Dale Margolin Cecka (’04), Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic at Albany Law School, was quoted in an Albany Law School Faculty Spotlight discussing her law review article leading states to restrict anonymous reporting of child abuse (“Professor’s Research Leads to New Legislation on Reporting Child Abuse,” Jan. 4). “There’s no reason to allow people to anonymously call [child protective services] and immediately trigger investigation into the family home,” she said. “It’s violative of the Fourth Amendment. . . . It can trigger unwanted intervention by CPS, and can begin a very antagonistic relationship when the point of child welfare originally was to help families.” With laws limiting anonymous reporting taking effect in California and Texas, Dale noted, “Not to be cheesy, but it is kind of a dream to have a law review article be the basis for legislation.” She also provided insight on her career path for the faculty feature. Applying “on a whim” for a clinical teaching fellowship, Dale shared, “I realized that clinical teaching is actually the best job in the world, because you get to do direct representation [and], at the same time, also help students learn how to actually practice law.”
