|
Click Headline for Full Story
May 2008
NEW JERSEY
McGreeveys Reach Deal on Custody of Daughter
By The
Associated Press
5-9-08 --
Former Gov. James E. McGreevey and his estranged wife settled child
custody matters on Thursday as they moved closer to dissolving their
marriage, their lawyers said. . . . The deal for custody of their
6-year-old daughter came on the third day of negotiations, which
included some closed-door testimony before state Superior Court
Judge Karen M. Cassidy, who was trying to avoid a divorce trial. . .
. The couple and their lawyers are scheduled to return to the Union
County Courthouse on Monday to begin settlement talks on remaining
issues, including alimony and child support. . . . Should those
succeed, the final issue would be Dina Matos McGreevey’s claim of
marriage fraud. . . . Mr. McGreevey left the courthouse Thursday
evening escorted by two uniformed sheriff’s officers. Speaking of
the custody agreement for his daughter, Mr. McGreevey said, “She’ll
get a large amount of time to spend with her parents.” . . . Lawyers
for both Mr. McGreevey and his wife said they could not disclose
terms of the custody agreement because it was confidential. . . .
“It was an amicable settlement,” said John N. Post, lawyer for Ms.
Matos McGreevey. “The judge was very, very helpful to both sides.” .
. . Asked about the financial and fraud issues that remain, Mr. Post
said, “Hopefully, we’ll be able to settle those issues also.”

April 2008
In The Best Interest Of The Child
By Betty
Freauf, NewsWithViews.com
4-30-08
-- When we first began to hear
the phrase “In the Best Interest of the Child” we thought it was a
noble concept that protected the vulnerable children by removing
them from abusive or negligent parents; yet it also has led to
levels of intervention unimaginable a few decades ago and suddenly
many people were being accused of child abuse. Child Protective
Services (CPS), because of something a child may have said to a teacher or written in
an essay, which may even have been misconstrued, was kidnapping
children at schools. . . . Because of draconian actions by the child
protectors, many felt they were overstepping their boundaries, so
the Oregon legislature passed legislation creating a Citizen Review
Board, which was to become watchdogs over social workers who were
determining who were unsuitable parents. I volunteered in the
mid-1980s to become an unpaid member. A number of boards were set up
in each county. . . . Our Constitution gave government no
jurisdiction over family life and I felt constitutionally it was the
county sheriff’s duty to investigate the crime of abuse because he
was the “elected” official and the public could hold him
responsible. I contacted our local sheriff and he was more than
happy to take responsibility but this never happened. Instead, the
social workers would contact the sheriff, or the local city police,
and they would accompany the social workers to a home to supervise
arrests of often times innocent people and take traumatized,
screaming children to be “interrogated” and then to some “licensed”
foster care home where it was not unusual for the child to be abused
again. Bleeding-heart liberals who believed everything the media
printed about this so-called epidemic felt the children would be
safe in foster care because they were “licensed.”
TEXAS
Attorneys Worry How Changes Will Affect Polygamist Children
Click2Houston.com
4-25-08 --
Some people have voiced their opposition to sending children taken
from the polygamist sect in west Texas to foster homes, KPRC Local 2
reported Friday. . . . Three Houston-area facilities are expecting
the children to arrive at any moment. . . . One attorney said some
of the children are being ripped away from their families a second
time by separating them from their siblings. . . . Betty Luke said
her 7-year old client is being placed with her sister in Waco, far
away from their brothers, who are being placed at a Brazoria County
facility. . .. "It just seems to make better sense to me to place
those two children, who are going to be placed together anyway, in
the Houston area, closer to their brothers, closer to their
attorney," she said.
CALIFORNIA
Sexual exploitation of minors racks up billions
By
Barbara Grady, Oakland Tribune
|
"Rich
dudes,'' said one 16-year-old. Another said she had a
customer who was a judge. Both mentioned businessmen and
lawyers as customers, and said some johns drive from the
suburbs into Oakland. |
4-24-08 --
The economic rule of supply and demand drives the market for
everything from toothpaste to sports cars. . . . It also drives the
sexual exploitation of minors. . . . If adults weren't interested in
paying $120 or $200 to have sex with a child or teenager, girls and
boys would not be peddled on the street by pimps. . . . "It's basic
supply and demand,'' said Norma Hotaling, founder and executive
director of San Francisco-based SAGE, or Standing Against Global
Exploitation. Sexual exploitation is a multibillion-dollar industry
worldwide, she said, "paid one dollar at a time by men who have
decided to use their money, use their family's income, to buy a
human being. . . . "They use these girls like sewers.'' . . . Girls
as young as 11 or 12 are increasingly being sold for sex on Oakland
streets in what one law enforcement officer called "an epidemic.'' .
