“All We Like Sheep” Congregate and Bleat…except Shepherds, and Sheepdogs…
In honor of my almost a full generation “dealing with” domestic violence issues, and also in honor of yet another “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” I’m about to boycott it, and simplify (or stop) this blog. I may simply put links from my commentary to other blogs, or not.
Several of these are on the site “Rightsformothers.com” — and you can see “Let’s Get Honest” to exhort readers (“Noncustodial and Custodially challenged mothers” is the subtitle, but we know that visitors include POTUS (that’s President of the U.S., i.e. someone from this office is viewing the site. Any blog can track its visitors — I do, obviously).
Yesterday, I was protesting the sheeplike wish to let shepherds whos nonprofits are unlisted, and whose ideas don’t quite address the CAUSES of the crises in the courts so much as the existence of it, speak for us (whatever their ability to speak, or connections to get platforms to speak from) or fight our battles. Or lead the charge, even. Or, sell our stories on video or anywhere else. (“Selling” could mean, not for pay, but for promotion and prominence as addressing the problem). Feedback AND analyses from infantry has to have the understanding of infantry, and has to happen.
Repeatedly, I exhort “us” to distinguish between professionals, who continue to earn a living marketing one solution, or another and bankrupted — or close to it– distraught parents. It’s just a business system — someday we’ll get this, I hope. It’s not “about” what it self-declares itself to be about.
Here’s one sample, my responding to a Mothers of Lost Children Oct. 1, 2010 march in Washington, D.C., and the excitement and hope that comes from having someone from the Dept. of Justice actually acknowledge their presence. After pointing out that a nonexistent “Council for Justice” was sited, as well as old data on the problem, and asking that a well-known leader present provide the EIN#s for both of the known nonprofits in this field, etc., I write:
Those are virtually a compilation of some of the very organizations we already sought help from. Whether funded by HHS, or DOJ, it’s a CRYIN SHAME that so many have figured out, so easily, that we haven’t figured THEM out (initiative, demonstration, coalition, research and developments, reporting and consciousness-raising), or haven’t figured out the basic SOP — which is to get in on the grants from the wealthy (includin the IRS-funded U.S. Federal Government) to study the poor. …
The latest of which is called — give me a break! — “Defending Childhood.” Add this one to my post on The Trinity of Hoodlums (note — I often “ballpark” [approximate only] the titles of my own posts…)
So does the recent, new improved “Defending Our Children” initiative introduced by Attorney General Eric Holder. ….
Attorney General Holder Announces Defending Childhood Initiative
September 24, 2010
On September 23, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued the following press release:
Washington—Attorney General Eric Holder today officially unveiled Defending Childhood, a new Department of Justice initiative focused on addressing children’s exposure to violence. The goals of the initiative are to prevent children’s exposure to violence as victims and witnesses, mitigate the negative effects experienced by children exposed to violence, and develop knowledge about and increase awareness of this issue.
There’s nothing new under the sun, particularly in this field, except more taxpayer $$ to “study” “prevent” “resource” etc.
“For me, the issue of children’s exposure to violence has been both a personal and professional concern for decades. As our nation’s Attorney General and as a parent, it remains a top priority,” said Attorney General Holder. “Through renewing and refocusing our efforts to serve our nation’s most vulnerable and most distressed children we can transform the country we love for the better – one child at a time.”
A key component of the initiative is a multi-year demonstration program. Phase I includes planning grants for eight demonstration sites announced today. In Phase II, up to four communities will be selected from the initial eight to receive funding for further implementation of their plans, based on the availability of funding. This program supports the development of comprehensive community-based strategies to prevent and reduce the impact of children’s exposure to violence in their homes, schools, and communities.
The eight demonstration sites are:
* City of Boston, MA ($160,000)
* City of Portland, ME ($160,000)
* Chippewa Cree Tribe, MT ($153,210)
* City of Grand Forks, ND ($159,967)
* Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, OH ($157,873)
* Multnomah County Department of Human Services, OR ($159,349)
* Rosebud Sioux Tribe, SD ($159,534)
* Shelby County, TN ($159,099).Some examples of the efforts these grants will support are:
* improving the identification, screening, assessment, and referral of children and their families to appropriate programs and services
* increasing access to and utilization of quality programs and services
* developing new programs and services where gaps exist.The grantees will work in collaboration with other local organizations, including victim service providers, tribal non-profit organizations, and community based organizations with a documented history of effectiveness concerning children exposed to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
In addition to the demonstration program grants, the Department of Justice is committing additional funding for research, evaluation, public awareness and partnerships related to the initiative. The other awards announced today are:
* Action Partnerships for Professional Membership and Professional Organizations Responding to Children Exposed to and Victimized by Violence ($1,498,932) – Office for Victims of Crime
* Evaluation of the Attorney General’s Children Exposed to Violence Demonstration Program: Phase I ($500,000) – National Institute of Justice
* Public Awareness and Outreach for Victims in Underserved Communities ($995,089) – Office for Victims of Crime
* Research and Evaluation on Children Exposed to Family Violence ($1,244,869) – National Institute of Justice.
