Shortly after Adrienne Driggers had closed our daycare in Corpus Christi a child named Jordan Arredondo was killed in an accident at Mary McLeod Bethune daycare in Corpus Christi. While the Childcare Licensing (aka Department of Family and Protective Services, DFPS, Childcare Licensing, Child Protective Services) ruled that Bethune was negligent in their care of the child, Childcare Licensing did absolutely nothing to punish this daycare.
I called the Texas Attorney General's Office to file a complaint against DFPS for the double standard that we were being subjected to and how Adrienne Driggers was creating her own rules specifically to deny us of our right to operate a daycare. The reasoning for me calling the Texas Attorney General's Office is because it is this office's responsibility to uphold the United States Constitution which includes Section 1 of the 14th Amendment which states that "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Adrienne Driggers had clearly violated our Constitutional rights and the Texas Attorney General's Office was responsible for protecting us.
The person that answered my call stated that it is the job of the Texas Attorney General's Office to represent State Agencies in court. Any concerns that we had could be addressed at that time. We were disregarded. Though the conversation was brief and the person that answered the phone, on the surface at least, was no help for us the little that she told me and what she did not spoke volumes. Not only did the Texas Attorney General's Office not care for the Constitutional rights of the citizens of Texas but they were going to assume the position of the Department of Family and Protective Services without question.
"Without Question" is the approach taken by the Texas Attorney General's Office that has enabled Adrienne Driggers to blatantly and egregiously abuse her power. But it's not just representing Adrienne Driggers "without question" it is also their deliberately turning to look the other way when Adrienne Driggers abused her power. The Texas Attorney General's Office is very well aware that Driggers has a history of creating her own rules and regulations to target certain daycare operators just as they are aware of her staff ordering Hispanic daycare operators to go into their dumpsters to "fetch" food items without legitimate justification. Most importantly, the Texas Attorney General's Office is aware that each time that Adrienne Driggers targeted a daycare operator children were uprooted and forced to be cared for by people that did not have oversight of the State. They were aware that her actions resulted in the molestation of two children. A sickening thing is that knowing that children were being harmed and that people's Constitutional rights were being trampled on by Adrienne Driggers, this Office proceeded to act without conscience in destroying innocent people.
Prior to my new understanding of the Texas Attorney General's Office involvement in helping Adrienne Driggers terrorize people I had contacted one of their attorneys named Patricia Fernandez to see if she could help a lady that was being prevented from working at a children's daycare despite not being on the Texas DFPS Central Registry. This was a clear violation of this poor ladies Constitutional Rights. I expected Ms. Fernandez to help this lady as it was her job to protect the Constitutional Rights of the citizens of Texas. Instead, she responded with a challenge. She wanted to face me in court as this poor ladies representative! As you might have guessed I analyzed every word that she stated and the conclusion was this: She was going to crush any person that challenged whatever Adrienne Driggers ordered even if what Adrienne Driggers ordered was illegal.
Given that the Texas Attorney General's Office was complicit in helping Adrienne Driggers in denying people of their Constitutional rights and endangering children, I saw the Attorney General's Office as not only a danger to our position but a danger to every child in the state of Texas.
I ask you this question: If you knew that a person or group of people were deliberately endangering the lives of children would you approach them with kindness or would you go after them with a viciousness that an animal without conscience would deserve? I chose the latter and it would have devastating effects. Patricia Fernandez would get her wish in facing me in court where she got her ass handed to her so badly that she would have a meltdown at the conclusion of the hearing!
