Favorable ruling in family rights case

Federal District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill issued a 62 page ruling finding that city and state officials in Boise, Idaho violated the constitutional rights of members of the Mueller family when they assumed custody of 5 week-old Taige Mueller in 2002 in order to forcibly administer a spinal tap. The ruling points to numerous shortcomings in city and state procedures and finds that state officials violated Eric Mueller’s constitutional right to be notified both before and after the state assumed custody of his infant daughter. Judge Winmill’s ruling deferred certain issues for trial, including the question of whether Taige was in imminent danger when officials assumed custody.