ABC News

8-31-07 -- Julie Porzio can't look into a mirror without thinking of the day she almost died. She has a scar on her face that's a daily reminder. . . . "I really truly believe it's a miracle I am alive," she said. "You know, my kids don't really know what happened. My 5-year-old, unfortunately, is starting to hear things from other people, so … I had to tell her." . . . Porzio is a mother of two active and beautiful young girls and a divorce lawyer in Waterbury, Conn. She had to tell her oldest of two daughters that someone shot her in cold blood, and all she was doing was her job. . . . Her profession nearly cost Porzio her life, the result of a case she took in 2003 that she knew from the beginning might be difficult. . . . "When clients describe their spouses as 'controlling' and, um, 'resistant to financial contributions to her future, or their future,' then I, I know that it's gonna be somewhat of a concern," she said. . . . She had seen her share of confrontational, explosive cases, but nothing prepared her for Bochicchio vs. Bochicchio. . . . Porzio's client was 42-year-old Donna Bochicchio, also a mother of two. Donna's husband, Michael Bochicchio, was a retired Connecticut state trooper. The divorce was contentious from the start, with battles over everything from their children to the house, sex and money. . . . Donna told her friends that she was afraid of her husband, and began making secret recordings of Michael's threats, particularly about money. . . . "So help me God, I will never pay you money, no matter what happens in this divorce," Michael said in one recording. . . . As the trial progressed, the judge sent the Bochicchios to mediation to try to work out a settlement. After a morning of talks, Michael Bochicchio finally agreed to settle and the details were worked out. But by the afternoon, all bets were off.

By David Twiddy ~ The Associated Press

8-31-07 -- A federal judge Monday agreed to temporarily block enforcement of a new Missouri law aimed at increasing regulation of abortion clinics. . . . U.S. District judge Ortrie Smith granted a request from Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri for a temporary injunction, saying he will hold a Sept. 10 hearing to determine whether to make the injunction permanent. . . . Planned Parenthood has argued that if the law goes into effect it would infringe on women's abortion rights because the organization would have to halt abortions at its Columbia and Kansas City offices -- either permanently or while expensive and "medically unnecessary" renovations are made. . . . Missouri already requires abortion facilities to be licensed, but because of the definition of an abortion facility -- requiring abortions to generate half its revenue or patients -- a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis has been the only facility in Missouri actually regulated as an abortion clinic.

By Ken Kobayashi, Advertiser Courts Writer

8-20-07 - The Hawai'i Supreme Court issued a major ruling last week on the question: At what point does the use of corporal punishment cross the line to criminal child abuse? . . . In a 3-2 decision, the high court ruled that a mother was not guilty of child abuse for hitting her 14-year-old daughter with a backpack, a plastic hanger, a small brush and the plastic handle of a tool. The high court reversed a jury's verdict that had convicted the mother. . . . Chief Justice Ronald Moon and two associate justices said the actions of Ijeva Matavale, the mother, fall under the law that permits parents to use force in disciplining their children. . . . Two other justices dissented, suggesting the decision will permit any parent to lose control and inflict the same type of harm. . . . The clash among the justices underscores the point that what is abuse to one person is discipline to another. . . . "People feel very differently about using force for parental discipline," said Deputy Public Defender Deborah Kim, one of the mother's lawyers on the appeal. "Some people would never hit a child, but for other people, it's necessary."

Mary Sanchez

8-20-07 - It's a familiar story. Boy meets girl in a bar. Boy and girl drink alcohol. Boy and girl retreat to a more secluded place, maybe his apartment. The next morning, there are differing interpretations of what happened next. . . . In the Nebraska case of Tory Bowen and Pamir Safi, there was a police report, followed by charges of rape and a trial. Make that two trials. The first resulted in a hung jury. The second ended in July when the judge declared a mistrial, arguing that pre-trial publicity rallied by the accuser had botched the jury selection. Another trial may be in the works, but arriving at the "truth" – or at least the resolution of a conviction or acquittal – is proving much more difficult than it should be. . . . Ms. Bowen's version is that she awoke in the morning, naked, with Mr. Safi on top of her, having sex. She told him to stop. He did. Because her clothes from the night before were caked with vomit, he also gave her something to wear. And he gave her a lift home. . . . Is this rape? Oh, wait, we're not allowed to use that term.

By Kate Braser, Courier & Press staff writer 

8-8-07 -- A child support case in which an ex-wife claimed unfairness in the judicial system will be assigned to a special judge. . . . Suzanne Hebert Hamilton's attorney, Mary Lee Schiff, wrote a six-page letter to prosecutors in June complaining about the case. Hebert Hamilton's ex-husband, Richard Hamilton, is the son of Vanderburgh Superior Court Magistrate Allen Hamilton. A copy of the letter was also provided to the Courier & Press. . . . The couple separated in 2005 and finalized their divorce in February 2006. Hebert Hamilton lives in Florida with the couple's two children. In May 2006, she asked Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Robert Pigman to enforce a Florida contempt order, alleging Richard Hamilton owes $25,000 in back child support. . . . Court records show that in June, just days after a story ran in the Courier & Press in which Hebert Hamilton expressed her frustration about the case, Pigman recused himself. The next day, Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman recused all Vanderburgh Superior Court judges from the case. . . . A hearing scheduled for this week to determine whether Hamilton was making progress on his child support payments was canceled until the case can be assigned to a new judge.

By Gavin Clarkson

8-3-07 -- For more than a decade, a white man married to an Indian woman sexually terrorized his entire family on the Eastern Cherokee reservation in North Carolina. If his wife complained about the rapes and beatings with a baseball bat, he shocked her with a Taser. While raping his wife, he would force his teenage daughters to stand by so he could fondle their genitalia to compensate for erectile dysfunction. Afterward, he would show them his AK-47 and threaten to kill them if they ever left him or told anyone. . . . Despite those threats, his wife finally reported the incidents to tribal police. Eastern Cherokee prosecutor James Kilbourne wanted to prosecute, but the tribe did not have criminal jurisdiction over the non-Indian husband. Local and state authorities didn't have jurisdiction either because the victims were Indians. . . . In 21st century America, how is it that the availability of justice on Indian reservations is determined by the race of the perpetrator and victim? Although the federal government recognizes Indian tribes as sovereign nations, Congress and the Supreme Court have severely restricted tribes' ability to protect their citizens from violent crime.

