Court hears CPS arguments

I mentioned before that the US Supreme Court was hearing a CPS case. The oral argument was yesterday, as the LA Times reports:

WASHINGTON…The Supreme Court justices, hearing arguments in a closely watched case involving child-abuse investigations at school, took sharp exception to the notion that a search warrant or a parent's consent is required before a child can be questioned at school by a child care worker or a police officer.

Each year, state and local agencies investigate more than 3 million claims of child abuse or neglect. In about one in four cases, the investigators decide that some abuse took place.

The high court has not ruled on whether the Constitution put some limits on investigations at school. However, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco got the attention of child care workers nationwide when it ruled that investigators usually need a search warrant before taking a child out of class for questioning.

Unfortunately, it appears that the court is going to give CPS more power. The conservatives like to cut obstacles to law enforcement, and the liberals believe that govt social workers should have more authority over kids. The result is that neither side wants to respect parental rights.

Here is the transcript, and more info.