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2023 | Winter Issue

Kith & Kin

What happens when the government's mistakes impact a family?

I kept saying, ‘We have basic constitutional rights. You can’t just come here and demand our children.’

– Josh Sabey (from the article, “These parents did not hurt their children—but child protection agencies targeted them anyway.”)

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These Parents Did Not Hurt Their Children—But Child Protection Agencies Targeted Them Anyway

Glenn E. Roper

Three days earlier, Sarah, a Ph.D. student in Waltham, Massachusetts, had taken her three-month-old baby, Cal, to the emergency room after his fever spiked to 103.6 degrees. At the hospital, doctors ordered x-rays to rule out bronchiolitis and discovered Cal had two partially healed rib fractures. Neither Sarah nor Josh had any idea how the rib fractures happened. When the hospital social worker talked to Sarah about the injury, Sarah was more concerned about Cal’s fever—he did have bronchiolitis, it turned out. The social worker probed the family’s home life, asking Sarah if her husband “often ignored” their children. She didn’t like Sarah’s response.

A Biased Court Destroyed Families in Colonial Salem

Daniel Woislaw

Nicole W.C. Yeatman

Imagine you are a young child living in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. You are brought into a crowded meetinghouse where two magistrates—both commanding older men who serve on the council of Massachusetts Bay Colony—are waiting to interrogate you in front of an angry audience.

Racial Quotas for City Contractors May Ruin This Family Business

Erin Wilcox

In the mid-nineties, Jerry Thompson was headhunted for a Texas company that paid good money. He was a whiz at sales. So he moved his wife, Theresa, and two kids from Michigan to Texas.

When Government Gets Between a Mother and a Midwife

Brittany Hunter

Joshua Polk

The birth of a child is a sacred experience in a mother’s life. How and where she chooses to bring her baby into the world is a deeply personal decision that should be free from government interference.

For Some School Boards, Parents Are the Enemy

Jim Manley

This year, California Legislators tried to create new criminal penalties for parents who “harass” school board officials or disrupt school board meetings.
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Stories of liberty and justice

Sword&Scales is a quarterly magazine with in-depth stories about liberty, equality, and justice. Published by Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm with a winning record at the Supreme Court, Sword&Scales features narratives from history, courtroom showdowns, and the real experiences of people fighting for their rights.

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