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December 2008

Fighting War -- and for Custody

Deployment Used In Battles for Kids

By Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post Staff Writer

12-30-08 --  Army Sgt. Stephanie Greer was serving with a vehicle-maintenance unit in the volatile Iraqi city of Ramadi, part of President Bush's "surge" strategy to stabilize the country, when she learned of a far-off and most unexpected battle: Her estranged husband was going to fight her for custody of their daughter. . . . Greer had temporary custody of Mackenzie when she began her second deployment to Iraq in early 2007. Her husband was to care for the 7-year-old while Greer was overseas, but soon he challenged that arrangement in divorce proceedings. "He said I was unstable because I was deployed or training too much," she said. . . . As a result, throughout her 15-month combat tour, Greer had to mount from 4,000 miles away a legal campaign to keep her daughter. . . . "If I had not deployed, I know I never would have faced this situation," said Greer, 39. "I don't think it should be held against you, and I don't think my time away, or me deploying, affects my ability to be a mother or provide for my kids."

CALIFORNIA

Addicted mother thanks Calif. cops for picking her up

The Press Enterprise

12-25-08 -- Here’s something you don’t hear every day: A drug-addicted mother thanks the investigator who arrested her and who took her children away. . . . But Amy Rampenthal, 27, did exactly that after completing a residential drug treatment program earlier this year. And she routinely calls San Bernardino County sheriff’s detective Sherry Eversole with updates on her progress. . . . Eversole was so moved by Rampenthal’s calls -- most of the people she arrests usually “hate” her, she said -- she persuaded the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association to include Rampenthal’s four children in the association’s annual Shop With a Cop event for underprivileged children. . . . On Saturday morning, Eversole reunited with Rampenthal outside the Highland Wal-Mart, where each of Rampenthal’s four children was given $200 to spend. It was the first time they had seen each other since March, when Eversole arrested Rampenthal and her then-husband, Waylan Gentry, in their apartment as part of a drug investigation. Social workers took the children. . . . Eversole and Rampenthal immediately embraced. . . . “You look so good!” a beaming Eversole said to Rampenthal, gently brushing Rampenthal’s hair away from her face. . . . Eversole crouched down to look at each of the children -- Kayla, Melissa and Shania Rasdall, ages 5, 6 and 7, and 2-year-old Luke Whitlinger. . . . Rampenthal, who gets to see her children every weekend and expects to regain full custody in January, blurted out bits of information about them, such as how Luke lets only her rock him to sleep.

WASHINGTON

Family Services gives mother a lift from depths of drugs

If it weren't for Family Services, one of 13 agencies aided by The Seattle Times Fund For The Needy, a mother of three doesn't know how she could have taken the steps toward reclaiming her life from the grip of drugs.

By Jack Broom, Seattle Times staff reporter

12-25-08 -- Tericia Mitchell will never forget the Christmas she didn't remember. . . . She was staying at a cheap motel on Aurora Avenue, her mind a blur of fortified wine and crack cocaine. . . . She didn't give much thought to the colored lights in the lobby window, until she overheard someone looking for drugs say they might get a little extra, because it was Christmas. . . . "I said, 'Today's Christmas? Really?' " By then it was 11 p.m., far too late to even call her young son and daughter, who lived with Mitchell's mother. . . . "All I could think about was what a bad person I was," she said. "Of course, that makes you want drugs even more, to hide from the pain." . . . If it weren't for Family Services, one of 13 agencies aided by The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy, Mitchell, 29, doesn't know how she could have taken the steps toward reclaiming her own life — steps that have taken her through more than two years of sobriety, put her in a Skyway apartment and helped her handle a full-time job. . . . This Christmas, rather than being a time of pain and guilt, has been one of joy and togetherness for Mitchell and her three children, Durel, 11, Alexyz, 6, and Mya, 2. . . . Christmas stockings hang from donated bookcases. Mitchell and Durel sleep in donated beds, and Mitchell, saving a bit from each paycheck, has been able to buy gifts for her children.

TENNESSEE

Divorced mother appeals to let partner stay the night

Judge imposed restriction even though ex-husband did not ask for it.

By Chris Echegaray • The Tennessean

12-24-08 -- A same-sex couple is asking the Tennessee Court of Appeals to remove an overnight "paramour" clause in a child custody agreement, which prevents the divorced mother's partner of nine years from staying overnight. . . . The American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief on Tuesday with the Court of Appeals in Jackson on behalf of Angel Chandler, a divorced mother with two kids. . . . Chancellor George Ellis of the 28th Judicial District in West Tennessee imposed the restriction in May even though Chandler's ex-husband had not asked for it and despite an evaluation that showed the children were not in harm's way, Chandler said. . . . "This decision has been disruptive to our family," she said. "We lived together in a stable, functioning family, and this was rather shocking to all of us. This is about the person we choose to be with, not about what my ex-husband asked for or what's in the best interest of the children.

IOWA  

Supreme Court says husband must pay for bedroom spying

By Grant Schulte

12-20-08 -- A Dubuque man who secretly videotaped his wife in their bedroom must pay her $22,500 for invasion of privacy, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday in the couple's divorce case. . . . The decision upheld two lower-court rulings against Jeffrey Tigges. He contended that his wife, Cathy, had no reasonable expectation of privacy in their home. . . . Jeffrey Tigges mounted cameras above a ceiling and in a bedroom alarm clock, the ruling said. He also installed a motion-sensing "optical eye" in a headboard over their bed. . . . Cathy Tigges discovered one of the cameras in August 2006. . . . The cameras did not record anything of a graphic or demeaning nature, according to the ruling. . . . Jeffrey Tigges argued that his former wife should be denied any payment because the only other person who saw the tape before the lawsuit was filed was her sister.

You can access the ruling at this link.

NEW YORK

Mother sues for millions in Tryon death

By Jim McGuire, Gazette Reporter

12-17-08 -- The mother of a 15-year-old boy who died in custody in November 2006 at the state’s Tryon Residential Center has filed state and federal lawsuits seeking over $30 million for wrongful death and violation of the teenager’s constitutional rights. . . . Anntwanisha Thompson of the Bronx, mother of the late Darryl Thompson, is seeking $30 million in a state Court of Claims lawsuit and also has filed in U.S. District Court asking for an undisclosed sum. . . . In the Court of Claims action alleging wrongful death, Amsterdam lawyer Elmer Robert Keach III names a long list of personnel from the state Office of Children and Family Services — the agency that operates the facility. The defendants include the two youth aides who restrained Thompson in the minutes before his death, John P. Johnson and Robert Murphy, and former OCFS Commissioner John A. Johnson. . . . In comments Tuesday, Keach referred to Thompson’s death as murder and said he and his client are pursuing this case to ensure that any settlement also results “in wholesale comprehensive reform” and “exposure of the brutality that existed out there.” . . . OCFS spokesman Edward Borges declined comment on the lawsuits, noting his agency has yet to receive the court documents. . . . In a report issued in September 2007, a Fulton County grand jury found no basis for an indictment but did find fault with Tryon for not having procedures and equipment in place to cope with a medical emergency. For instance, there was no defibrillator available and radio transmissions seeking help were blocked by interference.

