SUIT CLAIMS BLOUNT JUVENILES ARE BEING ILLEGALLY DETAINED

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed Thursday contends juveniles accused
of crimes in Blount County are being illegally detained.

The lawsuit, filed by Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier on behalf of a
17-year-old boy identified only as John Doe and the boy's mother, seeks a
U.S. District Court judge's approval to include "all parents and legal
guardians of minors arrested for criminal offenses in Blount County" as
parties.

The legal action alleges juveniles are automatically held in a detention
center for 72 hours without a hearing or the opportunity to post bail.

That policy, the lawsuit contends, violates a juvenile's right to "equal
protection of the laws" and serves to punish the accused before he or she
has been tried and convicted.

"There is no rational basis for Blount County, Tennessee's policies,
customs and procedures which deny juveniles charged with drug offenses or
criminal offenses in Blount County the rights and privileges afforded to
juveniles in other counties," the lawsuit states.

In addition to Blount County, the lawsuit names as defendants Blount County
Sheriff's Department Deputies Hank Vaughn and Bill Boring, Juvenile Court
Referee James Snyder and Judicial Commissioner Michael Fox.

Vaughn and Boring stopped a car May 28, 2001 that was being driven by a
32-year-old man, who is not identified in the lawsuit. The boy, then 16,
and another unidentified adult were passengers.

According to the lawsuit, the deputies were told by an off-duty officer
that someone in the car "was smoking what appeared to be a marijuana
cigarette" as the car was traveling on Interstate 140 in Blount County.

Boring said he saw the boy place "a purple bag in his pants" shortly after
the car was stopped, the lawsuit alleges.

The deputies questioned the boy, who admitted "he had a bag in his pants,"
the lawsuit states. When deputies removed the bag from the boy's pants,
they discovered marijuana inside, according to the lawsuit.

The deputies arrested the driver of the car and the boy, who was
interrogated without a parent present, the lawsuit states.

The car's driver was freed from the Blount County Jail in lieu of $750 bond
within one hour of his arrest, the lawsuit states. But when the teenager's
mother tried to get her son released from the Blount County Juvenile
Detention Center on bail, she "was informed that her son would not be
released until he appeared before a judge," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit contends Snyder refused to hear a motion filed the following
day seeking bond for the boy and insisted the boy would be detained until
May 31, when a detention hearing would be held.

In addition to class-action certification, the lawsuit seeks $1 million in
compensatory damages for the boy and another $25,000 for his mother. The
legal action alleges Blount County authorities had particular knowledge of
the boy and his "fragile emotional condition" before he was arrested.

According to the lawsuit, the boy's father was convicted of bank fraud when
the boy was 11 years old and served time in prison. The father "went into
bankruptcy and lost everything," and was divorced from the boy's mother,
the lawsuit states. When the boy was 14, "his father became ill and died,"
the suit states.

Three months before he was arrested on the marijuana charge, the teenager
"found his best friend dead as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound,"
the lawsuit states.

Blount County's refusal to allow the boy to be freed on bond caused the boy
to suffer further "mental and emotional distress, humiliation and
embarrassment," the lawsuit alleges.