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WISCONSIN

Outlandish claims investigated

On a schoolday, an unsuspecting Home School Legal Defense Association member family was visited by a social worker from the Milwaukee Bureau of the Child Welfare Department.^* Distressed, the family called HSLDA for help.

The social worker had received an anonymous tip that the family did not have a toilet and that they had stuffed a cloth in the hole of the toilet drain, from which noxious fumes were exuding. The social worker told the family that she was required to enter the home and interview all six of their children.

HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka spoke with the social worker while she stood at the family's door. He explained that the family had done nothing wrong and that the allegations were false. Klicka further explained that the family was standing on their 4th Amendment right to not allow the social worker into their home.

In a letter to the social worker, Klicka again explained the family's 4th Amendment rights and established the falsity of the allegation. Klicka promised the social worker that maintenance workers from the family's church would fax a notarized letter verifying that there were no toxic fumes in the house and that the bathroom was complete, functioning, and sanitary. He also attached a memorandum that described why warrantless entries into homes are unconstitutional.

After Klicka's letter and the fax from the family's church were sent, the family received no further contact from the Child Welfare Department.

- by Christopher J. Klicka

* See "HSLDA social services contact policy."