A former lawyer for a North Carolina county’s department of social services has been found guilty after he was accused of interfering with the constitutional rights of parents whose children were removed from the family home.
Attorney General Josh Stein said former Cherokee County DSS attorney Scott Lindsay was convicted of 12 counts of felony obstruction of justice and two counts of misdemeanor obstruction of justice.
Stein said public servants have a responsibility to the people they serve – they have a duty to uphold the law and protect the vulnerable, and Lindsay failed to do that and harmed families in Cherokee County, who suffered for years.
Court records show Linday advised DSS Director Cindy Palmer and DSS staff to enter into coercive custody and visitation agreements, and the targeted parents were often struggling with addiction or poverty.
Stein said DSS did not have the authority to create or force parents to sign these out-of-court agreements.
