This post segues immediately upon the end of the last one, and I hope you’ll go there before reading this one.

Topic: http://familylawchannel.com/, briefly

Again, a father has apparently shot (murdered) his toddler, and himself, and California Protective Parents Association wants O’Brien (the judge out), Center for Judicial Excellence wants the Nabil Samaan brother of the suicide “victim” of bad family courts disbarred for an outrageous comment he made (and since retracted) (doubt it’s going to happen -but if it does, there are more like him, who might in the future be less outspoken, but based on what I’ve seen in a prominent (probably) SF attorney, “Prometheus,” I doubt it).

In looking for a minor detail (their ages!) of the mother and father, I ran across another article in the Capitol Weekly, noting that the “kneejerk reaction is to blame a family court official” in the “Capitol Weekly.”  They’re right about this, although quite often it IS a family court official — doing business as usual in the family court system — that this time, made the last in a string of bad decisions resulting in a newspaper headline.

I kept looking, and this post contains further information, though I do not pretend it’s “investigative reporting” on the Fay/Samaan situation — but a little family background, as it were, while the same family is loudly complaining about the courts and of course the mother, in the press.

The Capitol in “Capitol Weekly” referring to state capital, Sacramento, of course — where this case was.  The article doesn’t tell me too much, but the comments had a lead:

 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Re: Capitol Weekly: In family courts, one tactic is to slam the judicial employees

This is so sick and scary. I have 2 step children that I would otherwise adopt but I am so disgusted with and scared of the CA Family Court system that I dont even consider it. How many families have they ruined so far, how many innocent and loving people’s lives ruined?  more…

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Re: Capitol Weekly: In family courts, one tactic is to slam the judicial employees

Ha!  Sheain’t the only bad apple in the greater Sacramento region. Dr. Makram Samaan,grandfather of Madeline Layla Samaan-Fay, who was murdered by her father, Dr. Samaan’sson, is a psychologist employed by the Sacramento Family Court as a mediator.  He along with his son, Nabil, the attorney,…  more…You should check out the good doctor on the Sacramento Superior Court website, it appears that he has been sued by numerous clients for professional malpractice…another bad apple?

That article, some smart commenter said, look up where the grandpa has been doing business (with the courts).  I was going to, thanks for the tip.

(not necessarily all related, I just looked up the last name AFTER writing most of this post and because of what it unearthed).

Barzin Barry Sabahat, Business and Family law attorney in Campbell, CA?

there are also Sabahat Corporations (Revoked) and Samaan (revoked) in NEvada also — see below)

The street address of this partnership appears to be (another) corporation service? and the registered agent, yes, is Mr. Sabahat, Esq.’s address:

(iroozipages.com) I DNK if this is any relationship to the Samaan family that just lost a granddaughter and a son through a murder/suicide around custody issues.

This post has very little about Marcia Fay because I found less about her (apart from negative comments from neighbors or friends of the father’s side).  She is a public official.  I am so sorry for her loss!  Perhaps later she will say  more!

1983 — CAL STATE OUSTS Dr. Makram Samaan; this is the appeal:

I’ll highlight.  This is a speed post.

Samann v. Trustees of Cal. State University & Colleges (1983) 150 Cal.App.3d 646 [197 Cal.Rptr. 856]  {{note:  last name mis-spelled here,….}}

Samann v. Trustees of Cal. State University & Colleges (1983) 150 Cal.App.3d 646 , 197 Cal.Rptr. 856[Civ. No. 22411. Court of Appeals of California, Third Appellate District. December 15, 1983.]

MAKRAM K. SAMAAN, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. TRUSTEES OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES et al., Defendants and Respondents.

(Opinion by Sparks, J., with Regan, Acting, P. J., and Carr, J., concurring.)

COUNSEL

Turner & Sullivan, Richard K. Turner and Mary A. O’Gara for Plaintiff and Appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp, Attorney General, N. Eugene Hill, Assistant Attorney General, and Talmadge R. Jones, Deputy Attorney General, for Defendants and Respondents.

OPINION

SPARKS, J.

Appellant Makram K. Samaan appeals from a judgment of the Superior Court of Sacramento County which upheld his dismissal as a [150 Cal.App.3d 650] tenured professor at California State University at Sacramento. Appellant contends: (1) the trial court erred in determining that his proper remedy was a petition to set aside an arbitrator’s award under Code of Civil Procedure section 1285 et seq., rather than a petition for a writ of administrative mandate under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5; (2) he was denied procedural and substantive due process; (3) the arbitration did not cure the due process violations; and (4) his dismissal from employment was an abuse of discretion. We reject these contentions and shall affirm the judgment.

{{HOWEVER now the shoe is on the other foot; this is routine for participants ordered into mediation from the courts!}}

Facts

Appellant studied psychology and educational psychology at the University of Minnesota and earned a doctorate degree from that institution. He has been employed as a professor at California State University at Sacramento (CSUS) since 1970, and is a tenured employee. He also engages in the private practice of psychology and counseling. He holds licenses as a psychologist and as a marriage and family counselor. Appellant’s wife, Mary Samaan, is licensed as a marriage and family counselor.

Appellant’s difficulties arose out of activities with regard to billing for services under the Medi-Cal program.

(paragraphing from here forwards is mine….)

An investigation into appellant’s practice developed evidence of three questionable activities.

First, appellant had submitted billing to Medi-Cal for 119 services which his wife rather than he had performed. Appellant’s wife does not hold a license which qualifies her to render services compensable under the Medi-Cal program and she is not licensed as a Medi-Cal provider. Appellant signed billing forms for these services in which he attested that he had personally performed the services, although he had not done so.

Medi-Cal Fraud — 119 cases!   Lying.  Farming out to unlicensed provider, probably knew this was illegal so signed the forms himself.

Second, an auditor came to the conclusion that appellant had submitted bills to Medi-Cal for work performed at Serene Homes in excess of the number of hours he had been there.

Again, this is fraud and lying — inflating bills.  An “honorable tradition,” followed also by Maximus, Inc., and others, it seems.

Third, on two different occasions appellant had performed services for Medi-Cal mothers and had submitted billing forms for the mothers and their children, although he had never seen the children.

On these occasions appellant had submitted separate billing forms for each of the children involved. He had attested that he personally performed psychotherapeutic services for them, and listed his diagnosis of their problems, although he had not seen the children.

Again, I would categorizing this as LYING.  This eminently qualifies him for work in family court services in several jurisdictions, which will maximize billings until and unless caught. I wonder what percent % (if any) the state gets from Federal Medi-Cal reimbursements.  I don’t know, but we know when it comes to the child support angle, which is related.  It’s 34% to the state.  If the services never happened, just the billing, that’s a clean sweep on both parts (not counting, of course, the kids who might’ve actually needed those services).

In May 1979 the Attorney General’s office filed a 17-count criminal information against appellant and his wife. Ultimately, pursuant to a plea bargain, appellant entered a plea of guilty to one count of grand theft in violation of Penal Code section 487, subdivision 1, in return for dismissal [150 Cal.App.3d 651] of the charges against his wife and dismissal of all other charges against himself. Appellant was placed on probation for three years with conditions including the reimbursement of the Medi-Cal program of $5,431.50, payment of a fine of $1,000 plus penalty assessment, and that he perform 120 hours of community service. fn. 1

Am I wrong or does that look like a slap in the wrist.  Did anybody audit whether the 120 hours were actually performed by him, farmed out to his wife, or just never occurred?  (Note — only 3 weeks of service).

When CSUS President Lloyd Johns learned of the conviction of appellant he invoked Executive Order 245, the interim disciplinary procedure for academic personnel for California State Universities and Colleges. Pursuant to Executive Order 245, Austin Gerber, Dean of the School of Business and Public Administration, was appointed as administrative officer with the duty of conducting a factfinding investigation and making a recommendation of further action to the president. Appellant responded to the investigation in writing through his attorney. After receiving Gerber’s report, President Johns determined to proceed with a disciplinary action.

Education Code section 89535 provides that immoral conduct, unprofessional conduct, dishonesty, and conviction of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude are grounds for dismissal, demotion or suspension.

Does this go for attorneys also? I’d like to know.  Glad it does for tenured professors, though.  of course it’s not going to be possible to entirely clean house and maintain business as usual in some circles….

Education Code section 89538 provides in relevant part: “Notice of dismissal, demotion, or suspension for cause of an employee shall be in writing, signed by the chancellor or his designee and be served on the employee, setting forth a statement of causes, the events or transactions upon which the causes are based, the nature of the penalty and the effective date, and a statement of the employee’s right to answer within 20 days and request a hearing before the State Personnel Board.” Education Code section 89539 provides that in the event the employee shall request a hearing before the State Personnel Board the hearing shall be conducted in the same manner as state civil service proceedings and the party taking the disciplinary action shall have the burden of proof.