You're not my mommy!
By J. Matt Barber

8-3-07 -- Jesus said, "But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh" (Mark 10: 6-8, NKJV). . . . Virginia resident Lisa Miller – now a born-again Christian – and her beautiful 5-year-old daughter, Isabella, find themselves immersed in a nightmarish custody battle. But this battle is unlike most others. The person trying to take Isabella away from her mother is entirely unrelated to the little girl and is essentially a total stranger. She's lesbian Janet Jenkins, a woman with whom Lisa at one time had been homosexually involved. . . . By her own account, emotional problems brought on by a series of events – including abandonment by her father, abuse by her mentally ill mother and a decade-long struggle with alcoholism now overcome – eventually led Lisa Miller into the lesbian lifestyle. In 1999, Lisa began a homosexual relationship with Jenkins after coming out of a legitimate marriage that ended in divorce. . . . In 2000, soon after Vermont became the first state to legalize homosexual "civil unions," Miller and Jenkins made a weekend trek from Virginia to Vermont to enter into such a "union." They then headed back to Virginia where they lived together. . . . In 2001, Lisa was artificially inseminated after the two decided to raise a child in an unnatural, deliberately fatherless home environment as self-deluded "wife" and "wife" – mother and "mother." . . . In August of 2002, Miller and little Isabella, now just a few months old, moved to Vermont with Jenkins. However, things were unstable, and according to Lisa Miller, Jenkins was physically and emotionally abusive. "It was a troubled relationship from the beginning," Lisa told World Magazine in a recent interview. "The relationship did not improve, as Jenkins – working as a nightshift security guard – grew increasingly bitter and controlling," reported World.

Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy

8-2-07 -- From the trial court's judgment giving the father custody (a decision upheld on appeal), Dexter v. Dexter, no. 2005 DR 0110 (Ct. Com. Pl. Portage County, Ohio May 1, 2006), aff'd, 2007 WL 1532084 (Ohio App. May 25): . . . [Mother] has undertaken to engage in a lifestyle that is extreme by normal social standards and [mother] testified that she is a devotee of sado-masochism; that she is bisexual; that she engages in paganism; that she has used illicit drugs on a semi-regular basis; and that she spends a great deal of time online where she has two to four websites of so-called "blogs." The evidence also indicates that her fiance ... also engages in sado-masochism, and in the past produced and starred in a theater troupe depicting such activity while also engaging in such conduct in his private life with [mother].. . . [M]other and her boyfriend have a perfect right to engage in sado-masochism, paganism and their chosen sexual orientation, but nevertheless, this Court is not convinced that [they] would exercise the due diligence that is required to engage in those practices without exposing such lifestyle to the parties' child[ and thus] adversely affect[ing] the best interests of [the child, a 4-year-old girl]. . . . The father may indeed have been a more suitable parent on some grounds, for instance if the mother and her fiance indeed used illegal drugs (though note that the drug use is listed as just one item among many, including the paganism), or if the mother's online time materially affected the time she spent with her daughter (though I assume that if the mother's problem was that she left her daughter unattended, for instance, the court would have said that rather than just pointing to her "spend[ing] a great deal of time online"). But the reference to mother's paganism — and the view that pagans may be denied custody because their open practices risk "exposing such lifestyle to [their] child[ren]" — strikes me as a clear First Amendment violation.

Abandoned Wives look to Vatican for Help

Abandoned Wives Challenge US Catholic Church Tribunals’ Failure to Uphold Marriage

Catholic PRWire

6-20-07 -- Time magazine announced yesterday that Sheila Rauch Kennedy was able to successfully defend her marriage with the intervention of the Roman Rota, against the Boston Archdiocese Catholic Tribunal. The Boston Tribunal had mistakenly decided that her marriage was invalid making her husband free to remarry. Sheila stated, “The [annulment] process was dishonest, and it was important to stand up and say that." Another wife, Bai Macfarlane of Cleveland, Ohio, also has a case pending at the Roman Rota in which she is seeking the intervention of the Vatican and challenging a US Catholic Tribunal’s failure to uphold marriage, but Mrs. Macfarlane is asking the Church to uphold it’s own canon law regarding separation and divorce, not remarriage and annulment. . . . In May of 2004, Mrs. Macfarlane had asked the Cleveland Tribunal for an investigation of her marriage praying that the Church would advise her husband that he never had a licit reason to abandon her to seek a civil no-fault divorce. According to the Catholic code of canon law, there are limited reasons to separate from one’s spouse (can 1151-1155). Those who agree to marry following canon law can never seek a civil separation or divorce unless it is foreseen that the civil judgments would not be contrary to divine law (canon 1692).

NEBRASKA  

Judge bans words like 'rape' and 'sexual assault' at rape trial

6-20-07 -- When Pamir Safi is tried for sexual assault next month, prosecutors and witnesses won't be allowed to use the terms "sexual assault" or "rape" to describe what happened. . . . That's because Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront agreed to bar those words after defense attorneys argued the point. Prosecutors don't think the ban is needed, but they say they'll live with it. . . . But the woman accusing Safi of assault, Tory Bowen, said the judge's order forces her to change the way she describes events. It's not clear whether the restrictions played any role in the hung jury that derailed the 33-year-old Safi's first trial in November. . . . Bowen testified for nearly 13 hours at the first trial, and she said the ban had a huge effect because she had to pause and make sure her words wouldn't violate the ban. Bowen worries that the pauses hurt her credibility. . . . "In my mind, what happened to me was rape," said Bowen, 24. "I want the freedom to be able to point (to Safi) in court and say, 'That man raped me.'"