FLORIDA

Mother, Son Reunited After 50 Years

By Kyle Martin, Hernando Today

12-16-08 -- As Bob Barker tells his life story, his mother paces behind him, dabbing her eyes. . . . Occasionally, she'll reach down and pat his chest or touch his arm. When Jacqueline Barcia finally takes a seat, she pulls her chair close to Barker and holds his hand. . . . You'll have to forgive her for being clingy. They haven't seen each other in 50 years. . . . "Even though he's here, I keep thinking he's going to disappear," Barcia, 71, says as she reaches for another tissue. . . . Before last week, the last time Barcia saw her son he was a young tot still unsteady on his feet. His older brother was quickly approaching 3 years old. . . . It was 1958 in south Florida. Her husband packed up the boys to visit his mother in Greensboro, N.C. A month passed, then two. Barcia's calls went unanswered. Finally, her mother-in-law picked up. . . . Barcia was informed that her husband and the boys were dead. A drunk driver had hit them. And the line went dead. . . . "I went into shock," Barcia said. . . . She drove to North Carolina to view the graves. She was told that the bodies had been cremated, the remains scattered to the wind. Overcome with grief, Barcia joined a convent. . . . Meanwhile, Barker and his brother, Wayne, were with their father. Wayne was fiercely protective of his brother, even at a young age. . . . "He would take on the world for me," Barker, 51, said in an interview Monday at his mother's Spring Hill home.

Will Christian mom lose daughter to lesbian?

She faces jail for not allowing former partner unsupervised visitations

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

12-13-08 -- The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court this week not to hear the case of Lisa Miller v. Janet Jenkins may, effectively, send a Christian mother to jail for not sharing Thanksgiving – and her 6-year-old daughter – with her former lesbian partner. . . . Because the Supreme Court refused to hear her appeal, Miller now faces trial dates in January and possible contempt charges for refusing to comply with a lower court's dictate that her former lesbian partner be granted visitation rights with her daughter, Isabella Miller. . . . The non-profit legal group Liberty Counsel has been working on the case. . . . "Lisa Miller left the homosexual lifestyle and became a Christian when Isabella was 17 months old," Liberty Counsel explained. "Janet Jenkins, who was Lisa's same-sex partner when Lisa gave birth to Isabella, then sought full custody of Isabella, claiming she was a parent even though she was not biologically related to Isabella and never sought to adopt her." . . . But after a judge granted Jenkins visitation rights, Liberty Counsel chairman Mathew Staver reports, little Isabella began experiencing lingering effects of her time with Jenkins.

MASSACHUSETTS

In rush-hour labor, ticket delivered

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff

12-4-08 -- All too often, the congested roads of Greater Boston conspire with the vagaries of childbirth to leave a mother-to-be in a car on the roadside at one of life's most critical moments. A hard-bitten state trooper shows up and morphs into a highway midwife, clearing the newborn's nose and mouth, cutting the cord, and sometimes even saving a life. . . . This is not one of those stories. . . . Jennifer Davis was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Nov. 18, her contractions just 3 minutes apart. Her husband, John, was trying to appear calm for his wife's sake, driving in the breakdown lane of Route 2. They pulled up behind a state trooper to ask whether they could continue using the lane to reach the next exit, near Alewife Station. . . . Not only did the trooper say no, he gave them a $100 citation for driving in the breakdown lane, made them wait for their citation while he finished writing someone else's ticket, and even seemed to ask for proof of pregnancy, Jennifer Davis said. . . . "He said, 'What's under your jacket?' I said, 'My belly,' " Davis said. "He waited and gestured with his head like, 'OK, let's see it.' He waited for me to unzip my jacket. I mean, it was so clear that I was pregnant."

Mom to 4 U.S. citizens ordered to forced sterilization
10th Circuit ruling sends woman on path to Chinese fines, jail

By Bob Unruh, © 2008 WorldNetDaily

12-2-08 -- A Chinese citizen who has lived in the U.S. for a decade, spending much of that time seeking asylum because of government plans in her homeland to forcibly sterilize her on her return, is being ordered to that fate by a ruling from the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. . . . The court said it was rejecting the appeal of Xiu Mei Wei [pronounced Shoe May Way] for asylum even though previous court rulings have found a "'person who has a well founded fear that … she will be forced to undergo' an abortion or sterilization 'shall be deemed to have a well founded fear of persecution on account of political opinion.'"  . . . Wei, speaking to WND through an interpreter today, said she faces an impossible future: returning to China for a forced sterilization and bringing with her the four children she's borne in the U.S. to a future of no schooling and no jobs. . . . The issue is China's one-child policy for couples. According to the court opinion, Wei documented a notice "by authorities in Changle City, Fujian Province (her hometown in China), to her mother … advising that if Mrs. Wei did not abort her third pregnancy, she or her husband would be sterilized upon their return to China." . . . While the appeals and hearings have continued in her case, her third and now fourth children have been born. Her children are ages 9, 7, 5 and 1. The family has been living and working in Oklahoma.

MISSOURI  

Jury Convicts Mother of Lesser Charges in MySpace Suicide Case

Greg Risling, The Associated Press

12-1-08 -- A Missouri mother on trial in a landmark cyber-bullying case was convicted Wednesday of only three minor offenses for her role in a mean-spirited Internet hoax that apparently drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide. . . . The federal jury could not reach a verdict on the main charge against 49-year-old Lori Drew --conspiracy -- and rejected three other felony counts of accessing computers without authorization to inflict emotional harm. . . . Instead, the panel found Drew guilty of three misdemeanor offenses of accessing computers without authorization. Each count is punishable by up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Drew could have gotten 20 years if convicted of the four original charges.