(END QUOTE):

There is text that the faculty committee excused all of the above behavior, but an arbitrator later found no cause to do so, and he was dismissed, which is here being appealed.  You have the link and can follow up…  I personally sometimes have billed in advance, but never bill in advance having said I already performed the work.  And I can’t quite conceive of having claimed to perform work, when it was a relative that did instead, and one not qualified to do so.  Good grief — is that what a doctorate in psychology and a background in educational psychology leads one to do?

Still practicing:

Here’s an Arizona site that, after telling the story (carefully putting “father shot daughter” into third person (im)passive, i.e., “the child is dead and so is her father,”

and “father and daughter suffered gunshot wounds”) simply plugs his own services.  Disgusting!  Of course it was the custody battle that killed the little girl, and the father.

Sorrow and Frustration from Moni’s Father and Brother.

When asked about the death of his son and granddaughter, Dr. Makram Samaan — a psychologist and mediator who helps couples through divorce issues and whose thesis was on suicide — lamented that his son Moni had suffered greatly and feared losing his daughter. Furthermore, Makram stated that Moni telephoned him the same day that he drove off one last time in his SUV with Madeline. Makram believed his son and granddaughter died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the vehicle’s exhaust pipe at Grizzly Flat. But a later report from Lt. Brian Golmitz from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department stated that the father and daughter had suffered gunshot wounds — Moni’s death was caused by a self-inflicted gun-shot wound. Madeline had been shot twice.

aka Moni shot Madeline twice, (in what part of the body), killing her, and then himself  inside? a car with the exhaust pipe running into it (or whatever the details).  By all means, remove any indicators of intentional murder (active verbs involving lethal weapons, whether gas or bullets) from the narrative and then advertise your services, which I’m not going to dignify with naming here, although because I quoted, I’m linking.

More post-mortem quotes from the father of the father that killed himself and his kid:

Mercury News, 8/16/11, Stephen Magnanini & Peter Hecht, Sacbee.com

Dr. Samaan said his son Moni graduated from American River College and UC Davis and had a long career with Hewlett-Packard.

He loved windsurfing, fishing and kayaking and sailed solo from Hawaii to California, said Samaan, himself an avid sailor. “He saved me from drowning in the Red Sea.”

About four years ago, “he said he met a beautiful woman on the Internet, she’s good, she’s an attorney,” Samaan said. “They got married in March 2006.”

The couple separated before Madeleine was born December 2008. He said Moni learned of his child’s birth from his brother and sister-in-law.

Samaan said perhaps his son died for him to start a movement to take marriage disputes out of the courts. “The mother and father are mother and father forever,” he said. “We need to save America by saving the family.”

And by exploiting Medi-Cal mothers by claiming to have seen their kids when you haven’t, see above…

Obviously, I am blogging the Dr’s name here, and this comment (from the same one?) shows in response to a Dr. Amen article called “Why Didn’t Dr. Hasan seek help?” Again, not everyone commenting under a certain name on-line necessarily owns the name:

Dr.Makram Samaan

Posted November 6, 2009 at 1:19 pm | Permalink

DR Amen
NO, You are mistaken your Identity.
If your ancestors neverr been frpom Arabia, and only planted and grew-up an d Multiplied and breaded in LEBANON since BC hyears, then: Dr Daniel Amen is a PHYNICIAN.. and We the Ancient Egyptian, especially ThotmosesIII, hav e fought and made peace and traded for long time. Thanks to your Cedar of Lebanon helped us in many construction projects
Dr Amen, You are NOT an ARAB, You only speak ARABIC because it was imposed in place of your original local langiuage; Phynician…because a mentally derained Khalif imposed on your ancestors, as on my ancestors a Capital Punishment if we spoke our original s[ponanious Language, whether its your Phynician or our Coptic language.
Speaking Arabic does not make us Arabs. No Negative reflection on Arabs, they have their history and culture, BUT it is asserrtion of our History, the Civilization we create and our culture too. Deniel of our national origins is a Humanity Felonhy

Dr Makram Samaan
Professor Emeritus, CSU
Positive Psycologist / Coach

(especially with this spelling!) interesting, “professor emeritus” given, why…)

Coaching for Optimal Living Consultant:

Company Description

Dr. Samaan is a psychologist with expertise in communication skills, body language, body demeanor, voice inflection, vocal tone, and eye contact. He is also a consultant in negotiations and motivation, and coach with professionals, for healthier, happier and prosperous living. Dr. Samaan, has been a researcher, consultant, and professor at Universities and Professional Centers here and abroad. He was born and grew up in Egypt (Ancient Egypt, as he prefers). He was born in a Christian Family, but became an expert in all Eastern and Western Religions, as each has its own tenant to compliment the others, to produce the human kindness and evolutionary progress. Communications: Speech and body demeanors, Comprehensive indicator signals as authentic presentation of personal strengths, belief and value systems: Excellent for jury selection, sales and customer service. Coaching: discovering, developing and application of Authentic Strengths and virtues in Personal living, Work, Family and Relationships, to action highest satisfaction in work (FLOW), Happy Family, Parenting, Healthy Longevity, and Effective Community and Prosperous Life. Visual Perception and Diamentional Listening. Psychological Treatment, for Liberation from obstacles towards Goal Achievement of a happier life style and PI cases. Mediation/Negotiations; The best approach for a Non Zero Sum gain (every one is a winner): in business, Marriage and Family conflicts, Psychological Evaluations.

(from)

Still listed at PPC.SAS.UPENN.EDU/PPEMAIL.HTM

Makram Samaan, Ph.D.(PPN1/ATM)

Professor Emeritus, CSU, Positive Psychologist

drmsamaan@sbcglobal.com

Integrating PP in Medicine, schools

For some reason, the grandfather made a LizLibrary (california) list of Children need .  . . THIS?

Please note that the inclusion of any individual on the below list does not necessarily indicate the existence of any licensing or other violation, but only that we obtained or have been made aware of information of interest relevant to the subject matter of child custody evaluations or other issues bearing upon mental health practitioners and the functioning of the family court system.California Licensing Information

William Hamilton Ayres (N) * Breffni Barrett, Ph.D. * Sidney Brown, Ph.D.* Janelle L. Burrill, Ph.D., J.D., LCSW(more) * Stephen Doyne, Ph.D. (more) (more) (more) (more) * Michael Dufficy * Warren Farrell, Ph.D. (N) *Judith B. Henderson, Ph.D.* Michael Jones, Ph.D. * Joseph Kenan, M.D. * Larry Leatham, Ph.D. * Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D. * Jayne A. Major, Ph.D. * Andrew McGarity, Ph.D.* Richard Ofshe, Ph.D. (N) * Randy Rand, Ed.D. * Makram Samaan, Ph.D. (more) * Donald K. Smith, Ph.D (more) * Philip M. Stahl, Ph.D. * John Spencer Stone, Ph.D. * Matthew Sullivan, Ph.D. * Richard J. Swank, Ph.D. *

(I should send in my “Philip M. Stahl” info, most of which can simply be filed under AFCC/PAS….)

If this image doesn’t show, be sure to read the information.  It is a complaint asking to prevent the (2010) renewal of Dr. Samaan’s license, and at first glance, it’s going to talk about business incorporation and financial misdeeds, moreso than psychological misdeeds:

This complaint was not, it appears, brought by an irate mother or father, but from the Board of Psychology.

10. “Respondent is the Manager/President of Innovative Enterprises International, LLC an investment business.   ON October 22, 2004, (IEI) filed with the Nevada Secretary of state listing 3 managers, including REspondent.  Respondent is a self-claimed Positive Psychologist/Consultant/Transformational Success Coach.

11.  Respondent practices psychology but also engages in financail services oncentraining on reverse pension plans.  According to him, it works like a derivative, small amounts of money paid become large amounts and it is sold.  Respondent maintains he will put the initial fees in his patients’ names, $40, and then it becomes $75,000 in a year unless the time is extended.  {{mental note:  Respondent deals with very gullible, or vulnerable, patients!}}  When individuals, including patients, discuss financial dificulties, Respondent will tell them of the reverse pension plans or other investments.

(sounds like he is “farming” the patient contacts  for other business…)  There it is:

GIVE ME A BREAK:

See why I told us to pay attention to Recorded Deeds (which includes trusts, real estate, etc.) in the family law arena?