MICHIGAN

Appeals court upholds ending Lisa Holland's parental rights

By Kathy Barks Hoffman, The Associated Press

6-11-07 -- (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling ending the parental rights of a woman in prison for murdering her 7-year-old adopted son. . . . Lisa Holland, 34, is serving a life sentence in the death of Ricky Holland of Williamston. The boy's decomposed body was pulled from an icy marsh 11 months after he disappeared from his home in July 2005. His father, Tim Holland, led police to the spot. He said Lisa Holland struck Ricky in the head with a hammer and he later dumped the body in the rural game area. . . . The three-member Court of Appeals, in an opinion released Friday, said Ingham County Family Judge Janelle Lawless was correct to take away Lisa Holland's parental rights to four other children. The children were living with Tim Holland's family and were to be available for adoption.

NEW JERSEY

NJ Supreme Court allows child to move to Japan in custody case

By Jeffrey Gold, Associated Press Writer

6-11-07 -- A divorced woman may move to Japan with her daughter over the wishes of the child's father, even though he fears Japanese law won't allow him to enforce visitation orders, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Monday. . . . The 7-0 ruling upheld two lower court rulings in the case of Ronald and Erika MacKinnon, who separated in 2002 after 11 years of marriage. Their daughter, Justine, is 7. . . . Ronald MacKinnon noted Japan is not among 79 nations that have signed the Hague Convention, which seeks to return abducted children, meaning he would have no legal recourse. . . . The Supreme Court found that Erika MacKinnon had obeyed all court orders. . . . "We reiterate that 'fear alone is insufficient to deprive' a custodial parent of the ability to relocate with a child if the parent has a good faith reason for the move and has shown that the child will not suffer from it," Chief Justice James R. Zazzali wrote for the court. . . . Zazzali noted that lower courts had agreed the child's best interests would be served by moving to Japan with her mother, who has relatives there, according to court papers.

Opinion: Ronald A. MacKinnon v. Erika MacKinnon (A-114-2006)

ILLINOIS  

Woman to get $184M in divorce

6-6-07 -- (AP) An energy magnate's estranged wife was awarded $184 million Monday in what appears to be one of the biggest divorce verdicts in U.S. history. . . . Citing irreconcilible differences, Maya Polsky, a 55-year-old homemaker and art gallery owner, filed for divorce from her husband, Michael Polsky, in 2003. . . . Judge William Boyd had ruled in October that Maya Polsky was entitled to half of the Chicago couple's cash and assets, with her share valued at $176 million. On Monday, the judge amended his decision to include previously omitted assets that increased the value of her award to $184 million. . . . Maya Polsky's attorney, Howard Rosenfeld, said more than $170 million of the award is nontaxable cash. He said that in researching the case he could find nothing in which a homemaker wife received such a significant award. . . . "She's very much satisfied with the court's decision. She thinks she was fairly treated by the court," Rosenfeld said.

OHIO

Mother, daughter graduate from college together
By Emily Hendricks, Staff Intern

6-5-07 -- They both wanted to graduate from college, but they never dreamed that they'd be graduating together. . . . Jo Ann and Amanda Test, mother and daughter, graduated from National College of Business and Technology together on Sunday afternoon. . . . Jo Ann, a 1979 graduate of Xenia High School, graduated with high honors in computer applications. . . . Amanda, a 2004 graduate of Xenia High School, graduated with honors in accounting. . . . They enrolled together because "the time was just right," said Jo Ann. She had just been laid off from her job at Super Valu, and Amanda was graduating from high school. Much to the shock of their family and friends, they enrolled in school. Amanda says it was "a different experience" because her mother was always there. But they did help each other study and gave each other the much-needed encouragement to make it through until graduation day.

WASHINGTON

White Center mother has a painful message for teens

By Joy Henley

6-5-07 -- Shannon Eastman means it when she tells young people to "think before you do, think twice ... if you don't, you are going to pay for it with your life." . . . Hers is a strong message to teens-a desperate plea that can save lives. . . . Eastman knows all too well. On May 4, she endured the most painful experience on earth, the result of what some say was a freak accident. . . . While Eastman was away from her North Highline home for five minutes that afternoon, picking up one of her children from school, her son Scott Bruhn Jr., a sibling and others were building a bonfire in the back yard. . . . Bruhn decided to intensify the blaze and poured gasoline on it. But flames from the fire pit followed him. The gasoline container exploded, engulfing him in flames. . . . The magnitude of the impact was so strong that it threw Bruhn against a parked camper. He darted toward the front of the house, where his 18 year old sibling frantically tried to help him. . . . Eastman returned to find her son with 95 percent of his body burned to the bone and suffering from smoke inhalation. . . . He was rushed to Harborview Medical Center's Burn Unit. En route, he talked to medics about family, friends and school. . . . The next seven hours were excruciating. Doctors and nurses told Eastman there was nothing they could do but keep her son comfortable. . . . As a mother, she knew the outcome was inevitable. Yet when her son died, "I thought that I was going to die myself," she said recently. . . . Eastman recalled every detail of that dreadful event as she wandered in the charred area that used to be a fire pit. . . . She is grateful that she had recently quit work to spend more time with her children. Had Eastman not done this, she would not have come home to find her son. . . . Because she was there, mother and son had time to exchange brief good-byes and words of love.

WASHINGTON   

Should state pay for divorce lawyer?

