Therefore the Supreme Court "vacated" the Ninth Circuit decision. In the 9th Circuit it is, in effect, back to square one; as if the 9th Circuit had never ruled one way or the other.
UPDATE, MAY 31: As a result, the Oregon School Boards Association wisely recommends to its members that they not change any policies they may have put in place to comply with the Ninth Circuit ruling.
UPDATE, JUNE 14: And see this excellent column in the Portland Oregonian by the director of the Child and Family Advocacy Clinic at the Willamette University College of Law, concerning how Oregon, and every other state, should respond to the decision.
NCCPR is pleased that the court recognized the case is moot and the record was not sufficiently developed to reach the merits. We are pleased that in those circuits that have recognized children's and families' need for full Fourth Amendment protection, those decisions still are the law. That is, in itself, a victory for children's and families' rights. And the Ninth Circuit remains free to issue the same ruling, should child protective services workers in Oregon or another state within that circuit behave the same way in the future.
Youth Today has a good summary of the ruling.
Youth Today has a good summary of the ruling.