Frequent registered agent process, and one of the changes (in 2008) is for some reason 222 pages long document:

Also, when I complained (yesterday) about how California lacks a means to sort incorporations by “registered agent” — look what happens in Nevada when I click on who registered INNOVATIVE ENTERPRISES INTERNATIONAL:

1 – 50 of 71 companies

and page 2:

6 out of 71 are still standing.  At a minimum, this certainly reflects on the judgment of this court-connected positive psychologist and his licensed marriage therapist wife.

The incorporation mill is itself, apparently still standing, though, along with QUITE a few others at the same street address:

American Business Development

Well, sort of, according to nevada Secretary of State:

Based on my California search of Samaan — which showed a single LLP shared with Barzin Barry Sabahak (shown above in brown tone chart) — I decided to just look up the same last name — Sabahak — in Nevada. With different first names, it pulls up there corporations, all of which are “revoked” status and some which show a California address:

One address of which was ERAN ENGINEERING in Tustin (not far from Los Angeles)

ANYHOW, back to LizNotes:

Good Grief — the “patrick lane” address for the Samaan Living Trust (see above) shows up under “Web of Deception” with Dionne Warwick as president (of . . . .

DAVID AND DAMON PUBLISHING, INC.

Type: Domestic Corporation

Status: Default

Status Date: 12/1/2007

Filing Date: 11/10/1983

I gather this is talking about looking up IRS tax liens:  Among the many addresses is the same one:

Officers, Directors:

And corporation wiki also lists this (from what my layperson self can tell) as another incorporation mill, i.e., “Corporations at this address” (will take a while to count)

By the way, this may be an appropriate time to mention that, along with sometimes falsifying billings for Medi-Cal and Child Support, some of us have also found fraudulent registration of (family court litigants) names — without their knowledge — on real estate transactions.  Or, for example, continued use of an SS# once it’s in the system, a form of identity theft; and this may be in or out of one’s own jurisdiction (case in point).

By the way, here’s another example of why I want the psychologists OUT of the family law business (psychodiagnostics.com — found at this address also)

BACK TO the LIZ LIBRARY’s posting of a hearing on Dr. Makram Samaan’s APA license renewal.

12.  Respondent provided counseling to C.M., the adult son of (I’ll omit the periods from here on) SF.  In therapy Respondent learned that CM’s father in law PF had received a settlement from the Veteran’s Administration….used this knowledge to provide therapy to CM’s mother (SF) and father (PF).  (I hate almost to transcribe parts for this).

SF (the mother in her 50s) had a workers’ compensation claim from an injury by a heavy shelf.

PF, the father in law of the original contact (patient CM) was a Viet Nam vet, dealing with PTSD, and legally blind…..

“During his counseling sessions (with these two) while ostensibly providing psychotherapy, respondent would talk about himself during most of the session, take phone calls from his broker, and buy and sell homes.  Respondent disclosed a lot of personal information about himself, (e.g. about his life in Egypt, travels, how he saved people, his job at the university, how his students loved him, how he stood up to the administration (see above!), that he knew important people, that he owned two yachts.)”

“Paragraph 16.   SF had a workers’ compensation case, which REspondent took over, had her sign a lien, and referred her to several doctors, including his son who is an attorney.” . . . signing promissory notes, advising them to put their money in offshore bank accounts as US bank accounts are unstable (true, they are, but still . . .. )

(Would that be the famous “Nabil Samaan” whose quote it’s hoped will get him disbarred, but which won’t?)

Do you have a sick feeling in your gut about this yet?    Next, he gets PF off his meds without consulting his medical history, and then involved in the reverse pension plan pay-out schemes.  In other words the man can smell money and knows how to get his hands on it, regardless of which vulnerabilities are in the people who are the gateway to this money.

There are SEVEN causes of complaint, and the executive officer of the Board of Psychology, signing this (per LizLibrary, which image shows the signature) on March 24, 2010, asks that Dr Samaan’s license be revoked.

During the timeframe of the investigation, one of his sons got married and divorced, and into a custody battle.  To tell the truth, I wouldn’t believe anything this grandfather says about his son, either one, the courts, or in fact, anything.  Let’s wait and see what the mother’s side has to say.  Meanwhile, he was taking family law cases in Sacramento still?    Complaints about the improper billing process date back to the 1980s, for pete’s sake!

In the “more” section (on the same Dr. / psychologist / grandfather), Liz Library — and just to note, Liz Kates if a family  law attorney in Florida, that does this site) is going to talk about the Marcia Fay / Moni Samaan case and this murder/suicide.  Thank you Liz Kates, for your work in posting so much of this information (but a strong thank you also to the other Liz Richards, in Virginia, who exposed the financial dealings between certain court-associated nonprofits, and tied them into the HHS fathers’ rights grants system.  Moreover, we are now also beginning to see the involvement (significant) of property transfer, and the importance of checking the county recorder of deeds for names of court professionals and/or litigants.  Who knows yours may be on there…without your knowledge..

Video: California Attorney says murder is okay

(apparently this post is from Bonnie Russell, in San Diego — dated to August 16)

• Add a comment

Bonnie Russell

, San Diego Public Policy Examiner

August 16, 201

Continue reading on Examiner.com The murder of Madeline Samaan-Fay by her father – San Diego Public Policy | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/public-policy-in-san-diego/the-murder-of-madeline-samaan-fay-by-her-father#ixzz1XDlvF1rP

Two hours ago Frank Doughtery of Divorcespecialists who represents Marcia Fay in her child custody battle turned murder-suicide, returned our call.  Doughtery informed us media initially got reports of Madeline Samaa-Fay’s murder completely wrong…in part because it was the weekend which prohibited court records from being checked.

However, it was clear media was deliberately misled by California attorney Nabil Samaan.

Brother of the killer.

Doughtery reported on August 6, 2011 the now dead Mourad “Moni” Samaan was served by mail with a Contempt order after earlier taking Madeline to Oregon on her mother’s time.  Sacramento County Family Court Judge James Mize had denied Marcia Fay’s request for supervised visitation. The confusion was due in part because Doughtery filed additional requests when the child was not returned on Friday.  However by that time both Madeline and the father who killed her were both dead.

/////

This was Marcia Fay’s custody attorney:  note the primary interest of psychology:

Frank E. Dougherty, J.D., Ph.D., A.B.P.P. (diplomate in forensic psychology) is a certified family law specialist with a 30+ year background as a psychologist, before switching to a law practice in 1995. He presently practices law in the Sacramento Valley region in the areas of family law, juvenile dependency law, guardianships and writs & appeals. Previously, he has worked as a custody evaluator, clinical researcher, a Chief Psychologist in Upstate New York, a practicing neuropsychologist, a professor of Psychology at several universities, a Local Director of Mental Health in El Dorado County, a CEO of a corporation conducting psychological evaluations for California Department of Mental Health, a law clerk to Justice Levinson in the Hawaii Supreme Court, and a lecturer on law and mental health issues to various legal and professional groups. 

How did Ms. Fay choose this attorney?  Because he was in Sacramento?   

Judge Mize (also track the link above, to LizLibrary and/or Bonnie Russell site) had a major interest in psychology, and social welfare, then later (1974) got his law degree, intending to be of most help to society by social welfare policy change.  Women’s Lawyer Service awarded him, California Judges Association awarded him, and I note involvement in Volunteer Legal Services of Northern California.

Here is Mary Samaan’s blog.  I am sorry to be so harsh in these comments, but I feel it’s time to be a little harsh when it comes to tolerating, for example, continued fraud.  ALSO, I do not know for sure that this is the same, i.d., Dr. Makram’s wife, but it would seem so:

Marriage, Family and Child Therapy

Submitted by msamaan on Fri, 07/31/2009 – 14:00

Some time ago, I wrote an open letter to pastors in the Sacramento area.   I want to share that letter with you because I think it best describes my services and my methods.

Dear Pastor,

I am a Marriage, Family and Child Therapist, licensed by the State of California (MFT License 6381), with a Master of Science degree in Counseling.  I have provided counseling to individuals and families since 1974.  I have been a part-time instructor of Psychology at American River College for 30 years.

I strongly believe in the importance of affirming Christian marriage and family values.  As a wife and mother of three adult children and grandmother of two, I have deep empathy and understanding of the many challenges that families face today.

I believe that a Christian family that shares love, intimacy and positive communication, is an important foundation for both church and community.  As a Christian, family-oriented therapist, I am commited to helping families in crisis.  I have extensive experience and skills in group therapy, stress management, pre-marital and couples therapy.

In addition to working with couples and families, I provide pre-marital counseling to couples utilizingInventories for Premarital Counseling (Couple and Family Map, [Prepare/Enrich], by David Olson of the University of Minnesota).

