Opinion ID: 2506634
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Privacy Interest of Parents

Text: ¶ 28 The first part of the balancing test requires an assessment of the extent of the privacy interest of the person being searched, in this case, the parent of a delinquent juvenile. There is nothing in the Juvenile Court Act that suggests that the parent of a delinquent juvenile has a limited right to privacy. In contrast, the finding that the juvenile probationer in A.C.C. had a limited privacy interest was heavily influenced by the fact that the juvenile's activities were being monitored while he was on probation and by the fact that he had signed a probation order subjecting him to search for the detection of drugs. A.C.C., 2002 UT 22, ¶ 22, 44 P.3d 708. In Velasquez, we found that a person on parole had a diminished privacy interest because he was being closely supervised as a condition of a sentence for a crime. 672 P.2d at 1259. No similar circumstances exist in the case of a parent whose child has been adjudicated delinquent. ¶ 29 A parent does not surrender his expectation of privacy merely because he acquires the status of a parent of a minor who has been adjudicated delinquent. In Skinner, the Supreme Court found that the railroad employees subject to testing under the statute at issue had a limited privacy right because of their status as employees. 489 U.S. at 624-25, 109 S.Ct. 1402. As employees, they were not free to come and go as they pleased and were subject to other restrictions placed on them by their employers. Id. The Skinner Court also found that the pervasive regulation of employees in the rail industry, including rules requiring hearing and sight tests as well as skill tests, demonstrated that those employees had limited privacy expectations. Id. at 627, 109 S.Ct. 1402. There is no corresponding pervasive regulation and oversight of parents which would lead to a conclusion that they have a limited privacy interest. Although the juvenile court may fashion some orders affecting parents in the context of a delinquency case, this power is not equivalent to the pervasive regulation present in Skinner. ¶ 30 Additionally, parents of delinquent children, even those who are suspected of drug involvement, do not undertake any voluntary actions that reduce their privacy interests. In A.C.C., Velasquez, Skinner, and Von Raab, the privacy interest of the people being searched was reduced because of their earlier bad choices or because of their voluntary participation in industries that were heavily regulated. ¶ 31 Because parents of a delinquent children have no reason to believe their behavior will be more closely monitored than it would were their children not delinquent, and because there is no legitimate justification for the regulation of parents outside of a welfare context, even for those parents with delinquent children, there is no basis for finding that their privacy interest is significantly reduced.