The Ku Klux Klan Law

When one hears the name of the State Agency "The Department of Family and Protective Services" those who have not been a target of their abuse think of this grand State Agency that protects the families of the State. Assuming that this is not the first post that you have read from the Dark Side of Childcare you will know that this is not true. The people employed by this State Agency are just as corrupt as any other workplace. The difference is that these people have the full backing of the Attorney General's Office to do whatever they want even if it means violating your Constitutional Rights. I was asked recently if Adrienne Driggers or her staff have any oversight, someone that can stop them from their unethical behavior. The answer is that they basically don't.  Their oversight comes from their own Department!

I was also asked if there was any way that employees of the Department of Family and Protective Services can be sued. The answer is a resounding YES through an old law created in 1871 as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 known as the Ku Klux Klan law.

Section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code also known as the "Ku Klux Klan law" as well as "Section 1983" is a means to punish State employees from denying you your Constitutional Rights. Section 1983 of Title 42 states:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, SHALL BE LIABLE to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

A lack of ethical standards is evident in the behavior of  Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Representatives, Adrienne Driggers the District Director for Sections 8,10, and 11, and her superiors. There is an agency wide belief that they are immune to any form of punishment. They clearly do not have any oversight, nor is there any desire on the part of high ranking officials to reign in the behavior of their subordinates. Section 1983 of Title 42 is your means of making these people pay for violating your Constitutional Rights.

It is sad that a law that was created as a result of the Ku Klux Klan, a racist organization known for lynching minorities, is the law that can help protect you from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.