“These officials terrorized and tore apart [Bianca] Clayborne’s family in an illegal manner… Their actions caused severe mental trauma to Clayborne, and to each of her children.”
By Anita Wadhwani of Tennessee Lookout
A Georgia mother whose 5 small children were taken into state care after a misdemeanor speeding stop last year in Coffee County has filed a lawsuit alleging that Tennessee law enforcement officers violated her constitutional rights as well as those of her kids.
The lawsuit names the four Tennessee Highway Patrol officers that were involved in the traffic stop on February 17, three Department of Children’s Services Caseworkers who obtained the court order for the children to be taken, ten Coffee County Sheriff Department Officers who detained the entire family at the county jail, and Coffee County which is responsible for the supervision and training of its officers.
These public officials terrorized and tore apart [Bianca] Clayborne’s family in an illegal manner. They acted in an outrageous and illegal manner. The lawsuit stated that their actions had caused Clayborne and her five children severe emotional trauma.
“Clayborne, the children and their parents bring this suit to vindicate the rights they have against those who have harmed them. However, the full extent of harm done to their family is unlikely to be reversed.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages as well as a ruling that the officers’ and caseworkers’ actions violated the Constitutional rights of the family.
Bianca Clayborne and her partner Deonte were driving to Chicago from Atlanta for a funeral last February, when officers stopped them on Interstate-24 because they had “dark tint” and weren’t actively moving. A trooper found less than five grams marijuana in their vehicle. This is a misdemeanor and usually results in a citation.
After initially telling Clayborne that she too would be arrested, the troopers let Clayborne leave with her children and head to the Coffee County Jail to pay Williams’ bond.
Clayborne was then confronted in the parking lot of the jail by three caseworkers from Department of Children’s Services. Officers put spike strips on the car of the family.
Clayborne was forced to leave her five children, including a 4-month-old baby who was breast-feeding, as well as a 2, 3-, 5-, and 7-year old.
Six days after the kids were taken away, parents were asked by a court to submit to a urine drug test. Clayborne was negative for THC while Williams tested positive. Both parents tested positive for methamphetamines and oxycodone.
Both parents denied using the substances. According to the administrator of Coffee County Court, in-house rapid hair test results are not admissible. According to one testing expert, they have a reputation for producing “too many fake positives”. Positive results from the more basic courthouse follicle tests require confirmation by accredited laboratories.
An attorney from the Department of Children’s Services told the family’s lawyers that the tests had been thrown out when they sought to contest them.
DCS used test results to accuse the couple of serious abuse. The agency placed the children into foster care for 55 consecutive days. They were initially split between two foster homes, before being moved to a friend’s home a few weeks later.
The Tennessee Lookout first reported the incident. It sparked widespread interest, and questions were raised about whether or not the family had been treated differently due to their race. The Tennessee NAACP, along with Democratic lawmakers, held press conferences to demand the release of the children.
Tricia Herzfeld is one of the leading Nashville civil rights lawyers representing the family. The family is also represented by attorneys Abby Rubenfeld, Anthony Orlandi and Abby Rubenfeld. This lawsuit is intended to bring the responsible official to justice and hold them accountable.
Traffic stop
The lawsuit provides new details based on dash-cam and body-cam footage of law enforcement officers about the events that occurred between the time THP initiated the stop and when Coffee County police forcibly removed the children from the side of their mother hours later.
After THP trooper Ruben Baaldua activated his emergency lights, the family pulled into a gas station nearby. Basaldua summoned two more troopers for assistance. The family was held at the gasstation for two and a quarter hours while the troopers “conducted an extensive search of the car and the belongings and interrogated Williams and Clayborne repeatedly,” according to the suit. It was a windy and cold day.
Officers discovered a small amount marijuana in the vehicle. Tennessee law typically only allows for a citation. Troopers decided to arrest Williams and Clayborne. Clayborne was told that the children would be taken to DCS. She begged them to not arrest her while the children screamed and cried.
Clayborne was told by the troopers that it had “already passed” and they called the child welfare officials.
Clayborne’s kids became increasingly frantic. Her five-year old son hugged her and asked “Can mom be arrested? Can my dad come? Please! Please! Can I have dad?” He begged a trooper, “Stop!” I don’t wanna go! “How are we going eat?”
Williams was placed uncuffed in the rear of a patrol car. Williams asked to speak with his mother first, and then to a supervisor. Basaldua put him in handcuffs instead of responding.
