child welfare
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10th Circuit reinstates constitutional rights lawsuit against Douglas County child welfare workers
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The federal appeals court based in Denver reinstated a father’s lawsuit on Thursday against two Douglas County child welfare workers, who allegedly violated his constitutional rights in their investigation of suspected child abuse. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit noted a trial judge had previously dismissed the lawsuit…
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Colorado Supreme Court wary of requiring child welfare workers to give Miranda warnings prior to interrogations
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Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed hesitant on Wednesday to endorse the idea that child welfare workers must provide a Miranda warning before interrogating a parent in custody, even if the conversation will later be used in a criminal prosecution. The state’s Court of Appeals previously upheld the murder convictions of two men, both…
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El Paso County judge wrongly revoked father’s jury trial in child neglect case, appeals court finds
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that an El Paso County judge wrongly revoked a father’s choice of a jury trial in his child neglect case because the man had failed to appear two years earlier for a separate proceeding. Under Colorado law, parents have the right of a jury trial to determine whether a…
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Colorado Supreme Court takes up 6 cases on involuntary intoxication, malicious prosecution, child neglect trials
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The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday it will hear appeals in six cases, including the question of whether a person can claim he knowingly ingested one substance that was secretly laced with another behavior-altering substance as a defense to criminal charges. At least three of the court’s seven members must agree to grant an…
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Divided appeals court takes no issue with lack of child welfare services to incarcerated father
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Colorado’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that even if a child welfare caseworker could have rehabilitated a father by facilitating visitation time and drug treatment while he was incarcerated, the lack of services was excusable because the man likely would not have taken advantage of them anyway. By 2-1, a three-judge panel of the Court…
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Colorado Supreme Court finds judge wrongly disclosed report about troubled child welfare office
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A Washington County judge should not have disclosed a report about potential misconduct in the local child welfare agency to the state office charged with investigating the child protection system, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. In addition to finding that District Court Judge Charles M. Hobbs had already given up his jurisdiction over…
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Child neglect rulings in 3 cases reversed by Colorado appeals court
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday determined judges in Montrose and Mesa counties improperly ruled against parents in child welfare cases, with one judge being the subject of two reversals. Weeks earlier, Montrose County District Court Judge D. Cory Jackson was reversed a third time by the Court of Appeals because he denied a woman’s request for…
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State Supreme Court agrees to hear case of backpack search that turned up loaded gun
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The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine whether Denver school officials acted lawfully when they searched a student’s backpack, ultimately uncovering a loaded handgun. The justices also narrowly turned down a second appeal out of Denver involving the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to child welfare proceedings. Granting an appeal requires…
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State Supreme Court clarifies effect of serious bodily injury on child welfare cases
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Once the government proves that, more likely than not, a child experienced a serious bodily injury, a judge may find no treatment plan is possible to help the parent become fit, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The justices took the uncommon step of hearing an appeal directly from Arapahoe County after noting the…
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Appeals court says Denver judge was wrong to revoke woman’s jury trial for being late
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Colorado’s second-highest court on Thursday concluded a Denver judge wrongfully revoked a woman’s jury trial for child neglect because she arrived late the morning of the trial. Child welfare cases, formally known as dependency and neglect, are not criminal, and so a parent has no constitutional right to a jury trial. But the Colorado legislature…
