NC Court of Appeals rules procedure for putting people on child abuse register is unconstitutional

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Another state rules that its procedure for putting individual's name on child abuse register is unconstitutional.

In a decision filed on March 2, 2010, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the procedure for placing an individual's name on the North Carolina Responsible Individuals List, a child abuse and neglect registry, is unconstitutional under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Consitution and Article I, Section 19 9f the North Carolina Constitution. The procedure challenged by Petitioner, Kelly Holt, in the Matter Of W.B.M., A Minor Child, violates an individual's due process rights, declared the court in overturning the trial court's decision.

Because the issue had never been heard previously before the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the court gave a full explanation of the method by which a person's name is put on North Carolina's abuse register prior to considering the facts and merits of the case.

While procedures differ in different states, what happens in North Carolina is generally what happens in almost every other state, i.e. the accused individual's name is placed on the abuse register prior to having a hearing. Prospective employers,  adoption agencies, etc. access this list to gather information on whether or not a potential employee, adoptive parent, etc. is on the list.

Missouri was the first state to declare unconstituional its procedure of placing a person's name on the register prior to due process in Jamison v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., Div of Family Servs (opens as an rtf file). Because there was no case law in North Carolina to base their decision on,  the North Carolina Court of Appeals looked to the Missouri case for guidance, even though North Carolina is not bound by the decisions of other jurisdictions.

In the conclusion to its decision, the court stated:

"It has long been recognized that "fairness can rarely be obtained by secret, one-sided determination of facts decisive of rights." Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Comm., 341 U.S. at 170, 95 L. Ed. at 853 (footnote omitted). "The validity and moral authority of a conclusion largely depend on the mode by which it was reached . . . [and n]o better instrument has been devised for arriving at truth than to give a person in jeopardy of serious loss notice of the case against him and opportunity to meet it." Id. at 171-72, 95 L. Ed. at 854. "Due process is perhaps the most majestic concept in our whole constitutional system. While it contains the garnered wisdom of the past in assuring fundamental justice, it is also a living principle not confined to past instances." Id. at 174, 95 L. Ed. at 855. Because the statutory procedures for placing an individual on the RIL deprive individuals of due process, they are unconstitutional under the North Carolina Constitution. Accordingly, the orders of the trial court are reversed." (emphasis added).

For more info: New York State Central Register on Child Abuse and Maltreatment seriously Flawed

New York State OCFS and Central Register violate due process and ALJ Manual

How to file an appeal if your indicated report in the New York State Central register is upheld at hearing

NYS OCFS settles lawsuit affecting thousands on Child Abuse and Maltreatment Register