By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A three judge appeals court panel in Wisconsin has ruled in favor of foster parents who have been fighting the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) over the agency’s effort to say they gave up their Second Amendment rights when they volunteered to be a foster family. The case is known as Laffery v. Pertl,
The win was hailed by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which issued a statement to the media.
“This is not the first time we’ve seen foster parents facing unfair, and ultimately unconstitutional, restrictions on their Second Amendment rights,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Each time a court rules on this issue, correcting state agency overreach, the rights of law-abiding citizens who are also foster parents are strengthened that much more.”
Writing for the Court, Judge Maria Lazar observed, “(W)e conclude the Laffertys did not waive their constitutional rights by volunteering to serve as foster parents. We further conclude the disclosure requirement and discovery demands were overly broad and impermissible. However, we also conclude the most recent rule change eliminates some of the Laffertys’ complaints, especially with respect to concealed carry and storage requirements. We also conclude the requirement that foster parents’ firearms be stored unloaded as a condition of obtaining a foster parent license violates both the federal and state constitutions and must be struck from the administrative rule.”
The plaintiffs, Brian and Katie Lafferty, sued the DCF and Washington County Human Services Department. While the case was weaving its way through the courts, both agencies allegedly changed the rules to avoid a court confrontation. This was not lost on Judge Lazar, who wrote, “The Laffertys have been seeking to exercise their state and federal constitutional rights for five years while the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Washington County Human Services Department (the County) have dithered, moved the goal posts, and changed the rules of the game every step along the way.”
Later in the ruling, Judge Lazar further admonished the DCF and the county, noting “there were ever-shifting sands during this appeal—all of them stirred up by the DCF or the County.”
CCRKBA’s Gottlieb noted, “We have seen bureaucracies stubbornly try to defend policies which are indefensible. This time, the Appeals Court put the brakes on such conduct, and we’re proud of the Laffertys for fighting this battle for as long as they did.”
A report at The Washington Times also recognized how the county and state had “imposed demands” on persons wanting to be foster parents which were extremely restrictive, but then the county “had tried to retreat on some of those rules.”
Now the appeals court has forced the state and county to retreat.
