Governor vetoes child-abuse bill

By Corrie MacLaggan

Gov. Rick Perry today vetoed a child-abuse bill that critics said would have violated families’ rights.

The action followed a veto campaign by a coalition of conservative, libertarian and family-rights organizations that prompted thousands of Texans to call and write the governor.

Supporters of Senate Bill 1440 said it would have helped abuse investigations by clarifying the criteria state officials must meet to get a court order to enter a family’s house, transport a child or review children’s medical records.

But opponents said it would have given Child Protective Services too much power, allowing state investigators to enter people’s homes without evidence of abuse.

Perry had received 17,373 calls and letters against the measure and 455 supporting it as of 4:30 p.m. Friday, said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for the governor.

This week, state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, the House sponsor of the bill, wrote a letter to Perry asking him to reject the bill, saying that the measure turned out to be more controversial than he expected and needs further study.

“My concern is that the bill is overreaching,” Madden said in an interview.

Perry had similar concerns. He wrote in his veto statement that a recent court decision created uncertainty that “must be addressed. Senate Bill No. 1440, however, overreaches and may not give due consideration to the Fourth Amendment rights of a parent or guardian.” Perry directed state officials to study the issue.

Senate Bill 1440 is by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin. The language in question was originally part of another Watson bill, Senate Bill 1064, that was added on as an amendment.

“Unfortunately,” Watson said, “Governor Perry listened to bad advice, ignored sound, just policy and chose to veto a bill that would have helped protect the children of Texas from abuse and neglect.”

Johana Scot, executive director of the Parent Guidance Center, which helps parents involved in CPS cases, actively opposed the bill.

“It’s a very dangerous piece of legislation,” she said. “It basically strips children and parents of all their rights.”

Scot said that the bill would have cleared the way for CPS to investigate families based on false reports by people who “want retaliation … or just because they don’t like their neighbor.”

However, Jane Burstain, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for low- and middle-income Texans, said that “there is a misunderstanding on the part of the opposition groups about what the bill does.”

She said that under the legislation, state investigators seeking a court order would have had to submit an affidavit showing “sufficient facts.”

And as for the motives of people reporting abuse, “there’s nothing (the Department of Family and Protective Services) can do to prevent improper motives,” Burstain said. “This law doesn’t change that.”

One of the opponents’ concerns is that under the bill, they say, the parent would not have gotten a hearing before CPS interviews their child.

But Burstain said that family courts aren’t currently required to give parents such hearings for the same reason that criminal courts don’t give suspected drug dealers a hearing before their house is searched.

“You don’t want to be tipping off abusers,” Burstain said. “If you tell the abuser, ‘Hey, we’re coming to your house,’ the abuser has the opportunity to coach the child, to coerce the child into lying.”