November 2008

NEW YORK

Mother’s Sting Faces Stiff Legal Obstacles

By Manny Fernandez & Kareem Fahim

11-30-08 -- Doreen Giuliano concocted an elaborate undercover sting operation to free her son from prison, changing her appearance and her identity to pursue a flirtatious relationship with a man who was a juror in her son’s trial. But legal experts said on Saturday that she would have a difficult time persuading a judge to overturn her son’s conviction. . . . Ms. Giuliano, 47, secretly recorded her conversations with the man, Jason Allo, a contractor in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, for several months, beginning in October 2007. She said she recorded Mr. Allo saying that he knew members of her son’s clique — people who “used to abuse” his brother — but kept the information to himself during jury selection. She also said he told her that he guided other jurors and that he said he never should have been on the jury. . . . Ms. Giuliano’s son, John Giuca, was one of two men convicted of murdering Mark Fisher, a 19-year-old Fairfield University student who was shot five times and found on a quiet Brooklyn street after a night of partying in New York City in October 2003. Mr. Giuca and the other man, Antonio Russo, were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. . . . Based on the recorded conversations, Mr. Giuca’s lawyer, Lloyd Epstein, is expected to file a motion this week to overturn the conviction.

Israeli who abducted daughters from US to return them home

Family court rules in favor of American plaintiff in accordance with Hague Convention on Child Abduction, rejects claim of Israeli father who kidnapped his two young girls that returning them to their mother would put them at risk

Raanan Ben-Zur , Israel News

11-23-08 -- An Israeli man who abducted his two young daughters to Israel was ordered to immediately return them to their mother's custody in the United States – the Kfar Saba Family Court ruled on Sunday afternoon in accordance with the Hague Convention on Child Abduction. . . . The lawsuit in the case of the two young girls, aged nine and eleven, was brought to the court by their mother, who resides in the US. . . . The couple wed in 1997, and divorced a decade later. In their marital settlement agreement it was ruled that the parents would share custody of their children – with the father retaining physical custody and the mother granted visitation rights. It was further determined that the girls would spend all Jewish holidays with their father and all Christian holidays with their mother. . . . But despite the custody agreement, in April 2007 the father took his daughters to Israel without their mother's knowledge. The prosecution claimed that the father had abducted the girls to Israel in a bid to evade trial in the United States on charges of drug possession. He sent the girls to school with written permission to be excused early for a dentist appointment, but instead headed to the airport after picking them up. . . . Following the kidnapping the mother brought the matter to a US court, which ruled ex parte she would subsequently be granted sole custody.

OREGON

FBI still looking for girl missing 14 years

The Associated Press

11-23-08 -- It has been 14 years since Ashlyn Wilson disappeared after her mother failed to appear in court during a custody battle with the girl's father, but the FBI is still looking for her. . . . The court awarded full custody of Ashlyn to her father, Dan Wilson, but he has never seen his daughter, who was an infant when she disappeared. . . . The girl turned 14 last week, and the FBI says a federal fugitive warrant for her mother, Tara Suzanne Wilson, remains outstanding. The Wilsons share the same name but were never married.

#####

The case was featured on the FBI Web site: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted.htm.

FLORIDA

Victim's Children To Stay With Accused Killer's Parents

News4Jax

11-21-08 -- A judge ruled Friday afternoon that the two young children of a woman found beaten to death and floating in the St. Augustine Inlet earlier this month will stay with the parents of the accused killer -- at least for now. . . . According to police, Melissa Lightsey was beaten to death and her body was dumped in the ocean off Vilano Beach earlier this month. Her husband, Ben Lightsey, has been charged with murder and is being held in St. Johns County Jail without bond. . . . With their daughter dead and their son-in-law in jail, Jim and Melinda Bryan's focus has turned to their grandchildren -- 3-year-old Sunny Lee and Zane, who is almost 2.

LOUISIANA

Mother sues Department of Social Services for alleged negligence

Shay Randle

11-5-08 -- The mother of 7-year-old Dylan Louviere, whose father allegedly killed him last December, filed a lawsuit Monday against the Office of Community Services for alleged acts of “gross negligence” in placing him in his father’s custody. . . . In July 2007, OCS gave Michael Miller, the boy’s biological father, sole custody of his son after the boy’s mother, Hayley Louviere, lost custody of him in July 2006, and he had been placed in several foster homes. . . . The lawsuit claims that apparently, “OCS did no background check on Michael Miller” before doing so because the office would have learned the man had been arrested for indecent behavior with a juvenile. . . . The suit also says Miller was arrested in February 2006 for possession of cocaine, of which he pleaded guilty to and was sentenced to five years probation and ordered into drug court. . . . A grand jury in early June indicted the 37-year-old Coteau man on a first-degree murder charge for his son’s death.

MINNESOTA

Decision overturned in conjoined twins case

By Dan Nienaber, The Free Press

11-5-08 -- A judge’s ruling that ended a mother’s custody of her three children, including twin brothers that were born conjoined, has been overturned by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. . . . The appeals court ruling sends the parental custody case back to Blue Earth County District Court Judge Bradley Walker. The order he issued in February ended all contact Valerie J. James had with her children. . . . Blue Earth County authorities removed the children from her house after doctors at the May Clinic in Rochester reported one of the twin boys had 24 bone fractures that resulted from at least two assaults. Robert Lee Heck III, the father of the twins, has been charged with first-degree assault in Olmsted County. . . . The appeals court ruling, issued Tuesday, said Walker had not shown there was evidence James was responsible for what happened to her son, whether she knew about the harm or whether the extent of the injuries showed she had a lack of regard for the boy’s well being.

October 2008

MINNESOTA

Fugitive mom sentenced in '90s custody dispute

A Minneapolis woman who fled to the Netherlands 14 years ago to protect herself and her children returned Tuesday. She went to court, but she won't go to prison.

By Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune

9-24-08 -- A Twin Cities woman who became a cause célêbre for battered women's advocates after fleeing the country with her three children 14 years ago returned home defiant Tuesday, blaming the courts for failing to believe her children and saying she would do it all again. . . . "I should have left sooner," said Holly-Ann Collins, 43, who was living in the Netherlands until a neighbor there recently saw an FBI wanted poster of the children and tipped off authorities. "It's the best thing I ever did." . . . She was joined by her daughter, Jennifer Collins, now 23, who said, "My mom is the greatest woman I know. ... We should have been listened to."

CALIFORNIA   

Widow's suit to keep husband's frozen sperm denied

By Bill Lindelof

9-14-08 -- A state appellate court has decided that frozen sperm left behind by a deceased Sacramento County sheriff's deputy cannot be used by his widow to become pregnant. . . . Justices in the 3rd District Court of Appeal were asked to decide whether the widow, Iris Kievernagel, had the right to conceive a child from her late husband's frozen sperm. . . . Deputies Joseph Kievernagel, 36, and Kevin Blount, 29, died in a crash July 13, 2005. The helicopter they were in was responding to a burglary call when it went down near Lake Natoma, slamming into a hillside and rolling down a ravine. . . . Deputy Eric Henrikson, 31, survived the crash. . . . According to the court's opinion, issued Thursday, the Kievernagels were happily married for 10 years prior to the helicopter crash. The court noted, however, that Joseph Kievernagel "was opposed to having children, but agreed to the fertility procedures due to Iris's strong desire for children."