.. Sexual assault of a minor is a felony, punishable by long prison
sentences. Hotaling said most of the johns she sees seem surprised
to learn that buying sex from a minor is sexual assault. . .. Under
contract with the San Francisco Police Department, SAGE runs a class
for men arrested on a first offense of soliciting prostitution, from
minors or adults. Police call it the "john school.'' . .. "I teach
a class of about 60 men every other month,'' Hotaling said. "I look
out at that class and see men of all types.'' . . . They are rich
and not so rich, in distinguished professions and in manual labor,
young and old, from the suburbs and the city.
KENTUCKY
Judge: Teen can attend St. X over dad’s objection
By
Andrew Wolfson
4-14-08 --
Fourteen-year-old Michael Ryan may attend St. Xavier High School,
despite the objections of his atheist father, an Oldham County family court judge has
ruled. . . . In a decision made public today, Judge Tim Feeley said
he was persuaded that it is in Michael’s best interest to attend St.
X, in part because that’s where he wants to go. . . . Michael’s
parents are divorced, and his mother, Susan Bisig, wanted him to go
to the Catholic high school in Louisville.. . . “The court cannot
compel David Ryan to send his child to a religious school” and
“likewise this court cannot prohibit Susan Bisig from sending her
child to a religious school,” Feeley wrote in an eight-page ruling.
. . . “What this court must do is make custody decisions considering
the best interest of the child,” Feeley said. “The clear best
interest of this child is supported by the mother’s position.”
Trading Nude Photos Via Mobile Phone Now Part Of Teen Dating,
Experts Say
Associated Press
4-14-08 --
Forget about passing notes in study hall; some teens are now using
their cell phones to flirt and send nude pictures of themselves. . .
. The instant text, picture and video messages have become part of
some teens' courtship behavior, police and school officials said. .
. . The messages often spread quickly and sometimes find their way
to public Web sites. . . . "I've seen everything from your basic
striptease to sexual acts being performed," said Reynoldsburg police
Detective Brian Marvin, a member of the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force
of Central Ohio. "You name it, they will do it at their home under
this perceived anonymity." . . . Westerville Central High School
senior Jerome Ray said he's received such unsolicited messages,
including one from a classmate while he was sitting with his
girlfriend. . . . "A lot more girls are aggressive," said Ray, 18.
"Some girls are crazy and they are putting themselves out there."
MISSOURI
House endorses bill barring lawyers from yelling at kids in court
By Chris
Blank, The Associated Press

04-06-08 --
Lawyers couldn't yell at child witnesses under legislation endorsed
by the House on Wednesday. . . . Supporters say the bill is designed
to help make child witnesses more comfortable by giving them
additional protections and regulating attorneys' behavior. It would
apply to anyone younger than 18. . . . It was approved 100-48 and
now goes to the Senate. House leaders had to end debate and force a
vote even though the bill was placed on a list of "consent bills"
that cannot be amended and are unlikely to generate significant
debate. . . . Rep. Bob Dixon said that court can be intimidating
even for adults, and that there needed to be special considerations
for children. . . . "We want to make sure the courtroom is a fair
place so that the child can tell what happened to them," said Dixon,
R-Springfield.
ARKANSAS
Toddlers Can No Longer Marry in Ark.
By
Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press Writer
04-03-08 --
Arkansas' marriage-age crisis is over. A law that mistakenly allowed
anyone — even toddlers — to marry with parental permission was
repealed by a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe,
ending months of embarrassment for the state and confusion for
county clerks. . . . Lawmakers didn't realize until after the end of
last year's regular session that a law they approved, intended to
establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage, instead removed the
minimum age to marry entirely. An extraneous "not" in the bill
allowed anyone who was not pregnant to marry at any age with
permission. . . . The bill read: "In order for a person who is
younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to
obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk
with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."
Government stakes claim to every newborn's DNA
'We now are
considered guinea pigs, instead of human beings with
rights'
By Bob
Unruh, © 2008 WorldNetDaily
04-03-08 --
An Orwellian plan that has state and federal governments staking
claim to the ownership of every newborn's DNA in perpetuity is advancing under the radar of most privacy rights
activists, but would turn the
United States' citizenry into a huge pool of subjects for
involuntary scientific experimentation, according to one
organization alarmed over the issue. . . . "We now are considered
guinea pigs, as opposed to human beings with rights," Twila Brase,
president of the
the Citizens' Council on Health Care, a Minnesota-based
organization familiar with the progress in that state. . . . She
warned ultimately, such DNA databases could spark the next wave of demands for eugenics, the
concept of improving the human race through the control of various
inherited traits. Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood,
advocated eugenics to cull people she considered unfit from the
population. . . . In 1921, she said eugenics is "the most adequate
and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social
problems," and she later lamented "the ever increasing, unceasingly
spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at
all." . . . Lawmakers in
Minnesota recently endorsed a proposal that would exempt stockpiles
of DNA information already collected from every newborn from any
sort of consent requirements. That means researchers could utilize
the DNA of more than 780,000 Minnesota
children for any sort of research project whatsover, Brase said. . .