Or that we Moms haven’t figured out earlier to cut the “empathy” and go for the cold hard analysis of this system — as WE observe it working. For example, groups like MDRC and PSI come out and contract, evaluate, report on , and fine-tune more demonstration grants on — you bet it — “poor.” Wonder how we got and stayed that way? Don’t understand the tax system, perhaps…. Just clueless, listening to others listen to our stories.
THIS IS AN INFO-FILLED COMMENTARY; MIGHT BE WORTH A LOOK . . . . .
THEN — ACTUALLY LOOK AT THAT “CRYIN’ SHAME” POST AND TELL ME WHY WE SHOULD GIVE CREDIT TO A SINGLE OTHER INITIATIVE UNTIL THE OTHERS HAVEN’T BEEN AUDITED, AND PROVED, DISPROVED, AND IF THEY DON’T MEET THE STANDARD, STOPPED . . ..
Here, the story starts — notice, one day before our nation’s Attorney General unveils another program that’s supposed to stop fiascos like this one.
Crying shame: Kristen Stillman relinquishes her four children in court
Kristen Stillman does not cry. The tears were beaten out of her early on — as was any hope that someone might listen to her, rescue her, during those twelve hellacious years she was held prisoner at the house in northwest Denver where her mother had left Kristen and her twin, Will, when they were only eight years old. The only way to survive was to feel nothing, to be like “a zombie” as she endured the beatings and rapes that resulted in four pregnancies before she was twenty.
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Kristen finally let herself feel when she was in the hospital after giving birth to her fourth child, a boy, and learned that her oldest child, a girl of five, had been abused by the elderly father of her rapist, Eric Torrez. Then, finally, she realized that she would have to rescue herself — for the sake of her children.
AFTER DOING SO, SHE AND HER TWIN BROTHER WENT BACK FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN, WHO THE RAPIST HUSBAND OF HER MOTHER, who abandoned them, (the children came from the rapes — cf. Garrido)
. . . But she’ll keep memories of the children — how attached the girls were to her, how the little boys loved to cuddle. And she’ll have something more tangible: a big bill from the Family Support Registry for their time in foster care. The most recent bill caught up with Kristen just before her court appearance, and a payment was due the next day. She is now $4,979 in arrears, and there’s still one more bill coming, one that will include fees through September 14 — when she officially was declared no longer a parent.
“Denver Human Services is sympathetic to the long-term ramifications past abuse has on parents who were themselves victims,” says a statement prepared by the Department of Human Services. “However, our highest priority must remain the best interest of the children and the system they rely on to keep them safe from abuse. Parental fees are an important form of support for children who need foster care. When there are extenuating circumstances, the courts can and often do grant deviations from the statutorily established fees; DHS supports the court’s process and will consider what course of action will best serve the minor children in our care
AND, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE THIS “DEPT. OF HUMAN SERVICES” SERIOUSLY WHY ? ? ? ? ?
. . .For Kristen, though, this bill feels like a prison sentence, punishment before she can move on with life. If she were not in arrears, she would still have her driver’s license that was suspended because of outstanding child-support bills, might still have the job she lost when she could no longer get to it. She understands the care her children have gotten, appreciates the care her children have gotten. But if the Department of Human Services had taken care of her, there would be no foster-care fees.
Understanding any single system of life well provides an analogy for others. WIthout SOME skill or point of reference for describing as vast a general situation as “Domestic Violence” one tends to just “imbibe” the general rhetoric, lean towards one side or the other, and — especially if compromised somehow in life — just go with the flow, or where it seems safer.
I chose a religious reference above because it’s familiar to me. The Judeao-Christian culture was nomadic, at least in part, so sheep analogies spoke them, whether from the prophet Isaiah, or (choose designation — few people agree on this one) or later, Jesus Christ, or after that, the “apostle to the Gentiles,” Paul.
Whatever one believes, the fact has to be faced that many people see themselves as shepherds of docile and clueless in life sheep. Moreover, it just so happens to be helpful to also feed off the flock, and in general sometimes fleece them.
We cannot understand life without metaphors, without some organizing point of reference. These need to be flexible, and between individual groups, a negotiation for meaning around common ground can happen.
- Which are you — a Sheep?
- Or, a Shepherd?
- Or, a Sheepdog, who is skillfully trained to hear the master’s voice, or whistle, or gesture, and gets meaning and sustenance off taking dues, and handling the flock.
Anyone who has seen sheepdog trials in action, whether in person or televised, is surely impressed and thrilled to see this work
Analogies from this sheep/shepherd/sheepdog culture permeate ours — not only in the concept of churches and “faith-based” etc. who commonly refer to their charges as a flock — but also, similar attitudes and roles are, I fear, very prevalent among policymakers, government leaders, and the actual masters in these matters — the foundations and extreme wealth running our society more and more from the top down. This includes top-flight universities, whose “Centers of Excellence” disperse knowledge about how to handle the masses, particularly unruly portions of them who get out of line from time to time, thereby revealing that alternate ways to live exist.
Hence, ‘METAPHORS WE LIVE BY” (LAKOFF & JOHNSON) is an important book:
CONCEPTS WE LIVE BY
Metaphor is for most people device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish–a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. Moreover, metaphor is typically viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or action. For this reason, most people think they can get along perfectly well without metaphor. We have found,on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.
