Parental Rights to Return to Supreme Court?
It’s a dilemma faced by too many already: What do you do when a social worker and a deputy stand at your door and tell you, “Let us in to look around, or we will remove your child(ren)?” According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the ultimatum does not constitute coercion. If you let them in your house, you have done so willingly and waived your Fourth Amendment rights in the process.
The Supreme Court of Illinois, which in the 1970’s declared that “the termination of parental rights is the ‘death sentence’ of the family courts,” might strongly disagree. So do our allies at the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which is why they are appealing the ruling to the United States Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court reviews hundreds of cases every year for appeal and only selects to hear a few of those, so there is no guarantee that Loudermilk v. Arpaio will be heard. HSLDA, however, filed a petition for writ of certiorari last week seeking the Court’s attention.
“The Loudermilk case is key because the Supreme Court has never ruled that state social services employees cannot use a threat to remove children to coerce entry,” HSLDA said in a statement. But such a threat seems to be a standard technique used to separate scared and confused parents from their children without a warrant or imminent danger.
