In re Juvenile Appeal (83-CD)
Connecticut Supreme Court
455 A.2d 1313 (1983)
After a Connecticut caseworker's frequent visits found a mother's (defendant) home environment borderline problematic but her children happy and cared for, her nine-month-old son Christopher died of unexplained causes unrelated to superficial marks found on his body; the state's youth services agency (DCYS) (plaintiff) took 96-hour emergency custody of the mother's other children based on a statute requiring "immediate physical danger," then filed to extend custody under a separate statute not explicitly requiring immediate danger. At the extension hearing, evidence showed the mother's beer-drinking habits but no link between Christopher's death and the home environment or the mother's conduct; the trial court granted extended custody, and the mother appealed the extension statute's constitutionality.
Whether a state statute permitting extended temporary custody of children to protect their safety, without expressly requiring an immediate risk of harm, is unconstitutional as written, and whether its application here was proper.