Jury Exemptions for Nursing Mothers Grow

Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal

9-2-08 -- Amid a wide blanket of legal protections for women who breastfeed in public, an increasing number of states have passed laws that exempt nursing mothers from jury service, with more states introducing bills on the issue. . . . . Eleven states and Puerto Rico have passed laws that exempt nursing mothers from jury service, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Most of the statutes became effective in the past five years, including those in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Virginia. Some laws require nursing mothers to have a note from a doctor; others permit the exemption up to a certain age of the child. . . . . In the past two years, more than a dozen states have introduced bills, most of which failed, relating to jury service exemptions for nursing mothers, according to the NCSL. This year's failed bills include those in Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota and New Mexico. Many plan to reintroduce the legislation next year. . . . . The legislation is being driven by constituent complaints at courthouses and often has been enveloped in other laws protecting the rights of nursing mothers in public and at their workplaces.

August 2008

CALIFORNIA  

Sex assaults that leave victims pregnant can warrant tougher penalties, court rules

The California Supreme Court decides unanimously that such pregnancies may amount to 'great bodily injury,' and offenders can get a more severe sentence.

By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer  

8-29-08 -- A sexual assault that leaves a victim pregnant may be punished more severely than one that does not result in pregnancy, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday. . . . . The state high court said a pregnancy may be considered "great bodily injury." . . . . "We conclude that here, based solely on the evidence of the pregnancy, the jury could reasonably have found that 13-year-old K. suffered a significant or substantial physical injury," Justice Joyce L. Kennard wrote for the court. . . . . The court ruled in the Santa Clara County case of Gary W. Cross, who repeatedly had sexual intercourse with his 13-year-old stepdaughter while her mother worked. The teenager, identified as K., became pregnant, and Cross arranged for her to have an abortion. Because she was 5 1/2 months pregnant, the abortion was performed surgically. . . . . The jurors at Cross' trial were told they could find that he personally inflicted "great bodily injury" on the girl as a result of her pregnancy or the abortion. The jury reached that finding, which mandated a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Without that verdict, the defendant would have received a more lenient sentence.

NEW YORK  

At Trial, Lawyer Claims Former Firm Cut Her Salary Over Pregnancy

Vesselin Mitev, New York Law Journal

8-13-08 -- An attorney who quit her job after returning from maternity leave is suing her former law firm for allegedly cutting her salary while she was pregnant and for creating a "hostile environment." . . . Jacquelyn Todaro, a former associate at Siegel Fenchel & Peddy, a tax certiorari boutique in Garden City, N.Y., claims she was discriminated against by the firm's principals because she is a woman who became pregnant. . . . Maria H. Moscarelli, a former legal assistant at the firm, is also suing on the same grounds. . . . The federal trial in Todaro v. Siegel Fenchel & Peddy, CV-04-2939, began Monday before Eastern District of New York Judge Joanna Seybert in Central Islip, N.Y. . . . In his opening statement, Steven I. Locke of Carabba Locke in Manhattan described his clients as "two working moms" who consistently received praise and salary increases until they became pregnant or took maternity leave.

GENERAL

Women Battling Infertility Find a Friend in the Court

By Sue Shellenbarger, The Wall Street Journal

8-13-08 -- For women struggling with infertility, the unpredictable and time-consuming treatment process can wreak havoc with work schedules, causing conflicts with bosses and triggering reprisals or layoffs. Now, a federal appeals court has come down on the side of women, fortifying legal protections on the job. . . . In the first decision of its kind at the federal appeals-court level, a three-judge panel in Chicago found women who need time off work for infertility treatment may invoke the Pregnancy Discrimination Act as potential protection against adverse action. The ruling came in a case involving Cheryl Hall, a secretary who was laid off after taking time off for in vitro fertilization, then asking for more. Without ruling on the merits of her case, the court last month set a precedent by giving Ms. Hall a green light to sue her former employer for pregnancy-related bias.

CALIFORNIA

Woman moving forward with courage and help,

By Mark Arner, Union-Tribune Staff Writer

8-11-08 --  A year after she left her abusive husband, a 28-year-old mother of four said life remains a struggle – even with public and private help. . . . But the violence is over. . . . “I can't spend my future and my energy trying to fix the past,” she said during a recent interview at Oceanside police headquarters. “I have to go forward with my life.” . . . Accompanying her was a worker from the Oceanside-based Women's Resource Center, which assists battered women. The center has helped the woman get food, clothes and housing since her husband choked her and tried to take her car keys. . . . The woman agreed to be interviewed if her name was withheld. . . . She said her husband had abused her for years. Sometimes he would slap her over her hair – not on her face – to avoid leaving bruises. Once, when they were driving in eastern Chula Vista, he lost his temper as she sang to herself and demanded that she get out of the car without her infant daughter. . . . He drove off, leaving her alone on the side of the road. He came back about 15 minutes later and picked her up, without offering an apology, she said. . . . The woman had left him twice before: by moving to her mother's home in Mexico, and then by kicking him out. Both times they reconciled. . . . This time, she had saved up to buy a car using money from a jewelry business her husband had allowed her to open – under his name. She was about to leave with their four daughters, who range in age from 1 to 6, when he came home and saw what was happening.

OREGON

Witness: Homeless mom stayed near newborn before it was found

By KATU Web Staff

8-11-08 --  The woman whose newborn baby was found crying in a northeast Portland field is appealing for custody of the child. . . . The woman, a 29-year-old transient who has not been identified by police, claims she left the child briefly in a field near a homeless camp site momentarily to clean her hands before handling the baby girl. . . . A man walking his dog said he heard what he thought was a cat after his dog barked continuously near the child. . . . The child was found in a field near a Fred Meyer store located on Northeast 102nd Avenue in the Gateway area. . . . A woman who lives in a home close to the field said she had seen the pregnant woman many times recently. Theresa Jewett said she called 911 to get assistance for the woman, and that her husband also went to the scene to assist the woman. . . . Jewett said the woman was apparently calling out for help while giving birth but no one came to her assistance.

