FW: News Release - Indiana Rep. Elated over Federal Court's TeenScreen Ruling

August 7, 2008

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From: Psych News

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Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 3:59 PM

Psych News

Subject: News Release - Indiana Rep. Elated over Federal Court's

TeenScreen Ruling

Indiana

General Assembly House of Representatives

News Release

State Rep. Jackie Walorski

Room 401-8,

Statehouse

Indianapolis,

IN 46204

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday,

Aug. 7, 2008

Rep. Walorski: Court Ruling is a Victory for Parental

Rights

STATEHOUSE (Aug. 7, 2008) — The cause of parental rights

and personal liberty won a victory Tuesday as a federal court affirmed the

right of Hoosier parents to sue a school system for subjecting their daughter

to mental health testing without their consent.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of

Indiana ruled that a lawsuit filed on behalf of Chelsea Rhoades and her

parents, and , may proceed to trial. The family charges that the

Penn--Madison School Corp. violated the family’s rights when school

officials subjected Chelsea, a student at Penn High

School in Mishawaka,

to the TeenScreen examination without parental consent.

“I am elated that the federal court is allowing the family

the opportunity to pursue this lawsuit,” said state Rep. Jackie Walorski

(R-Jimtown) “This kind of testing without parental consent led me to go on a

petition drive that collected more than 12,000 names and eventually resulted

in a state law requiring written parental approval before screenings such as

this.

“The court, through its ruling, reaffirms parents’ right to

control their children’s mental and physical health and wellbeing,” Rep.

Walorski said, “and it sends a message to schools and agencies that they

should be very, very careful about interfering with parental prerogatives.”

In December 2004, representatives of Madison Mental Health

tested Chelsea and other Penn High

School students using the TeenScreen, which asks

questions that can be answered with only a “Yes” or a “No.” According to the

lawsuit, Chelsea was diagnosed as

possibly suffering from two mental health disorders. Several other students

also were similarly diagnosed, the lawsuit said. Chelsea’s

diagnosis turned out to be incorrect.

The Rhoades family is being assisted in the lawsuit by The

Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization that provides legal

services to people whose constitutional rights have been threatened or

violated.

Mr. and Mrs. Rhoades said they had no knowledge of the

testing until after the fact, and they sued in federal court, charging that

their constitutional rights to family integrity and privacy were violated.

School officials sought to have the suit dismissed.

“There are boundaries to keep schools and other agencies

from interfering in the parent-child relationship,” Rep. Walorski said. “Those

boundaries should not be ignored or taken lightly, and this case shines a

light on that issue.”

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27,438

Signatures Against TeenScreen. Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html

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August 7, 2008