Orange County: government workers were not on clear notice not to lie in court, falsify evidence

“Using taxpayer funds, government officials in Orange County have spent the last 16 years arguing the most absurd legal proposition in the entire nation: How could social workers have known it was wrong to lie, falsify records and hide exculpatory evidence in 2000 so that a judge would forcibly take two young daughters from their mother for six-and-a-half years?” The argument did not fare well as a hearing before Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Trott: “I’m just staggered by the claim that people in the shoes of your clients wouldn’t be on notice that you can’t use perjury and false evidence to take away somebody’s children. That to me is mind boggling.” [R. Scott Moxley, OC Weekly; video]

9 Comments

  • One of two things must be true:
    1) They genuinely did not know that it is wrong, if not illegal, to lie and make up false evidence in court.
    2) They knew it was wrong, but did not care.

    If 1) is true, then none of them should be allowed to keep their positions of authority and intrusion into private lives.

    If 2) is true, then all of them should be charged and tried for blatant perjury, which should also cost them their positions.

  • Didn’t they have to take an oath to tell the truth before they testified?

    • They didn’t know that violating the oath was a no-no.

  • Didn’t they have to take an oath to tell the truth before they testified?

    They lied. Nobody told them they couldn’t.

    • They lied. Nobody told them they couldn’t.

      What, they didn’t have mothers?

      • Yes, other lying social workers took them away from the mothers. Its a vicious cycle.

  • It’s astonishing how many time a week this is relevant:

    https://youtu.be/Td67kYY9mdQ

  • The operative words here are “Government” & “Government Officials”. Their rights are protected and that is why there are no names attached to the story. Too bad the victims rights weren’t protected. The point here is to remember the old adage “Two wrongs make a Government Official”.