PENNSYLVANIA

Pittsburgh Mom Protests Downtown Over Day Care Death

7-Year-Old Girl Accused Of Killing Baby In Garfield

ThePittsburghChannel

8-11-08 --  The mother of a baby killed at a Garfield day care center wants an adult to be held responsible, but authorities in Pittsburgh have declined to file charges. . . . Rhonda Moore protested Monday morning on Ross Street outside family court downtown, saying that the fault lies with the people who left her daughter with a 7-year-old girl at Bray's Family Day Care. . . . "I don't feel the 7-year-old is responsible for this," Moore said. "I feel the 20-year-old that left the 7-year-old with my daughter unsupervised is responsible for this, not the 7-year-old. . . . Police said 10-month-old Marcia Poston's death was a homicide at the hands of a young girl at the now-closed day care on Dearborn Street. . . . The 7-year-old child took Moore's daughter from a baby chair and threw her twice to the floor on June 6, police said.

TEXAS

Houston woman accused of kidnapping 5 young Hurricane Katrina evacuees arrested

By Karen Brooks / The Dallas Morning News 

8-8-08 -- A Houston woman accused of kidnapping five young children she had been caring for since Hurricane Katrina was in custody Thursday, about a month after fleeing her home in what she said was an attempt to protect them. . . . Rhonda Tavey was arrested peacefully at her mother's home in Houston by the FBI around 1:50 p.m. At the time, she was negotiating with local police and her attorney, criminal defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin, to turn herself in. . . . Ms. Tavey is charged with five counts of felony kidnapping. An Amber Alert had been issued Wednesday and was lifted when the children were found with Ms. Tavey and turned over to state Child Protective Services. . . . "The children are doing fine, they're healthy, they're eating, they're playing, so they really just don't know what's going on," CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin told WFAA-TV (Channel 8). . . . She said CPS will look into Ms. Tavey's claims that their mother, Erica Alphonse, abused them. Ms. Alphonse has denied Ms. Tavey's allegations. . . . Mr. DeGuerin said the case should have been handled by family courts in a custody battle – not through criminal charges. . . . "She took these children in when they were refugees from Katrina. She's raising them as her own, she's schooled them, she's taken care of their medical needs, their food, their shelter," he said. "They've just as much been raised by her as by anybody else in the whole world." . . . But Harris County prosecutor Jane Waters said officials had to file charges because "she has no legal custody to the children, no legal basis for keeping the children. This was made clear to her." . . . Ms. Tavey contends that Ms. Alphonse, who has been living at various times in Houston and New Orleans since the storm, also threatened her. . . . "I left there for fear for my life, not to kidnap the children," Ms. Tavey said Wednesday. . . . Ms. Alphonse pleaded publicly this week with her to return the children.

July 2008

From the Parental Alienation Awareness Caucus: Nation's Capital to Host National Civil Rights Event August 15-16

By: Lary Holland, laryholland@sbcglobal.net

There is a whole program that has been put together regarding Parental Alienation as just one of the many events associated with this years DCFESTIVAL2008.COM National Civil Rights Event.

Check out the information and official press release at the above link. If any of the State participants are concerned with Parental Alienation, you can circulate this to the appropriate local or national groups. I will leave it up to you for who you send it to.

Check out where your state stands on getting the message to government that parental rights should be respected and PROTECTED. Every state will likely meet their goals, but you can check in on this awesome campaign to raise awareness by clicking the link, getting involved, and MAKING THIS HAPPEN!!! We couldn't possibly do it all without all of your help! The time for talking about it is done!

http://www.dcfestival2008.com

SOUTH DAKOTA  

Ruling Gives South Dakota Doctors a Script to Read

Women Seeking Abortion Must Be Told About 'Unique Living Human Being'

By Peter Slevin, Washington Post Staff Writer 

7-20-08 -- In a victory for antiabortion forces, doctors in South Dakota are now required to tell a woman seeking an abortion that the procedure "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique living human being." . . . The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit last week lifted a preliminary injunction that prevented the language from taking effect. A spokesman for Planned Parenthood, which runs the state's only abortion clinic, said doctors will begin reciting the script to patients as early as this week. . . . On another front, South Dakota voters will be asked in a Nov. 4 referendum to consider broad limits on abortion for the second time since 2006. The ballot measure includes exceptions for rape, incest and the woman's health that were not part of the 2006 wording rejected by voters. . . . Antiabortion forces in South Dakota have been trying for years to halt the procedure and to build a winnable challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide.

Abortion survivors tell horror stories
'I had just killed my own flesh and blood'

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

7-18-08 -- Kay Painter now speaks at retreats, churches, conferences and other events about her abortion, telling a real-life no-holds-barred story of pain and guilt. . . . "The instant I heard my baby's helpless body hit the garbage can, I KNEW! I had just killed my own flesh and blood, an innocent life. I was panic-stricken, the nurse callously told me to 'calm down, in a few days all would be back to normal,'" she says. . . . "Normal? No one forewarned me of the repercussions of an abortion. It was a simple procedure of removing 'tissue,' so why the pain, the sudden emptiness? I awoke night after night to the sound of screams, they were mine!" . . . Painter's experience now has been documented by Operation Outcry, an outreach of The Justice Foundation. . . . The organization is trying to collect a million stories to dispel the myth that abortion helps women. . . . Justice Foundation President Allan Parker says the organization already has collected some such stories and submitted them to the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts where issues of abortion were pending, and they have been acted on by the justices. . . . In a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the justices cited, "whether to have an abortion requires a difficult and painful moral decision" that is "fraught with emotional consequence." The decision also observed "severe depression and loss of esteem can follow." . . . Such observations come from testimonies of women who speak with the Justice Foundation, and when formalized in such court rulings their experiences ultimately have an impact.

June 2008

SOUTH DAKOTA  

South Dakota Women Applaud Court Decision Requiring Abortion Providers to Obey the Law and Tell the Truth

Christian Newswire

Contact: Harold Cassidy, Chief Legal Counsel, Intervenors, 732-757-5570; Kimberly Martinez, Executive Director, Alpha Center, 605-321-1461; Stacey Wollman, Executive Director, Black Hills CRD, 605-545-0974

