Tennessee Democrats Push For Children To Be Returned To Parents Following Marijuana Arrest
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“No family is perfect, but an imperfection, like a simple marijuana charge, is no excuse for tearing a family apart.” By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout The Tennessee Democratic Caucus on Thursday demanded that the Department of Children’s Service release five young children taken from their parents, who are Black, after a traffic stop in Manchester last month. The children—ages 7, 5, 3, 2 and a four-month-old infant who was still nursing—were removed from their parents February 17 after a traffic stop initiated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol because of “dark tint and traveling in the left lane while not actively passing.” The children have been in DCS custody since. Deonte Williams, the children’s father, was arrested for possessing five grams of marijuana, a misdemeanor in Tennessee. Bianca Clayborne was cited and released. Court records, DCS emails and THP citations cited in a story about the family by the Tennessee Lookout Wednesday raised a series of questions about why the child welfare agency pursued removal of the children after a misdemeanor arrest of one parent and another parent who was free to leave. Sen. London Lamar, a Memphis Democrat, called the actions “ridiculous” and an “overuse of power.” “DCS, Coffee County, y’all need to do the right thing before the situation gets worse, and we have a nation of people coming to the rescue of this Black family,” she said. “Give them their children back. It’s borderline discrimination, because if this was any other family, as their attorney said, we don’t even think this would be the outcome,” she said. Bianca Clayborne and Deonte Williams were on I-24 heading to a funeral — kids asleep in the back — when a Tenn. Highway Patrol officer pulled them over for “dark tint and traveling in the left lane while not actively passing.” Reporting…

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