A Bill That Could Criminalize Parents Based On Anonymous Allegations Heads To Senate Committee
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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A bill that would criminalize parents based on anonymous allegations of abuse or neglect is heading to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 13th 2023.
House Bill 1109 (HB1109) and companion Senate Bill 1319 (SB1319) eliminates basic due process which requires that a person has the right to know accusations made against them and have their day in court to tell their side of the story to a judge.
Under this proposed law, sponsored by Representative Ron Travis (R-Dayton-District 31) in the House and Senator Paul Bailey (R-Sparta-District 15) in the Senate, parents could be charged with a felony for failure to turn their children over to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) even when the charges against them are based on anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations.
Not only will this bill add a subsection to Tennessee Code 39-13-306 which states that it is “criminal custodial interference” for a parent or family member to hide a child, knowing that the child has been placed in DCS custody pursuant to a custody order or emergency custody order – sometimes obtained without any notice to the parent or their attorney — but a parent will have no defense if they have not yet been served a copy of the order.
DCS gets many referrals for child abuse or neglect through their portal or by a hotline and these reports are often anonymous. Even though DCS is supposed to investigate these allegations, they sometimes take the details of an anonymous report, put them in a court document, file that document with the Court, and get a judge to sign an order to take a child away from their home.
Parents who have been wrongly accused may spend months, sometimes even years, proving their innocence as they submit to drug tests, psychiatric evaluations, and participate in supervised visitation with their child.
DCS, on the other hand, is not required to talk to the source making the allegations, or to determine if the reporter is credible.
If you oppose this bill, you may use the information below to contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee before the meeting.
Sen. Todd Gardenhire (Chair) (R) – sen.todd.gardenhire@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6682
Sen. Dawn White (Vice-Chair) (R) – sen.dawn.white@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6853
Sen. Paul Rose (2nd Vice-Chair) (R) – sen.paul.rose@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1967
Sen. Sara Kyle (D) – sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4167
Sen. London Lamar (D) – sen.london.lamar@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2509
Sen. Jon Lundberg (R) – sen.jon.lundberg@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-5761
Sen. Kerry Roberts (R) – sen.kerry.roberts@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4499
Sen. John Stevens (R) – sen.john.stevens@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4576
Sen. Brent Taylor (R) – sen.brent.taylor@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3036
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
I guess we know no what Tn. politicos thing of the US Constitution. This proposed legislation is in direct opposition to a citizens right to face their accusers and defend themselves. Our children are abused in schools across the state every day by teachers and administrators that should be in jail themselves. What the hell are these people thinking!
They think they’ll get a cut is what they think. CPS is the largest child trafficking outfit in the USA. They get there regular pay and when they take a kid they get more money, place the kid in home with a family member they get more money a non family member is worth more money, and if they can adopt the kids out they get a bonus. All that money comes from the federal government. They take it out of our Social Security program. Now that abortion is illegal they will just take babies away from the parents. Pharma and NIH will still need babies to experiment with. Have you heard about the bill they tried to get passed on the National level about an aborted baby surviving the abortion process the doctor must try to save the baby. I think every democrat voted no on it. Babies that survive are worth a lot of money. The NIH has rules that a certain amount of babies must be fresh and never put on dry ice. Judicial Watch reported this. Pharma uses these babies the baby must still have a beating heart and they will cut their hearts out or slice through their faces to get to the brain without any kind of numbing agent. https://rumble.com/v259upv-what-pharma-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about-vaccines..html
Bill Clinton era law https://www.theepochtimes.com/clinton-era-law-has-distorted-child-protective-services-say-parents_3096515.html?