The concepts that govern our thought are not just matters of the intellect. They also govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details. Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities. If we are right in suggesting that our conceptual system is largely metaphorical, then the way we thinks what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor.
But our conceptual system is not something we are normally aware of. in most of the little things we do every day, we simply think and act more or less automatically along certain lines. Just what these lines are is by no means obvious. One way to find out is by looking at language. Since communication is based on the same conceptual system that we use in thinking and acting, language is an important source of evidence for what that system is like.
Primarily on the basis of linguistic evidence, we have found that most of our ordinary conceptual system is metaphorical in nature. And we have found a way to begin to identify in detail just what the metaphors are halt structure how we perceive, how we think, and what we do.
To give some idea of what it could mean for a concept to be metaphorical and for such a concept to structure an everyday activity, let us start with the concept ARGUMENT and the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR. This metaphor is reflected in our everyday language by a wide variety of expressions:
This book was cited in a discussion of the role of science in the courts, even….
Here’s just one (fairly esoteric) sample:
Jefferson’s “wall of separation between Church & State” is so powerful that, at least in the minds of the American public and perhaps in the minds of most American lawyers, the language of the metaphor has replaced the language of the law.6 Further, the image created by the metaphor has defined our understanding about the relationship between religion and government in America.7 The metaphor has had such astonishing longevity because it meets all the requirements of an effective metaphor: it is simple, concrete, visual, creative, and concise. Further, Jefferson’s care in writing the metaphor should inspire us to take care in crafting or borrowing metaphors for our own
writing.
We need to be alert and vigilant about the use of language — which entails so much metaphor — in our culture.
The language of the family law system PER SE deals with “families.” Individual rights are secondary. Moreover, a history of this field shows clearly that INCORPORATED INTO ITS PHILOSOPHY (at least its publicized philosophy) IS THE MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE — psychology. LESS COMMONLY ADVERTISED — the origins of the business model, i.e., as psychology is an inexact science (if indeed it IS a science, rather than just a worldview, like any other religion) the courts become “conflict resolution” rather than facts/evidence, or crime/punishment, or even torts-based (i.e., violation of a contract). Also woven into there is the concept that marriage is GOOD for society, and divorce is BAD.
I see it as simply one of multiple ways to “fleece” the innocent and subjugate entire sectors of society to policies set in Washington (NOT locally) and with an overall attitude of the shepherds, wise and benevolent, like “The Lord” of Isaiah (below), or the Psalms (Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd) or, as it may be, a later admonition that “pastors” (itself a shepherding term) not “Lord it over” their flock, for money (!!!), but out of love, and as subjects to that Great Shepherd of the Sheep, namely Jesus. Who, in the gospels, also called himself the good shepherd, etc.
However, as the world flattens, the Internet speeds it up, and within the US, at least, the States/Feds boundary blurs in more and more institutions (schools, courts, criminal databases, child support, and the entire federal grants system, welfare, Head Start, and so on and so forth), the vast array of “sheep” and “sheepdogs” and smaller and smaller circle of “shepherds” are starting to treat human beings like slaves, and more and more like — well, see my post on “MILK SUCKS” to see (if I got all the data in there) how one intelligent, accomplished, and self-sustaining Canadian dairy farmer, dispensing raw milk from healthy cows, became a true enemy and was almost put out of business for his impertinence.
Now I want to talk about the excuses for doing this: Namely, the poor are incompetent, the divorcing parents are selfish, and the mental health professionals are truly concerned about the safety and well being of children.
Yeah, right.. .. ..
I’ve listened so long to people framing domestic violence as a psychological issue (someone has to study those batterers), or as a legal issue (there are criminal laws against assault and battery), or as a spiritual issue (probably the LEAST helpful approach as to stopping it), a family issue, or a social issue. In fact one could go on framing and reframing the issue til one’s own offspring could make a FINE living off of doing nothing to stop it.
ALL WE LIKE SHEEP – Source of quote:
ISAIAH 53:
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
The theme of innocence, and of society’s cruel and collective need to produce a scapegoat — usually the innocent –to purge their communal sins, didn’t go away and hasn’t, for thousands of years. Let alone war, cultures besdies Judaeo-Christian have had plenty of human sacrifice, directly, let alone the indirect ones of wars, and simply social structures based on greed, and using other people to contrust national monuments or institutions. The language always supports the habit of sacrifice. These metaphors are resisted, or incorporated, but the fact is, they also persist.
I, too, am concerned that our common culture is going back towards the dark ages, when it comes to women and children – and all in the name of somehow helping them. Or, Stopping Violence. Or, Stopping Child Abuse. Or Children’s Rights. Or Families and Children. Or — a recent one: “Defending Childhood.”
The “Department of Health and Human Services” and the “Department of Justice” are the “shepherds” and their grants employ a LOT of people and run demonstration, research, and evaluation programs upon them, and dispense a certain type of rhetoric that continually indicates they are “on” the job and “preventing” (you name it). …
MEANWHILE, just under the radar, I learn myself that, as of 2005, a Supreme Court case out of this same state (Colorado) settled that NO restraining order needs enforcing. Which raises the question, — then why are they continually being issued?