Balsudua replied: “Man, want to be quiet?” Williams continued protesting. You need to be quiet because I can get her and the children in DCS.
The troopers finally told Clayborne that she wouldn’t be arrested. She was told to put her children in the car again and to follow the officers, escorted on four patrol cars by the THP, to the jail. She was told to park her car and leave it running.
Parking Lot Confrontation
Donnie Clark approached Clayborne in the jail’s parking lot and informed her that she would receive a ticket but could then leave. He then spoke with two DCS caseworkers, who were in the parking lot of the jail.
The lawsuit stated that “Trooper Clark informed [DCS caseworkers] Pelham and Medina, that Clayborne is a good mom, and should be released to ensure that she does not have to be separated from her kids, and the children are not neglected or abused. It would be in everyone’s best interest for Clayborne stay with the child.” Clark asked that the caseworkers speak to Clayborne in her car so as to not disrupt the children. The troopers went to a Zaxby’s nearby for lunch.
The suit stated that by this time, it had been over four hours since the first traffic stop, and the children “were scared, crying, and hungry, and were becoming increasingly agitated.”
Clayborne was asked by DCS caseworkers to enter the justice center and give a urine test, but she refused because she did not want to leave her children unattended. Clayborne was then asked to provide a sample of urine from her car by the caseworkers. Clayborne took off her pants and underwear as other officers surrounded her car. She then tried to pee in a cup. She was unable to.
DCS caseworkers said that it had “made things worse” for her.
Clayborne told DCS to leave and then locked her car. In the lawsuit, it is alleged that DCS social workers then contacted Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputies in order to illegally hold the family. At least six Coffee County officers were gathered around the vehicle. One officer had placed spike strips all around the car.
Clayborne had to bail out her partner from jail. She took her children to the Coffee County Justice Center where she was instructed to sit with them on a bench. The suit stated that “Clayborne had been held against her wishes and was not allowed to leave”.
While Clayborne waited, DCS attorneys conducted an emergency hearing before Coffee County Judge Greg Perry and obtained an order for the immediate custody of the children.
DCS failed to inform Clayborne of the nearby hearing or offer her a chance to attend. The emergency order was granted by the judge at around 3 pm, six hours after initial traffic stop. The hearing was not attended by any witnesses, and there is no transcript of the proceedings.
Six uniformed officers physically restrained Clayborne while she sat down on a bench. They then loaded her children into a truck, drove off, and left.
The Next 55 Days
Clayborne was not allowed to visit the children for a month after they were placed in separate foster homes. She was only allowed two video calls a week.
The lawsuit describes the emotional trauma that Clayborne and her kids experienced during the 55 days of separation. Clayborne’s milk dried up. She suffered from depression, anxiety and mental anguish. She also began to have panic attacks. She rented a room in Tennessee to be near the children and to fight for their return.
Clayborne learned of this later. After a month, DCS decided to put them with a family friend who was willing to be an emergency foster family. In the following weeks, the couple fought to get their children back in Coffee County Juvenile court.
Children cried and feared that they would never be reunited with their parents. They also suffered because of being separated from siblings. The children showed signs of trauma even after they returned: the couple’s six-year-old boy begs for his mother to not bring them back. He has nightmares and wets bed. One child has a “visceral reaction” to seeing the police.
The couple received their children back on April 13, 2019. Clayborne’s misdemeanor charge was dismissed. Williams pleaded guilty to misdemeanor. The DCS case is closed.
The lawsuit alleges that DCS caseworkers (case managers), THP troopers (troopers) and Coffee County law-enforcement officers violated the Tennessee Constitution and 4th Amendment by illegally detaining Clayborne.
The suit stated that “by law, as soon as the Troopers decided that Clayborne was cited for possession of marijuana alone, she and her kids were legally free to depart.”
The report alleges that DCS caseworkers did not have a legal basis for requiring Clayborne to remove her underwear and pants to collect a urine specimen. It also accuses the officers and caseworkers of taking actions that “aimed to break up or unreasonably interfere with the family relationships between Clayborne, her children and her husband.”
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which is overseen by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said on Thursday that the agency declined to comment due to ongoing litigation. The Department of Children’s Services, and Coffee County Sheriff’s Department have not responded to requests for comments.
The original publication of this story was by Tennessee Lookout.
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