IOWA

Family Fights Back Against DHS

Howard and Debbie Taylor are a typical Iowa home schooling family, with this difference: Debbie's mother is described by her whole family as "paranoid," and Debbie's sister is a public school teacher. When Howard and Debbie spanked their three-year-old at a family gathering last year, Debbie's mother and sister went ballistic. They threatened to call social services immediately and have the children taken away. "Grandmothers have rights! Aunts have rights!" they shouted, as Howard and Debbie gathered up their children and fled (with the remains of a birthday cake in their arms) from the home.

One year later, those threats came true. Social workers appeared at the door demanding to see the children. Debbie refused. The social worker went to court asking for an order to enter the home and talk to the children. The judge, acting completely contrary to law, wrote out a court order to seize the children and bring them to the courthouse. After hours of interrogation, the social workers had blown the original allegations up into a wild tale of ritual bondage and dangerous behavior. The court-appointed guardian ad litem described the parents as exhibiting a "Ruby Ridge mentality."

Home School Legal Defense Association attorney Scott Somerville flew in to assist local attorney Ray Sullins at a hearing challenging the order removing the children. After a two-day trial attended by over 120 spectators, DHS agreed to release the children and give the family an opportunity to challenge the taped interview through expert testimony. Debbie Taylor fell to her knees as her seven-year-old daughter ran through the courtroom door. "My baby! My baby!" Debbie cried as she gathered her little girl into her arms.