SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - The American Civil Liberties Union is considering ligation in the case of the forced catheterization of a three-year-old boy in Pierre.
It's been weeks since the ACLU sent a letter to the Department of Social Services asking for justification for the agency's use of the invasive measure without a warrant.
According to the boy's mother, DSS and Pierre Police told her they had to get urine samples from the boy and his sister after mom's boyfriend was arrested for drug possession. She says they told her that she would lose her children if she did not comply.
ACLU Legal Director Courtney Bowie compares catheterization to cavity searches, which are done only in jail or prison without a warrant. Bowie says the Fourth Amendment securing people from warrantless searches has little weight if it can't protect against this type of abuse.
Catheterization is rare in South Dakota and Bowie says the few cases she's aware of are limited to Pierre, but police have requested and received warrants to get samples. She says warrants must detail the methods to be used so a judge can determine the necessity of the procedure.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says catheterization is sometimes appropriate, but he was not necessarily referring to this particular instance.
Bowie also notes that there are less traumatic and invasive methods for getting a sample from a child, such as drawing blood. The forced measure has left the boy in pain because he contracted a staph infection.