6-27-08 -- This morning, Friday, June 27, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit filed its opinion in Planned Parenthood et al v. Rounds et al, Alpha Center et al, Intervenors. The Court vacated a temporary injunction that had been issued by the trial court. This decision requires abortion providers tell women, in writing, that the abortion procedure "will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." . . . The opinion of the Eighth Circuit addresses the important issue of whether South Dakota can enforce its 2005 Informed Consent Law while the constitutionality of its requirements is litigated in court. Much of the opinion discusses whether the statement "abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" is truthful, non-misleading and relevant to women's decisions to obtain abortions. The majority found that Planned Parenthood had "submitted no evidence" that this statement was false, misleading, or irrelevant. SLIP OP. 19. . . . For forty years, Planned Parenthood and abortion activists have denied the fact that abortion kills a separate human being. Denial of this fact was necessary and part of a national strategy to create a culture of abortion for the entire nation according to sworn testimony of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, one of the founders of the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (NARAL). Today, a majority of the judges on the Eighth Circuit have clearly and decisively declared that South Dakota need not deny the truth, "the evidence submitted by the parties regarding the truthfulness and relevance of the disclosure in § 7(1)(b) generates little dispute." SLIP OP. at 18. . . . A spokeswoman for the Intervenor Alpha Center, Kimberly Martinez, said, "We are delighted by the Court's decision. Alpha Center exists to tell South Dakota women the whole truth about their pregnancies. Thanks to today's decision by the court, women are now going to be given the truth by abortion providers, who have been fighting to avoid doing so for years." Stacy Wollman, executive director for Black Hills Crisis Pregnancy Center, was equally pleased. "Women deserve to be told the truth. The South Dakota legislature recognized this fact three years ago, and today, so did the court. It is a great day for women throughout South Dakota, including the women we see in Rapid City."

MISSOURI  

Missouri Supreme Court ruling upholds midwifery bill

St. Louis Business Journal - by Diana Barr

6-25-08 -- A Missouri Supreme Court decision Tuesday upholds a provision in a 2007 state law that allows midwives to deliver babies in Missouri, reversing an earlier decision by a Cole County judge. . . . In 2007, Missouri Sen. John Loudon, R-Chesterfield, Mo., included a provision that would legalize the practice of tocology, or midwifery, in Missouri in House Bill 818, which dealt with the portability and accessibility of health insurance. The bill was signed into law in June 2007 by Gov. Matt Blunt. . . . The Missouri State Medical Association, Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, Missouri Academy of Family Physicians, and St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society then filed suit to invalidate the section of HB 818 dealing with midwifery, challenging the constitutional validity of the provision. The professional groups claimed that medical practice by unlicensed midwives could result in professional discipline of their members.

NEBRASKA  

Judge Bans The Use Of The Word 'Rape' In A Rape Trial

Wakeup America Blogspot

6-9-08 -- Tory Bowen claims she was raped, charges were brought against her alleged rapist and the trial began. When Bowen was asked to describe what happened to her in front of the jury, she was not allowed to use the words rape, nor call it sexual assault. . . . Due to an pre-trial order issued by District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront, who was presiding over the case, Torey Bowen was not allowed to use the word "rape", or "sexual assault" to describe for the jury what happened to her. Instead when she referred to to what she considers rape, she had to say they had "sex" or "sexual intercourse". . . . She was also not allowed to call herself a "victim" nor refer to the man she claims assaulted her as an "assailant". . . . Her lawyers did file a lawsuit which caught the attention of free-speech proponents. That lawsuit was dismissed but U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf did write at the time, "For the life of me, I do not understand why a judge would tell an alleged rape victim that she cannot say she was raped when she testifies in a trial about rape." . . . Her attorneys plan to bring it to the Supreme Court.

FEDERAL COURTS

3rd Circuit: Woman Cannot Be Fired for Having Abortion

Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer

6-4-08 -- A woman who has an abortion cannot be fired for doing so because the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act also protects the decision to terminate a pregnancy, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of first impression. . . . The decision by a unanimous three-judge panel in Doe v. CARS Protection Plus Inc. revives a suit brought by a woman who claims she opted to have an abortion after tests showed that her baby had severe deformities and that she was fired three days later -- the day she attended the funeral for the baby. . . . In the lower court, U.S. District Judge Maurice B. Cohill Jr. granted summary judgment for the defendant, finding that the plaintiff -- who is referred to in court papers only as "Jane Doe" -- failed to show that her firing was connected to her abortion decision. . . . The 3rd Circuit disagreed, finding that Doe's boss remarked that "she didn't want to take responsibility," and that Cohill erred in labeling it a "stray remark" because a jury could infer from that statement that Doe's abortion was a factor in the decision to fire her.

May 2008

TEXAS

New Feminoid Horror

by Alan Stang, NewsWithViews.com

5-29-08 -- Every time the Love Priestess and I see the FLDS people on the news, we cannot help but shudder. Maybe scripture is the reason. But one need not be a Bible scholar to know that these folks are creepy crawly. That is the reflex polygamy produces, heightened by the stilted, halting way they answer questions. The utter weirdness of their practice apparently infuses everything they do. . . . But, guess what? However weird they are, and whatever my wife and I think about it, is totally irrelevant. These are the united (sic) States. Did you remember? This is where you can be as weird as you like. This is where the Constitution guarantees that right. Of course, I do not expect Members of Congress to know that, but you do. . . . That is what makes the recent mass kidnappings in Texas so outrageous. Texas used to boast that it surpassed every other state, which was true – for instance, if you melt Alaska down to its true size, you would have an area about the size of Taxachusetts – but the kidnappings are strike two and three strikes are out. . . . Texas was also the site of the Waco horror, in which alcoholic bull dyke Janet Reno, rapist Bill Clinton’s Attorney General, and switch hitter Hillary incinerated mothers and children to “protect” them from a man who said he was God, they said. The federal government acted because it believes it is God and will jealously allow no one to worship any other God before it. When Washington finished “protecting” them, almost a hundred were dead, cremated in the house the FBI had turned into an oven, reminiscent of the Nazi Holocaust. . . . So it is that as I watch and listen and read about this new horror, I hear the tramp of many boots. I hear many voices singing the Horst Wessel. (The Nazis had such great marching songs and uniforms.) I hear the moaning. I used to believe we fought World War II because we hated Nazism so much. I should have known better because that is what swindler, traitor and mass murderer Roosevelt said. Of course, the truth is that we love Nazism so much we don’t want anyone else to enjoy it. . . . You don’t need to know more than a few facts to know that this latest fiasco is as phony as a one dollar bill. For instance, the “probable cause” for the raid was the call to the police from the “frightened underage child” who was “being abused” by her mature husband. She turned out to be thirty three years old, she was not in the Texas “compound,” but in Colorado, she was deranged – her hobby was making such phony complaints – and the cops knew all this before the kidnapping took place, but the kidnapping proceeded anyway.

‘Me time’ for Mom a must

How often do you get away from your kids? What do you do your 'me time'?

