Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Read the whole thing

I'm assuming there's another side to this story, but it's a hell of a story:
[Michael Chambers's] nightmare began when a Mississippi social worker, Kyra Reed (who also goes by Kyra Carson), knocked on his door demanding entrance without a warrant. Chambers was never told what the charges were. "She didn't tell me what I was accused of and demanded to interview my 6-year-old daughter without my presence," Chambers told PJM. "I told her that was unacceptable, but she was more than welcome to talk to her with me there without me interfering. She seemed perturbed, but accepted that. She then told me she wanted to search my house," said Chambers. "I told her I had no problem with that, but wanted her to get a court order or a warrant as I am a bit of a constitutionalist and would just feel better having that respected. She was immediately angry. She hopped in her car without another word and drove off."

An American asking for a proper warrant signed by a judge to search his private property is 100 percent within his rights to do, or so we thought. "The next day, I got my daughter early from school and went to the CPS office with her to speak to a supervisor to make sure they understood that I wasn't hiding or attempting elusiveness of any sort," said Chambers. "I allowed the supervisor to look her over and explained my concerns about my insistence on a warrant before the search. I was told that the warrant wasn't a problem to get and that they would do that so we could close the case and finish out the interaction."

But that's not what happened.

"I returned home and got a call from my new landlord, saying that they had contacted him demanding that they be let in," continued Chambers. "He told them that they needed a warrant." CPS did not stop trying to get around Chambers' insistence that his Fourth Amendment rights be invoked. "A different supervisor then called me and once again demanded entry," said Chambers, exasperated. "I again explained that I needed a warrant before I could allow this and reminded her that, according to their own statements, this was easy for them to get and I would prefer that they did." It is perfectly reasonable to ask for a government agency to obtain a warrant before searching someone's home.

"The original worker [Kyra Reed] showed up at my door again, this time with two sheriff's deputies," said Chambers. "She said that she didn't need a warrant and I needed to let her in," he said incredulously. "At this point I became afraid, but I pointed out to her that if she didn't need a warrant, she wouldn't be asking for entry. The officers would simply force me to let her in." Luckily for Chambers, the police officers knew better. "The officers stated that they would not [illegally search his home] as she had no judge's order," he said.

According to Chambers, "She [Kyra Reed] told me that if I made her get a warrant, she would take my child instead." Reed left again, unable to obtain illegal entry. But she didn't stay away. "She returned with another sheriff's deputy," said Chambers. "I answered the door thinking that surely she would have [the warrant] this time and hopefully, we could just get this done and over with. I was instead handed a subpoena to appear in court in the morning and was told that they had taken my child from school." No warrant was ever obtained.
That's a long pull quote, but there's a lot more to the story. You should read it. And if you've been paying attention, you'll not be surprised to learn the same sorts of people who are in full shriek about the current situation at the border are the ones who are trying to take away Michael Chambers's daughter.

6 comments:

jerrye92002 said...

Rather than my read the whole story, can you tell if there was ANY cause for this tyrannical action?

Bike Bubba said...

Jerry, typically what happens is that there is an allegation, often anonymous, and social services workers run with it. Interestingly, the law requiring training of social services and police in the 4th Amendment has been around for, if I remember right, over a decade. The HSLDA (I am a member) bases a great portion of the reason for its existence on actions like this, and they have about half a dozen full time lawyers slapping down actions like this. Sometimes they're satisfied with "oops, my mistake, my apologies", but in egregious circumstances, they will also go after that person's job. I have family members who have benefited from this.

Mr. D said...

Rather than my read the whole story, can you tell if there was ANY cause for this tyrannical action?

Based on the evidence presented, no. But I would want to hear the mother's story. Having said that, based on the evidence I've seen from people I know, the story Chambers presents rings true. And what Bubba is saying is spot-on.

jerrye92002 said...

I heard about a case in Jordan, years ago, that sounded similar. Somewhere there has to be enough outrage to bring these big-britches to heel.

Bike Bubba said...

Jerry, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. I can't remember the case, but the law (or perhaps precedent, I'm not sure) of teaching the 4th Amendment to social workers resulted from a Supreme Court ruling. That doesn't stop people from challenging the boundaries any more than the MacDonald and Heller decisions have stopped people from challenging boundaries on gun control law.

jerrye92002 said...

Unfortunately, vigilance isn't enough. "The tree of liberty must occasionally be watered with the blood of tyrants." If the circumstances are as they seem, somebody needs to do some bleeding.