Case Summary
SCSJ represents Mariah King against criminal charges resulting from her family’s interactions with Durham County Department of Social Services (DSS). Relying on a holistic defense model, SCSJ is working closely with Ms. King’s family court team from Carolina Parent Defenders and Emancipate NC.
SCSJ is part of a growing coalition — in North Carolina and nationally — of families, organizers, and lawyers, all working together to keep families together. Too often, the family regulation system and the criminal legal system intertwine to perpetuate harm by breaking apart families, forcing children into foster care, terminating parental rights and placing children up for adoption, and criminally charging parents as a mechanism to facilitate removal of their children.
Disproportionately poor Black and Brown families are trapped in a cycle of surveillance, criminalization, and ultimately, separation. SCSJ is advocating to divest from the family regulation system and into family and community-oriented systems of care.
Why it's Important
The family regulation system relies on the criminal legal system to justify separating families. Charging a parent criminally can often be the basis for removal or delay family reunification.
The constitution requires that parental rights be treated with the utmost respect, and does not allow for the removal of children from their families without due process and a robust consideration of the best interest of the child. In their efforts to keep their families together, parents deserve support from all government agencies rather than fearing that their children will be removed simply seeking help during times of stress and instability.
Other Related Cases
State v. Sheryl Smith
SCSJ is standing up against the family policing system on behalf of Sheryl Smith, a dedicated activist in the Durham community for nearly two decades.
Learn More