What is “Christian Counseling”?

Submitted by msamaan on Fri, 05/29/2009 – 14:50

In California, a licensed counseling professional is prohibited by California law to claim to be a Christian counselor.   While there is no question that psychologists ascribe to some form of personal belief system including a belief in a greater being or power or God, that belief system is supposed to remain separate from the professional practice.

There have been volumes of books written on the subject of “Christian counseling”.   The distinction can be made, however, that while a psychologist may be a Christian in their own personal belief, the State doesn’t recognize any religion or theology to be part of the licensing requirement.

It can, therefore, be somewhat of a frustration for the seeker of counseling services to find a family or marriage counselor practicing their faith in their professional practice.  Many times, it becomes a matter of calling several phone numbers and awaiting return phone calls before a determination can be made as to whether or not a pschologist offers counseling from a Christian perspective.

 

This among other reasons is why I am no longer a churchgoer.

About Mary

You are forewarned.

And a good Christian woman will never “out” her husband because it would break up the family?

And her husband’s practice falsely billed, saying he performed services when she did them (unlicensed).  Their Nevada Corporation, “Innovative Enterprises International, LLC” held in three officer’s names:  his, hers, and a living trust, with the registered agent being an incorporation mill, which MOST of its (71 Nevada) corporations had business status revoked, terminated, cancelled, etc. (that’s even a high % for this field of family law, which as we’ve been seeing has lots of nonprofits lose their business status, only to replaced by newer ones with different names).   The address of the incorporation mill shows countless incorporations.

Moreover her husband Dr. Makram (if he’s still one) is apparently a liar, a crook, and exploits vulnerable, injured patients financially, by Psychological Board standards, which aren’t exactly the highest in the neighborhood!

I am wondering if the marriage prep tools being used here are courtesy some 93.086 type grants, i.e. marriage/fatherhood:

Does this sound familiar, if you’ve been around my blog much?

PREPARE/ENRICH began in 1980 as a result of several research projects at the University of Minnesota in which Dr. David Olson developed a set of inventories for couples; known as PREPARE/ENRICH. Because of the demand for inventories David and Karen Olson formed PREPARE/ENRICH (Life Innovations, Inc.) to provide these helpful tools for counselors, clergy members, mentors and other marriage educators.

(obviously layout on their page is going to be in the right sequence; mine isn’t).

Notice — she has 25 years of experience, but doesn’t merit a “vita” on the site:

Mr. Olson is past president of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). He is a Fellow in the American Association of Marital and Family Therapy (AAMFT), American Psychological Association (APA) and NCFR.

 

You know I’m going to look it up.  Seems MN has only one search field” entity name” (if there’s another source, let me know, please!) and they show:

Churches / Christians are so eager to get into the counseling and marriage promotion field, where they are already.  Internet organization plus faith-based grants sure must help, here’s a Center for Relationship Education recommending the same Marriage Prep tools it’s too bad if the Samaan’s daughter in law and son didn’t use (having met each other over the internet and decided to marry in their 40s).  Or did they take it?

http://liferelationships.com/about/board.asp

(Dr. Olson is on the board of this “CRE” (Center for Relationship Education) which happens to be located on John Brown University in ARkansas).

Their “Church Initiatives” page says:

The vision of CRE is to help people be conformed to the image of the Lord. In other words, the end in mind is Christ-centered relationships. Romans 8:29 states, “ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”

If our vision is Christ-centered relationships, CRE’s mission then is to educate, enrich, and equip “equippers” to live this out and to influence the relationships of others. This is based on the instruction given in 2 Timothy 2:2, “the things which you have heard from me…entrust to faithful men and women who will be able to teach others also.” We call this rippling effect “multiplication.” It is the essence of the great commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 18-20).

That’s a misquote of 2 Timothy 2:2 which absolutely does not say “men and women,” in fact quite a point is often made in Christian circles that women should NOT be teaching, certainly not in public and if then, not to men.  They’ll quote Paul up and Timothy back to make this point.   I don’t happen to agree, but the point is that the religious ones here aren’t even quoting their own scripture right.

The other point being that evangelism and multi-level marketing (and marriage promotion with federal grants helping) go hand in hand just fine.

This link  http://liferelationships.com/resources/links.asp includes all time “egalitarian” sites such as:

Focus on the Family

National Center for Fathering

Promise Keepers

Family First (which leads to:

amily First Programs and Projects

All Pro Dad

All Pro Dad is Family First’s innovative program helping men to be better fathers. All Pro Dad’s 50 NFL spokesmen, multiple NFL seminars, 850 All Pro Dad’s Days, and Play of the Day daily emails that reach almost 40,000 fathers each day, all inspire and equip fathers to be actively involved in their children’s lives. And every month, over 100,000 fathers log onto AllProDad.com to benefit from insightful fatherhood resources.

Dr. Olson (who wrote the tools Dr. Mary Samaan recommends in her practice in California) cites NCFR __ National Council on Family Relations in his bio.

Just for a little perspective of “speed of nonprofit duplication” — check out this list from NCCSDataweb.org, including the fact that only TWO show any 990s filed!

Are these all religious, and hence don’t have to file, or what?

Notice the University Proclivity…

As I keep saying, the highest- profit-margin field to be in, EVER, is information dissemination.  You’re in it:

http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/410/410762436/410762436_200912_990.pdf

/////

A few days ago I was railing on “Supervised Visitation Network” (again) pointing out — I believe correctly — that it was a creation, basically of the Association for Family & Conciliation Courts (basically) personnel. WE also know that the supervised visitation centers (see last post for how often they go under, or lose their business licenses) often get funding in the form of federal grants to states for “Access Visitation.”

Access Visitation is itself a term coined and promoted by the Children’s Rights Council, which they also assert on their pages.

So, I receive an email alert from a well-known California group that has been protesting a certain judge for years, and trying to get him off the bench.

However no judge functions in a vacuum; it is the web of infrastructure enabling bad (or child-endangering/lethal) decisions to be made, year after year in the courts. So am going to take a brief look at this news article and the court the case came from, which was forwarded me yesterday.

The alert, from California Protective Parents, complaining about the judge, reads:

Sacramento Judge Peter McBrien once again refused a mother’s plea for supervised visits with a father who was a danger to his daughter and himself. Tragically, the father then shot the toddler twice, then turned the gun on himself in a murder suicide.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/17/3842824/bitter-custody-fight-foreshadowed.html

This preventable tragedy is just one of the many times Judge McBrien has endangered children. He has placed countless children with their identified sexual molesters and violent, alcoholic fathers.

Bitter custody fight foreshadowed abduction, father-daughter deaths 

By Peter Hecht

phecht@sacbee.com

Published: Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A, Last Modified: Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011 – 2:37 pm

photo:  Madeline Samaan-Fay was found dead with her father late Saturday near Grizzly Flat.

After Mourad “Moni” Samaan failed to bring back their 2-year-old daughter, Madeline, the girl’s mother filed urgent legal pleadings, saying her ex-husband “is out of control and our daughter is in immediate danger.”

Marcia Fay’s declaration demanding the little girl’s return came after Samaan missed the scheduled drop-off Aug. 7, a day after he learned Fay had been awarded full custody.

The toddler, Madeline Layla Samaan-Fay, was found dead along with her father in a sport-utility vehicle on a wooded, desolate property co-owned by Samaan and his brother in El Dorado County.

Authorities say they believe Samaan murdered the little girl and killed himself. Autopsy results are pending and the official cause of death remains under investigation.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/17/3842824/bitter-custody-fight-foreshadowed.html#ixzz1XBYlMEvQ

A two-year stack of Sacramento County family court documents reveals a bitter custody battle between Fay and her ex-husband, including a 2009 order for Samaan to complete 26 weeks of anger counseling before getting approval for overnight visits with his daughter. The papers allege outbursts by Samaan, including his storming into a hospital post-surgical room after Madeline was born Dec. 22, 2008, six months after the couple’s marriage broke up.

Grandfather of slain girl blames court system

(8/16/2011 by Stephen Magagnini & Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee)

Fay, who works as a state deputy attorney general, said in the documents that her ex-husband’s “behavior in violating custody orders is becoming more brazen.  “His behavior has escalated out of control,” she said. “He realizes that if he maintains our daughter against court orders, law enforcement will not intercede if he is not at home or if I do not know her location.

On Aug. 2, Fay requested an order from the child abduction unit of the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office to stop Samaan from taking unauthorized trips with Madeline, including to Egypt where he had family and Mexico where he owned property.