In an article from May 2009, discussing an impending audit of the courts, and of course, the psychological travails of embattled and bitter, divorcing (i.e., bad sheep) parents, and the trouble the (sheepdog) psychologists have in protecting children from (not causing …) the years-long custody battles, and of course describing the zealous reformers (who I happen to disagree with) the comments run the gamut of viewpoints.
I scrolled through the ALL yesterday, and NOT ONE, ALMOST, fingered the Dept. of Human Services and the interminable series of grants pumping the system full.
Which begins:
Toby and his brother and sister are psychological time bombs.
(Well, call in the psychologists then!)
THIS woman relates her experience, and names several names. She acknowledges the problem, including that it’s a money mill, and says bring back “fault divorce.”:
Posted by Sue Correnti, a resident of another community, on May 29, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I have had the opportunity to view the Family Law Counts first hand since 1995. The real issue in my case was the safety of my then 8-year old daughter. I went to Los Angeles Superior Court thinking this is where justice is to be foundThought the use of laws in motion my ex husband lawyer Yale class of 1967, was able to turn our divorce into a circus act. During my 12 years in the system, no one wanted to even hear about the child’s well being or even talk with her. My first six months cost $60,000 and then he was able to alienate me from any legal representation by suing me, my attorney and two girl friends for Rico and Conspiracy for $5million. This plays havoc in the home that brings piles of papers in the mail box daily, stacks on the dinning room table. I guess I should be grateful that my case got consolidated into a business litigation because they value Attorney Client Privilege more than the value a child’s well being. Along the way I came to know Connie Valentine at California Protective Parents, Karen Winner who wrote a book called Divorced From Justice in New York. This is not just a situation in Marin County, but an epidemic across the United State. Los Angeles is one of the most corrupt court systems that I believe started this mess years ago. It all began with No Fault Divorce and the true reason it came about. No fault divorce turned family law into a money mill, with warriors tampering with the courts. Providers tapping into the money mill and so on. I personally requested an evaluation deposited my check Paid to Los Angeles Superior Court. The truth is that it went into a private bank account that had noting to do with the court. It seems that The Psychiatric Panel was running a private business in the courts. This was discovered the account was closed. Thanks to a grandfather who’s daughter had been wronged Marvin Bryer. He went though trials of deceit. He altered me of the disaster I was walking into and I canceled the evaluation. This is only a small sampling of the corruption going on in the system of judge shopping, pay offs, tampering and political influences. I am still not divorced and cannot even imagine wasting my time and energy in a system that is so broken. My daughter and I went from a home in Playa Del Rey on the hill over looking the ocean to the maids quarters in someone’s home with one bed and closet. Yes I confess that I could not abandon my child to child care and expect her to succeed. I was continually down at court for years, in the business litigation where in one case I became a cross defendant , another the defendant, and still another a defendant all in Pro Per. All consolidated to one Judge…I could not make a living and keep going back and forth to court. I did not get any support until 1999 when the DA finally prosecuted the lawyer father and then the fine was only $650.00. No more than running a stop light. I was not aggressive in this divorce action, because I did not want to loose custody of my child like other women had done. I lost my life savings instead. Why should a person loose everything to get a divorce she did not even want?
The follow up is my daughter is on her way to Medical School in August to be a Pediatrician and care for children that are in need and underprivileged. The time I spent with her has paid off, she is going to be a beneficial presence on this planet. Her father has never contributed and I guess feels like he won, but the truth is no one wins. I qualify for her loans and scholarship, because I have nothing but, love in my heart.
I congratulate the people that have stayed with this for so long, Connie Valentine, Bonnie Russell, Idele Clark, Karen Winner, and now Kathleen Russell at CJE. Demand that all our courts be examined. Then turn and ask how fair it is that a person gets married, has kids and someone wakes up one morning and says they don’t want to be married. Why should the person not violating the marriage be punished and loose their children? There should be some penalty for walking on your family or harming your family. Bring back Fault Divorce and see how the divorce rate will go down and kids will be cared for.
I disagree with “fault” divorce. I am a product of two parents who held it together til I was in college, and later married a man whose parents actually held it together until he (details cannot be revealed, but they never did divorce. They just kept their dysfunctional marriage together). I am STILL unlearning some bad values learned in that scenario. We held it together far longer than appropriate, and the stress and tension from my parent’s own marriage probably resulted in my being in the same circle of people where I picked up a husband who, idolizing marriage (and no one can live up to an “idol”) had behavior that was in the basement, i.e., battering, control, fear-based decision-making propped up by a superficial connection with religion. In another life time, he’d be a radical Muslim and polygamist; he did not actually believe in the values the Bible speaks of, one of which is “charity.” (i.e., love).
I think it may be valuable to do away with marriage, but Fault Divorce? No…. I also do not put the different people above in the same category, although I believe the first 4 have actually suffered through the system, the next to last is a filmmaker? and the last, a PR Consultant. Here’s what Bonnie Russell commented on this site:
And here’s one comment indicating this system is indeed a racket, and referring to the restraining order quandary
To: Parenting Project:
The press is not afraid to tell the story. They either don’t care or don’t recognize a story about institutional gouging and greed.