By Theresa Walsh Giarrusso, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

5-25-08 -- Every mom knows it is essential to find some time to relax and recharge. All the parenting books tell us we must take care of ourselves to take care of others. . . . I compare it to being on a plane when the oxygen masks pop out. Flight attendants say you should put on your own mask before putting one on your child. This goes against every instinct a mother has — you immediately want to help your child. However, if you pass out from lack of oxygen, you’re not much help to anyone. . ..  The same is true at home. It’s hard to be patient and loving if you feel frazzled. The trouble is even when moms recognize they need some time off, it’s often hard to find a day to get away between soccer games and birthday parties.

Mother's Day: May 11, 2008

The driving force behind Mother's Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. As the .annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She finally succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

How Many Mothers: 82.8 million

Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2004. / Source: Survey of Income and Program Participation unpublished tabulations

MONTANA

State settles with disabled mother

By Matt Gouras - Associated Press

5-10-08 -- The state said Friday that it has settled accusations that child protective services workers unfairly discriminated against a disabled Livingston woman. . . . The settlement will cost the state $330,000. . . . Geri Glass, bound to a wheelchair following a car accident, said the workers put onerous and unfair conditions on her. Glass said that when her son Gage was a newborn, state Child and Family Services workers told her they would take her son if they learned she had been left alone with him. . . . The Department of Public Health and Human Services agreed to establish a special needs trust of $50,0000 for Glass, contribute $100,000 to future payments that will be paid to her child, and pay her attorney fees and costs totaling $180,000. . . . The agency will also train employees and correct procedures for dealing with similar situations. . . . Late last year, a state hearings officer ruled that the workers violated Glass’ rights and retaliated against her when she complained.

April 2008

NEW YORK

Allergic Mother Loses Attempt to Prohibit Kids' Contact With Cat

Vesselin Mitev, New York Law Journal

4-30-08 -- A woman who claimed that she is allergic to her ex-husband's cat cannot prevent their two children from visiting their father's home, a Long Island, N.Y., judge has ruled. . . . Following a hearing earlier this month in Mandel v. Mandel, 203448/06, Acting Supreme Court Justice Hope S. Zimmerman of Nassau County ruled that there was no "legal or factual basis to exclude the children" from their father's apartment. . . . The feline in question, an 18-month-old orange and white male tabby named Indie, was acquired by Stanley Mandel in 2006, after he moved out of the home he shared with Susan Mandel. The couple is in the process of getting a divorce. . . . The parties' 13- and 16-year-old sons live with Ms. Mandel but visit their father once during the week and during every other weekend. . . . According to the decision, Ms. Mandel is allergic to dogs, cats and certain foods and takes medications for her condition. . . . In November 2006, Ms. Mandel e-mailed her husband, asking him to "take certain precautions with the children" so that her health would not be jeopardized after the children returned from visiting their father.

ALABAMA

Judge Jails Moms Over Kids' Tardiness

New York Lawyer

4-25-08 -- A Mobile County juvenile court judge sent three mothers to jail after court hearings for more than 30 parents facing criminal charges for truant and tardy students. . . . Two of the three were jailed Thursday on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a child. The third, who has a history of substance abuse, was ordered to jail for violating probation when she failed a court-ordered drug test. . . . Judge Edmond Naman said he believes jail is not only for robbers, rapists and murderers but also "for people who break court orders and neglect their children." The jail sentences were not unprecedented. . . . One of the mothers sent to jail, Samantha Green, 32, of Mobile, has eight children, one of whom has been absent more than 100 days school. . . . The woman's 15-year-old daughter has been staying home to take care of an 11-month-old child of her own. . . . "It's just me; I don't have no help. I've got eight kids plus a grandbaby," Green pleaded.

Let's just face it: Mother knows best

Column By Pamela Nisivaco

04-08-08 -- A little more than a week ago I turned 20 - not an exciting birthday. I did, however, have a significant revelation concerning my mom when I turned 20.  . . . And it all started with a birthday card. . . . Usually the birthday cards sent by my parents hold very loving and caring messages about how wonderful I am. This year there was a twist. On the front of the card were two dogs, one in pearls and one in a tie, to represent my parents, of course. The inside of the card read, "We think you're a really great daughter ­- and you know we're always right! Happy Birthday." Talk about sending an underlying message with your birthday wishes. . . . I knew my mom must have picked out this card. She is the one always telling me to take her advice more often because in the end we both know she will be right. . . . So, as far as my amazing revelation, it has taken me 20 long years of road bumps and missteps, but I am finally able to admit it: My mom is always right. . . . There. . . . I said it in print. Mom will be so proud. . . . I cannot ever remember a time when my mom gave me the wrong advice. When I was trying to decide on a college, all I wanted was to leave Illinois and get as far away from home as possible. Mom's advice: go to U of I. Here I am at the University of Illinois and I could not be happier. Then there was the time I was not accepted to a winter study abroad trip to France, but could reapply for a trip to China. Mom's advice: go for it! Who cares if it was not your first choice. When's the next time you are going to have an opportunity to go to China? I had the time of my life for two weeks getting to walk along the Great Wall and stare at the lights of Shanghai at night.

CALIFORNIA

Help a single mom claim her money

Get-rich-quick opportunity

Frank Mickadeit, Register columnist

04-03-08 -- Hey! Tracie LaMee of San Juan Capistrano wrote to me in so many words. What's up with the huge Public Notice county Treasurer Chriss Street ran in your paper last Friday? Page after page of tiny type containing the names of folks who have mistakenly left money sitting in one county account or another. . . . If not claimed by May 12, the County of Orange keeps it. . . . "I just think they have a moral obligation to spend a little more effort to reunite the money with the proper owner," she said, noting that some of those listed shouldn't be hard to find. . . . The attorney general of Texas and L.A. County are on it, she noted, although they aren't owed much. But how about something called Rancho Santa Margarita Joint Venture, which has $10,315.24 sitting with Street? Or the Los Verdes Homeowners Association, which has $5,310? . . . This piqued my interest for purely selfish reasons: Was I on the list? And how much did my newspaper receive for twice printing these eight full pages of agate type? . . . The answers: No, and $166,000. . . . Street is sitting on $1.1 million in funds belonging to 5,733 people, businesses, organizations and public agencies. . . . The vast majority of the funds, 85 percent by my estimate, are unclaimed or uncashed child-support checks. In other words, it belongs to a class of people, mostly single moms and kids, who can least afford to be without it. . . . Treasurer spokesman Keith Rodenhuis says county Child Support Services staffers "attempted to locate both custodial and/or non-custodial parents using all of their available resources. If an updated address was found they followed up with a letter. … They even worked with a collection agency in reverse, having them locate the parties." . . . "We are all in agreement that this is taxpayer and not government money, and we want it to get back into their hands." . . . If you want to help, find the list at http://tax.ocgov.com/treas/escheatment2007.asp. After ensuring you're not a millionaire, use the search function and plug in the names of divorced moms you know.