. "The Senate just voted to strip citizens of parental rights,
privacy rights,
patient rights and DNA property rights. They voted to make every citizen a research subject of
the state government, starting at birth," she said. "They voted to
let the government create
genetic profiles of every citizen without their consent."
. . . The result will be that every newborn's
DNA will be collected at birth,
"warehoused in a state genomic biobank, and given away to genetic
researchers without parent consent – or in adulthood, without the
individual's consent. Already, the health department reports that
42, 210 children have been subjected to
genetic research without their consent," Brase told WND.
. . . She said although her organization works with Minnesota
issues, similar laws or rules and regulations already are in use
across the nation. . . .
The National Conference of State Legislatures, in fact,
lists for all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia the
various statutes or regulatory provisions under which newborns' DNA
is being collected.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Lawyer testifies that DC's child welfare agency in crisis
(AP) -
04-02-08 --
A children's rights lawyer says D.C.'s child welfare agency is in
crisis after thousands of new reports flooded the agency in recent
months. . . . Marcia Robinson Lowry is the executive director of
Children's Rights. The advocacy group has been involved in a federal
lawsuit against the city's Child and Family Services Agency dating
back nearly two decades. . . . Lowry testified in court Tuesday that
the surge in calls has created a dangerous situation that might
prompt legal action to send the child welfare agency back into court
receivership. . . . A spokeswoman for the agency says calls have
increased 600 percent since Banita Jacks was arrested in January
after her four daughters were found dead inside her southeast
Washington home.
MARYLAND
Judicial system failed slain children, friends say
by
Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner
04-02-08 --
Friends blame the judicial system for failing to keep a suicidal
father away, but lawyers and activists fault Maryland’s domestic
violence law as stacked against children and abused wives. . . .
“The threat of murder, how can you overlook that?” asked Dan Sander,
a friend of Mark Castillo, who was charged with killing his three
children. . . . “It is the responsibility of the courts to protect
the children — and they failed.” . . . In January 2007, Montgomery
Circuit Judge Joseph Dugan denied wife Amy Castillo’s request for a
protective order, because psychological analyses by court-appointed
therapists showed that Mark Castillo posed no threat to his
children, despite his threat to kill his children, his bipolar and
narcissistic personality disorders and suicide attempts. . . . The
investigation of Mark Castillo, charged Monday with drowning his
sons, Anthony, 6, and Austin, 4, and daughter Athena, 2, prevents
judges from commenting, Dugan’s spokesman said. . . . Another
Montgomery judge, Michael Mason, denied Amy Castillo’s request to
halt her husband’s visitations. . . . But lawyers and activists said
the law’s at fault, not judges. . . . Maryland requires a higher
standard of evidence in custody battles and abuse hearings than most
states, said Patrick Dragga, a family lawyer who supports lowering
the standard to help victims. . . . “A protective order gives women
a false sense of security,” said Prince George’s Circuit Judge
Vincent Femia, who favors abolishing them.
KENTUCKY
Ex-state agency lawyer pleads guilty in Ohio child-sex sting
Associated Press
04-02-08 --
A former children's services lawyer accused in an Internet child-sex
sting pleaded guilty Tuesday to two charges. . . . Barry Mentser,
48, of New Albany, pleaded to
importuning and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, his
attorney and a prosecutor said. Authorities dropped a charge related
to spreading material harmful to juveniles. . . . Mentser was
arrested Oct. 31 in the Ohio Statehouse basement in a sting set up
by a Hamilton Township police detective who had posed online as a
15-year-old girl. . . . Mentser's attorney, Charles Rittgers, said
he could face a sentence ranging up to 18 months in prison. . . .
"He's taken responsibility for what he did, and he's ready to try to
move on and deal with this the best he can," Rittgers said, adding
that Mentser, who has been free on bond, had no prior criminal
record.
OHIO
Kids' Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Child-Sex Case
New York
Lawyer, By The Associated Press
04-02-08 --
A former children's services lawyer accused in an Internet child-sex
sting pleaded guilty Tuesday to two charges. . . . Barry Mentser,
48, of New Albany, pleaded to
importuning and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, his
attorney and a prosecutor said. Authorities dropped a charge related
to spreading material harmful to juveniles. . . . Mentser was
arrested Oct. 31 in the Ohio Statehouse basement in a sting set up
by a Hamilton Township police detective who had posed online as a
15-year-old girl. . . . Mentser's attorney, Charles Rittgers, said
he could face a sentence ranging up to 18 months in prison. . . .
"He's taken responsibility for what he did, and he's ready to try to
move on and deal with this the best he can," Rittgers said, adding
that Mentser, who has been free on bond, had no prior criminal
record.

