USA with young children, and if you don’t know what the Fourth Amendment is, please pay attention. This information could save your family.
The Fourth Amendment states that government workers can’t enter your home without your permission, unless they have a warrant based on ‘probable cause’.
Here’s the exact text of the Fourth Amendment:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
It has been established that this protection applies to Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers just as it applies to law enforcement officers. Despite the clear text of this section of the Bill of Rights, many caseworkers still think they can force parents to allow them into their homes.
Recently, near the end of January 2007, a child protection caseworker showed up at the door of a Michigan homeschooling family. She would not read a paper the mother handed her regarding her rights, and yelled at the mother, insisting that she should be allowed to enter immediately to do a “strip search” of one of the children. She was basing her intrusion on an anonymous tip stating that the children listened only to Christian music, that they “ate their cheerios dry”, that their only socialization was through the church, and that the mother pinched and hit her children in church to keep them quiet.
Since when is listening to Christian music or socializing in church a form of child neglect? And eating dry cheerios - is that a crime? If the caseworker had kept her complaint to ‘pinching and hitting’ she wouldn’t have lost her credibility and we wouldn’t be laughing at her now. However remember, this was all based on an anonymous tip, and who knows what the motivation of that phone call might have been?
The mother contacted an attorney, Chris Klicka, of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). He sent the caseworker a letter regarding her rude and unprofessional behavior toward the family. He noted that she obviously hadn’t received the social worker training in the Fourth Amendment. A year and a half earlier HSLDA helped pass a law in that state which requires all caseworkers to be trained in their “duty to protect both statutory and constitutional rights of those being investigated.” Klicka also informed the caseworker that she would be held liable for violating the family’s civil rights.
Meanwhile the mother responded to the investigation by getting a statement from her children’s doctor indicating that her children were not abused. She also got letters from people who stated that they were good parents to their children.
The caseworker continued to try to interview the children and strip search them, and threatened to get a court order to do so. Klicka informed her that she had no ‘probable cause’ for a warrant because anonymous tips don’t qualify as credible evidence. The caseworker insisted she would get a court order, but instead, a few days later she contacted the family saying she would drop the case.
I guess she finally figured out what the Fourth Amendment was, and what ‘probable cause’ meant.
HSLDA, the Home School Legal Defense Association, serves mostly homeschooling Christians, but will provide legal defense for any homeschooler regardless of religion, so long as the dues are paid. This defense extends to homeschooling families facing accusations and investigations from Child Protective Services. HSLDA lawyers have been instrumental in going to court for homeschooling families with CPS problems, and have managed to establish very positive case law protecting anyone facing false accusations of abuse. For that, HSLDA lawyers should be praised by all families, forever.
[Note: I am not a member of HSLDA and never have been. I am not trying to get new memberships for them. However I very much appreciate what they’ve done for families facing false child abuse allegations.]
References:
Homeschooler Listening Only to Christian Music Turned in for Child Abuse
Let me first say this. When ANYONE, including HSLDA, wins against lawless perverters of justice, I rejoice and thank my God. We’ve been homeschoolers since our first child and have teens now. However, one caution about HSLDA… They refuse to help homeschoolers who are not currently dues-paying members. If you have a CPS problem right now and you just found out about HSLDA, sorry, folks, you are just out of luck. Find an attorney on your own; HSLDA will not only not offer you legal help (beyond a referral), they will snub your family’s application as a member family.
That last part is hard to understand. Why kick a family when they are already down? Isn’t that what HSLDA claims to be for, rights of all homeschoolers? And doesn’t what happens to my neighbor affect me, including snubbed non-HSLDA homeschool families? I can understand the decision not to represent a family for free or even at all when they are new to HSLDA and currently going through a CPS mess, but why bar a family from even being members of the organization at all until the CPS mess is cleaned up? Weird, that’s all I have to say. At the very least, allowing families into the organization regardless of status with CPS would help give many innocent families emotional and spiritual support. I thought HSLDA was more than the legal defense part. I can’t imagine the National Rifle Association turning anyone away because they are currently having legal problems. It’s simple enough; the NRA remains neutral and allows their members the freedom to deal with the courts about their own private matters. I can’t imagine the NRA would be the powerful organization it is if it turned away potential members that easily. And another thing is the dues part. If HSLDA only wants families who are NOT going through the CPS grinder, it seems what they DO want is a lot of families paying dues who aren’t now or may never have problems. That tips the balance toward dues payers who never need their services. Something stinks with that.
Our family chose not to become members of HSLDA because of this matter. I’m also learning they are not as influential as they may appear to be to new homeschool families, and some of their political lobbying may not speak for all families. They certainly don’t speak for us, and they don’t speak for the majority of homeschool families, as is backed up by the number of homeschool families vs. number of HSLDA member families.
