Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Child's Fourth Amendment Rights
ALEXANDRIA Va. and CHICAGO, Feb 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire
Decisions from these arguments may address long standing concerns of parents and their rights concerning protecting their children while under the care and supervision in public schools.
Currently in NYS, if DSS has cause to investigate any allegations that may involve your child; they can and will, without your knowledge or consent, interview or interrogate your child and ask any questions that they so desire. The school will cooperate 100% with DSS. You might say that I have given the school explicit instruction in writing that under no circumstances is your child or children to speak with anyone, outside of school personnel, without your knowledge or presence. The fact is, the school sees this as an official investigation by DSS or CPS and likely will not even tell you that this interrogation occurred. In most cases you will find out by letter from DSS or CPS, after the fact, or by general conversation with your child about their daily activities at school. You can yell and scream all you want, but the schools and their attorney's will stand behind this, as you start to understand how much real control over the protection and access of your child you have from the reaches of the government and other authorities. Of course, if the school has seen or suspects abuse, they are required by law to report their suspicions to the authorities.
In NYS, here is how the "Child Abuse Hotline" works. When a call is received, whether by a mandatory reporter such as a school or daycare provider, or by an individual; the "complaint" is entered into it's registry database, including all the names of the parties being reported. The case is then referred to the local DSS or CPS office for investigation. Those named in the complaint will get a letter from the NYS registry that you have been "indicated" involving a complaint received by NYS. Then you will usually get a knock on your door by DSS that they need to speak to you about an incident that they are investigating. Keep in mind, the state has "indicated" you in their database. Thats kind of like "your guilty" until they prove that are or are not through their investigation of the incident. And depending on the nature of these allegations, DSS/CPS may also show up at your door with law enforcement. Now if this happens, things are usually not good and although I cannot offer legal advise; I do suggest you not speak to anyone until you speak to an attorney! You see, the trouble is, ANYONE can make a Hot Line call and they don't have to identify who they are. So if you might have issues with an ex-spouse or ex-significant other, well simply put, they can drop a dime on you and the authorities have to investigate. Of course you might say "I haven't done anything wrong, so I have nothing to fear". I hate to say it doesn't always work out that way. Something that you thought you simply explained away could be taken out of context, and usually is, can be turned into something quite different. Say nothing and speak to an attorney. Also voice your concerns about any interviews made at the school without your knowledge or consent.
So what happens after all is said and done and that they find nothing wrong and you eventually get that NYS letter that you are "not indicated" in this matter? Well, lucky you! You get to stay in the NYS Hotline registry for 10 years! Yes, not indicated but your name stays on the registry? They won't expunge it either. So in a nutshell, your guilty right from the get-go and even when they find nothing wrong; you stay on their registry!
How important is this issue of your child's 4th Amendment rights? Keep in mind, as a rule, these child interrogations are never video taped or audio recorded. Although the school will have a representative present during this encounter between the child and the authorities, who is there representing your concerns as the parent of your child? I don't know how you feel, but I certainly don't trust anyone outside of my immediate family to have "the best interest and protection" of my child!
Decisions from these arguments may address long standing concerns of parents and their rights concerning protecting their children while under the care and supervision in public schools.
Currently in NYS, if DSS has cause to investigate any allegations that may involve your child; they can and will, without your knowledge or consent, interview or interrogate your child and ask any questions that they so desire. The school will cooperate 100% with DSS. You might say that I have given the school explicit instruction in writing that under no circumstances is your child or children to speak with anyone, outside of school personnel, without your knowledge or presence. The fact is, the school sees this as an official investigation by DSS or CPS and likely will not even tell you that this interrogation occurred. In most cases you will find out by letter from DSS or CPS, after the fact, or by general conversation with your child about their daily activities at school. You can yell and scream all you want, but the schools and their attorney's will stand behind this, as you start to understand how much real control over the protection and access of your child you have from the reaches of the government and other authorities. Of course, if the school has seen or suspects abuse, they are required by law to report their suspicions to the authorities.
In NYS, here is how the "Child Abuse Hotline" works. When a call is received, whether by a mandatory reporter such as a school or daycare provider, or by an individual; the "complaint" is entered into it's registry database, including all the names of the parties being reported. The case is then referred to the local DSS or CPS office for investigation. Those named in the complaint will get a letter from the NYS registry that you have been "indicated" involving a complaint received by NYS. Then you will usually get a knock on your door by DSS that they need to speak to you about an incident that they are investigating. Keep in mind, the state has "indicated" you in their database. Thats kind of like "your guilty" until they prove that are or are not through their investigation of the incident. And depending on the nature of these allegations, DSS/CPS may also show up at your door with law enforcement. Now if this happens, things are usually not good and although I cannot offer legal advise; I do suggest you not speak to anyone until you speak to an attorney! You see, the trouble is, ANYONE can make a Hot Line call and they don't have to identify who they are. So if you might have issues with an ex-spouse or ex-significant other, well simply put, they can drop a dime on you and the authorities have to investigate. Of course you might say "I haven't done anything wrong, so I have nothing to fear". I hate to say it doesn't always work out that way. Something that you thought you simply explained away could be taken out of context, and usually is, can be turned into something quite different. Say nothing and speak to an attorney. Also voice your concerns about any interviews made at the school without your knowledge or consent.
So what happens after all is said and done and that they find nothing wrong and you eventually get that NYS letter that you are "not indicated" in this matter? Well, lucky you! You get to stay in the NYS Hotline registry for 10 years! Yes, not indicated but your name stays on the registry? They won't expunge it either. So in a nutshell, your guilty right from the get-go and even when they find nothing wrong; you stay on their registry!
How important is this issue of your child's 4th Amendment rights? Keep in mind, as a rule, these child interrogations are never video taped or audio recorded. Although the school will have a representative present during this encounter between the child and the authorities, who is there representing your concerns as the parent of your child? I don't know how you feel, but I certainly don't trust anyone outside of my immediate family to have "the best interest and protection" of my child!