Family values and corporate media are not a fit. Although, as FamilyLawCourts.com links on the home page demonstrates, the busiess of government is; Business. Family court remains a huge, unregulated industry. And with media barely casting a glance, members of Congress have been indicted for kick-backs to various attorneys and some non-profits. (This is also reported on the home page.)
Local conflicts? How about the former Contra Costa Commissioner, Josanna Berkow who once sat on the board of the San Francisco Kids Turn (another non-profit) and then Ordered litigants to that particular facility? Is would seem a big enough conflict for any media as the “Ka-ching” factor is, well, glaring. Anyone notice besides me?
If media felt like examining the industry, Pulitzer prizes could be the result. And it’s not as if it would require a lot of digging because in the course of decades of no-media; judges are saying the funniest things on-the-record.
Also, media could wake up people up to the fact that domestic violence is a huge and hugely profitable business model, especially when in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers aren’t legally required to enforce restraining orders.
That decision is located on the Left hand page of http://www.FamilyLawCourts.com/domestic.html
Naturally one might wonder – why then do police departments keep marketing Restraining Orders? And the answer is: For business purposes. PD’s can in a wonderful public relations kind of way align themselves with any non-profit and request federal funds (without depleting their own general fund) for monies to be used for say, bullet-proof vests….for the calls they choose to answer; which may or may not include calls from family crime victims. Again, by focusing on gender rather than the business model, the public is distracted from the lucrative business of “domestic violence.”
And they have. All this is easily enough found – the problem is no one, media or co-workers, or neighbors don’t mind, as long as it isn’t their child.
So even the most glaring examples of something amiss escapes notice.
Consider the Family Justice Center (a national franchise) which is all hype and pr while the numbers of victims increase.
It’s a quasi-governmental agency run by a the YWCA – a faith based organization. So much for the separation of church and state. The problem is – it’s not as if this isn’t happening in plain view. It’s that media either doesn’t recognize or is too lazy to deliver these kinds of block buster stories.
And in regard to the Family Justice Center (what a name!) I suggest people write to Verizon as they are a huge contributor of grants, and applaud them for donating phones to assault victims – and request no money change hands.
Would love for some editor to assign a story on the money doled out to non-profits “addressing” domestic violence….but I’d love to be 5’5″ and that’s not happening either…
This is not even close to the mainstream view; I agree with several aspects and can validate them. However, again, the question is, what to do?
Here’s a high-profile mother whose sons (if I have the case right) ended up dying, after being kidnapped, due to a bad family court case decision. She gives more details. For some reason, many people were coming out of the states and locally to put in on this one article — it’s worth a long read:
osted by Regan Martin, a resident of another community, on Jun 2, 2009 at 5:14 am
My story was featured on the National Domestic Violence Hotline Web Link website
Also on cover of Chicago Tribune Web Link
I think you’ve probably heard of the cases (Connolly Boys Jack and Duncan Web Link ) across the nation where fathers/husbands are killing their wives and children. It’s becoming a national epidemic.
FACT: Family Courts are putting women and children in harm’s way.
This has happened in my case. A family court judge modified the criminal OP while abuser was out on parole but being prosecuted for 13 cnts of viol of OP, the judge ordered I give him my contact info. He then viol OP 3cnts 3 days later. The judge caused this.
I was brutally handcuffed, raped and beaten in May 2006 by this man.
Please watch this short video and you will know my real life fear – daily. Web Link
My rapist/husband made the 911 call, he wrote a confession to the rape. Yet they allowed him to plea out of the sex crime status thus tainting all new court cases.
Social Security gave me new #’s they said I and my battered children had over whelming evidence to warrant a new identity.
Then the Family Court Judge gave this man my contact number and granted visitation to the 200lb man who whipped two 30 and 40 lbs little boys with video cables.
My abuser was true to form he re-violated within 3 days of receiving that order.
Family Court Judges can not MAKE batterers good father’s by simply ordering it. We need DV specific laws that give women and children effective legal guarantees of personal-security.
Otherwise the death count will increase.
Here’s another, who says we need to file a Civil Acts section 1983 federal lawsuit:
Posted by SELF IMPOSED EXILE, a resident of the Fairfax neighborhood, on Jun 3, 2009 at 12:27 pm
THE SOLUTION TO THE MARIN FAMILY COURT AND ALL CALIFORNIA FAMILY COURT PROBLEMS:
The solution is a CLASS ACTION FEDERAL LAWSUIT under the civil rights act section 1983….
First it will only work so long it is approached as a long term solution for both we the people and the State….in other words, you will not get to hang any judge nor will you get “YOUR” particular case “DIRECTLY EFFECTED.”
THe suit must attack the California Family Code, and the conduct of the Court. This must be done in federal court, not State court.