|
DCRally2008
August 15-17 2008, Lincoln Memorial in
Washington DC
This year will be even greater than last year’s
effort. All across this nation, there have been
lawsuits and investigations taking place as it
relates to the abuses that are currently
happening in family courts. Kentucky, Georgia,
Michigan just to name a few. The
organizations nationwide have done a phenomenal
job of coming together and we are getting
mainstream media attention. We must continue!!!
This year there are 3 cyclists for Shared
Parenting and Family Preservation one of which
is a candidate for Judge in Family Court.
We need everyone’s help to
make the statement.
This year the DC Rally takes place within 2
weeks of both the Democratic and Republican
conventions. Neither candidate will hear us or
address the issues of protecting the parent
child relationship unless we all show up and
show out!!!! The new website is
www.dcrally2008.com . . . We are
welcoming any and all to work with us as we move
close to the Rally date. If this is indeed a
movement then let us let it be known that we are
here and we must be addressed!!!
How does one get involved?
First by spreading the information to the
uttermost parts of the earth. Then by contacting
the committee from the DC Rally website and we
will put you to work. Mothers, Fathers,
Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles. / CPS issues -
Fatherhood issues - Parental Alienation issues –
Child medication issues. / Every issue that
serves as a dividing point and as part of the
destruction of our families must and will be
addressed. It is time once again to
shout!!!
"Government has come into our households and we want them
out!!!" |
March 2008
MICHIGAN
Part one: How to wreck a boy's life
Experts say an Oakland County detective ran roughshod over a
13-year-old in a sexual abuse case against his parents
By Brian
Dickerson • Free Press Columnist
03-17-08 --
In the fading twilight of a Tuesday in early December, a 13-year-old
boy sat alone in a West Bloomfield police interrogation room,
sobbing as he cradled his head in his hands and rocked from side to
side. . . . For nearly an hour, Detective Joseph Brousseau had
grilled the boy about accusations that he and his autistic sister
had been sexually molested by their father. . . . No, the boy
insisted, he'd seen nothing to support the detective's lurid
suspicions. Three times, he offered to take a lie detector test. . .
. But Brousseau hammered away, challenging the boy's honesty, his
manliness, his loyalty to his disabled sister. . . . Again and
again, the detective told the boy his body language betrayed the
burden of a terrible secret. . . . "What if I told you that one of
those videotapes confiscated from your parents' house had you in
it?" the detective asked suddenly. . . . The 13-year-old
straightened. "Was it me doing something sexually?" . . . "I don't
think I'd be bringing it up if it wasn't," Brousseau answered.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you -- it's going to come out." . .
. If it were merely what it purported to be -- the disclosure of a
deviant father's treachery -- the videotaped exchange would be
excruciating enough to watch. . . . But the truth is a good deal
uglier than that. . . . Charges have been dropped. In fact,
prosecutors now concede, much of what Brousseau told the boy during
his Dec. 4 interrogation was a fabrication. . . . There were no
videotapes depicting the boy in sexual situations with his father or
sister. There was no new crime lab evidence confirming his sister's
allegations, despite Brousseau's repeated assertions to the
contrary.
NEW YORK
N.Y. High Court Finds Adopted-Out Child Has No Claim to Jell-O
Fortune
Mark
Fass, New York Law Journal
03-14-08 --
The daughter of an heir to the Jell-O
fortune, who spent 14 years looking for her birth mother, is not
entitled to a multimillion-dollar share of two disputed trusts, the
New York Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. . . . In a separate ruling
Thursday involving two joined cases, Matter of Adult Home at Erie
Station, 21, and Regional Economic Community Action Program v.
Bernaski, 22, the state's highest court ruled that an Orange County city improperly denied
tax exemptions to a home for the elderly and a social work
organization devoted to the poor. . . . In the disputed trusts
decision,
Matter of the Accounting by Fleet Bank, 27, the court
reversed the Appellate Division, 4th Department, finding that the
law in effect at the time of the execution of the trusts, in 1926
and 1963, does not imply the right for an adopted-out child to share
in a class gift. . . . The unanimous court also found that public
policy precludes office manager Elizabeth McNabb, 52, from receiving
shares of two trusts created to benefit her birth mother's
"descendants" and "living children." . . . Citing the court's own
1985 decision Matter of Best, 66 NY2d 151, Chief Judge Judith S.
Kaye wrote, "As the Court noted, the finality of judicial decrees
would be compromised if adopted-out children were included in such
class gifts 'because there would always lurk the possibility, no
matter how remote, that a secret out-of-wedlock child had been
adopted out of the family by a biological parent or ancestor of a
class of beneficiaries.'"
