AP - Justices weigh dispute over child-abuse cases

The following is an excerpt from a February 26, 2011 Associated Press article written by David Crary.

NEW YORK (AP) - Eight years ago, a child protection investigator and a deputy sheriff removed a 9-year-old Oregon girl from her classroom and questioned her at length as to whether her father had sexually abused her. According to the girl, they wouldn't take "no" for an answer, and she falsely incriminated her father.

On Tuesday, that incident will be the focus of arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a divisive case that has roused intense interest among those with a stake in child welfare issues.

The central question: Did the two men violate the Fourth Amendment's ban on "unreasonable search and seizure" when they questioned the girl in that manner without a warrant, without her mother's consent, and in the absence of emergency circumstances?

The rest of the article can be found at http://www.abc27.com/Global/story.asp?S=14146380&

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Family Empowerment Program facilitator and FDC active member Toni Hoy has a new book. Read FDC Executive Director Diane Redleaf's comment in the book jacket below:

Toni Hoy is a child and family advocate par excellence. Her personal story of the battle to save her family and her son is not just her story: she both beautifully and strategically weaves her own family's heartbreaking experience into the context of the needs of children and families, generally.