She said her ex-husband had taken the girl to Oregon, “will not disclose his location” and “has blocked his telephone number.” A hearing was pending for Aug. 30 on contempt allegations of repeated violations of child custody orders.

She said Samaan had threatened suicide in 2008 and “his behavior is now more unstable than ever before.”

In 2010, Samaan was granted permission to have the child in his custody on Wednesday evenings through Thursday mornings and on Saturday mornings to Sunday mornings.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/17/3842824/bitter-custody-fight-foreshadowed.html#ixzz1XBiF4hEX

• 15 Aug 2011 at 4:55 PM
• CALIFORNIA, DEATHS, DIVORCE TRAIN WRECKS, FAMILY LAW, KIDS, QUOTE OF THE DAY,SUICIDE

Quote of the Day: I Don’t Think ‘Right’ Means What You Think It Means

By STACI ZARETSKY

I think he did the right thing. I’m proud of my brother and now he’s in a better place. He’s at peace. His daughter’s at peace. She’ll have one name now, and we can move on. And hopefully the court will learn a little thing about justice.

— Nabil Samaan, a California attorney, commenting on the apparent murder-suicide of niece Madeline Layla Samaan-Fay and brother Mourad “Moni” Samaan. Moni had been in an epic custody battle with ex-wife Marcia Fay, a California deputy attorney general.

— Jerome Fishkin, an ethics attorney, noting that attorney Nabil Samaan’s supportive commentsrelating to the apparent murder-suicide of niece Madeline Layla Samaan-Fay and brother Mourad “Moni” Samaan may be detrimental to Samaan’s law practice.

(The Center for Judicial Excellence has announced it will file a complaint with the State Bar of California demanding Nabil Samaan’s disbarment.)

Since it’s founding in 2006, CJE has filled a critical void, shining a light on a vital branch of government that wields tremendous power over the lives of average people. CJE has empowered citizen leadership, inspired government action, and become a major catalyst in building a national movement for family court reform.

Beginning in 2008, CJE made a special commitment to protecting the rights of children and vulnerable populations in the courts. This year, CJE will continue our successful campaign to promote the safety of children in California’s family courts… and in courts across the nation.

. . .

And to the whitehouse from a mere nonprofit started in 2006, unbelievable:

http://www.centerforjudicialexcellence.org/

 – –

Our ED {Executive Director} Kathleen Russell was a distinguished guest at the first-ever White House event on Domestic Violence where the collective work of assembled advocates was repeatedly lauded by the President and other Administration officials. Vice President Biden spoke specifically about family law and the need for increased resources and better access to justice for DV victims. Administration officials Valerie Jarrett and Lynn Rosenthal were joined by baseball great Joe Torre, who spoke about his experience as child growing up in a violent household. Watch this video from the event, or click here to read a transcript.

Why should policymakers care about responsible fatherhood?

• The federal government spends $100 billion every year to support father-absent homes. In June 2008, National Fatherhood Initiative released The One Hundred Billion Dollar Man, a ground-breaking study that showed that the federal government spends $100 billion each year supporting father-absent homes. And that’s a conservative estimate – the study did not measure impact for related costs such as the criminal justice system, which is overwhelmed by men who grew up in father-absent homes.
• The most challenging social problems of our time are connected to father absence. If you want to address poverty, child abuse, crime/recidivism, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, or education, then restoring fatherhood is an integral part of the solution. Father absence is not a single issue, and its social and economic consequences are felt across society.
• Father absence has a direct impact on the well-being of millions of children. 24 million children, 1 out of 3, grow up in homes in which their biological fathers do not live. In the African-American community, the rate is 2 out of 3. These children are significantly more likely to live in poverty, drop out of school, engage in risky behaviors…all issues the government grapples with every day.

SF “PROMETHEUS” law firm Point of View (one of the attorneys):

(“sanfranciscobayarealaw”)

Mr. Aly Ebrahimzadeh, Esq.

Mr. Aly Ebrahimzadeh, Esq., a Distinguished Attorney with Prometheus: A Social Justice Law Firm, speaks fluent Spanish, French, Italian, Farsi, as well as basic German. Mr. Ebrahimzadeh is licensed to practice law in the various state and federal courts of California, including the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court, all the California Appellate Courts, and all the California Superior Courts, including in Redwood City, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Rafael, Martinez, Oakland, Hayward, San Jose, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. A former successful Governor’s Teaching Fellow public school teacher, college teacher and organic farm-worker, Mr. Aly Ebrahimzadeh, Esq. is a dynamic and cutting-edge public interest attorney possessing very successful years of experience working with Plaintiff-side and Non-Profit law firms in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Communities for a Better Environment, Earthjustice, and Education Not Incarceration. In both state and federal courts, Mr. Ebrahimzadeh has worked successfully with colleagues on multi-million dollar cases representing both Plaintiffs and Defendants, high stakes criminal actions, class action lawsuits, complex multiparty actions, very high-conflict divorces, and social impact litigation.

(a) Every person who takes, entices away, keeps, withholds, or conceals a child and maliciously deprives a lawful custodian of a right to custody, or a person of a right to visitation, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years, a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that fine and imprisonment.
   (b) Nothing contained in this section limits the court's contempt
power.
   (c) A custody order obtained after the taking, enticing away,
keeping, withholding, or concealing of a child does not constitute a
defense to a crime charged under this section.

279.1

(a) Section 278.5 does not apply to a person with a right to custody of a child who, with a good faith and reasonable belief that the child, if left with the other person, will suffer immediate bodily injury or emotional harm, takes, entices away, keeps, withholds, or conceals that child.

Marcia Fay would've had such good faith and reasonable belief, but probably was smart enough 
to know this wouldn't be taken into consideration in her case, and/or she was not willing or able -- or didn't wish
to relocate, which is a huge, traumatic, and risky step for any parent to take.

   (b) Section 278.5 does not apply to a person with a right to custody of a child who has been a victim of domestic violence who, with a good faith and reasonable belief that the child, if left with the other person, will suffer immediate bodily injury or emotional harm, takes, entices away, keeps, withholds, or conceals that child. "Emotional harm" includes having a parent who has committed domestic violence against the parent who is taking, enticing away, keeping, withholding, or concealing the child.
   (c) The person who takes, entices away, keeps, withholds, or
conceals a child shall do all of the following:
   (1) Within a reasonable time from the taking, enticing away,
keeping, withholding, or concealing, make a report to the office of
the district attorney of the county where the child resided before
the action. The report shall include the name of the person, the
current address and telephone number of the child and the person, and
the reasons the child was taken, enticed away, kept, withheld, or
concealed.
   (2) Within a reasonable time from the taking, enticing away,
keeping, withholding, or concealing, commence a custody proceeding in
a court of competent jurisdiction consistent with the federal
Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act

Where the kidnapping parent provides allegations, be they evidenced or not, of domestic violence by the other parent, the child custody court will often allow the abducting parent to preserve the majority or the entirety of custody over the children

Form	Date Revised	Description
DV-100*	Jul 1, 2009	Request for Order
DV-101	Jul 1, 2010	Description of Abuse (Domestic Violence Prevention)
DV-105*	Jan 1, 2004	Child Custody, Visitation, and Support Request (Domestic Violence Prevention)
DV-108*	Jul 1, 2003	Request for Order: No Travel with Children (Domestic Violence Prevention)
DV-109*	Jan 1, 2010	Notice of Court Hearing (Domestic Violence)
DV-110*	Jan 1, 2010	Temporary Restraining Order (CLETS-TRO) (Domestic Violence)
DV-112	Jan 1, 2010	Waiver of Hearing on Denied Request for Temporary Restraining Order
DV-120	Jul 1, 2009	Answer to Temporary Restraining Order
DV-125*	Jan 1, 2010	Reissue Notice of Court Hearing and Temporary Restraining Order (Domestic Violence Prevention)
DV-126-INFO	Jan 1, 2010	How to Reissue a Temporary Restraining Order (Domestic Violence Prevention)
DV-130*	Jan 1, 2010	Restraining Order After Hearing (CLETS-OAH) (Order of Protection)
DV-140*	Jul 1, 2003	Child Custody and Visitation Order (Domestic Violence Prevention)
DV-145*	Jul 1, 2003	Order: No Travel with Children (Domestic Violence Prevention)
DV-150*	Jul 1, 2003	Supervised Visitation Order (Domestic Violence Prevention)

TO:  JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS [“AOC”]  455 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, California 94102-3688

Members of the Judicial Council

FROM:  Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee,  Hon. Jerilyn L. Borack and Hon. Susan D. Huguenor, Cochairs’ Tamara Abrams, Senior Attorney, 415-865-7712, tamara.abrams@jud.ca.gov

October 23, 2009

SUBJECT:   Family Law: Denial of Request for Temporary Restraining Order (revise Judicial Council forms DV-110, DV-125, DV-126-INFO, DV-130, DV- 200, DV-210-INFO, DV-250, DV-510-INFO, and DV-540-INFO; adopt form DV-109; and approve form DV-112) (Action Required)

Issue Statement

Effective January 1, 2009, Assembly Bill 2553 (Solorio; Stats. 2008, ch. 263) added section 6320.5 to the Family Code to require a court to state its reasons when denying a petition for an ex parte restraining order. In addition, under section 6320.5, if a court denies a jurisdictionally adequate petition for an ex parte order, the petitioner has a right to a noticed hearing within a specified number of days. The petitioner, however, has the option of waiving his or her right to the noticed hearing while retaining his or her right to file a new petition, without prejudice, at a later time. Family Code section 6320.5 requires the Judicial Council to develop a form to implement the statute by January 1, 2010.