Justices hear case of woman who couldn't pay attorney, lost custody

By Tracy Johnson, P-I Reporter

5-31-07 -- Brenda King stood in divorce court, completely unsure about what she was legally allowed to do or say to help show she should have custody of her children. . . . As a high school dropout with a GED but no legal training, she didn't know what evidence was off-limits. She didn't know when to object. She hadn't subpoenaed witnesses, and she had the uncomfortable task of having to cross-examine her former husband and his new girlfriend. . . . "I'm a good mother," the Everett woman told the judge, whose patience had worn thin. "I'm a lousy lawyer." . . . On Thursday, the Washington Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether people who can't afford a lawyer for their divorce -- particularly when children are involved -- should be given one at public expense.

Just Ask A Woman ... About Motherhood

If They're Not Super Moms, Are They Bad Mothers? Mary Lou Quinlan Explores This Touchy Topic

5-18-07 -- (CBS) My favorite question to ask a mom is, "What's your typical day?" . . . I've asked that question of thousands of moms across the country, and here's what I hear: Their days start early, with a bang, filled with everyone else's needs ... kids, family, home, neighbors, co-workers, and they don't just don't quit. . . . One mom told me that she has two daughters and each goes to a different school. She has a friend who also has two girls in those same two schools. So each morning, she and her friend drive to a meeting place by a highway and switch kids. "Do you slow down, or do you just pass the kids through the window?" I asked. . . . Seems like right now is the best time to be a mom — and the toughest. The best, because there's more support of other moms, and thankfully, of many husbands. But it's the toughest time, too, because more choices for moms lead to more stress.

Hot Mom's Club

What does the “Hot Moms Club” stand for?
HOT- adj. Arousing intense interest and excitement.
MOMS- n. Women who raise and nurture a child/children.
CLUB - n. A group of people organized for a common purpose.

5-18-07 -- Being a “mom” is not what it used to be!  That's according to “The Hot Mom’s Handbook” author and founder of the “Hot Moms Club” and “The Hot Moms Club” Magazine Jessica Denay who is on a nationwide mission to throw all of the stereotypical “mommy myths” out the minivan window and turn women in all 50 states into “Hot Moms,” empowering moms of all ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds to redefine motherhood! . . . After Jessica became a mom, people would often tell her, “Wow! You don’t look like a mom!” This prompted Jessica to think, “Why not? What does a “mom” look like?” It was then that she realized that there were many preconceived images of motherhood and that motherhood was badly in need of a makeover~both inside and out! So, Jessica put pen to paper and wrote “The Hot Mom’s Handbook: Moms Have More Fun!”~the beginning of and official guide to the “Hot Moms” movement and the ultimate resource for any mom who refuses to check her sense of self and style at the white picket fence! The hugely popular book reveals eight secrets guaranteed to transform every mom into a “Hot Mom;” lighthearted advice, stories, and quotes from unique and inspirational “Hot Moms” from all walks of life; and contributions from celebrity “Hot Moms” Cher, Carnie Wilson, Kathie Lee Gifford, Niki Taylor, Kelly Preston, Meredith Brooks, Lauren Holly, Holly Robinson Peete, and many more! From there the “Hot Moms Club” Magazine (www.hcmmagazine.com) was born, and the rest is history!

MASSACHUSETTS   

Speaking out for women

By Susan Chaityn Lebovits

5-15-07 -- It's not unusual for lawyer Lauren Stiller Rikleen to be seen transporting grilled chicken and fruit salad at odd hours of the night. . . . In 1989, the Wayland resident was instrumental in founding MetroWest Harvest, which collects leftovers from restaurants and hotels to give to homeless shelters in the area. . . . "In 1994, when the Natick Mall had their grand opening, with lots of wonderful catered food, Lauren was there," said Jeen Kniveton, the program's director. "Dressed to the nines, she and another man scrounged around for containers at the end of the night and schlepped the food to various shelters around Framingham, rather than see it go to waste." . . . Rikleen got the idea for the program from one like it in Kentucky. She flew there at her own expense to meet with the director to learn how to start one here. . . . Now, Kniveton has 25 volunteers in nine cities and towns. . . . In addition to feeding the hungry, Rikleen has helped victims of domestic violence find safety and start new lives. . . . On Thursday, she received the Barbara Gray Humanitarian Award from Voices Against Violence, a Framingham-based group that provides services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The award is named after the former Framingham state representative, a longtime advocate for programs protecting women from abuse. . . . Rikleen, 54, a partner at a regional law firm, Bowditch & Dewey LLP , served with Gray in 1989 on a committee that helped establish the Framingham area's first shelter for victims of domestic violence.

FLORIDA  

Abused women have friends in court

Sarah Lundy | Sentinel Staff Writer

5-14-07 -- Ann Lickteig has her eye on everyone in court. . . . She watches the judge. She watches the prosecutor. She watches the defense attorney. . . . Because of what happened to her in a courtroom four years ago, Lickteig is there to watch out for victims of domestic violence. . . . After a boyfriend she accused of beating her was found not guilty in 2003, the 63-year-old Heathrow woman decided that someone needed to oversee the court process on behalf of battered women. . . . Now, nearly a dozen volunteers, identified by their CourtWatch badges, spend hours in Orange County courtrooms, taking notes during domestic-violence cases to ensure the justice system works. It is the first program of its kind in Central Florida. . . . And judges and attorneys welcome the input. During the past year, court officials have tried to ease victims' experiences when dealing with the legal system. CourtWatch, advocates say, is a natural next step.

MASSACHUSETTS    

Court rules sex through use of fraud is not rape

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

5-14-07 -- A Hampden County man who allegedly tricked his brother's girlfriend into having sex with him by impersonating his sibling in the middle of the night cannot be convicted of rape, the state's highest court ruled yesterday in a controversial decision that affirms the court's long-held view that sex obtained through fraud is no crime. . . . The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled that a judge should have dismissed the rape charge against Alvin Suliveres , 44, of Westfield, because Massachusetts law has for centuries defined rape as sexual intercourse by force and against one's will, and that it is not rape when consent is obtained through fraud. . . . If the Legislature wants to make sex through fraud qualify as rape, it should follow the lead of several other states -- including Alabama, California, Michigan, and Tennessee -- and change the law, the court said.

