(The Center Square) – Scott Lindsay, the former lawyer for a North Carolina county’s Department of Social Services, for now has avoided jail time in his conviction of advising the agency to use agreements resulting in more than two dozen children removed from their parents’ custody.
Often, says the state attorney general, the parents did not even have legal counsel.
The cases happened between 2009-18 and led to $53 million in settlements in nearly two dozen federal lawsuits against the Cherokee County Department of Social Services. During testimony, social workers said the documents – known as a custody and visitation agreement, or CVA – were used to save the county money.
The settlement amounts are a state record for a county-run DSS.
Known as State v. Lindsay, the North Carolina Court of Appeals recently upheld Lindsay’s conviction of 12 counts of felony obstruction of justice and two counts of misdemeanor obstruction of justice. The state Department of Justice, then under the watch of second-term Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, and its Special Prosecutions Section tried the case in Macon County Superior Court – moved from Cherokee County due to worries about an unbiased jury.
Stein is now governor. First-term Democrat Jeff Jackson, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is attorney general today.
Prosecutors said Lindsay advised the agency to use fake legal documents to remove the children from their families.
Lindsay’s sentence is five to 15 years, suspended for 12 months of unsupervised probation.
Cindy Palmer was DSS director during the time of the agreements. Her sentence in 2021, after pleading guilty to felony obstruction of justice charges, was also suspended for 12 months of unsupervised probation.
“These cases are about keeping people safe from dangerous criminals and protecting children and families,” Jackson said the case and about two dozen others in which his office won appeals that upheld criminal convictions. “Our office is going to take on every fight to ensure we deliver justice for victims and protect North Carolinians.”
The North Carolina Bar Association disbarred Lindsay. Palmer’s felony conviction prohibits her from working for Cherokee County, or any social services department.
