A couple from Georgia is fighting to regain custody of their five children after being pulled over last month by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The family was traveling to Chicago from Georgia for a family funeral with their children asleep in the car when they were allegedly pulled over for “dark tint and traveling in the left lane while not actively passing," per Tennessee Lookout.
The family’s vehicle was searched and five grams of marijuana were found, a misdemeanor in Tennessee. The father was arrested for possession and the mother received a citation and was told to follow the patrol car to the Coffee County Justice Center to bond him out.
During a six-hour wait at the Coffee County Justice Center, her five children ages 7, 5, 3, 2, and a breastfeeding now-4-month-old were forcibly removed from her by the Tennessee Department of Child Services where they remain a month later, according to Tennessee Lookout.
More from CafeMom: Mom Says Pot Makes Her a Better Parent & Should Be ‘Just as Acceptable’ as a Glass of Wine
The parents have hired a legal team to help them regain custody.
Bianca Clayborne and Deonte Williams, parents of the five children, have hired a legal team to gain back custody. The couple’s legal team has called out the Tennessee Department of Child Services' actions as “extreme, abnormal, and a violation of the parents rights," reported Tennessee Lookout.
Jamal Boykin, a Nashville attorney representing the family, said, “It’s just so shocking to the conscience that in 2023 this is happening. I just have to believe if my clients looked different or had a different background, they would have just been given a citation and told you just keep this stuff away from the kids while you’re in this state and they’d be on their way,” according to Tennessee Lookout.
Authorities claimed neglect.
Clayborne said she was approached by some people from the agency while waiting in the car with her children. One agent reportedly entered the vehicle.
"Then my baby started crying so I reached for my son, and as I’m reaching, a man held me and told me, ‘Don’t touch him. He’s getting taken away from you," Clayborn said, according to Tennessee Lookout. “I just sat there crying, crying, crying."
It appears that the DCS ordered an emergency petition to have Clayborn and William’s children removed, saying there was probable cause the children were being neglected. Clayborne apparently was not aware of this when she went to Coffee County Justice Center. A review of the court records, DCS correspondence, and highway patrol citations conducted by Tennessee Lookout creates questions about why DCS pursued removing the children from their parents.
A referral was received by DCS from Coffee County Jail, indicating that both parents were arrested, according to court records per the Tennessee Lookout. In that situation, the state agency would step in to care for the children. Only Williams was arrested, not Clayborne, which the caseworker was allegedly aware of.
The parents believe drug test results may have been falsified.
Six days after the children were taken away, Clayborne and Williams submitted to urine drug tests. Williams reportedly tested positive for THC (the active ingredient in marijuana), which he has admitted to using, but Clayborne tested negative.
Both also submitted to rapid hair follicle tests and both allegedly tested positive for methamphetamines, fentanyl, and oxycodone, despite not appearing to be under the influence during the traffic stop or at court. Both deny using any of those drugs.
The type of test administered is reportedly not admissible in court. Greg Bowen, owner of Nashville laboratory ReliaLab Test Inc., told Tennessee Lookout that those tests produce "too many false positives.”
More from CafeMom: Mom Has CPS Called on Her & Newborn Taken Away Over Eating a Bagel Before Giving Birth
The family has struggled during the separation.
Clayborne has had trouble producing breast milk because her nursing infant was forcibly removed from her care. She said the events of the past month have been traumatizing and that her children cry when she talks to them on the phone and hold onto her when she visits, Tennessee Lookout reported.
Williams has also struggled taking multiple trips to see his children in Tennessee and is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy because of the legal fees associated with trying to regain custody of the children.
Twitter users are outraged.
Tennessee Lookout reported Anita Wadhani shared Clayborne and William's story on her Twitter, and Twitter users were outraged. It has been retweeted more than 9,000 times, received more than 18,000 likes, and gotten over 1,000 quotes. Many are calling out what they say is the biased and discriminatory treatment the couple received in Tennessee.
One Twitter user retweeted, "This is truly horrific. The #RacistAF
@TNHighwayPatroland @TN_DCS are actively trying to destroy this Black family."
Another Twitter user retweeted with the caption, "The state kidnapped this couples 5 children. They were taken, in part, by an agency that has been so overloaded, kids are sleeping on the office floor. There is nothing pro life, pro family, about the way Tennessee is operated. This racist incompetence is paid for by our taxes."
A Tennessee politician is advocating for the family.
Tennessee Sen. London Lamar, a Democrat who represents Memphis, held a press conference on Thursday, speaking out for Clayborne and Williams. "The Coffee County justice system was absolutely out of line for taking their children over a misdemeanor charge, without even filing a petition yet to take those children," she said, according to WPLN News.
"It is absolutely ridiculous when marijuana is legal in about half the states in the country, and a Black family got five of their children taken away, put into DCS that is not doing a good job taking care of the children they already have and they won't give them their children back for a misdemeanor charge," she added.