As an example: THe Family Code claims “the best interest of the child,” but this term of art is not clearly defined, and is left effectively entirely up to the dicretion of the court….it is well established that any law that is “vague” is unconstitutional….so are laws that state one thing but when excuted result in wrongful conduct. THe STATE has no right to subject anyone to “psychological” exam and cannot commit anyone without at least two psychiatrists making a determination of mental illness…but in family court you can lose custody of your children “because a custody evaluator, determines that as a parent your too “didactic” to be a good parent….(look it up, it means you behave like a marine drill sargeant, very strict!) its much moe difficult for Child Protective services to separate parents from their children than family court….think about it, its the level of proof…..
Worthless, because none of these experts can point to any legally cognizable source, to prove that they can medically or otherwise determine, what is a good parent or what is a bad parent. Example: A parent with ADD or ADHD is not necessarily “incompetent” because of this problem, a Parent who has bi-polar disorder, is not necessarily bad for their children because of this “illness” and with meds or without is no better or worse than the rest of us….want proof….read the files…a divorce occuring when the kids are teenagers, kids who are well adjusted,( means they go to school and are not in criminal trouble) clearly common sense says the parent with Bi-polar is not harmful to the kids! They made it this far, as teenagers with this “parent” they’ll make it the rest of the way too!
Want a simpler example: Is a strict parent or a leinient parent, “in the best interest of the child” to be appointed the “Custodial Parent,” even this simple choice gets abuse by the system, because NEITHER is wrong, or BAD, or UNFIT, and neither label should be used to “appoint” who is going to be the CUSTODIAL PARENT.
Every parent who wants this to work has a task…..
Every “organization” has a task…
AND EVERY LEGISLATOR has a task ….
BUT REMEMBER: If you dont believe that Fathers are equal to Mothers as parents then YOU WILL LOSE….United we stand divided we fall, and so far the “system” is very good at dividing and conquering….just look where you are now, and even when you know the law on your side and the facts on your side, it did not help….
Parents, that means mothers and fathers need to go to their county court house and look at every family law case, no excuses, all you need to do is give the clerk the file number and sign it out, then accumulate data: Who got custody? Why did they get custody? If there was a custody dispute, what does the law say they should have done, and what did they do? YOUR RIGHT, you cant determine these facts unless you read and understand the Family Code regarding for example “custody evaluations” and I guarantee you that 80% of these evaluations were wrongly imposed, and unfortunately for those who were “seriously hurt by assault” 80% of those cases that determione there was abuse “have absolutely no proof.” Opinions are not proof, their opinions are no different than seeking out a fortune teller for answers, and thats why we can defeat these unconstiutional laws and procedures….but you need to document statics from the files, WHY DO YOU THINK the family courts do not kee these records, they would damn their findings and show the injustice of it all….
ORGANIZAIONS like CJE, CA NOW, ad Fathers4Justice, and others can be a unified force for raising awareness and funds for the legal team, as well as to keep the Fourth Estate aware of the process…keep in mind the Organizations jobs are to promote getting a fair trial of the constitutional issues, but remain free from “gender bias” cause its not about women or men or children, its about a “systemic failure” that must be destroyed before we are destroyed by it.
LEGISLATORS have the task of assisting parents and organizations to prevent obstruction of their efforts, and to see to it that the laws that they make because of “whining complaining constitutients do not end up on the books just because it makes a good “campaign sound bite” but because it has constitutional merit, and does not double what laws we already have that should be enforced, rather than ignored…for example, California grants immunity to evaluators, and lawyers, (et litem, for one) because they are part of the family court process….this is unconstitutional and this State law violates the SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND, because what these ancilliary people do is basically “investigate for the court,” so do policemen, and shrinks for the criminal justice courts, BUT we hear all the time of police being busted for violating the rights of the “prisoner” and abusing them, so the immunity is not absolute, and the Civil Rights Act section 1983 does not recognize ANY IMMUNITY, not even for judges, even though, on this point the US Supremes have decided that they do have “limited immunity.
So either we keep complaining or somone else here will jump forward, haw about it Ms. Russell, and lets get a force together to be feared??????????????????
Anyone??????????
And here’s another one who mentions some of the “ring” of conflict-of-interest personnel, and how after finally getting free from abuse (by doing without child support and moving across the country) a woman then sought help for her PTSD, and the PTSD of a daughter who’d suffered abuse from years 3 to 6. Only problem? She’d picked a (female, incidentally) psychologist who was part of this ring. Her life became hell again and her re-entry into a LEGAL PROGRAM (Law school, in other words) sounds like it was aborted, because of intentional triggering of her PTSD by her new partner and the psychologist she went to, to seek help from it. In all of the comments, hers is the only one that mentions the “AFCC” which I believe is key to this system. That alone tells you how successful it’s been — hardly enters the public dialogure, and when it does, the narrator sounds beside herself.
A Macro-view of this broken system following as brief an introduction as I can manage!
