Comment Re:Why girl was removed. (Score 1) 329
What BCH and CPS has done constitutes a several million dollar lawsuit. If they back down, they are sure to be sued and lose millions. So they've dug their heels in....
It would be nice if a law suit were possible. But when I was researching this subject, I couldn't uncover one successful suit against a state CPS (If we ignore gripes by employees and contractors. I mean an action by a parent against CPS for wrongly taking the parent's kid). CPS (or more specifically, a particular state CPS agency) can not be legally accused of having insufficient justification for taking a kid. I'll try to explain.
In criminal law, in order for the state to remove a defendant's freedom, the state must show that she or he broke a law, something defined by statute. The statute will have conditions which must be met For example, in order for the state to convict someone for trespassing, the perpetrator must have knowingly been on the property, and he/she must have disobeyed a sign, barrier (like a fence), or a personally-communicated no-trespassing order from the property owner or his/her agent. The law has a definition, and someone can look it up for their jurisdiction.
In family court law, in a CPS action, legally, the state isn't accusing the kid or his parents of wrongdoing. The state is claiming that the kid is "at risk" of something happening to the kid, and, legally, although the kid may go to kiddy-jail, the action is not about the kid's freedom. The action is legally for the kid's benefit. The Guardian ad Litem, one of the attorneys working to lock-up the kid, is legally the kid's attorney. --- I'm getting too far from my point.
There is no pre-defined list of behaviors that merit taking a kid away from his/her family. There is no clear definition of "neglect" or "abuse" in respect to a kid-removing action. Many states have a criminal statute of child abuse, but that's something different. A parent doesn't need to be charged with anything to lose his or her baby.