Welcome back and thanks for joining us. We’ve been discussing a case that’s made headlines all over the US in the last few days. It took place in Texas, but is symptomatic of what’s happening all over the country, and particularly here in Michigan – where CPS is tearing families apart with no regard for the children, and never being held accountable for it. Which is what makes this story so singular – a Texas judge has sanctioned CPS with huge fines for the wrongful removal of children from their family.

So what happened after CPS removed the kids?

If you remember from earlier, Lavar Jones, a caseworker, sought emergency custody of the children without telling the court about 5-month-old Mason’s diagnosed blood disorder. He also failed to provide a doctor’s medical opinion which had been given to explain Mason’s second injury (the small skull fracture that started this entire ordeal!).

The family hired an attorney, who subpoenaed all the case records, and was stunned to discover they were full of inconsistencies and errors! Some statements on record were blatant falsifications, like the one where CPS workers had claimed that they had no idea where the children were located, or if they were with their family at the time!

In court, the caseworker plead the fifth!

Unbelievably, when the case ended up before a Judge, the case manager was called to the stand to answer for the mess, and instead they plead the fifth! Over and over, refusing to answer questions. And the supervisor wasn’t any more help. According to Mrs. Bright’s defense attorney, it wasn’t a case of making mistakes, or not making the right call, it was a case of “we know we’re not making the right call, and we’re going to violate someone’s constitutional right to raise their children by removing them based on our lies!”

Juvenile Court Judge Mike Schneider was furious. He ordered the agency to pay $127,000 to cover the family’s legal fees and other expenses. He also told the agency they had two weeks to come up with a new training program for their case workers. In addition, “We do need to deal with the issue of how we make sure this doesn’t happen again!” Judge Schneider said to CPS.

CPS claims they shouldn’t have been sanctioned.

The Texas CPS spokesperson, Tejal Patel, has gone on record saying that the agency should have had sovereign immunity and shouldn’t be sanctioned for their errors. She also said the agency is looking in to all of their options moving forward, including appealing the case. Which just proves how ridiculous their perspective is – that lying and falsifying records, and tearing a family apart, should go completely unpunished!

Here at The Kronzek Firm, we have been dealing with CPS’s arrogance and bullying tactics for decades. We know just how unjust and heartless case managers can be when they want to. So if CPS has reached out to you for any reason, call 866 766 5245 right now and speak to one of our skilled and experienced CPS defense attorneys. We are here for you!