OREGON

Abuse Under the Watch of Oregon's Justice System

Tim King Salem-News.com

A victim's first scream is for help; a victim's second scream is for justice." - Coral Anika Theill

5-14-07 -- Just when you thought you knew what was going on in your community, here comes a story that just may shatter the security of your American Dream. This is a story about abuse, survival, false religion and dubious court systems in a state that may be advanced on some levels, but sometimes proves to be a miserable failure in terms of equity and fairness and conventional thinking. . . . It is the saga of an Oregon woman whose attempt to seek justice for marital rape and physical abuse would not only result in no prosecution, but lead to threats that she would be charged with crimes if her allegations continued. . . . For me, it is an opportunity to bring to the surface one of the most important subjects I have ever visited in my career; that is domestic violence. I have always held the lowest opinion of men who abuse women, especially those who parade as impeccable members of their communities. . . . I believe this even more after covering the war in Afghanistan last winter. This is the epitome of a culture that uses religion as an excuse to mistreat females. Life overall is harder for women in Afghanistan in every respect, and their ability to rise up and defend themselves or find answers is greatly diminished by the extensive religion-based abuse. . . . And the same problem exists in Oregon. . . . The story of Coral Anika Theill is possibly one of the most flagrant, outrageous examples of small town injustice in America. In her book, she describes herself as a woman who suffered unmentionable abuse at the hands of her churchgoing husband. She is still living in fear to this day, spending the balance of her life in a secret, undisclosed location. . . . Her ordeal came to light in 1995 when Coral filed for a restraining order against her husband, who she says raped her repeatedly. A hearing for charges of Marital rape and a restraining order hearing was held in January 1996. . . . The restraining order was overturned by a visiting judge. Coral then lost her children in a 3 day temporary custody hearing in March 1996.

MASSACHUSETTS   

Court rules sex through use of fraud is not rape

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff

5-11-07 -- A Hampden County man who allegedly tricked his brother's girlfriend into having sex with him by impersonating his sibling in the middle of the night cannot be convicted of rape, the state's highest court ruled yesterday in a controversial decision that affirms the court's long-held view that sex obtained through fraud is no crime. . . . The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled that a judge should have dismissed the rape charge against Alvin Suliveres , 44, of Westfield, because Massachusetts law has for centuries defined rape as sexual intercourse by force and against one's will, and that it is not rape when consent is obtained through fraud. . . . If the Legislature wants to make sex through fraud qualify as rape, it should follow the lead of several other states -- including Alabama, California, Michigan, and Tennessee -- and change the law, the court said.

NEW JERSEY

Only in New Jersey
By Maggie Gallagher

5-9-07 --This week, Dina Matos McGreevey filed court papers accusing former Gov. Jim "I am a gay American" McGreevey of extreme cruelty, fraud and libel, for concealing his homosexuality in order to marry her. And so the McGreevey saga continues. . . . I'd say "only in America," but I suspect this is a story that could happen only in New Jersey. . . . Imagine: You are the governor of New Jersey and (by your own account) you're having sex with a young man behind your wife's back. The young man in question describes it as nonconsensual sexual harassment, but never mind. The feds are closing in on indicting your fundraising pals, one of whom even claims you arranged a special code word, "Machiavelli," signaling that they had a deal, the deal being: You pad their pockets with public funds in exchange for their donating campaign cash. . . . Jihadists have just recently blown up the Twin Towers, orphaning thousands of New Jersey children. The country's at war. You're taking time out to have anonymous sex in public restrooms (Or was that earlier? The timeline is murky). Rumors about your randiness are apparently rampant, so rampant you now claim your wife had to know that you were gay when you married. (She was asking for it, see? Somehow with these powerful men, it's always the woman's fault). So Dina didn't know you would be bleeping the boy toy in the marital home while she was in the hospital recovering from the birth of your child, but, hey, what did she expect when she agreed to become your own little Jackie Kennedy? . . . Suddenly it all blows up in big type. The one indisputable fact -- you are the man who let your lust decide who should head up homeland security in New Jersey -- is suddenly on the front page of every newspaper.

NEW JERSEY  

Gay Ex-Gov's Wife Claims Extreme Cruelty

New York Lawyer, By Chris Newmarker, The Associated Press

5-8-07 -- Dina Matos McGreevey _ the estranged wife of the nation's first openly gay governor _ claimed extreme cruelty throughout their marriage in a Monday court filing, which demanded divorce as well as monetary damages for fraud, emotional distress and libel. . . . Monday was the deadline for Matos McGreevey to respond to James E. McGreevey's divorce filing, in which the former governor claimed his wife "knew of my sexual orientation before our marriage" and "chose to either ignore it or block it out of her mind, even when questioned by her friends." . . . "Plaintiff has been guilty of extreme cruelty toward defendant, commencing from the date of their marriage and continuing from that day until the present," Matos McGreevey's attorneys said in Monday's filing in state Superior Court in Union County. . . . Matos McGreevey's lawyers said learning that her husband was gay and cheating on her "had an immeasurable lasting impact." He resigned as governor of New Jersey in 2004 after acknowledging that he was "a gay American" and saying he had an affair with a male aide.

Betsy Flagler

5-5-07 -- A column of experts’ inspiring wisdom on motherhood, in honor of a day not to be forgotten, Mother’s Day, May 13. . . . Mothers require more than flowers one day a year. They also need “alone hats,” “love maps” and the gift of forgiveness. Read on for explanations. . . . The daughter of marriage and family therapist Denise Roy came up with the idea of making an “alone hat” to briefly shut her little eyes and ears off from the big world. Her mother and aunt loved the concept, especially since it offers escapes for mom, too, for brief zones of peace and quiet. . . . “It’s hard to hear ourselves think, let alone remember that we are breathing,” Roy writes in her new book, “Momfulness: Mothering with Mindfulness, Compassion and Grace” (Jossey-Bass, $14.95, 2007). . . . More time each day isn’t the magic solution, Roy tells overworked, overtired mothers at her workshops. More hours will just get filled up with more tasks. Instead, take bits of time to be in the moment with your children. Make eye contact with your kids — not reading the paper or checking e-mail. . . . For those times when you have felt inadequate as a mother, forgive yourself. Breathe, smile, pay attention. Everything is connected and everything changes, Roy writes.

