robertlathamesq.org

Category: Case Law Updates

  • Fourth DCA: Case plan tasks preventing contact between parents are legit

    In a small number of cases, one parent’s compliance with their case plan will be contingent upon their ending contact with the other parent.  Over a Free Association challenge, the Fourth DCA says this is not an unconstitutional infringement of association: As to the father’s claim that his constitutional right to free association with the…

  • First DCA: foster parents cannot use corporal punishment under cover of religious belief

    If your religious beliefs do not allow you to abide by the contractual terms of being a foster parent, then you should not be a foster parent, says the First DCA: We reject Appellants’ contention that section 409.175(1)(b) deprives the Department of legal authority to prohibit corporal punishment, specifically the striking of the child’s body in an…

  • To Motion or Not to Motion – Second DCA still requires motion for dismissal below

    The Second DCA is still requiring parents to make a motion for dismissal at trial in order to preserve arguments for appeal. O.T. v. DCF, — So.3d —- (Fla. 2nd DCA) (July 24, 2013). And for some reason defense attorneys in the Second DCA are still not doing that. The Second at least certifies conflict:…

  • Permanent Guardianship Reversal #5

    This is the fifth permanent guardianship reversal this year (see numbers 1, 2,  3 & 4). This time due to lack of specific findings regarding the parent’s compliance with the case plan. To the trial court’s credit, the visitation schedule was sufficiently specific. In re R.C., — So.3d —- (Fla. 2nd DCA) (August 2, 2013).

  • Independent Living Final Orders for April – June 2013

    Through an agreement with the good people at Florida Administrative Law Reports, I’m happy to be able to share with you the Independent Living fair hearing final orders that would not have otherwise made it into the published FALR. In this batch I received ten final orders ranging in dates from April 12, 2013 to…

  • S.L. v. DCF: How to beat an abandonment case

    In 2012, the Florida Legislature decided that parents were not being TPR’d enough for abandoning their children, and so they tweaked the definition of abandonment to make it easier to bring a case. Instead of abandonment being defined as failing to maintain a relationship with your child and failing to support your child, it was weakened to…

  • Third DCA Upholds Attorney-Client Privilege for Foster Youth, Quashes Contempt Order

    R.L.R. came down today quashing the contempt order and upholding the attorney-client privilege. Says the court: “In this circumstance it is altogether clear that protecting the attorney-client privilege protects the administration of justice.” I was saddened and disappointed by some of the language DCF (notably not the GAL Program) used in its oral argument and response. Language…

  • Amendments to the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure

    The Florida Supreme Court has finally addressed the following open questions in dependency cases: How to determine parenthood, How to hold someone in civil contempt, How to conduct supplemental findings hearings, and How to withdraw as counsel. May the administration of justice now be a little smoother. In re: Amendment to the Florida Rules of…

  • Reunification Case Plans Mean Something

    Once you give a parent a case plan with a goal of reunification, you have to see it through unless you have a hearing to change it. It’s hard to believe it’s that simple. But it is. We recognize that section 39.521(3)(b)(1), Florida Statutes (2011), gives a court the option to place a dependent child…

  • Florida Fifth DCA: Poverty and Medical Neglect

    The Fifth DCA recently issued an opinion in A.J. v. DCF upholding a finding of dependency in a poverty + medical fragility case. According to the opinion, the parents were living out of a car, medical appointments were missed, and the child’s life was endangered. This, the court held, was sufficient to show neglect. The…