I have been a victim along with my 3 daughters 3 times since 1993! Each and every time there was CORRUPTION…..a ratio of 3:3. My first was Mallory (now turning 17) which set precedence in IL after 5+ years and aided in having bogus child abduction charges against me dismissed only after the newspaper wrote about it. She was forced to endure from age 3 to 6 basically all forms of abuse in the meantime we both were saddled w/ PTSD. Furthering the harm is the fact that the decision was not entirely accurate (which upsets Mallory). For example: it states that there was no conculsive evidence of …… abuse! There wouldn’t be any because it was NEVER INVESTIGATED! FYI her case is: In Re The Parentage of MMW, A Minor 296 IL3d 877 Decided on June 1st, 1998 in the 2nd dist. of IL
At the end of 1999 I moved to NY (a state I knew was of THE MOST CORRUPT via years of research including education by Marvin Bryer and others) thinking that my now 8 year old would finally have a dad, a good dad! Since winning my appeal, her father dropped our of contact and currently has none so he doesn’t have to pay support. We gave up years of support and lived in lesser conditions because Mallory didn’t want to take the chance of her father wanting visitation just because of support (as if he was paying for it).
I sought out a psychologist, Dr. Gina Scarano, (not carefully enough) in NY to help Mallory’s PTSD which was very active and to help my new significant other (Rick Collins) and I keep a healthy relationship (preventative medicine) because I knew Rick (via self reporting) was an ex- alcohol and drug addict and womanizer whose parents were divorced and who claimed his father abused him. My ptsd was in remission as per my own evaluation (self-educated but also accepted by Albany Law School and SUNY for a Joint Degree of a MSW/JD) as well as that of this psychologist.
The majority of Dr. Scarano’s interaction/interviews with me revolved around what happend in our court case, and every tiny detail I knew about PAS, Father’s Rights, AFCC, CRC, Idele Clark, Marvin Bryer, Jerry McKenna and a judges pedophile ring, and those who attended ROCKAmerica in 2001 (Reform Our Courts 4 Kids) etc!!! EVERYTHING except what I have recently added as a macrotheory of WHY they do this! At the time I did ROCKAmerica and started law school my ex, Rick (later a conspirator with Scarano) did things to trigger my ptsd before and during our drive for me to take the LSAT which I took without any accomodations. Both of them made me agree not to do any more activism after that and I didn’t.
Then Rick proceeded to further trigger my ptsd, try to convince me and my children that we didn’t love each other at times when we were separate and began abusing me to the point that I felt suicidal. He and Dr. Scarano were especially good at making me feel worthless and not loved by my daughter that I fought for from 1993-98 and the daughter I just had given birth to a year earlier. Later I was to learn my own psychologist and my ex conspired to harm me and to further it with the hopes of me committing suicide! I started drinking heavily to cope, always going to a hotel so my children wouldn’t see me like this while my own psych did more things to trigger me such as a fraudulent report to CPS which brought my emotions right back to my ptds trauma (it was unfounded) and …..
THEN….to attempt a fraudulent guardianship to Rick knowing that loss of my daughter would be a situation to “push me over the edge” as Rick put it to a lawyer friend of mine later on! Scarano DID NOT REFER ME TO ANY OTHER TREATMENT, MATTER OF FACT I TRIED TO FIND OTHER TREATMENT THAT WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL NOT KNOWING AT THE TIME THAT SCARANO WAS NOT JUST INCOMPETENT BUT DOING THESE THINGS TO WORSEN MY CONDITION ON PURPOSE! HER FEEDBACK ABOUT MY INTERNET DISCOVERY OF BIOFEEDBACK WAS “THAT’S HOKEY!”
WHY WOULD MY OWN PSYCH SEEK TO DESTROY ME AND MY GIRLS? Because as she failed to disclose to me, SHE WAS AND IS ONE OF THEM!!!!!!
She is a forensic psych for family court and has helping in the defense of a military man who molested his 15 year old daughter by using her bs psychobabble….thank GOD she failed and his conviction was affirmed on appeal!
NOW, this is the difficult part. The second time I lost custody was on Mallory’s birthday, 8-21-2002 after I hospitalized myself and got on my feet with the help of Dr. Mo Hannah (who along with others at ROCKAmerica saw what I didn’t in Rick….an abuser). During this time I got one of those FR law guardians and knew I was in trouble. So here I was back in my trauma environment, trying to care for a 1 1/2 year old and 8 year old on public aid in a @$#! HOLE apartment sleeping on mattresses. Of course this was more likely than not to happen (that’s legal language) because of Scarano’s recommendations and manipulations as well as her instigations of abuse.
Posted by familycourtstrategycouncil@yahoo.com, a resident of the Bahia neighborhood, on Jun 17, 2009 at 7:52 pm
During this time Scarano was conspiring with Rick and a lawyer, Veronic Cardozza O’Dell to do a fraudulent guardianship over Mallory knowing it would torment me further. Being in court/trauma zone again, I got a FR law guardian, paige crable who constantly attacked and triggered me (no doubt friend’s with Gina like the current law guardian) So eventually after Scarano threatened to tell the court things to make me lose Madison I tried another ave by having Rick take her for a week or so to see what it is like 24/7 with a 2 year old. Didn’t work, the law guardian told him to go to ct for custody and Judge DUGGAN (a weirdo per my experience with him at a DV law school event – probably a perv) ON MY ANSWERING MACHINE as if I was there. 2nd ex parte’ transfer.
THEN DURING FINALS being so a mess because they gave Rick the authority to decide my visits SCARANO had Rick w the patient call me to tell me she was pregnant!!!! that’s all I need to say put me in a hospital I need a stress vacation/.