Recommendation

The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee recommends that the Judicial Council, effective January 1, 2010:

1. Revise Judicial Council forms DV-110, DV-125, DV-126-INFO, DV-130, DV-200, DV-210-INFO, DV-250, DV-510-INFO, and DV-540-INFO;

2. Adopt form DV-109; and

3. Approve form DV-112.

Attorney Ebrahimzadeh, cont’d:

The California Family Law System is deeply dysfunctional, and it is need of some serious positive changes.

Though the problem of child abductions is connected to various international issues which shall be discussed later in this article, on the local level alone, it is often inextricably linked to the discussion of California Child Custody and Divorce laws regarding domestic violence. Thus, the problem of child abductions cannot be resolved in California unless the Family Law Court system increases its demands for evidence when faced with one parent’s allegations of abuse and negligence,

and nurtures a professional environment that is truly committed in deed, and not just in word, to the welfare of children and the right of a child to have equal time with both parents, rather than jaded by slanted political and gender debates and financial interests.

As a California Family Law Attorney practicing in San Jose, Redwood City, San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz, and the surrounding areas, and having a Divorce Law practice that focuses on Child Custody, [[i.e. representing one parent or another in a child custody proceeding]] Equal Parenting Rights, [[in practice this means fathers’ rights]] and Collaborative Divorce, I join many of my progressive colleagues in urging California legislators to adopt some serious changes to our Family Law Courts, such as:

1. Allow jury trials in Child Custody cases to help avoid the judicial cynicism and fatigue that may creep into judge-controlled Family Law cases in California;

2. Take seriously citizen complaints about child therapists and social workers, and set up a third-party independent review process meant to weed out from the Court’s list of recommended professionals the psychological evaluators, Special Masters, and other therapeutic practitioners who are repeatedly alleged by various clients to act in a biased or unprofessional manner;

4. Understand that the current model of extended court-based mediation and post-mediation hearings often subjects parents and their children to kangaroo court injustices where the laws of evidence are held in abeyance and therapists’ and mediators’ knee-jerk evaluations hold ultimate sway for months if not years, at which point then the parties may proceed to the litigation process of discovery and trial, which can take months and years itself.

Read Mr. Ebrahimzadeh on California Prison system (nov. 2010)

I notice that he is covering some of the same material I have been — for example, I also blogged this on “Cutting down on Immigration, Locking up Profits” post (reporting on an investigation under similar name) and on Corrections Corporation of America.  (search on my blog).  How then, and why, is it so emotionally and intellectually hard to conceive of the same types of influence at the family court level?  Good grief — when the word “family” comes in there, suddenly politics evaporates and no money changes hands to prevent reform?

Why not clean up the financial misbehaviors FIRST and then see what’s left — if anything indeed would be left of the family court structures once those are removed!

(kind of like taking the junk out of junk food — would defeat the purpose?).

ANyhow, he writes coherently:

California prison reform movements seeking to overcome serious problems, such as prison overcrowding, prison violence, and insufficient health and education services for prisoners, are particularly challenged by the State’s litigation efforts against prison reform class action lawsuits, the State’s unwillingness to abide by court orders mandating positive changes in the prison system, and questionable political decisions by California’s Governor and underlings that may be influenced by campaign contributions and economic influence by major corporations that build and maintain private prisons for burdened states like California.

The California prison system is the largest in the nation, and it suffers from serious problems of overpopulation, violence, and insufficient health and education services for its juvenile and adult inmates, especially for those with special needs. It is unconstitutional for a State prison system to operate at such dilapidated levels, because “cruel and unusual punishment” is illegal under the State and FederalConstitution.

At best, it is ironic that the California prison system is itself illegal. At worst, the terrible state of affairs in the prison system is the result of very questionable political choices who only seemingly benefit private companies who build and manage new mega-prisons meant to deal with overpopulation, violence, and prison services for states buckling under such problems. The three largest private prison companies in the USA are Wackenhut (newly renamed as G4S Secure Solutions USA), Corrections Corporation of America, and Bechtel.

Their lobby efforts and influence in national and state politics is infamous. In April of 2006, the National Institute of Money in State Politics published a major research paper entitled “Policy Lock Down: Prison Interests Court Political Players,” which noted that between the years of 2001 and 2004, major private prison corporations donated over $150,000 to California politicians’ campaign efforts. In turn, these companies were awarded multi-million dollar governmental contracts by the State of California. This raises the question: Is California’s crumbling prison system merely a pawn in quid-pro-quo (“this for that”) politics, i.e., “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours”? More broadly, the National Institute of Money in State Politics summarized their April 2006 report as follows:

“Companies involved in building, financing and operating private prisons gave $3.3 million over two election cycles, channeling nearly two-thirds of the money to candidates and party committees in states with some of the toughest sentencing laws. This report looks at overall giving, as well as contributions by the companies and their lobbyists in 10 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.”

The problem in California is shockingly clear to any person who has personally spent any time in the walls of a state prison here, or had a family member who has. There are presently about 160,000 adults in the California prison system, which is about twice as many as are supposed to be kept in such facilities. Such prison overcrowding has caused extremely high levels of violence, emotional difficulties, and psychological disorders among the strained prisoners. Also, there are insufficient resources for providing medical attention and education to the ever expanding number of prisoners, again in direct violation of Federal and State Constitutional laws.

(emphases mine).

But then here we go, when it comes to family law:

Sexism in Divorce Court: A Comparative Understanding of the Case of Sakineh Ashtiani in Iran and Child Custody Statistics in California and the USA

By sexism — against fathers is meant, naturally.  First, a case in Iran is given, and then the USA shown to have gone entirely off the deep end, I guess, in allowing women TOO many rights in court.

November 9, 2010 By Mr. Aly Ebrahimzadeh, Esq.

Discrimination and sexism is rampant in divorce courts and child custody matters in the San Francisco Bay Area, including in San Jose, Oakland, Hayward, and Santa Cruz, California. A comparison with the discrimination and sexism found in Iran’s divorce and family law courts allows us to understand the flip side of the anti-father Californian child custody court system.

In Iran’s sexist and corrupt legal system, when a person is convicted of adultery, the punishment is stoning until death.  To convict a woman of adultery in Iran, a man must make the allegation and bear witness against her.  To convict a man of adultery in Iran, two women must testify against him, because in Iran’s sexist legal system, a woman’s testimony is considered half as trustworthy as a man’s. A man’s word is all that is required, therefore, to charge and convict a woman of adultery – and essentially, to kill her by the legal punishment of stoning.

This is the exact fate of Sakineh Ashtiani, who was charged with adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. She awaits execution in a torturous Iranian prison today. To ensure that she receives no support in her battle for her life, the oppressive Iranian government has deported her criminal defense attorney, and has imprisioned the German journalist and civil rights activists who were covering her case. Several civil rights and humanitarian non-profit organizations, including Avaaz.org, are heading grassroots efforts to stop the stoning of Sakineh. You can sign the petition at their website, and you can call the Iranian embassy in Washington D.C. to voice your opinions on this human rights matter. To call the embassy of Iran in Washington D.C., dial 212-687-2020 and hit “0″. Tell the operator why you’re calling, and he’ll transfer you to a voicemail where you can leave a message. It is likely more safe to not leave your name on the voicemail, but it’d be useful to identify the state from which you are calling.

Beyond the life and policy at stake here, this divorce law matter holds a certain relevance to our American legal system. In Iran, when a couple divorces, the father is automatically awarded sole legal custody of the children. 

What about physical custody?  Does the father then end up raising and potty training youngsters?  I don’t think so ….