CALIFORNIA
Anti-war judge rejects foster teen's bid to join military
By Dana
Bartholomew, Staff Writer
03-10-08 --
Shawn Sage long dreamed of joining
the military, and watching "Full Metal Jacket" last year really sold
him on becoming a Marine. . . . But last fall, a Los Angeles
Superior Court commissioner dashed the foster teen's hopes of early
enlistment for Marine sniper duty, plus a potential $10,000 signing
bonus. . . . In denying the Royal High School student delayed
entry into the Marine Corps, Children's Court Commissioner Marilyn
Mackel reportedly told Sage and a recruiter that she didn't approve
of the Iraq war, didn't trust recruiters and didn't support the
military. . . . "The judge said she didn't support the Iraq war for
any reason why we're over there," said Marine recruiter Sgt.
Guillermo Medrano of the Simi Valley USMC recruiting office. . . .
"She just said all recruiters were the same - that they `all tap
dance and tell me what I want to hear.' She said she didn't want him
to fight in it." . . . Sage, 17, said he begged for Mackel's
permission.

Study finds 1 in 4 US teens has a STD
By
Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer
03-07-08 --
At least one in four teenage American
girls has a sexually transmitted disease, suggests a
first-of-its-kind federal study that startled some adolescent-health
experts. . . . Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection
of both abstinence-only sex education and teens' own sense of
invulnerabilty. Because some sexually transmitted infections can
cause infertility and cancer, U.S. health officials called for
better screening, vaccination and prevention. . .. Only about half
of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex. Some teens define
sex as only intercourse, yet other types of intimate behavior
including oral sex can spread some diseases. . . . Among those who
admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent
had an STD. . . . "This is pretty shocking," said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an
adolescent medicine specialist at
Montefiore Medical Center's
Children's Hospital in New York. . . . "To talk about abstinence is
not a bad thing," but teen girls — and boys too — need to be
informed about how to protect themselves if they do have sex,
Alderman said.
GEORGIA
Government Concedes Vaccines May Have Injured Ga. Girl; Impact on
Autism Claims Unclear
Marilynn
Marchione, The Associated Press
03-07-08 --
Government health officials have conceded that childhood vaccines
worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to
autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl, and that she should be paid
from a federal vaccine injury fund. . . . Medical and legal experts
say the narrow wording and circumstances probably make the case an
exception -- not a precedent for
thousands of other pending claims. . . . The government
"has not conceded that vaccines cause autism," said Linda Renzi, the
lawyer representing federal officials, who have consistently
maintained that childhood shots are safe. . . . However, parents and
advocates for autistic children see the case as a victory that may
help certain others. Although the science on this is very limited,
the girl's disorder may be more common in autistic children than in
healthy ones. . . . "It's a beginning," said Kevin Conway, a Boston
lawyer representing more than 1,200 families with vaccine injury
claims. "Each case is going to have to be proved on its individual
merits. But it shows to me that the government has conceded that
it's biologically plausible for a vaccine to cause these injuries.
They've never done it before."
IDAHO
Ammon Elementary Student Invents 'Diabetic Dress'
Reporter: Kristi Henderson
03-07-08 --
An 11-year-old Ammon Elementary
student turned a school project into a mission to help her little
sister live a more normal life. . . . Kailey Caldwell designed a
diabetic dress and recently placed third in the Invention Convention
in Boise. . . . Whitlee Caldwell is just like any other
5-year-old, enjoying reading a story with her mom and big sister. .
. . But a year ago, Whitlee was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. She
now uses an insulin pump, and for a little girl, the device came
with a major drawback. . . . Kailey Caldwell, Diabetic Dress
Inventor: "They have a little belt with a pack on them that you can
wear with skirts and pants, but when you try and wear them with a
dress it makes a bulge and it doesn't feel very comfortable and you
still have to lift your dress up to give yourself insulin."
NEW JERSEY
N.J. considers unsealing adoption records
By
Adrienne Lu, Inquirer Trenton Bureau
03-07-08 --
Robert Hafetz spent most of his life wanting to know who his birth
parents were. . . . Hafetz, who was adopted as an infant in New
Jersey and now lives in Warrington, Bucks County, started searching four
years ago and discovered his birth mother had died in 1977. In the
process, the 57-year-old met two half-brothers, who have welcomed
him into their family. . . . He says that having access to original
birth certificates would help other adoptees answer the nagging
questions of identity that haunt some from the time they are
children. . . . But some parents don't want to be found. Philip
Foley of South Jersey and his wife, who asked not to be named, are
among those fighting to keep birth records sealed by New Jersey. . .
. Foley testified on his wife's behalf against opening up records
before a Senate committee in January, telling lawmakers how she gave
up her daughter for adoption after being raped as a teenager. . . .
"I was free from him, free from what was growing on me," she says of
the act of giving up the infant. . . . About 11 years ago, the
daughter initiated contact with Foley's wife, they said. Foley's
wife says she made it clear she wanted no part of the woman's life.
But after that, they said, the woman contacted various members of
Foley's family, revealing a secret Foley's wife feared could destroy
her family. The woman has continued to contact the family
periodically since, Foley said. . . . "It's like enduring what I
endured back then and it's just horrible," she said. . . .
