A Denver attorney filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging a Colorado law she claims censors parents and officials from speaking out about potential misconduct within the state’s child welfare system.
Jessica Peck, a family law and child welfare attorney, sued the state in U.S. District Court in Denver on Monday, claiming a statute intended to protect the privacy of children and families contacted by Child Protection Services in county-level abuse investigations violates the First Amendment and gives the government “unchecked power” in child abuse and death cases.
“This agency is allowed to operate in the dark,” Peck said in an interview Wednesday. “The agency is monitoring its own. That means our children are vulnerable.”
Representatives from Colorado’s Department of Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.
The statute Peck takes issue with is C.R.S. 19-1-307, which makes identifying information in reports about child abuse and neglect cases confidential in most cases.
“We totally understand the sensitivity of protecting a child’s identity, and there are many ways to do that,” Peck said. “This is clearly an opportunity for Colorado to take a progressive approach to how we protect the confidentiality of vulnerable families while still protecting the rights of parents to speak out and speak up for their kids.”
Someone who releases the confidential information — including parents who wanted to share information with law enforcement or the media, Peck said — can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor.
“The case is fairly straightforward,” said Tom Kelley, one of the attorneys representing Peck. “It is attacking the statute as overbroad and a violation of the First Amendment because it limits speech on official conduct. I think there are ways to narrow it to protect children without limiting speech on lapses in competence or wrongdoing by officials charged with protecting children and families.”
Earlier this year, Peck said she found “material misconduct” by a caseworker involved in two child fatality cases. After speaking with a Westword reporter about her concerns, Peck received a court order threatening prosecution for any further communications with journalists.
“It was, in fact, only because of this interview that we believe the caseworker in question was removed from the (only still active) case,” Peck said in a news release. “My client may have lost her child had we not spoken out. The Fourth Estate is critical to protecting my clients’ interests and without journalists, we’re doomed.”
The lawsuit also noted an article in 5280 magazine about the suicide of a young boy whose family Peck represented. According to the suit, the Denver Police Department contacted 5280 staff and a former Denver Human Services social worker who “blew the whistle” on the department’s “misconduct.” Police allegedly asked who shared the records, Peck said.
“I should be able to take those records and go to the police or go to whomever and say, ‘This is a child in crisis. We need to fix this,’ ” Peck said. “There’s no remedy to seek outside corrective action.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Denver District Attorney Beth McCann, both named as defendants, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“We can’t comment on pending litigation,” said Conor Cahill, a spokesman for Gov. Jared Polis, “but know the governor cares deeply about children safety and the welfare of all Coloradans.”
Subscribe to bi-weekly newsletter to get health news sent straight to your inbox.