By Tracy Kennedy, Register Citizen Staff

5-5-07 -- They are mother and daughter, best friends, and soon-to-be University of Connecticut alumnae. . . . Kyla Fox, 22, and her mother Janet Beal, 50, of Torrington, have celebrated many important events together in their lives and on Sunday they will share another. The two women will join 3,188 other graduates receiving degrees at commencement ceremonies at the Storrs campus this weekend. Fox will receive a bachelor of arts degree in urban and community studies and Beal will receive a bachelor's degree in general studies. . . . "We are both pretty excited," Beal said. . . . "It'll be fun," Fox said. . . . Fox chose her field of study because she wanted to work with families and children, she said. The two students used a variety of methods to complete coursework, from attending three different campuses in Waterbury, West Hartford and Torrington to using online classes. . . . They both planned their classes around their work schedules. Beal is employed as a school administrative assistant and Fox works as a victim's advocate for the Susan B. Anthony Project assigned to Bantam Superior Court.

4-13-07 -- A Brooklyn woman burst into tears yesterday as she heard recordings of her divorce judge promising her former husband's lawyer she "won't get s---." . . . "It was painful. It hurt," Sigal Levi said after listening for the first time to secret profanity-laced tapes of Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson deriding her as he coached his crooked lawyer pal, Paul Siminovsky, on how to win. . . . "He was talking about my children, my life," Levi said. "I came to him for help. What did he give me? He broke up my family, took away my two precious boys. How dare he treat me like that? I'm here to see justice!" . . . Levi's ex-husband, Abraham Levi, has admitted paying a $10,000 bribe to fix his divorce case. . . . Sigal Levi had expected to testify yesterday at Garson's bribery trial, but prosecutors did not call her. Then, in an explosive exchange, defense lawyer Michael Washor demanded she be thrown out of the courtroom because she might elicit "sympathy." The request was denied.

4-13-07 -- (AP) The state Human Rights Commission refused to dismiss a complaint from a woman who says she was thrown off a flight because she was breast-feeding her baby. . . . Last October, a flight attendant had a gate agent order passenger Emily Gillette off a plane that was about to take off from Burlington International Airport. Gillette lives in New Mexico. . . . Freedom Airlines, operating the commuter flight for Delta Air Lines, said at the time that Gillette had been offered a blanket to cover up but refused it. . . . The airlines said in filings at the commission that Gillette was invited back onto the plane, but refused. Gillette maintains she was not given permission to reboard.

New York Lawyer, By Mark Fass, New York Law Journal

3-21-07 -- In 1974, Elizabeth McNabb, a pregnant 19-year-old from Longview, Wash., began what would become a 14-year quest to find her birth mother. . . . Three decades and one legal action later, Ms. McNabb has established that she is entitled to a multi-million dollar share of the Jell-O fortune. . . . On Friday, a unanimous Appellate Division, Fourth Department, panel ruled that Ms. McNabb legally constitutes a "descendant" and "living child" of her mother, Barbara W. Piel, under trusts established by Ms. Piel's mother in 1926 and 1963. . . . Ms. McNabb - an office manager who has with her husband cared for more than 160 emergency-care foster children - now stands to split those two trusts with her two half-sisters. Her one-third share totals approximately $3.5 million. . . . "We . . . conclude that, because the laws of devise and distribution in effect when the trusts herein were executed recognized that nonmarital children were included, at least to some extent, in the class of descendants or children of their parents, [Ms. McNabb] is not excluded from the class of [her mother's] descendants and children," the unanimous panel held in its unsigned memorandum, Matter of the Accounting by Fleet Bank, 231. . . . Ms. McNabb's search for her birth family ended in a vital-statistics office in Salem, Ore., where, armed with a court order, she uncovered her original birth certificate in 1988. . . . After learning her mother's identity - Barbara Woodward of Rochester, N.Y. - she ordered a Rochester phone book and made her way through the Woodwards. Ms. McNabb finally hit upon a cousin, who passed on Ms. Woodward's married name - Barbara W. Piel - and phone number. . . . Ms. McNabb flew east and spent four days on Ms. Piel's farm in Abbot, Genesee County, Ms. McNabb said in a telephone interview on Monday. . . . During their visit, Ms. Piel told her daughter of their family history.

Judge OKs visits for twins’ mother
Ends visitation by jailed father
By Dan Nienaber, The Free Press

3-14-07 -- Visitation will continue for the mother but not the father of conjoined twins born at a Rochester hospital, according to a judge’s ruling filed Wednes-day in Blue Earth County. . . . Valerie Jean James, 19, and Robert Lee Heck III, 27, both of Mankato, are fighting Blue Earth County’s effort to end their parental rights. Both were charged in Olmsted County last week with assaulting one of their twin boys born conjoined in November, then immediately separated. The twins and an older daughter were taken from them in January, shortly after doctors reported one of the twins had 24 rib and leg fractures. . . . A motion was made Tuesday by Mark Lindahl, assistant Blue Earth County attorney, to also end the couple’s visitation sessions with the children during the civil process that’s started to end their parental rights. The couple has been allowed to have one-hour supervised visitations with the children three times a week since the children were placed in protective custody.

