Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

SUN EDITORIAL:

Finding the right balance

Justices shouldn’t let rights be trumped simply in abuse investigations

After receiving a tip in 2003 that a 9-year-old girl had been sexually abused by her father, a child protection investigator and a deputy sheriff in Bend, Ore., went to the girl’s school to interview her. The girl was taken to a conference room and said she was subject to two hours of difficult questioning.

Her mother didn’t know about the interview, and the girl was left alone with the investigator and the deputy.

The ensuing investigation resulted in the girl and her sister being put in a foster home for three weeks, and they were subject to invasive physical exams. Their mother was barred from being with the girls during the exams for signs of sexual abuse, which were inconclusive.

The girls’ mother, Sarah Greene, sued in federal court, alleging the interview and exams were illegal and a violation of constitutional rights. A federal court dismissed the case, but a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Oregon officials overstepped their bounds and the family’s rights were violated.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying the decision would have an adverse effect on child abuse investigations. The Supreme Court heard the case Tuesday, which pits the rights of families and children against the responsibility of states to investigate child abuse.

The first of its kind in 20 years, the case has drawn wide attention. Seventy groups and individuals have filed friend of the court briefs supporting the mother, and 40 states, including Nevada, have filed briefs in support of Oregon.

The justices asked questions that indicate they are favoring setting aside the 9th Circuit’s opinion. But the Supreme Court shouldn’t dismiss the case because there are some troubling issues.

The girl didn’t have her mother or any type of advocate with her during the interview or during the physical examination, which would be difficult for an adult, much less a 9-year-old. During her interview with the investigator and the deputy, both of whom are men, she said she was “so scared” that she didn’t ask questions, didn’t ask for a drink of water or tell them that she felt sick.

And she said when she told them that her father hadn’t abused her, the investigator responded, “No, that’s not right.” Fearing the school bus would leave without her, the girl said she told them what she thought they wanted to hear — her father touched her inappropriately — “just to get out of the room.”

The 9th Circuit said Oregon officials shouldn’t have held her and said they had clear options: They could have gotten a warrant or parental permission to talk to the girl. Had there been an emergency or had the child been in danger, the officials could have legally acted without a warrant or permission. But Oregon officials did none of those things.

Now, Oregon and other states argue that the 9th Circuit’s ruling will hamstring their work. Child protection officials want more latitude than law enforcement officials have in investigating cases, citing the sensitivity and the difficulty of the issue.

Protection workers are often criticized for not doing enough to protect children, and this case shouldn’t be used to hamper them from doing what is a very difficult job. They should have the ability to investigate child welfare cases and protect society’s most vulnerable, but what happened in Oregon certainly seems over the line.

The court shouldn’t set aside the 9th Circuit’s ruling. It should, instead, use the case to provide clear guidance to states and make sure the rights of children and families aren’t forgotten.

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