The DCF attorney's announcement that the loser was "non-offending" came in response to Judge Anthony Johnson's query as to whether the law required him to appoint an attorney to represent the phone-in father; DCF lawyers in Orange County have historically taken the position that by declaring a parent "non-offending," they relieve the court of any obligation to honor the parent's constitutional due process rights and statutory right to appointment of an attorney to represent that parent.
Under the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Florida, parents have a right to notice and an opportunity to be heard before a court adjudicates a child dependent -- that is, grants DCF's petition to meddle in a family's child-rearing. However, DCF bureaucrats have deluded themselves and hoodwinked the local judges into believing that the right to say "NO" to DCF intervention is not an individual right of each parent -- DCF and the local courts accept the consent of only one parent, adjudicate the child without an evidentiary hearing, and order BOTH parents to comply with DCF's "case plan." That's right, your child's father, whether in prison or Alaska, can consent to have DCF order you and your children around. Do you like that?