Nationwide, the number of states opening up access to records for
adoptees is small, but growing. In New Jersey, a bill to open
records sponsored by Sens. Joseph Vitale (D., Middlesex) and Diane
Allen (R., Burlington), has cleared the Senate and is moving to the
Assembly.
CALIFORNIA
Court's homeschool ban creating 'panic'
Ruling, if unchanged, could be used against tens of thousands
By Bob
Unruh, © 2008 WorldNetDaily
03-05-08 --
A ruling from an appeals court in California that a
homeschooling family must enroll their children in a public school
or "legally qualified" private school is alarming because of the way
the court opted to order those results, according to a team of
legislative analysts who have worked on homeschooling issues in
California for decades. . . . The ruling, when it was released
several days ago, sent ripples of shock through the homeschooling
community. . . .
WND has reported on the order handed down to Phillip and
Mary Long over the education being provided to two of their eight
children. . . . The decision from the 2nd Appellate Court in Los
Angeles granted a special petition brought by lawyers appointed to
represent the two youngest children after the family's homeschooling
was brought to the attention of child advocates. The lawyers
appointed by the state were unhappy with a lower court's ruling that
allowed the family to continue homeschooling, and specifically
challenged that on appeal. . . . Roy Hanson, chief of the
Private and Home Educators of California, said the
circumstances of the Long family left the court with the option of
handling such a ruling for their particular circumstances in a
juvenile court setting.
Anna Nicole Smith's Toddler Daughter Declared Her Sole Heir
New York Lawyer
03-05-08 --
(AP) - Anna Nicole Smith's daughter
will inherit her late mother's estate. . . . A Los Angeles judge on
Tuesday not only made 18-month-old Dannielynn Hope the sole heir,
but also set up a trust in the girl's name. . . . Her father, Larry
Birkhead, and Smith's executor, Howard K. Stern, will be
co-trustees. . . . Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted a
petition filed by Stern, who wanted to clarify Smith's intentions
toward her daughter. Smith drafted a will in 2001 — five years
before the child was born — that left her estate to her then only
child, Daniel. However, it said the assets in Daniel's trust should
be shared equally if she had future children.
RHODE ISLAND
Lawyers spar over class-action DCYF case
By
Edward Fitzpatrick, Journal Staff Writer
03-05-08 --
In sharply worded legal briefs,
opposing lawyers are arguing about whether a federal judge should
dismiss a sweeping class-action lawsuit that alleges widespread
abuse of children in state foster care. . . . Among other issues,
lawyers from the attorney general’s office and the Department of
Children, Youth & Families are challenging whether three adults
should be allowed to pursue the lawsuit on behalf of seven foster
children. . . . “It is clear from the testimony of the
self-proclaimed ‘next friends’ that they have no personal knowledge
regarding the named children’s current placement, treatment and
services and, therefore, they cannot speak to whether or not their
decision to involuntarily subject those children to the jurisdiction
of this court is in the child’s best interest,” defense lawyers say
in a memo of law filed Feb. 15 in U.S. District Court. . . . Child
Advocate Jametta O. Alston filed the suit with backing from
Children’s Rights, a nonprofit New York City organization with
experience in child-welfare class actions, and they are seeking
class-action status on behalf of the 3,000 children in state
custody, aiming for an overhaul of Rhode Island’s child-welfare
system.

NEW YORK
Appeals Court Faults Removal of Obese Child From Parents
Joel
Stashenko, New York Law Journal
03-03-08 --
Though not "ideal," a couple's efforts to control the weight of
their obese daughter were made in good faith and did not justify a
county agency's repeated removal of the girl from her parents'
custody, an upstate New York appeals court ruled Thursday. . . . The
custody case, Matter of Brittany T., 502131, concerned attempts by
the Chemung County Department of Social Services to intervene in the
upbringing of an obese girl. The matter began in 2003, when the
agency filed petitions alleging the parents were neglecting their
then-9-year-old daughter. . . . According to Thursday's ruling,
Brittany T.'s weight eventually exceeded 250 pounds, and she had
several health problems associated with obesity, such as gallstones,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol and insulin resistance. The
girl "undoubtedly has an eating disorder," the court noted Thursday.
. . . The county petitions argued that the parents, identified in
court papers as Shawna T. and Robert T., were failing to take steps
to control their daughter's weight and also to ensure she was
attending school. A finding of neglect and order of supervision in
August 2003 established a series of conditions the parents were to
follow to reduce Brittany T.'s weight.
Judge won't make ACS return girl to woman accused of
suffering mental woe
By Jess
Wisloski, Daily News Staff Writer
03-03-08 --
A judge rejected a desperate bid last week by a Queens mom to get
back from city custody the 6-year-old daughter she lost after being
accused of suffering from a rare mental disorder. . . . Some six
months after the Administration for Children's Services took custody
of Amber James, her family members finally got their day in Queens
Supreme Court last Thursday - an uncommon venue for a custody case.
