James Alford, Deputy Sheriff, Deschutes County, Oregon, Petitioner v. Sarah Greene, Personally and as Next Friend of S. G., a Minor, and K. G., a Minor

Questions presented

SCOTUS records, cert granted 12 Oct 2010

This case presents a federal constitutional question of exceptional importance concerning the scope of the Fourth Amendment's protections when applied to interviews of suspected child abuse victims at public schools. Here, child protective services and a local law enforcement agency received a report that a nine-year old girl was being sexually abused by her father. Based upon this report, a child protective services caseworker and a deputy sheriff interviewed the girl at her public school without first obtaining a warrant or parental consent. Splitting with the Fifth Circuit, which had held under similar circumstances that the traditional warrant/warrant exception analysis sets too high a threshold when investigating allegations of child abuse, the Ninth Circuit held the interview violated the girl's Fourth Amendment right to be free from "unreasonable" seizures absent a warrant, court order, exigent circumstances, or parental consent. In so holding, the Ninth Circuit rejected the balancing-of-interests approach first established in Terry v. Ohio to assess whether detentions not amounting to an arrest are reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. It concluded instead that the Fourth Amendment demanded the application of the more restrictive standard of a warrant or an exception to the warrant requirement to interviews of this type. I. Does the Fourth Amendment require a warrant, a court order, parental consent, or exigent circumstances before law enforcement and child welfare officials may conduct a temporary seizure and interview at a public school of a child whom they reasonably suspect was being sexually abused by her father?

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

The case involves Deputy Sheriff James Alford, who conducted a warrantless search of Sarah Greene's home and her two minor children, S.G. and K.G., based on allegations of child abuse against their father. The search was part of an investigation initiated by the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS). Without obtaining a warrant or parental consent, Alford entered the home with DHS workers to interview and medically examine the children for signs of abuse. Sarah Greene filed suit under 42 U.S.C. §1983, claiming that her Fourth Amendment rights were violated due to the unreasonable searches conducted without judicial authorization or exigent circumstances justifying such actions. The court had to determine whether qualified immunity protected Alford from liability given his role in executing state policies during child welfare investigations.