J.C. v. Florida Department of Children & Family Services

I respectfully dissent.

The majority concludes that anytime a parent sells drugs in the vicinity of his offspring, the right to remove the offspring attaches a fortiori. I am unwilling to license such an unbridled assertion of government power. While Chapter 39 of the Florida Statutes is designed to allow the state to intervene in homes with “bad parents,” the statute establishes a careful balance between government interference and the primacy of the family in our social structure. Absolutes are not favored. See In re M.F. v. Fla. Dep’t of Children & Families, 770 So.2d 1189 (Fla.2000). To…