Cherokee County DSS Indictments Shed Light On Unlawful Family Separations

By Stacia Brown,

Published May 26, 2020 at 3:49 PM EDT

In North Carolina it is unlawful to separate a child from a biological parent without the oversight of a judge. But in Cherokee County, a grand jury has indicted at least three current and former Department of Social Services officials for allegedly doing just that.

Cindy Palmer, former Cherokee County DSS director; David Hughes, former child protective unit supervisor; and Scott Lindsay, former DSS attorney were charged last week with more than three dozen felonies and misdemeanors, including obstruction of justice and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Host Frank Stasio talks to Kate Martin, investigative reporter for Carolina Public Press, about what is at stake in the case.

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Stacia Brown

Stacia L. Brown is a writer and audio storyteller who has worked in public media since 2016, when she partnered with the Association of Independents in Radio and Baltimore's WEAA 88.9 to create The Rise of Charm City, a narrative podcast that centered community oral histories. She has worked for WAMU’s daily news radio program, 1A, as well as WUNC’s The State of Things. Stacia was a producer for WUNC's award-winning series, Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon and a co-creator of the station's first children's literacy podcast, The Story Stables. She served as a senior producer for two Ten Percent Happier podcasts, Childproof and More Than a Feeling. In early 2023, she was interim executive producer for WNYC’s The Takeaway.

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Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

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