The Administration for Children’s Services has agreed to a first-of-its-kind judgment after a parent accused the agency of targeting her for marijuana use and taking her newborn son — months after recreational use was legalized statewide, according to the parent’s lawyer and court records.
The woman, Chanetto Rivers, will receive more than $75,000 and payment for legal fees after she accused New York City and its child welfare agency of separating her from her son when he and Rivers tested positive for marijuana in August 2021.
Rivers, who is Black, accused ACS in a lawsuit filed in May of pursuing her for marijuana use because of her race, citing a history of similar complaints against the agency that preceded its alleged violation of state law.
Rivers’ proceedings with ACS concerning her son, identified in federal court papers as TW, came months after New York state legalized marijuana use in March 2021.
“Even after a judge required ACS to reunite Ms. Rivers with her baby, ACS continued to subject Ms. Rivers to needless court proceedings and a litany of conditions that interfered with her parenting of TW for months, while the unlawful removal of her baby was ratified by senior ACS leadership,” the complaint reads. “This was not because ACS was trying to protect TW; this was because Ms. Rivers is Black.”
The previously unreported judgment, signed by a federal judge on Aug. 30, is believed by attorneys and advocates to be the first case of its kind since New York state legalized recreational marijuana use in March 2021, though similar claims were made long before then.
A Gothamist investigation last year showed that despite statewide legalization and promises of reform, the agency continued to cite parents’ marijuana use in proceedings to separate them from their children. All of the parents who described similar encounters with the agency were Black.
ACS spokesperson Stephanie Gendell said the state and city policy was that “marijuana is not in and…
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