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Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Parents of "Free-Range" Kids to File Lawsuit, Attorney Says

When I was growing up we went outside to play and did not come home until dark.

The parents of two Maryland children who were taken into police custody after playing alone at a park will file a lawsuit, a lawyer for the family said Tuesday.

It's not clear who will be named in the suit, but the attorney confirmed to News4's Kristin Wright that a lawsuit will be filed "soon."
Matthew Dowd, an attorney with the Wiley Rein law firm, said in a release Tuesday that 10-year-old Rafi Meitiv and his 6-year-old sister, Dvora, were held in a police car for almost three hours, went more than six hours without being fed, and weren't returned to their parents until nearly midnight.

The suit stems from an incident Sunday, the second time police got involved with Danielle and Alexander Meitiv and their kids.

In the latest incident, a man called 911 to report two unaccompanied children at Ellsworth Park in Silver Spring around 5 p.m. Sunday. The man said he was walking his dog when the children asked to pet it. He said their clothes were dirty and they were walking around alone for about 20 minutes.

The parents have said they are part of the free-range kids movement, which aims to foster growing independence in children.
"The Meitivs are rightfully outraged by the irresponsible actions of Maryland CPS and Montgomery County Police," Dowd said in a statement in part. "We must ask ourselves how we reached the point where a parent's biggest fear is that government officials will literally seize our children off the streets as they walk in our neighborhoods."

The statement continued, "The Meitivs intend to fully vindicate their rights as parents and their children’s rights, and to prevent this from happening to their children again."

I think we'll be seeing more of this.

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