March 2008

ILLINOIS

Picture-Perfect Mom Goes to Trial

Mom-Logic

03-13-08 -- You'll never believe why this Mom is being accused of child abuse. . . . Yesterday in Moms Are Talking About, we told you about the mother who was arrested for leaving her child alone in the car for less than a minute. We spoke exclusively with her husband, Tim Janecyk.

Mom•Logic: What happened?
Tim: On December 8th, 2007, my two older daughters, Sierra, 9, and Haley, 8, were at my office with one of their friends. They found a bunch of loose change and asked if they could collect it and take it to the Salvation Army bucket at the local Wal-Mart. My wife, Treffly, took them to donate the money. Not long after they left my office, I received a call from my wife, crying. She said, "I am at the Wal-Mart being arrested, and they are taking our child!"

ML: Why was your wife being arrested?
Tim: When my wife got to Wal-Mart, she quickly parked the car, ran about 30 feet (approximately two car lengths)  to the Salvation Army bucket with the older girls, then was heading back to her car when the police stopped her. She was arrested for leaving our 2-year-old, Phoebe, in the car by herself, and the police said they were taking our baby into protective custody. The police left Treffly handcuffed in the back of their car for more than an hour. Meanwhile, my daughters were inside Wal-Mart crying. It was a confusing and chaotic situation created by the police.

ML: How has your wife been handling this?
Tim: It's been difficult. It's tearing my wife up. She's been labeled a child abuser by the state. Child Protective Services comes to our house whenever they want. They search our house and say they're "doing their job," but it's an incredible violation to have them do this when there is no neglect or abuse.

SOUTH CAROLINA

SC Mother of the Year advises a faith foundation

Chantelle Janelle

03-12-08 -- We all think our mom is the best, but Tuesday afternoon honors go out to the state's Mother of the Year. . . . Mrs. Mary Kate Brearley Glasser of Columbia was honored at the State House Tuesday afternoon. . ..  The mother of four and grandmother of 10 is a former teacher. She says raised her children to love and serve the Lord, and says one of the most important things to remember when raising children is to keep the family together. . . . "I think motherhood is the greatest calling, the greatest institution that God ever made, and that it is up to us to nurture our children in the faith, and make sure that the family is united and stays together." . . . Mrs. Glasser is now competing for American Mother of the Year. That honor will be decided next month.

NEW YORK

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

RHODE ISLAND  

A mother’s complaint

By Edward Fitzpatrick, Journal Staff Writer

02-25-08 -- The mother of a Warwick teenager killed by a drunken driver has filed a complaint against two lawyers, saying they came to her son’s wake and that, while standing next to the casket, one lawyer talked about a big case they’d just settled and about their billboard off Route 10. . . . The mother says the lawyers came to the funeral home with the boy’s father, who she says spent little time with his son during his life but is now trying to cash in on the boy’s death. . . . The lawyers say they were not trying to solicit business at the wake. They said they were there to support the boy’s father and that it was the mother who brought up the idea of pursuing legal action. She says that’s not true. But the lawyers question the timing of her complaint and say she’s made it clear she’ll do anything in her power to prevent the father from claiming his right to half of any money recovered from legal action. . . . Kathleen M. Gemma, 39, of Warwick, filed a complaint with the Supreme Court’s attorney disciplinary board on Jan. 7. She said an investigator has interviewed her and her relatives about what happened at the wake, but she has not heard whether the board is going to dismiss the complaint or formally charge the lawyers with violating rules of professional conduct.

FLORIDA

First Coast Mother's Tough Love Action Gets National Attention

By Roger Weeder, First Coast News

02-08-08 -- A First Coast mother's version of tough love is up for discussion across the nation. . . . Marcia Harvey had her second grade son holding a sign that said: "I was rude to my teacher." That was part of his punishment, she said, for him acting up in class at Brentwood Elementary School. . . . Harvey says she wanted her son to learn a lesson about making good choices. . . . "I decided to have him hold a sign up to let him know what attention he was really attracting and let him know that he had lost his rights," the mother told First Coast News. . . . The mother's discipline got attention across the country. CNN and Good Morning America both picked up on the story. . . . The message board on the ABC News web site attracted the opinions of hundreds of people. . . . One writer said, "Good for Mom" with another praising the woman for being an "Old School Mom."

TEXAS

CPS Returns Daughter To Accused Drug-Dealing Robstown Mother

Online Reporter: Roxanne Carrillo

02-08-08 -- A nine-year-old Robstown girl who claimed her mother made her sisters deliver drugs has been returned to her mother's care. The girl was placed in foster care two weeks ago. But on Friday, Judge Carl Lewis issued an order returning the nine-year-old to her mother. . . . 34-year-old Lisa Lerma's four daughters - ages 9, 13, 14, and 16 - were taken from her after her nine-year-old spoke out. According to a court affidavit, Lerma's nine-year-old told a CPS case worker that the drugs her mother sold looked like a "brown bar". She stated that her mother would "do the stuff" and "she would break it up and fix it." . . . She also stated that her 14-year-old sister would take the bar to her mother and bring it back home once it was done. She also stated that her 14- and 16-year old sisters would deliver "the stuff" to places her mother would tell them. . . . In the document, a Robstown narcotics detective told the case worker that he believed Lerma was "using some of her children as drug runners" and that he believed Lerma was drug dealing, but a recent search of her home had not turned up anything.

January 2008

MASSACHUSETTS   

SJC: courts can issue abuse prevention orders against
out-of-staters

By Globe Staff

01-17-08 -- In what one lawyer described as a victory for battered women, the state's highest court has ruled that a Massachusetts court can issue a domestic abuse prevention order against someone who lives outside of the state. . ..  The Supreme Judicial Court ruled in the case of a woman who returned to Massachusetts and sought an order protecting her from her domestic partner, a man who was living in Florida. . . . The court, in the case Caplan v. Donovan, said that allowing the court to issue such an order furthers the Commonwealth's "important public policy goal" of protecting people from devastating family violence. . . . It said that requiring the woman to return to Florida to get an abuse prevention order or requiring her to wait for her alleged abuser to follow her to Massachusetts and commit a new abuse were "unpalatable choices." . . . The court, in an opinion written by Judge Margot Botsford, noted that other jurisdictions had made similar rulings. . ..  The ruling is good news for battered women, said Claire Laporte, an attorney who represented Jane Doe Inc. and the Domestic Violence Council, organizations that filed a friend of the court brief in the case.