United States Ninth Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that the conduct of defendant-social worker in removing plaintiffs-children from their home without a warrant violated their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, summary judgment for social worker based on qualified immunity and denial of summary judgment to plaintiffs are reversed where: 1) it was clearly established that warrantless removal of children is permissible only in cases of exigency; and 2) it would have been apparent to a reasonable social worker that no exigency existed in the case at hand.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/16/2007
• Decided 05/29/2007
• Published 05/29/2007

Judges

• REINHARDT, Circuit Judge., Before:  WARREN J. FERGUSON, STEPHEN REINHARDT, and MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• David J. Beauvais, Oakland, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Daniel C. Cederborg, Office of the County Counsel, County of San Joaquin, Stockton, CA, for the defendants-appellees.