In Re Gina S.

35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 277, 133 Cal. App. 4th 1074
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 28, 2005
DocketA109750
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 277 (In Re Gina S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Gina S., 35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 277, 133 Cal. App. 4th 1074 (Cal. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

35 Cal.Rptr.3d 277 (2005)
133 Cal.App.4th 1074

In re GINA S., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.
Marin County Department of Social Services, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Donna S., Defendant and Appellant.

No. A109750.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division Four.

October 28, 2005.

*278 Mario de Solenni for appellant.

Patrick K. Faulkner, County Counsel, Byron K. Toma, Amanda L. Inocencio, of Counsel, for respondent.

Marin Williamson, San Francisco, for minor.

SEPULVEDA, J.

Appellant Donna S. challenges two juvenile court orders restricting access to confidential case files in the dependency proceedings regarding her daughter Gina S. The first order directed appellant to return copies she had received from the juvenile court file and prohibited her from disseminating the records without a prior court order. The second order denied appellant's petition pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 827[1] (section 827 petition) for disclosure of juvenile records. In affirming the order directing appellant to return documents, we conclude that although appellant is authorized to inspect juvenile court files, she is not entitled to make copies absent a prior court order. We find, however, that the juvenile court's second order improperly denied appellant access to documents needed to pursue an invasion of privacy claim and therefore *279 reverse the denial of appellant's section 827 petition.

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Gina was born in July 1987 and was the subject of several referrals to child protective services beginning in 1992, when she was five years old.[2] In March 2003, respondent filed a petition based on allegations Gina suffered serious emotional damage as a result of appellant's behavior. The case number for the proceedings was JV22599A (the first dependency case). The first dependency case was dismissed after an agreement that Gina would remain with her caretakers and appellant would cooperate so that Gina could receive medical treatment and other services requiring parental authorization. A second petition was filed in July 2003 based on allegations that appellant rescinded previous authorization regarding medical care, which prevented Gina's caretakers from securing medical care for her. The new petition was assigned a different case number. Gina was adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court in September 2003, and the juvenile court later terminated reunification services. In In re Gina I, supra, A104619, A106628, we affirmed the juvenile court's order finding jurisdiction over Gina but reversed the court's order terminating reunification services to appellant because the juvenile court failed to adopt a case plan for appellant. Neither reunification services nor custody of Gina are at issue in this appeal.[3]

A. The section 827 Petition.

In December 2004, appellant, acting in propria persona, served a section 827 petition. The petition requested "[a]ll records generated or supplemented between February 1, 2003 and September 1, 2003 that include any of the following terms: 1. `SSA,' 2. `Commissioner,' 3. `social security office,' or `social security employee,' 4. [variations of a first and last name], 5. `medical diagnosis' and/or `medical condition of Donna S[.],' or any combination of those terms . . . ." The petition also requested records that contained "information about the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of Ms. Donna S[.]," information about "any governmental agency inappropriately obtaining information referring to Ms. Donna S[.], or misusing information referring to Ms. Donna S[.]," and "any sworn declaration or affidavit that has been filed by any of [appellant's] attorneys in this case." The petition stated that appellant believed "her federal Privacy Act Rights" had been violated and sought the documents in order to allow her attorney to investigate what was disclosed and to evaluate the validity of possible legal claims. The petition was dated December 17, 2004, and bore the number of the first dependency *280 case. It was stamped, "Received Marin County Superior Court 2004 Dec 28"; above the stamp was the handwritten note, "lodged on demand."[4]

B. Respondent's Application for Temporary Restraining Order.

According to a declaration filed in the juvenile court, Gina's counsel filed a "preliminary response" to the section 827 petition on December 28, 2004. While filing the response, Gina's counsel was informed by a juvenile court clerk that another clerk had provided appellant with "copies of documents from Gina's confidential juvenile file . . . upon her request." It was unclear whether the copied documents had come from the file in the present action or in the first dependency case. According to the declaration of Gina's counsel, counsel informed the juvenile court clerk that appellant was not permitted to have copies of documents from the juvenile court file.

Respondent filed an ex parte application for an order to show cause and temporary restraining order (TRO) requesting that appellant not "copy or disseminate any of the information from her daughter's confidential dependency files." The juvenile court entered a TRO, effective until January 11, 2005,[5] and ordered appellant not to copy, distribute, or disseminate any of the records. The TRO was subsequently extended until February 1, when another hearing was scheduled.

C. The February 1, 2005 Hearing.

The juvenile court considered both the request for appellant to return documents copied from the juvenile court file and appellant's section 827 petition on February 1. The court first considered the application for an order regarding the copies appellant received from the juvenile court file. After hearing argument from appellant's counsel, the juvenile court granted respondent's application and ordered appellant to return any and all documents copied from the juvenile court file and not to copy or disseminate any documents or information received from the file without obtaining prior court authorization. After the juvenile court issued its order, appellant's counsel stated appellant had "a problem recalling which documents she actually received from the clerk's office." The juvenile court responded, "I have a Court order in place. If I were you, I would find out where those documents are and return them."

The juvenile court next considered appellant's section 827 petition. Appellant's counsel argued[6] that appellant sought to have an attorney review a "very limited class of documents" in order to pursue a claim for an alleged wrongful dissemination of social security records to respondent. Gina's counsel argued that Gina's file documented the years of abuse Gina suffered while in her mother's care and that she did not "understand how any information can come out of those files without it affecting Gina's privacy in some way." Respondent's counsel agreed and said "it would be extremely difficult" to separate the information appellant sought *281 from private information about Gina. In response to respondent's counsel's statement that appellant previously had received relevant information through discovery, appellant's counsel acknowledged Donna had the information but stated that she sought court permission to share that information with an attorney in connection with a possible privacy violation lawsuit.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 277, 133 Cal. App. 4th 1074, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-gina-s-calctapp-2005.