3-9-07 -- "Mommy Wars" editor Leslie Morgan Steiner's new mommy blog on http://washingtonpost.com/ reached a remarkable milestone yesterday: 50,000 reader comments about balancing work and family -- enough words to fill five parenting bestsellers. . . . When washingtonpost.com asked writer and mother of three Leslie Morgan Steiner to start On Balance, an online column about juggling work and family, "We thought the real experts on motherhood -- working and stay-at-home moms -- needed a forum," explains Steiner, the editor of the critically-acclaimed anthology "Mommy Wars." "Turned out it wasn't just moms who needed to talk about parenting. It was everyone -- fathers, babysitters, doctors, teachers, nannies, grandparents and people who don't even have children." . . . Since the blog's start, readers have dissected 245 topics, including the so-called mommy wars; the daddy track; breastfeeding at work; negotiating for flexible hours; pressures on single moms, single dads and childless people; freezing your eggs; hyper-parenting; postpartum depression; the high cost of daycare; dealing with hot flashes at work; whether you pack your husband's suitcase; and what it's like to go back to work after 20 years at home. Several hundred regular posters join the opinionated discussions nearly every day, using screen monikers like Foam Gnome, Father of 4, Armchair Mom, Takoma Park Slacker and Scarry. . . . "It's like stopping by your neighborhood park every day to see what your friends are up to," explains Steiner. "Except we never actually see each other, or even know each other's real names."

By Susan Swartz NYT Regional Media Group

3-9-07 -- When Kelley’s obstetrician asked her about the downside of becoming a new mother, he didn’t mince words. . . . Was she sitting in a corner rocking back and forth? Was she wanting to jump out the window? . . . It wasn’t that, said Kelley, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her privacy. . . . “I didn’t want to harm myself or my baby,” she said. “But I just felt overwhelmed and was crying all the time.” . . . The name for Kelley’s suffering is postpartum depression, or PPD, characterized by many symptoms, including extreme fatigue, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, lack of interest in the baby, frequent crying, mood swings, negative and frightening thoughts and despair. . . . It is far more than the tearful letdown known as the “baby blues,” which usually lifts a few weeks following delivery and is thought to hit 80 percent of new mothers.

Martha Bellisle, Reno Gazette-Journal

2-27-07 -- When Kathryn Mershon Conrad's husband knocked her down and pounded her so severely that he broke her leg, she was physically and emotionally devastated, the Henderson mother told lawmakers Monday. . . . But when a family court judge ordered her to pay alimony to that same man, she said she felt victimized again. Once over the shock and anger of the judge's decision, she began contacting lawmakers so this wouldn't happen to others. . . . "The outrage of being ordered to pay my attacker can only be changed by changing the law," Mershon Conrad of Henderson told the Assembly Judiciary Committee. . . . No victim should have to write a $500 check to the person who sent her to the hospital, she said. . . . Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, told the panel that after hearing her story, he agreed to join her efforts and drafted a bill that would require a judge to consider any history of domestic violence before ordering spousal support or alimony. . . . "Nevada law is silent on this issue," he told the panel. . . . The intent of the bill, he said, is to ensure that spousal abuse never again is rewarded with spousal support payments.

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

2-21-07 -- A Tennessee woman who wore a wire to give the FBI information on her husband's alleged links to terror – and who sought custody of her two teen children because her husband said they could live best by blowing themselves up for Allah – is launching a campaign to overturn a judge's decision to put her husband in charge of the children.

Rosine Ghawji, who battled prominent Memphis physician Maher Ghawji in divorce court and was left "penniless," says her battle is part of a larger tapestry of terror that will affect the nation unless something is done to prevent it. . . . "Ghawji's determined to turn my two sons into suicide bombers – and has tried to kidnap them many times," she writes in her online appeal. "And his one goal in life is to see America an Islamic nation… In fact, Ghawji has said the day's soon coming when 50,600 suicide bombers blow themselves up in different cities – and Americans aren't able to do a thing to stop them!" . . . Her work with the FBI seems to verify that her husband's activities were of interest to the federal agents, and she also has an explanation for that agency's sudden abandonment of her during arguments over custody of her children. . . . "Apparently my husband promised to provide them with supposedly new information in exchange for having his evil way with me and my children," she writes. "But I know my husband. And I know he'd never betray Islam and his hatred for America. He is no different than most fanatical Muslims…" . . . A lawyer who acted as her general counsel, and now has filed a civil rights action on her behalf against the divorce court judge, said during the divorce trial there apparently were ex parte meetings involving the judge and the FBI.

By Greg Moran, Union-Tribune Staff Writer

2-6-07 -- A state appeals court reversed the stalking and burglary convictions of a North County lawyer yesterday, after concluding that her trial was tainted by the specter of bias by the judge. . . . The 3-0 ruling came in the case of Marilyn Kaye Freeman, who is serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted of stalking, burglary and soliciting a kidnapping in her campaign against the foster parents who were caring for her daughter. . . . The appeals court reversed the verdict because Superior Court Judge Robert O'Neill, who presided over Freeman's trial, had disqualified himself from the case earlier because of his friendship with a second judge whom Freeman was suspected of stalking. . . . When those suspicions later were determined to be unfounded, the presiding judge for the criminal courts in downtown San Diego re-instated O'Neill on the case. Freeman protested to no avail, and was convicted by a jury and sentenced by O'Neill. . . . “Maintaining public confidence in an impartial judiciary is a core value of our judicial system and is necessary to preserve the integrity of the judicial process,” wrote Associate Justice Judith Haller.

By Jeninne Lee-St. John

2-5-07 -- If a woman consents to having sex with a man but then during intercourse says no, and the man continues, is it rape? . . . The answer depends on where you live. The highest courts of seven states, including Connecticut and Kansas, have ruled that a woman may withdraw her consent at any time, and if the man doesn't stop, he is committing rape. Illinois has become the first state to pass legislation giving a woman that right to change her mind. But in Maryland--as well as in North Carolina--when a woman says yes, she can't take it back once sex has begun--or, at least, she can't call the act rape. . . . That was the recent ruling by Maryland's Court of Special Appeals in a case that may soon make its way to the state's highest court and that has captured the attention of feminists and legal experts across the country. Advocates for victims' rights insist it's not just a matter of allowing a woman to have a change of heart. If the law doesn't recognize a woman's right to say no during sex, they say, there is no recourse for a woman who begins to feel pain or who learns her partner isn't wearing a condom or has HIV. Those who are wary of these measures say they're not arguing against having a man stop immediately when a woman no longer wants to have sex, but with how to define immediately.