OK, off the soapbox. Rejoicing in another victory. Thanks for posting.
Comment by Renee — August 7, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
Renee, I had the same result as you when I had a CPS problem and wrote to the HSLDA attorneys about it. They wished me well and said they wouldn’t help. However I didn’t try to join their organization, so I didn’t get the resounding slap in the face that you got. I side with you in that matter. To refuse your application at that time was heartless, and yes, probably an indication that their business profit is more important to them than the rights of families.
Any other comments on this, anyone? Maybe you would have to be a homeschooling family to chime in on this… maybe not. I homeschooled my children for nine years.
All the best to you, Renee.
Comment by Linda — August 7, 2007 @ 10:46 pm
Hey Linda i have to agree with you about the 4th amendment. To what ive gathered C.P.S angencies(workers) are trying to disclude themselves from the amendment its not the case they are included. Like with my sons case the worker fabricated the accusations for the warrant to remove him from my care. Whats sad the worker didnt have real facts to represent her case but we had a dishonorable judge that went on strickly hearsay for this worker to terminate my rights. It should be ilegal to fabricate just to get a warrant and to lie under oath isnt that called perjury if it is then the judge on my sons case should be accountable just as well as the worker herself do you agree.
Comment by Johnny — August 8, 2007 @ 7:45 am
i agree renee, lida and johnny
Comment by Christy — August 8, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
Johnny, the judge isn’t guilty of perjury - only the people who filed reports with misrepresentations of the truth. In a CPS case the judge decides on the preponderance of the evidence. If the caseworker files reports and you don’t, they have the preponderance. That’s how most cases are lost…. people don’t realize that they have to file legal documents and evidence showing their side of the controversy.
Comment by Linda — August 8, 2007 @ 10:00 pm
This situation gives air to my point about anonymous tips or calls to CPS. You never know what a persons motives are. For example: I could be disagreeing with an associate about the way she handles the well being of her children (just giving her advise and offering to help) but, she takes it an offensive way and may feel that i would call CPS on her so she calls in and makes false accusations on me.. This is not something that happened to me BUT IT DOES HAPPEN ALOT, especially to those of us who really do live our lifes for our children and there are jealous and revenge seeking people out there who will try to hurt you in the worst possible way ie. TAKE CHILDREN AWAY WHO ARE VERY MUCH LOVED. In refrence to the law if someone were to tell on another about a crime, their own personal credability is also examined, ANONYMOUS CALLS SHOULD NOT HAVE CPS KNOCKING AT OUR DOOR, THE CALLER SHOULD BE ASKED QUESTIONS AS TO WHO THEY ARE, THEIR INFORMATION, AND THEN WE OR THE ACCUSED SHOULD BE ABLE TO FACE THEIR ACCUSER..THERE SHOULD BE NO WAY AROUND THAT. If i knew that a child was being brutaly beaten or neglected i would tell the parent face to face and do my part to protect that child..The acuser should have nothing to hide, therefore unless they are just trying to be hateful and cause problems when in fact it is probebly their own children who need attention or help….something needs to change.
Comment by Ronni — September 25, 2007 @ 1:24 pm
CPS in our area thankfully has brains and are good solid people who truly investigate accusations. Ex-spouses with a grudge seem to like to make lots of false allegations. I was accused as a step-parent of being neglectful because I “ran out of milk” during a weekend visitation. Unbelievable. Only someone who is mentally ill would regard such a comment as viable.
They also seem to like to manipulate their children into “confessing” about things. This is psychological torture.
Thank God CPS here has decent people with more than an ounce of sense.
Comment by joe — October 10, 2007 @ 6:53 am
i am fighting cps now–carver county, chaska,minnesota..my son & i live in an apt and SUPPOSEDLy
Comment by janet — December 24, 2007 @ 9:37 am
oops !! some neighbor heard my son & i ( 8 yrs old ) argueing so someone called cps and unknown to me yhe police showed and a cps worker showed up at my son’s school asking him and his teacher all kinds of questions about me and his home life and that was about 2 months ago—they’ve got nothing but they keep digging & digging–contacting my family members–the cps worker ( sarah ) keeps and always tthreatens me that she has the power to take my son away and i just get the feeling that she is out to prove and determeined to take my son away–i thought cps does what ever they can to keep the child in the home–but this girl is doing everything she can to remove him..i kept my son home from school sick one day and she found out ( how i don’t know ) but she said that she was knocking at my door fot 20 minutes and i didn’t answer–she said she heard us talking and the tv on…the bottom line is–she was not at my home—but she reported to her supervisor nothing but lies-lies lies
Comment by janet — December 24, 2007 @ 9:51 am