Chaffins v. Lowndes County Department of Family & Children Services

Hill, Justice.

On October 6, 1978, Anthony Chaffins and his wife Pansy filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in Lowndes County Superior Court (Case No. 34631) seeking the return of their three children from the Lowndes County Department of Family & Children Services ("Department”). On that same date, Debbie Ann Chaffins filed an identical petition (Case No. 34632) in regard to her child. The Department had been granted interim custody of the four children by ex parte orders of the Juvenile Court of Lowndes County pending a hearing.

In defending the habeas action, the Department filed the…