Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Is it legal for social workers to come into your home without a search warrant? Today on Home School Heartbeat Mike Smith talks with HSLDA's litigation attorney Jim Mason about the 4th Amendment.

Mike:


Jim, it seems that social workers in the Stumbo case thought the constitution didn't apply to them. Does the 4th amendment apply to social workers? And if so why is it important that they recognize this?


Jim:


Mike, most emphatically the 4th amendment applies to social workers. The 4th amendment says that the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and affects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated. The 4th amendment applies to all state actors. It doesn't say that it doesn't apply to social workers. When social workers come out to investigate an allegation of abuse or neglect, they are under the exact same requirements as police officers investigating crime. It's important that they understand that because when a social worker comes out to the house, they are intruding into one of the most important areas of our lives--our homes and our families. That's the very heart of what the 4th amendment was intended to protect. And social workers while they have an important role in finding child abuse and neglect cases, they can't run rough shod over the rights of people.


Mike:


Well, Jim was you know HSLDA has committed a lot of time to making this a reality. That is that social workers have to realize that the 4th Amendment to the Constitution applies to them and other government workers. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.