NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Bronx woman is suing the New York City Administration for Children’s Services for separating her from her newborn baby after she tested positive for cannabis use.
The ACS cited a positive cannabis test when the agency separated Chanetto Rivers, 34, from her baby just days after she gave birth in 2021. The Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), the law that legalized recreational cannabis, explicitly forbids family separation on the grounds of cannabis use, though.
The Bronx Defenders and Arnold & Porter sued the agency on Rivers’ behalf, alleging the agency violated the MRTA and Rivers’ Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under the law.
ACS guidelines also direct caseworkers to refrain from separating families due to cannabis use.
A judge intervened to reunite the family, but the lawsuit claims ACS continued to press a case against Rivers for months after the court’s intervention.
“When ACS took my baby away from me, I felt lost, empty, and hopeless,” said Rivers in a statement. “ACS has been ripping Black families apart for generations, and I’m bringing this case to let Black parents know they have rights to stand up to ACS.”
The Bronx Defenders said this case is part of a pattern in which ACS disproportionately targets Black families for separation.
“ACS is committed to keeping children safe, and, at the same time, addressing the systemic racial disparities that exist in child welfare — New York City children and families deserve both,” said a spokesperson for the agency. “ACS does not indicate a case nor remove children based solely on a parent or caregiver’s use of marijuana. When ACS investigates a case involving an allegation of parental drug/alcohol misuse (regardless of what the substance is), ACS’s policy and practice mandated under law is to assess the impact any misuse has or may imminently have on child safety.”
In addition to the separation suit, the Bronx Defenders and Arnold & Porter are suing to gain access to documents regarding an internal audit on racial bias within ACS.
The legal groups believe ACS leadership encouraged employees to target Black families and rushed to use separation, and then refused to adhere to changes recommended by the audit when it found evidence of racial discrimination.
“For years, ACS has paid lip service to recognizing and addressing its own racial bias, choosing instead to evade calls for transparency and reform, which has caused lasting harm to the family sanctity and bonds of generations of New Yorkers,” said Niji Jain, Senior Staff Attorney, Impact Litigation Practice at The Bronx Defenders. “These lawsuits against ACS illustrate how the agency systematically polices marginalized families and tears them apart based on harmful, racist stereotypes about Black parents and families, laying bare the endemic racism and discrimination that lies at the heart of the agency.”
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