. . . But the ruling by Justice Peter O'Donoghue to keep Amber in
foster care for now was heartbreaking for the girl's mother, Vanessa
James, 41. . . . "Judge! If you leave my daughter in the care of
ACS, she will die!" the distraught mom wailed in the courtroom.
"They will kill her!" . . . Amber was taken from her family because
a doctor feared Vanessa James suffered from Munchausen syndrome by
proxy - a rare disorder in which a person believes a child is sick,
or actually makes the child sick, to get attention. . . . Since the
city took custody in August, Amber has been hospitalized for
evaluation twice at mental health clinics. She has also been
hospitalized three times for pneumonia, according to court records.
And, she has been diagnosed with asthma.

February 2008
Planned Parenthood Web Site Promotes Porn, Misleads Teens
Family
News in Focus
02-29-08 --
Nation's largest abortion provider is
misleading young people. . . . Planned Parenthood's Teenwire.com Web
site fields sex-related questions from teens. Unfortunately, the
teens aren't getting straight answers — they're even being told
viewing pornography is OK. . . . Planned Parenthood knows it’s
illegal — the Web site states, “Federal law makes it illegal for
anyone under 18 to view pornography.” But then it proceeds to tell
teens that “many people enjoy using pornography.” . . . “It just
kind of promoted this normalization of explicit content, of viewing
pornography, and that’s … not a good message to be sending to
teens," said Cris Clapp, spokeswoman for Enough is Enough. . . . She
said pornography damages boys and girls alike. . . . “A lot of teen
girls have been deeply impacted by pornography use," Clapp said. "A
lot of them feel they can’t measure up.”
MISSOURI
Bill would bar lawyers from shouting at child witnesses
The
Associated Press
02-29-08 --
Missouri lawmakers are considering
legislation designed to help child witnesses testify in court by
granting them special privileges and restricting lawyers' behavior.
. . . Rep. Bob Dixon said Wednesday that courts could be scary for
adults who understood the process and that numerous states had
worked to make children more comfortable. . . . "I think all of us
would agree that children and adults are different, and we should
take these differences into account when we put a child on the
stand," he said.
PENNSYLVANIA
Student suspended 10 days for taking vitamins
'It was
Alice in Wonderland does The Twilight Zone,' father says
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
02-29-08 --
The parents of a student in
Pennsylvania's
South Middleton School District are warning other parents
after their workout-oriented son was suspended for 10 days and half
the soccer season for taking vitamins at school. . .. Calling it a
zero tolerance policy run amok, Joseph Figueiredo told WND it was
like, "'Alice in Wonderland' does the 'Twilight Zone.'" . .. The
controversy began when his son, Andrew, put himself on a physical
training regimen that included taking several vitamins and
supplements. . . . Andrew was aware of school rules regarding
prescription medications, so before he launched the program he
checked the student handbook. . . . "He took it upon himself to look
in the student manual and read the drug policy and medication
policy," he said. "But he did not see vitamins or dietary
supplements and in his mind thought it was okay."
CALIFORNIA
BigLaw Firm Fights for Child Prostitute in Suit Against
Her Pimps
New York
Lawyer, By Evan Hill, The Recorder
02-27-08 --
Two attorneys from Sheppard, Mullin,
Richter & Hampton used a novel approach to win a settlement for a
client who probably wouldn't have put an Am Law 100 firm high on her
list of likely knights in shining armor — a former child prostitute.
. . . Robert Gerber, a partner and chair of the firm's pro bono
committee, and Nathaniel Bruno, an associate, sued the girl's former
pimps under §52.5 of the California Civil Code, established in 2005
with the passage of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act. . .. To their knowledge,
the statute had never before been used to win a monetary settlement
for a child prostitute. . . . The bill created the crime of
trafficking a person for forced labor or services and enabled
victims of trafficking to bring civil actions. . .. The plaintiff,
an 18-year-old woman, ran away from home three years ago and into
the arms of a husband-wife pair of pimps whom she had met through
her mother, also a prostitute, the complaint says. . . . The suit,
brought in San Francisco Superior Court, accused the two of
persuading the girl to have sex with them and teaching her the work
of a prostitute: how to manipulate "johns," how much money to
charge, and how to avoid being arrested. Her pimps charged $1,000 a
night for her, according to the complaint.
CALIFORNIA
Is Ricky Really a Sex Offender?
California’s registry for life may soon include promiscuous kids
By Hanna
Ingber Win
02-25-08 --
When Ricky was 16, he went to a teen club and met a girl named
Amanda, who said she was the same age. They hit it off and were
eventually having sex. At the time Ricky thought it was a pretty
normal high school romance. . . . Two years later, Ricky is a
registered sex offender, and his life is destroyed. . . . Amanda
turned out to be 13. Ricky was arrested, tried as an adult, and
pleaded guilty to the charge of lascivious acts with a child, which
is a class D felony in Iowa. It is not disputed that the sex was
consensual, but intercourse with a 13-year-old is illegal in Iowa. .