In a culture where women are stoned for adultery on the testimony of one man, it would make sense not to have a woman that could be the next moment stoned to death on hearsay raising children!  But notice the contrast and protest here:

(this is the rest, the entirety of that post)….

 In the USA, in contested custody cases, according to statistics published by the federal government and the State of California, mothers are awarded primary custody of the children 80% of the time, fathers get primary custody 5% of the time, and parents split custody 15% of the time in a time-share structure that strongly weighs in favor of mothers. A true 50-50 split in child custody occurs less than 2% of the time in US divorce courts. California, for all its sensitivity to gender issues and progressive politics, matches these same child custody statistics.

FACT:  not all fathers sue for custody, or want to.  Some have already moved on to another women.

FACT:  Some fathers do not get custody — initially — because separation is occasioned by their being in prison for assaulting the mothers, or other causes.

In saying “mothers are awarded” this implies no difference in who is seeking custody; it’s not logically or evidentially honest.  Rather, say, “in CONTESTED” custody cases xx% get custody.

Moreover, to fail to mention a $4 billion child support industry and multi-million (perhaps billion, I”ve lost track) fatherhood industry, entrenched throughout the federal government by executive order from a democratic president dating back to 1995 is simply dishonest.  This attorney needs to acknowledge this.

The problem of sexism in our understanding of parenthood is beyond a simple legal problem. In our culture, to “mother” a child has the connotation of “coddling” or “nurturing” a child; whereas to “father” a child means to “procreate”, “spawn” or “sire” a child. The mainstream cultural vision of the typical breadwinner is male in our culture, and the mainstream cultural vision of a homemaker is female in our culture. We too suffer from a sexist family law system here in the United States – in fact, here in California as well.

Part of our work at Prometheus: is to challenge and subvert these sexist stereotypes, to ensure that gender equity and justice is very much a part of the legal system in divorce court. But what we cannot control at all is people’s perceptions. We maintain this law blog to urge you to do that kind of work – the very real work of analyzing your own way of thinking and acting, especially in times of great conflict.

Prometheus: offers aggressive divorce lawyer and child custody attorney representation in family law matters in the San Francisco Bay Area, including in Berkeley, Oakland, Napa, San Rafael, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Jose, Hayward, Pleasanton, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, California. We work with fathers and mothers seeking collaborative divorce representation in child custody mediation cases, as well as fair child custody arrangements that are in the child’s best interests in divorce lawsuits.

 

There is sexism inherent in our culture.  When we have a Congress that is 51% women (as we are about 51% of the population) and when secretaries, domestic workers, elementary school teachers, nurses, and the hotel maids, restaurant wait staff nationwide (for starters) are 49% then we can talk about sexism in the family courts.  I didn’t yet mention topless bars, prostitution, and a whole lot more I could’ve in this matter.  Probably one of the more egalitarian areas of our culture, though I can’t say for sure, is trafficking of minor children through the courts, child protection, and foster care systems, which didn’t seem to get a mention in the blog, either.

I apologize for this being such a quick-search item, but I am looking for at what age the fathers take possession of their children (after divorce) in Iran.  It may not be the most current, but my understanding is that some Iranian mothers come here in order to NOT lose their children automatically during divorce:

http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/iran.htm

Ruled by series of dynasties for 2,500 years. Shi�ism declared official religion of Iran under Safavid rule (1501-1722). Increasing influence of European powers, beginning with capitulations to Russians, in 19^th century. 1906 first Constitution promulgated. Series of laws enacted thereafter, relating to criminal, civil, commercial, and family law.

No Constitution until 1906!

By 1936, legislation made secular education requisite for serving judges. Major changes introduced in area of family law under Reza Shah with passage of Family Protection Law 1967 (significantly amended 1975) abolishing extra-judicial divorce and requiring judicial permission for polygamy and only for limited circumstances.

Family protection, 1967; and a swift response back to the religious standard:

1979 Revolution brought end to Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979). Supreme Judicial Council issued proclamation directing courts that all un-Islamic legislation was suspended. Council given remit to revise all existing laws to Islamise legal system, with Ayatollah Khomeini�s fatawa serving as �transitional laws�. Vilayat al-faqih.

In America, the process of revising the Constitution back closer to the western equivalent of “sharia” has been slower, because it’s been fought, and because it’s contrary to the constitution.   We are not primarily a religious country, however, the financial element has a significant influence, as does electing a President from Texas, and later, his Son.

Current Constitution adopted 2^nd-3^rd December 1979; significant revisions expanding presidential powers and eliminating prime ministership in 1989. Article 4 provides that all civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political, and any other laws must be based on Islamic criteria; Article 12 provides that official religion is Islam and the twelver Ja�fari school; other schools of law to be accorded full respect and freedom of religious practice, including matters of personal status.

Constitution provides that chief of Supreme Court and Prosecutor-General must be mujtahids; Special Civil Courts established in 1979 to adjudicate over matters relating to family law, succession andawqaf.

 

In the U.S., the Conciliation Code, Family Law System, etc. was designed to defeat divorce and bring in counselors.  That’s established and not hard to defend by simply the history of who passed which laws when.  These laws began 1939; within one generation of women getting the vote, if not in response to this tremendous sea-change in the political landscape.    There was a state (I forget which one) that didn’t ratify women voting even til 1948, although it was by then an Amendment to the Constitution.

In the U.S. we are seeing the creation of multiple problem-solving courts around specific issues; however the original “problem-solving court” appears to have been FAMILY court; the problem was divorce.  There are now fathering courts, child support courts, drug-courts and more….

Marriage Age: Civil Code provides that marriage contracted before puberty is invalid unless authorized by natural guardian with ward�s best interests in mind.� When authorized before puberty, minimum age is nine.

Marriage Guardianship: marriage of virgin girl (even after puberty) requires permission of father or paternal grandfather; Special Civil Court may grant permission if guardian refuses without valid reason.

Marriage Registration: Identity Office must be notified of all temporary or permanent marriages and their dissolution.�Marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men are not recognized.� Baha�i marriages are not recognized.

Temporary Marriage: permitted; must be for fixed time period.

Polygamy: wife may obtain divorce if husband marries without her permission or does not treat co-wives equitably in court�s assessment.

Obedience/Maintenance: subject to classical conditions; wife who is not nashiza may take matter to court if husband refuses to pay maintenance and court will fix sum and issue maintenance order � arrears of maintenance to wife have precedence over all other liabilities against husband; in temporary marriage, wife only entitled to maintenance if contract stipulates such; husband may deny his wife right to work in any profession “incompatible with the family interests or with the dignity of himself or of the wife”; wife�s refusing conjugal relations where husband has contracted venereal disease not deemed disobedience.

Talaq: governed by classical Shi�i law requiring specific formula and two male witnesses; conditional divorce is invalid; 1992 reforms make registration of divorce without court certificate illegal; wife may obtain khol� divorce in return for consideration of more or less than nuptial gift (mahr);

. . . .

A reform introduced in 1992 extended the divorced wife�s financial rights from maintenance during �idda and her deferred dower to the right to sue for payment for household services rendered to their husbands during marriage, although the measure is difficult to apply in practice partly because of the difficulty in assessing wages for housework.

The mother�s custody ends at 2 years for boys and 7 for girls; custody reverts to the father if the mother remarries. Mother may be granted custody in certain cases if the father is proven unfit to care for the child.

THIS is the part I was looking for.  In Iran — this father would not have had access to run away with the little girl and kill her.  She would’ve been with her mother til she is seven.  Boys, I guess being more valuable and lest they get too attached to a female role model, like their mother, went with their fathers at age 2, so if it’d been a little boy, then he could’ve.   I’m reminded of the writings (although not from Iran) of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, or the Egyptian-born (as I recall) Nonie Darwish on some of these matters.  Search “Infidel” for the former and “They Call Me Infidel” for the latter.  These women have both fled to America (one from the Netherlands?) and are speaking about their home cultures.

For a San Francisco based attorney to compare Iranian law and say United States has gone overboard against fathers tells me it’s time to better analyze his own point of view and perspective.

Remainder of the page I was quoting, which (to be fair) reads: “THis is a draft:” from Emory Law.edu:

Iran, Islamic Republic of

*Please note this is just a draft and all contents are still under revision.*

Succession is governed by classical law; descendants (how low soever) of predeceased children of the propositus inherit in place of their parents. �Children of Baha�i marriages are not recognized as legitimate and, therefore, are denied inheritance rights.

 

! ! ! !

Law/Case Reporting System:

International Conventions (with Relevant Reservations): Iran signed the ICCPR and ICESCR in 1968 and ratified both Covenants in 1975 without reservations.

