CA Court Decision: Have you read the actual decision?

Question

I decided to find and read the actual court decision and provide a link to it here for those who like primary source documents like me... :-)

Some things that I gleaned from my read: One of the children reported physical / emotional abuse. Apparently the complaint was unfounded because nothing of the sort is enumerated in the court's decision.

It appears that this whole thing was instigated by the Children's Law Center of LA (aka Heimov).

A quick read of this leads me to believe that this case might actually go all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court.

I'm not sure if Judge Crosky is appointed or elected. Regardless, CA homeschoolers need to start and follow through on a campaign to remove this guy from the bench.

Actual published court decision (note that this is a pdf file)

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B192878.PDF

Answer 1

http://www.hsc.org/Appellatedecision

Appellate Court Case, Please Remain Calm, By Debbie Schwarzer HSC legal team co-chair

I have been astonished about the hype about this case. So many have been making sensational claims that parents will be criminally prosecuted, etc.

Please rest assured about a number of things. First, the law, other than this court's interpretation, hasn't changed. Parents involved in a truancy prosecution might face criminal charges, but only after a rather lengthy series of hearings and court orders, and only if the parents failed to comply with the orders. It would be a criminal contempt charge, which isn't nothing but doesn't land you in Pelican Bay.

We have never known conscientious parents ever to be prosecuted under truancy laws to the point of contempt charges. It's highly unlikely.

The media also appear to be saying that no one can teach their children without a credential. I am not certain that the holding is that broad, and I also doubt it would survive legal challenge.

The holding really applied to private ISPs (there are persistent mistatements, that began with fact statements in the case, that the family was enrolled in a charter. Obviously a school with the name "Christian" in it wouldn't be a public charter. It was a private ISP). It could be read by someone reading broadly as applying to any situation where the child is not continuously in the presence of a credentialed teacher.

The court started on a very slippery path of appearing to think that some situations were OK and others weren't, effectively trying to enact an entire code of regulations for governing this situation from the bench. He hasn't been given the constitutional authority, of course, to do this.

How do we get rid of this case?

There are a number of paths. One is seeking actual review by the Supreme Court. HSC and at least several of the other major groups' legal teams aren't in favor of that. Even if you could get the court to accept your petition (they only take 3-5% of cases), the chances that it will be decided the way you want aren't real good. It's a very dangerous road to take, because if the Supreme Court were to affirm the appellate court ruling on either of the main points (constitutional or statutory), there aren't many options left. The constitutional argument, of course, could be appealed to the US Supreme Court, but the statutory case about the proper interpretation of the California Education Code could not. California Supreme Court is the last stop on that road. If that happens, then you have two bad choices that I'll discuss below.

There is another much easier choice, and it's the one we want, as well as the one being trumpeted in the HSLDA petition. You ask the California Supreme Court to depublish the opinion, or, in other words, have them say that while this might have been the right result in this particular case involving this particular set of facts, the court finds that the reach of the opinion is overbroad and should not become law for the entire state. That is the choice we all (meaning HSC and, I believe, the other groups) want.

You get this by filing a letter with the Supreme Court in compliance with the applicable rules of court. While anyone can file one by stating their interest, we DO NOT think it is an appropriate use of grassroots activism. We DO NOT want every HSC member or HSLDA member or grandmother or irate citizen dashing off their letters to the Supreme Court. There are sober, measured, legal arguments to make about why depublication is appropriate, and those arguments are made after researching the applicable standards, etc. The Supreme Court will not be swayed positively by public outcry. In fact, it could backfire, and backfire badly.

If the Supreme Court affirms on the statutory points, then the two bad choices are to either seek legislation or to do nothing and hope that a further case is brought that can involve a better set of facts and better explanation of the issues (and reaching a better result). Both are very dangerous. Legislation isn't the answer because of the extraordinary strength of the teachers' union. It is unlikely we will see any legislation ultimately pass that gives us the freedom we have today. And the second choice is dangerous. I know lots of families that would make terrific test case defendants -- they're conscientious, they actually get their kids educated, they follow the laws. But we don't get to pick who the family is. As a friend of mine said, we couldn't have gotten a worse set of facts for this case if we had a contest.

We are trying to get one or more of the fanciest law firms in the state to help us on taking the fangs out of this case. We know what we're doing. Please let us do our jobs.

I would be personally, professionally, and, as a representative of HSC, globally grateful if everyone on this list would calm down and ask others to calm down. Specifically, I would ask people:

a. Not to write to the Supreme Court or any court.

b. Not to talk to their legislators or make any public statements about a need for legislation.

c. Tell their neighbors, friends, lists, groups both of the above and to educate them about the choices available and about how panic isn't necessary, marches on Sacramento aren't necessary, etc.

I wish this were the type of situation where we could put the fury, passion and energy of the members of this list to good use. Trust me, if we end up having to go the legislative route, we will have that situation at some points. But this isn't that type of situation, and too many folks stirring things up hurts instead of helps.

Thanks for listening.

Debbie Schwarzer

HSC Legal Team Co-chair

Answer 2

-I'm sorry to say this but it is not ever going to go back the way it was . The bell can not be unrung. We are going to move forward in the courts and we will have our Right to home school vindicated. The court is not going to to de-publish this case the issue is too important. Do you really think that some how it will go back to the way it was? They will just find another  family or families  like ours  to pick off in a  piece meal fashion. Do you want to run from this or face it and fight?  You might not think that we were the best family for this fight, but we were the ones to stand up and fight.  We didn't back down on our belief in our Right to educate our children in our home or any where else. We are not afraid of the fight because we know who will fight our battle and know that all things work for the good of those that love YHWH and are called according to his purpose.  Phillip Long

Answer 3

I have now, thank you.  Have you signed the petition to depublish it so it cannot be used as precedent in future cases?

Here is a link to a petition that can be signed to depublish this ruling, what depublishing would do is stop future courts from using this case as precedent, therefore it would limit the effects to the one family involved.  Please note that this is a reputable petition from Homeschool Legal Defense Association it isn't an effort to get your personal information.

Link to petition:

https://www2.hslda.org/Registrations/Dep...

ctCompleted=true

You don't have to be a homeschooler to sign the petition, you don't have to be a member of the HSLDA, you just have to be someone who believes that parents should be allowed to direct the education of their own children.

Answer 4

"Some things that I gleaned from my read: One of the children reported physical / emotional abuse. Apparently the complaint was unfounded because nothing of the sort is enumerated in the court's decision."

I know what you mean. As I mentioned elsewhere, if the kids are being abused, why would anyone bother with fighting over homeschooling? What good would it do to get them out of an abusive household for 6 hours a day when they would be stuck at home for the other 18? Why waste court time and resources on something that would not help the kids more than a token amount?

The only thing I can think of is that the judge (and probably the lawyers) have a distrust of homeschool and so are willing to assume that the homeschooling, in and of itself, is abusive and is evidence of the allegation.