Texas took this Dallas couple’s newborn baby for 3 weeks. A judge says their rights were violated

A Travis County judge ruled the state’s child welfare agency violated the constitutional rights of a Dallas couple whose newborn daughter was temporarily taken into state custody for week after a hospital visit three years ago.

Temecia and Rodney Jackson sued the Department of Family and Protective Services, the agency that houses Child Protective Services, last year. The parents say the department put them on the Central Registry — a public abuse and neglect database — without a clear way to appeal and get themselves removed.

Travis County District Judge Catherine Mauzy ruled late last month two sections of the state administrative code used in the Jacksons’ case impair or interfere with the family’s constitutional due process rights.

One section states DFPS can label an investigation into alleged abuse as “unable to determine,” which means investigators could not rule out abuse or neglect, but the subject of investigation isn’t completely cleared of wrongdoing.

The Jacksons argued the Central Registry process and the “unable to determine” label didn’t give the parents an opportunity to appeal the determinations and defend themselves.

“That is a denial of procedural due process,” said Charelle Lett with the ACLU of Texas, which is helping represent the Jacksons in court. “And this court agreed that the Jacksons are entitled to that, and so is every other Texan that comes through this system.”

KERA News reached out to DFPS for comment and will update this story with any response.

CPS took baby Mila into custody after Baylor Scott and White Doctor Anand Bhatt reported the Jacksons for alleged medical neglect in 2023. Bhatt diagnosed 3-day-old Mila with jaundice during a routine postpartum checkup and believed she needed treatment in the hospital.

The Jacksons opted to pursue an alternative treatment plan at home with their midwife to avoid being separated from Mila. Texas law gives parents the right to consent to their child’s health care.

Bhatt named a different woman as Mila’s mother, according to the lawsuit. That woman’s name, criminal and family history were later written on the affidavit authorities used to take Mila into CPS custody. DFPS corrected the mistake days later but said CPS would still keep Mila.

At the time, DFPS found “reason to believe” there was medical neglect in Mila’s home — a label indicating abuse or neglect has likely occurred — and, without notice, put the Jacksons on the department’s Central Registry for perpetrators of abuse or neglect.

DFPS said the Texas Family Code requires the department to make these kinds of findings, according to court records. The parents requested an administrative review of those findings and provided DFPS with records to make their appeal, according to the suit.

DFPS ultimately dismissed the case and returned Mila to her parents after three weeks in CPS custody. The label on their case was changed to “unable to determine” nearly a year later, after an informal review by a DFPS specialist.

That removed the Jacksons’ case from the Central Registry. According to the suit, DFPS did not rule out the allegations because there was “significant concern for risk.”

But the Jacksons sued, arguing the DFPS process gives them no options to entirely clear their name from the department’s systems.

Temecia Jackson told KERA News last year that following Mila’s return, the family resettled in Dallas with Mila and their two older sons to get away from the traumatic memories of Mila being taken from their DeSoto home.

In their suit, Rodney Jackson says he felt his reputation has been jeopardized by the DFPS investigation, and he’s uncomfortable volunteering in the community or coaching his kids’ sports teams.

DFPS says its rules are consistent with what state law requires for child safety, and the Jacksons already used the existing process to successfully challenge their “reason to believe” finding. DFPS argued the Jacksons have already been removed from the registry, their case records are not public, and state law does not allow the family to get agency decisions changed or erased.

And DFPS says the family’s alleged reputational harms are hypothetical.

Unless the state appeals, Lett said, Mauzy’s ruling brings an end to the Jacksons’ case. While the future for the Jacksons and their case is uncertain, Lett called the decision a win for all parents.

“We are not trying to keep the DFPS from taking children out of dangerous situations,” Lett said. “There is value to what they do, but they could do it in a way that does not infringe on people’s rights.”

Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA’s law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.

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