Tennessee Democrats Demand Children to be Returned to Parents After Marijuana Arrest

“No family can be perfect. But an imperfection like a simple marijuana conviction is no excuse to tear a family apart.”

by Anita Wadhwani (Tennessee Lookout

On Thursday, the Tennessee Democratic Caucus demanded that five children be released by the Department of Children’s Service. They were taken from their Black parents following a Manchester traffic stop last month.

After a traffic stop by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for “dark tint” and “traveling in the left lane without actively passing,” the children were taken from their parents and placed in DCS custody.

Deonte Williams was the father of the children and was charged with possessing five grams marijuana. This is a misdemeanor under Tennessee law. Bianca Clayborne was issued a citation and released. Bianca Clayborne was cited and released.

Memphis Democrat Sen. London Lamar called the actions “ridiculous”, and “overuses of power.”

She said, “DCS, Coffee County. Y’all need to be right before it gets worse. We have a nation that will come to the rescue of this Black family.”

“Give them back their children. This is borderline discrimination because, if this were any other family, their attorney stated, we don’t think this would be possible.” she said.

Bianca Clayborne was driving to a funeral with Deonte Williams, and a Tenn. Highway Patrol officer stopped them for having dark tinted their cars and being in the left lane.

Reporting by @anitawadhwani https://t.co/Cj2y2wNBBP

Tennessee Senate Democrats (@TNSenateDems March 16, 2023

Sen. Raumesh Akbari is also a Memphis Democrat. He stated that the goal should be to keep families together, because babies and young kids belong with their parents.

She said that it was outrageous that the state had forced Bianca Clayborne, a mother of two, and Deonte William from their children. This continued for almost a month. “The state made a poor and extreme decision in taking their children, and now they seem to have doubled down on it.”

“No family is perfect. But an imperfection like a simple marijuana conviction is not enough to cause a family to be broken apart. Reunification is supported by the state. They must return the five children immediately to their parents if they have no other reason.

DCS spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

On Thursday, the Tennessee Highway Patrol also denied the Lookout for body and dash-cam footage of the THP traffic stop and interactions between the family.

The request of the Lookout, made earlier this week, was denied by the District Attorney’s Office serving Coffee County. According to a letter from an attorney, the office asserted its privilege not to release the documents at this point pursuant to Rule 16 of Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure.

THP stated that the state law prohibits the release of “documents or other information that directly or indirect identifies a child receiving DCS services or a family member.”

Courtney Teasley, the attorney for the family, said Thursday that “we echo the response from the Democratic Caucus.”

DCS used an instant hair follicle test on parents to support their argument that the children should be kept in DCS custody. This was performed about one week after they were taken into custody. A Coffee County court administrator spoke out about instant hair follicle testing and said that they are not admissible in court. The Lookout was told by an expert that rapid hair follicle testing is unreliable as they can often give false positives.

The test was challenged by lawyers for the family; DCS’s attorney has said that the test is no longer valid, though the custody case remains open.

She said that this was even more unacceptable when the county’s court administrator has determined that the drug test used as a justification for keeping the children in foster care was “inadmissible”.

Tennessee Lookout first published this story.