Social Workers as Expert Witnesses in Child Welfare Cases

Lawyers are increasingly calling upon social workers to serve as expert witnesses in cases involving children and families. Roles for social workers are emerging in the courtroom as expert witnesses in such areas as guardianship, forensic issues, child abuse and neglect, commitment hearings, education, and family custody evaluation. As society gets more specialized and complicated, the courts are using the testimony of expert witnesses to help resolve cases. Whether defending social workers or agencies, or litigating on behalf of a client, having the right experienced ...

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Shared Custody Battle Goes Federal

Last week a federal lawsuit was filed against the state of Pennsylvania by the Indiana Civil Rights Council and like-minded groups such as the American Coalition for Fathers and Children. These and similar organizations plan to sue all 50 states and U.S. territories. At least 40 suits have already been filed, according to the Council. The lawsuits use a wide range of constitutional grounds to argue that a child's parents both have an equal right to custody and directly challenge the commonly utilized legal standard known as "the best interest of the child." The lawsuits ...

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The Circle School v. Pappert

Pennsylvania law mandates that all public, private, and parochial schools display the national flag in every classroom and provide for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem at the beginning of each school day. Like similar statutes in other states, the law allows private and parochial schools to opt out of its requirements on religious grounds, and gives students the option of refraining from participating in the recitation and saluting the national flag on religious or personal grounds. However, it also requires school supervising officials ...

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State v. Nguyen

In this Oregon case, the parents appealed a judgment terminating their parental rights in their three-year-old son Matthew. They argued that the state failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that they are unfit parents, that reintegration into their home is improbable within a reasonable time because they are unlikely to change, and that termination of their parental rights was in Matthew's best interest. The TPR was filed after one of the parents inflicted serious abuse on Matthew's sibling, four-month old Martha, repeatedly breaking her limbs and fracturing ...

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Doe v. Little Rock School District

This case required the court to decide whether the practice of the Little Rock School District that subjects secondary public school students to random, suspicionless searches of their persons and belongings by school officials is unconstitutional. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that such searches violate the students' fourth amendment rights because they unreasonably invade their legitimate expectations of privacy.

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Wong v. Regents of the University of California

In this rare but increasingly common Section 504 educational accommodation case, the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a successful but learning disabled student was not entitled to special accommodations. The student, whose reading comprehension scores when allowed to read without time limits were at the 99.5 percentile, but under time constraints at the eighth grade level, was deemed not disabled under Section 504. Highlights from the court's decision follow: "That is not to say that a successful student by definition cannot qualify as “disabled...

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