Amanda J. Crawford

2-2-07 -- Two women who fled polygamous marriages told legislators on Thursday that state custody law needs to change to protect children and encourage women to seek their freedom. . . . Laurice Jessop, 34, described her long battle to win custody of her six children after fleeing a polygamist community in Utah and the fears that haunted her of her own daughters being forced into marriages as child-brides. . . . Jessop and her cousin, Flora Jessop, executive director of the non-profit Child Protection Project, testified before the House Human Services Committee in support of House Bill 2325, which would bar courts from giving sole or joint custody to someone who engages in polygamy or child bigamy.

By Kibret Markos, Staff Writer

1-24-07 – A bitter custody battle between a Hasbrouck Heights man and his Spanish ex-wife has escalated into an international incident, with more than $1 million spent so far in a fight over a 6-year-old girl who hasn't seen either of them in months. . . . He's the owner of a graphic design company who's being pushed to bankruptcy by legal bills, despite a court order that he won in New Jersey granting him custody. He keeps his daughter's bedroom furnished with stuffed toys, in the hope that she'll soon come home. . . . His ex-wife remains in the Bergen County Jail for refusing to violate a court order that she won in Spain prohibiting their daughter, Victoria, from leaving that country until she's 18. Her well-heeled family, who is caring for the child, has enlisted more than a dozen lawyers to defend her the past two years. . . . And now, the U.S. State Department is involved. . . . "I think it's a tragedy inside a nightmare that the mother of my child is sitting in jail," said Peter Innes, 47. "But I want my child back. I am not giving up until I have my child back." . . . A state judge in Hackensack granted Innes sole custody of Victoria in the fall. In a sternly worded decision, Superior Court Judge Edward V. Torack accused the courts in Spain of disregarding New Jersey law and ignoring Maria Jose Carrascosa's violation of a binding parental agreement. . . . "This court will not recognize the decision that offends New Jersey law and public policy and prejudices its citizens," Torack said. . . . Carrascosa's father is an olive oil tycoon. Her passport was confiscated and she was later ordered jailed by Torack after ignoring his order. Attempts to interview her at the Bergen County Jail have been unsuccessful.

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

1-16-07 -- A divorce trial in Memphis has spilled over into federal court, with a lawsuit against a state judge by the general counsel for a woman who alleges she wants to divorce her husband because he has "ties to terrorism" and has threatened to kill her. . . . The divorce trial, which started Jan. 2, is pitting Rosaline Ghawji against her husband, prominent Memphis doctor Maher Ghawji, and includes her allegations that besides his ties to terrorism, he "has threatened to kill her and her two boys if they did not abide by radical Islamic doctrine," according to a statement from the general counsel. . . . The lawsuit was filed on Friday by Larry Klayman, who advises Mrs. Ghawji but is not representing her at her divorce trial, where the judge declined to allow him to fill in when another lawyer bowed out of her case just days before the trial was to start. . . . The lawsuit names Judge Donna Fields of Circuit Court in Shelby County for the state's 13th Judicial District, alleging the circumstances she has allowed in the case have resulted in violations of the woman's civil rights, including privacy, attorney-client privilege, due process, equal protection and free speech. . . . The action seeks to enjoin the Memphis court from continuing with the divorce trial, or ruling in that case, pending a decision from the federal court regarding the allegations of civil rights violations. . . . The lawsuit was filed in U.S. district court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando, and alleges that the state judge issued a ruling that prevented Mrs. Ghawji from pursuing any complaint against her husband, an alleged girlfriend, and a child psychologist.

TEXAS

Judge ignores mom’s pleas

By Leigh Jones, The Daily News

1-17-07 --  A district court judge Tuesday ignored pleas for justice from the mother of a sexual assault victim, refusing to give the girl’s attacker any jail time in addition to the probation handed down last week by a jury. . ..  The girl’s mother, whose name is being withheld to protect the victim’s identity, said her daughter was devastated. . . . The mother said she begged Judge Frank Carmona to give her family justice, but he told her sending Charles Cribbs to prison for 180 days would not benefit anyone. . . . “He said it was of no benefit to send him to jail, so he let him go,” she said, having a hard time speaking through her tears. . . . A jury sentenced Cribbs to three years of probation for his relationship with the 16-year-old girl. Her mother had hoped the judge would tack on some jail time to make up for what she considered a light sentence. . . . “I just don’t understand how he could do this,” she said.

Woman ordered to pay support
By Alan J. Keays Staff Writer

1-16-07 -- A Virginia woman may not consider her former partner living in Vermont a parent to her child, but that didn't stop a court from ordering the Vermont woman to pay her child support. . . . The child support order filed last month in Rutland Family Court calls for Janet Miller-Jenkins of Fair Haven to pay $240 a month to her former partner, Lisa Miller-Jenkins, the biological parent to the 4-year-old child, Isabella, she conceived by artificial insemination while the couple were joined in a Vermont civil union. . . . The national headline-making case stems from the civil union breakup with between former partner and centers on their parental rights with regard to the child, who now lives in Virginia with Lisa Miller-Jenkins. . . . The child support order is the most recent ruling in the case, which at times has had featured conflicting decisions in Virginia and Vermont. . . . In addition to the $240 monthly child support payment, the order splits the child's medical and other health expenses that are unreimbursable by insurance. The order calls for Lisa Miller-Jenkins to pay 73 percent of the expenses and Janet Miller-Jenkins to pay the remaining 27 percent.

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