An unfortunate unintended consequence

The job of safeguarding children at risk often falls to government — in Hawaii’s case, the Department of Human Services — where usually the concern is that enough precaution is taken.

Now a lawsuit has pointed out that sequestering people suspected of bad behavior toward children — putting them on a blacklist of sorts — can backfire, too.

The lawsuit filed by a former Navy wife, whose husband killed their infant daughter, highlights the problem. Distraught, she didn’t object when the couple’s other child was put into protective custody.

But the stigma has a way of persisting. The inherent unfairness of such cases — rare as they might be — means there needs to be recourse for those on this, or any, child abuse registry.