S.D.Ohio: Social workers must comply with 4A

Social workers must comply with the Fourth Amendment, and they can plead exceptions. Scharbrough v. South Central Ohio Job & Family Servs., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105993 (S.D. Ohio June 7, 2021)*:

It is settled law that social workers must comply with the Fourth Amendment. In Kovacic, the Sixth Circuit found that the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement, as well as its exceptions, apply to the removal of children from their homes by social workers. 724 F.3d at 699. The Sixth Circuit has also explained that the removal of a child from her custodial parents’ home is considered a seizure under the Fourth Amendment, which will only be constitutionally reasonable if done pursuant to a court order, supported by probable cause, or is otherwise justified by exigent circumstances. See Krantz v. City of Toledo Police Dep’t, 197 F. App’x 446, 453 n.5 (6th Cir. 2006). The mere issuance of a court order, however, does not instantly trigger Rooker-Feldman.

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