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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A former Juvenile Court magistrate who claims she was fired and discriminated against for defending constitutional rights in Knox County is suing for punitive damages.
Robin Gunn alleges that Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Irwin, along with Family Services Supervisor Stacey Turpin, violated parental rights to counsel, denied parents due process, and allowed law enforcement to “exert improper, ex parte influence over judicial decisions at the expense of parents’ constitutional rights.”
According to the lawsuit, Gunn, who served as a magistrate judge for seven years, spoke up regularly about the unwritten court policies that she believed were responsible for violating the rights of people who found themselves in Juvenile Court.
At least five of these unwritten policies are outlined in the suit. The defendants are accused of intentionally waiting until in-person preliminary hearings before notifying parents of the right to be represented by counsel, and that if a parent is unable to pay for this, that one will be appointed.
Providing this notice to parents in dependency and neglect cases was the responsibility of Turpin’s office. Despite Gunn creating a draft notice of the right to counsel that could have been delivered along with copies of petitions in cases, Turpin revised job responsibilities of staff in her office so that they no longer had to mail a copy of a petition to an affected parent. The lawsuit also states that Turpin disciplined a staff member for appointing an attorney before a hearing.
Another unwritten policy required that homeless fathers submit to a DNA test that confirmed paternity before counsel would be appointed.
Irwin and Turpin allegedly forced parents in dependency and neglect cases to show proof to a non-attorney court officer, both unelected and unappointed, that they had jumped through every hoop required by the court before being allowed to file petitions to get unsupervised visits with their children or that allowed the reunification of their families.
Gunn also accused Irwin and Turpin of not giving attorneys access to information like the results from a drug test, and other critical information that they needed while also releasing confidential records to investigators.
The defendants’ practices which other officials knew about and went along with were part of a “systemic effort to circumvent constitutional safeguards” , states the lawsuit.
According to Gunn, she brought up concerns repeatedly during monthly leadership meetings while advocating for respecting parental rights and following the law.
An incident from a year ago is outlined in the suit, in which an Endangered Child Alert for three children was issued by Knoxville police.
Non-custodial father Aki Warren fled with the children after being informed that he failed a drug test by a DCS investigator. Later located in Chattanooga, he agreed to surrender the children at the Knoxville DCS office.
According to Gunn, a Knox County Sheriff lieutenant asked her to prepare a written request explaining the need for the alert to be ended while identifying the children and their father. This led to Gunn being summoned to Irwin’s office and admonished for telling the police department “how to do their job.” Irwin allegedly asked Gunn why she thought she could order the police around. When Gunn said the request was made in the best interest of the children, Irwin set aside her request and insisted that he would prepare an order.
A week later, Gunn found herself in a formal meeting with Irwin and the court’s directors and was reprimanded, placed on probation, and required to submit all orders for pre-approval after Irwin accused her of questioning law enforcement’s treatment of Black men.
Having never made any statement about Knox County law enforcement’s record when it comes to dealing with Black men, Gunn found her punishment to not only be “baseless” but also “grounded in racial bias, rather than judicial responsibility and trauma-informed jurisprudence.”
About a week after that, Gunn learned about the unlawful forwarding of copies of her request, and Irwin’s subsequent rescinding order to at least one person in city government in Knoxville. When asked about the authorization of the distribution of the documents, Irwin gave Gunn varying explanations.
In mid September, Gunn was summoned to Irwin’s office yet again and fired with no explanation or cause given but in official EEOC filings and in off-the-record remarks, it was noted that her termination was due to backlash from law enforcement personnel and the Sheriff’s Office.
Gunn, who is Black, believes race to be a factor in her being fired. Another non-white member of the juvenile court system was also let go under similar circumstances in 2023, and according to Gunn, was also accused of violating the unwritten rules of the court.
Meanwhile, a white magistrate judge, James Reed, was not disciplined for serious misconduct which involved excessively summoning court clerks to his chambers and making inappropriate comments to them.
Gunn is asking for punitive damages to be awarded to her – to be determined by the court – for the violation of her 14th amendment rights to equal protections. She alleges that Irwin and Turpin both failed to uphold the Tennessee Public Protection Act and that they violated the constitutional rights of the parents that were at the mercy of the Knox County Juvenile Court system.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
