Tennessee judge denies family right to release bodycam footage of traffic stop that landed 5 children in foster care

Coffee County General Sessions Judge Greg Perry issued a “protective order” in June prohibiting the Tennessee Highway Patrol footage from being “disseminated to the public.”

A Georgia man whose five young children were taken away and put in foster care for two months after a misdemeanor traffic stop cannot release unredacted dashboard and bodycam evidence from the incident.

Deonte Williams’ attorney contended he had a First Amendment right to release footage from the February traffic stop conducted by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. According to the Tennessee Lookout, troopers in Coffee County pulled Williams over for “dark tint and traveling in the left lane while not actively passing” as he drove with his family from Georgia to Chicago.

Dawn Deaner, representing Williams and his partner, Bianca Clayborne, received the unredacted video of the traffic stop in response to a subpoena; however, the matter never proceeded to trial, where it might have been presented as evidence and formed part of the court’s public record. 

“There must be a compelling government interest to prohibit speech in this manner,” Deaner said. “They came by these recordings in a lawful manner. There shouldn’t be any reason they cannot share them. The people involved in them are their children and them, so if they feel comfortable sharing videos with whomever they wish to share them with, they should have the freedom to do that.”

Coffee County General Sessions Judge Greg Perry issued a “protective order” in June prohibiting the footage from being “disseminated to the public” and warned anybody who did so would be in contempt.

The video shows troopers searching their Dodge Durango, detaining the family and arresting Williams for possessing less than five grams of marijuana, a misdemeanor in Tennessee. Clayborne was cited and told she could leave with the couple’s children. 

However, when Clayborne went to the jail to post Williams’ bond, police and social workers showed up and took their five minors, who were 4 months to 7 years old. Williams pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of simple possession, while authorities withdrew Clayborne’s charges in August. 

Perry denied the family’s motion to disclose footage it already had, saying he was worried that doing so would violate the gag order imposed in juvenile court, where the couple fought to bring their children home following the traffic stop.

The gag order came as a result of the family and their attorney speaking publicly about the children’s removal, the Department of Children’s Services conduct, and the proceedings in juvenile court.

Deaner argued that the gag order was an unlawful limit on the couple’s constitutionally protected speech rights.

The incident garnered widespread public attention and sparked controversy as many questioned whether the Black family’s treatment was racially motivated in a predominantly white, rural area of Tennessee.

Coffee County District Attorney Marcus Simmons said the court should legally prohibit the family from distributing the hours of unredacted film they already had, arguing that the state opposed giving it to them in the first place. Instead, he said, the pair might file a public records request with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which could choose to redact sections of the footage.

“I just want to remind the court here there are children … I don’t know if these children, months, years from now, if they want their faces on the news,” Simmons said. “The state would just ask to keep those interests in mind also.”

However, Perry did agree to amend his previous order to allow the parents and the general public to submit formal document requests with the Tennessee Highway Patrol for redacted versions of the dashboard and body camera tapes.

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