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Civil Rights — placement in foster care

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//October 19, 2012//

Civil Rights — placement in foster care

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//October 19, 2012//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights — placement in foster care

Placement of a child in foster care did not violate the due process rights of the child or his parents.

“Defendants could have reasonably believed that probable cause existed in this case. In addition to the referral Wagner received from Thor’s school on March 24, 2009, RCHSD’s file included two earlier reports from March 10, 2005 and January 30, 2009 similarly recounting incidents suggestive of abuse or neglect. Before removing Thor, Wagner conducted a thorough investigation, interviewing teachers at Thor’s school, two of Thor’s siblings, and Thor himself. The bruising on Thor’s arm and leg, coupled with the corroborated revelations that Thor had been left at home alone for hours at a time and had been thrown onto the ground all suggest that ‘a prudent caseworker . . . could have believed that [the child] faced an immediate threat of abuse.’ Id. While the Xiongs dispute the accuracy of the statements made to Wagner during his interviews with Thor and his siblings, the relevant inquiry is whether the information actually provided to Wagner at the time was sufficient to trigger a reasonable caseworker’s belief that Thor was in imminent danger. We find that this standard is met here.”

Affirmed.

12-1737 Xiong v. Wagner

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Stadtmueller, J., Flaum, J.

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