"Court: Leaving Baby in Car for 10 Minutes May Not Be Abuse"

"Reversing a lower court, New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the state couldn’t add her name to a child-abuse registry without evaluating the “totality of the circumstances” at an evidentiary hearing. The 7-0 opinion also said a charge of neglect had to be backed up with a finding that the parent’s conduct put her child in “imminent risk of harm.”"

Reports the Associated Press:

According to court documents, the woman, identified by the initials E.D.O., left her sleeping daughter in a locked car with the engine running and the windows slightly opened while she shopped in a South Plainfield store for about five or 10 minutes in May 2009. 

The temperature at the time was about 55 degrees, according to court documents. A security guard noticed the child in the car and called police.

The Division of Child Protection and Permanency filed a complaint against the woman and her husband seeking care and supervision of their four children.

The woman appealed, but her request for a hearing in front of an administrative law judge ultimately was denied and the appeals court upheld that determination.

"The court also said it was troubled by how much time it’s taken to resolve the case."