Later I forgave and went back to him (dumb) we both filed law suits against Scarano but after she contacted him and it started all over again I left….he called CPS, I was unfounded and he was indicated
I had a Temp order of protection but it got transferred to Warren CO were Scarano’s friend is and as a law guardian she threatened that if I did not move back to Warren co I would lose custody, so I was badgered into an order requiring me to move out of a house my mom bought to an area I could not afford…so I fought it, I lost with my attny LOUIS-JACK (snake) POZNER at $250/hr (also a ZIONIST – relevant re Macro take on things) v RICK……I lost in a “hand delivered (to Rick) decision SOLE CUSTODY AND LEGAL….now I am controlled by him!
HOWEVER, I found out later that IT WAS FIXED ON THE DAY BEFORE OUR SCHEDULED FINAL HEARING DATE AND MY LAWYER WAS IN ON IT! W/THE JUDGE AND RICK AND THE CLERK HEARING IT ALL WHICH MAKES HIM AN ACCOMPLICE!
I also have much more evidence but NO ONE TO HELP EXPOSE it!
I have audio, and docs including 2 being used in the Scarano case, one were she had writes that her breach of confidentiality….could be DANGEROUS!!! TO THEIR “ORGANIZATION” but after 4 years now she submitted 2 more docs squeezing for the children after dangerous, although it makes no sense with that! She also recently filed an affirmative defense that she was JUSTIFIED in her action. LOL…and in our 2nd depo she admitted to a section of my med records that she altered and SHE GAVE MALLORY’s TO HER LAWYER WITHOUT MY PERMISSION….Cause she knows she’ll have to doctor those too plus Mallory has grounds as her patient to sue as well. Not sure if Fred Altman will have any energy for that after this is through.
Well, trial should be in a few months and I could use all the support I can get! I am praying that it exposes it all and it comes crashing down around them like they have done to millions of American’s lives!
Marci FAMILYCOURTSTRATEGYCOUNCIL@YAHOO.COM
As I know I do too, at times!
I posted this one because it was the ONLY mention of ‘AFCC” in the entire set of comments. Yet this organization is critical to who they are (see my ABCs or “Shady Shaky foundations post). There are many more, including afthers who (correctly) peg the child support system. Other fathers (I believe) say we should united with them against the abusive system. It’s “not a gender issue.”
Well, but there are few areas of life where gender is NOT an issue . . . .
No one, that I can see, brought up fatherhood.gov or Welfare Reform (how the Access Visitation grants proceeding out of this theory actually impact custody cases). Nor the many, many organizations (large ones) position themselves close to the federal faucet to demonstrate, evaluate, and report on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of these programs.
How well trained we are not to investigate, and to expect someone else to do it for us. . . . .
“Ba a a a ! !! ”
And last, today, I again exhort people to READ this link and understand its contents. I wish I had years ago,but it takes time to process all the information, compare with reality, and come to a firm viewpoint (of course all viewpoints subsequent to adjustment if more RELEVANT truth surfaces…)
AGAIN, today, I lost about one-third of a post as the internet connection failed. This includes several graphics (of sheep – what else?) and some commentary. I found the interactive aspect of the comments, though, better than any paneled, pre-planned conference I’ve attended, or heard about, or read the proceeds of. That kind of vibrant discussion is better.
As you can see, people’s proposals, analyses and opinions vary. Some people want fault divorce back in. (No thank you). Some say, do an audit, others talk of cronyism. Some say, we can’t afford an audit (as a state). Many parents (moms) whose stories are in the news, comment — as do Karen Anderson, Joyce Murphy, and a father in Indiana who said his child support jumped suddenly from $72,000 in arrears to $90,000, so he had to move to become a truck driver, with his kid in California. (??) At least he brought up the child support factor.
I’m for boycotting as much as possible anything close to the system. “Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts.”
I am no “Don Quixote” (chasing at windmills because it’s romantic) — I want my life back, and trying to save the world here, doesn’t help get it back. I’ve done my part speaking up; for now — and on a general day am going to lose a chunk of a single post. Enough of that. Do your homework, or pick a leader to follow. I think enough alarm has been sounded — my recommendation is to get clear of the population base which is going to be demonstrated upon. Morally, I also recommend not working for social scientist, psychiatrists, or anyone profiting from the chaos in the courts, but I understand people like to eat . . .. . I’m not your Mama . . . .
To summarize:
No law enforcement has a duty to enforce. No D.A. has a duty to prosecute. But if they did, you still can’t sue them, even if their failure to do so resulted in your kids getting killed, or a close relative. Given this, what are the restraining order mills DOING?
The answer is to be found by a closer look at things resembling “Defending Childhood” initiative, above. This translates as “we know you’re clueless, or numb, and have changed the wrapping paper on the free gifts to our associates.” It’s a Cryin’ Shame — but who’s going to audit?
That said, I’d be dead (and or possibly children and husband — and no, I wasn’t going to do this) had not one existed about a decade ago.
Let's Get Honest! Absolutely Uncommon Analysis of Family & Conciliation Courts' Operations, Practices, & History 
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