. . Ricky was sentenced to two years probation and 10 years on the
Iowa online sex offender registry. Ricky and his family have since
moved to Oklahoma, where he will remain on the state’s public
registry for life. . .. Being labeled a sex offender has completely
changed Ricky’s life, leading him to be kicked out of high school,
thrown out of parks, taunted by neighbors, harassed by strangers,
and unable to live within 2,000 feet of a school, day-care center or
park. He is prohibited from going to the movies or mall with friends
because it would require crossing state borders, which he cannot do
without permission from his probation officer. One of Ricky’s
neighbors called the cops on him, yelled and cursed at him, and
videotaped him every time he stepped outside, Ricky said.
NEW JERSEY
Children of Sperm Donors Have Rights, Too
By
Maggie Gallagher
02-20-08 --
In New Jersey, the state Senate has
twice voted to give adopted children access to their original birth
certificates, that is, to the names of their biological mothers.
Birth mothers would have one year to notify the state that they wish
to remain anonymous. Even so, such birth mothers would be compelled
by government to provide social, cultural and health information, or
else their identities would be released regardless of their consent.
. . . Recently, one southern New Jersey newspaper weighed in
forcefully in the bill's favor: "This is not too much to ask from a
birth mother ... The adoptee's right to this information is as
important as protecting the privacy of the birth mother," the
editors of the Courier-Post opine. . . . But why pick exclusively on
birth mothers? If children have a right to know their own biological
parents -- a claim recognized in international human rights law and
one to which I am deeply sympathetic -- there is no good reason to
limit this claim to the small number of women who accept the
agonizing burden of giving life to children they cannot raise. . . .
Far more children these days are deprived of knowledge of their
origins by a totally difference process: artificial insemination.
How can we possibly countenance placing burdens exclusively on women
who give life and excuse totally the men whose sole contribution to
their child was to "donate" into a little cup, usually for money? .
. . And our laws are almost totally to blame for keeping children
created by reproductive technologies in the dark about their
origins. The common law remains the rule for children created by
sexual acts: I cannot bargain away at the bar my child's right to
the support and care of both his mother and father. The child
retains the right to the support of both parents, no matter to what
those parents have agreed. But if I go to a doctor or clinic for
sperm, adult bargains are suddenly allowed by law to trump the
child's natural right to know both his biological parents, wherever
possible.
CALIFORNIA
Broken families, broken courts Day 3:
Big stakes, but little voice for kids
By Karen de Sá
02-13-08 --
The day an Alameda County Superior Court judge became his stand-in
parent, 14-year-old Zairon Frazier felt more like a criminal than a
survivor of child abuse. . . . His mother had whacked him with a
belt. But inside Juvenile Dependency Court, it seemed like a
different sort of punishment. A bank of attorneys argued his fate at
a rapid clip. . . . "Obviously, whatever they were saying wasn't for
my benefit," Zairon said. "I knew they were talking about me, but I
didn't think anything I said or cared about mattered. If it was
about me, why didn't they ask me?" . . . Youth advocates seeking to
reform the long-overlooked dependency courts want answers to the
same question. Too often, children removed from home following
allegations of abuse and neglect are poorly served by lawyers paid
to represent them. . . . Throughout
California, attorneys do not
include their clients in critical court proceedings foreshadowing
their futures. The youths have little direct contact with their
court-appointed lawyers before and after the hearings. And with the
exception of dependency court in
Los Angeles County, children
rarely appear in court to express their views. When they do attend,
like Zairon, they often leave discouraged.
FLORIDA
Second person fired in DCF scandal
A technician who cleaned out the
ex-spokesman's computer admits a sexual relationship.
By Kevin Graham, Times Staff Writer
02-13-08 --
The Department of Children and Families has fired a second employee
connected to an unfolding investigation into the agency's former
spokesman, who was arrested Feb. 1 on child pornography charges. . .
. Michael Hernandez, who worked for the DCF as a computer
technician, told investigators that he tossed former DCF spokesman
Al Zimmerman's home computer in a trash bin because Zimmerman, 40,
told him he was afraid of what police would find on them. . . .
Hernandez, who told authorities he had a sexual relationship with
Zimmerman, also admitted to wiping clean and reformatting a DCF-issued
laptop that Zimmerman used for work, at Zimmerman's request,
authorities said. . . . DCF spokeswoman Erin Geraghty said Tuesday
that Hernandez was fired Feb. 1, the same day authorities brought
state charges of child pornography against Zimmerman.
TENNESSEE
Anna Mae Goes to China
Caught in a Lengthy Custody Struggle,
She Starts New Life With Biological |