Iran signed the CRC in 1991 and ratified it in 1994 with a general declaration and reservation to the effect that the Islamic Republic makes reservation to the articles and provisions which might be contradictory to the Islamic shari�a, reserving the right not to apply any provisions incompatible with Islamic Laws and the international legislation in effect.�’

One major feature of the CRC (the international, not Children’s Rights COuncil “CRC,” which is a U.S. nonprofit with international chapters –including in FRANCE) — is equal access to both parents.

Background and Sources: Amin, Middle East Legal Systems, Glasgow, 1985; Haeri, “Divorce in Contemporary Iran: A Male Prerogative in Self-Will,” in Islamic Family Law, Mallat & Connors, eds., London 1990; Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Report of, The Justice System of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Washington DC, May 1993; Mahmood, �Iran� in Statutes of Personal Law in Islamic Countries, 2^nd ed., New Delhi, 1995; Mir-Hosseini, “Mariage et Divorce: Une Marge de Negociation pour les Femmes,” Les femmes en Iran: Pressions Sociales et Strat�gies Identitaires, Yavari-d’Hellencourt. Paris, 1998; Mir-Hosseini, Marriage on Trial: A Study of Islamic Family Law, Iran and Morocco Compared, London, 1993; Pakzad, “The Legal Status of Women in the Family in Iran,” in In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Post-Revolutionary Iran, Afkhami & Friedl, eds., London, 1994; Ramaz, “”Women in Iran: The Revolutionary Ebb and Flow,” Middle East Journal, vol. 47, no. 3 (1993): 409-428; Redden, �Iran� in Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia, vol. 5, Buffalo, NY, 1990; Taleghani, ed. & trans. Civil Code of Iran, Littleton, Colorado, 1995.

In 2003

It also seems appropriate here to quote (also, just found by quick internet search, I admit) part of a transcript from a Muslim woman and Iranian attorney who in 2003 won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Obviously I was looking up the custody ages; here’s a little of the immediate context:

Ebadi: Children Rights Are the Same As Human Rights Yaas-e Nou (Persian Morning Daily) Thursday, Oct 9, 2003 Vol. 1, No 176 Page: 15 By: Mahvash Kian-Ersi Summary: Renowned Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi was announced on Oct 9 to have won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in favor of democracy and freedom in Iran.   Ebadi was the first Muslim woman and also the first Iranian to become the Nobel peace laureate.   One day before this astonishing announcement, she talked to reformist Yaas-e Nou on the occasion of World Children Day (Oct 8).   Here we offer the full text of our interview with this university professor of law. Text: The children should grow coordinately from physical, spiritual, cultural and economic points of view.   The families and the governments are obliged to provide the facilities to the children to grow.   The significance of children’s growth prompted the world nations to draw out an international convention for children’s rights.   In the face of social, cultural and economic abnormalities, the children need healthy atmosphere.   Now we read a short interview with Shirin Ebadi.

Q:What discipline is adopted to deal with child abuse either by parents or the relatives?

A:The latest version of law dealing with child abuse was adopted in 2002.   According to this law, any physical blow or mental trauma against children and under-18s amount to a crime and no individual plaintiff is required in this case.   The public prosecutor can cope with the offenders.   The important point in this law is that the judiciary and not the parents are entitled to lodge a lawsuit.

Q:How can we support the children subject to abnormal conditions at home?

A:If it is proven to the court that abnormal conditions at the family would damage the physical and mental health of the children, the court authorizes anyone who is ready to accept the child.   Or the court can order the children be looked after at the State Welfare Organization.

Q:What problems do we have in Iran regarding children’s rights?

A:The Iranian law looks at the children as properties of the parents.   For instance, if a neighbor kills a child he would face `qisas’ (the eye-for-an-eye law of retribution) — required by the Islamic Penal Code.   The same man will not face such punishment if he kills his own child and he will at most get ten years in jail if the mother files complaint.   We have similar laws.   When a couple decides to get divorced, the custody of over-2 boys and over-7 girls rests with the father while the future of such children is forgotten.   The law should take into account the independence of children.

Q:How will a mother who kills her own child be punished?

A:Such mothers face eye-for-an-eye law of retribution and they do not enjoy any acquittal.

AND  from Nov. 2003, and obviously I was not current as to the status of custody in Iran, above….

Iranian women win improved child custody rights

Khaleej Times, (Reuters)

30 November 2003

TEHRAN – Iranian women won the right to have custody of boys up to the age of seven on on Saturday, giving divorced mothers the same rights over their sons as they do over their daughters, a reformist parliamentarian said.

Under Iran’s strict law, divorced women already had automatic custody of girls until they are seven, but were previously only able to keep boys until they were two.

“The Expediency Council granted divorced mothers custody of both girls and boys until the age of seven,” Elaheh Kulai, a reformist woman deputy, said after it was broadcast on state television.

Iran’s conservative-controlled legislative body, the Guardian Council, had twice rejected the change on the grounds that it was against Islamic law, despite its approval by the reformist-led parliament last year.

But parliament’s decision was backed by the powerful Expediency Council, the top arbitration body headed by influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

“It is a positive step forward for defending women’s rights,” said Ms Kulai.

The reform is one of several bids by parliament to overcome the conservatives’ resistance and improve the lot of Iranian women, who cannot become president or a judge and are entitled to half of the inheritance due to a man.

Judges also often give fathers the custody of their children, regardless of their qualifications as parents.

 

 We are available to work with you even if you are in the midst of aggressive litigation, and either you, your spouse, your child’s attorney, or the judge determines that a Parenting Coordinator is required to reduce the scope of litigation. Any party or the court on its own motion can request a Parenting Coordinator, often called a Special Master in court, be assigned to a case. A Parenting Coordinator, or “Special Master”, may be afforded certain powers by the court or by agreement of the parties to make non-binding recommendations or binding decisions about a host of important issues about Child Custody, Child Support, Child Visitation, and other issues concerning the education, health, and welfare of the children.   

   

American Tea Party Helps Republicans Win the House

November 3, 2010 By Mr. Aly Ebrahimzadeh, Esq.

(Paragraph 2ff): Basically, the American Tea Party takes the entire retinue of ultra-conservative Republican Party values and attempts to justify them by a perspective on American jurisprudence that disregards the two centuries of legal precedent and evolution** that has occurred since the drafting of the US Constitution, and rather focuses on that original document much like a text as sacred as the Bible is to Christians.

This begs the question:  What exactly is so sacred about the US Constitution?  Much of it has been redlined as racist, elitist, or purely impractical.Every time an Amendment is added, significant parts of the Constitution are essentially deleted.  Perhaps rather than continuing to revise a document that is over 200 years old and has been editorialized by over 30 major Amendments and interpreted out of its skin by scores of major legal precedents, it is time for the American people to accept the fact that we may need to go back to the drawing board and draft a new Constitution that reflects current ideologies and legal principles.

 

Several European, African, and Asian nations have done exactly this, having drafted entirely new Constitutions within the last fifty years.  Surely a new Constitution, one that is more detailed, modern and practicable as a guide for the American Legal System, may serve to minimize the argumentation about what the law truly is.

But then again, in the obscurity of our antiquated rule book, the US Constitution

But then again, in the obscurity of our antiquated rule book, the US Constitution, there lies the opportunity to shoehorn all sorts of interpretations and theories into what our nation was meant to look like and what course it should take.  Yet, the political process may benefit from more clarity and less theory, for we find ourselves in the stormy seas of unwieldy military conflicts, devastating economic whirlpools, and questionable political leadership on all sides.  What we may benefit most from in such times is a working compass, rather than an assortment of bickering navigators trying to outdo each other with interesting theories about the reasons why the compass broke.

Or rather, perhaps we can take a more simple example as our guide.  If you were drafting an essay for a class, and you had to make over 30 revisions of that essay, redlining huge swaths of text, completely contradicting main premises and themes, would you consider handing such a work in as your final product?  Or would you simply take what you had learned and draft a new clean copy, no attached revisions and deletions, but a singular essay that incorporates the lessons learned?  Or is the US Constitution truly a Sacred Tome for this Indivisible Nation Under God?

 

Nabil said Mourad disappeared after receiving a court order from his wife. Nabil said it was one of dozens he received in the past few months at the behest of Madeline’s mother, Marcia Fay, a deputy attorney general for the state Department of Justice.

“She was trying to prevent him from having any visitation,” said Nabil. “It has to be court-supervised.”

Samaan’s neighbors knew he was going through a custody battle.

“The hardest thing is that the public has no idea what he went through with his ex-wife,” said his neighbor Stephanie Brinkman. “It’s just heart-wrenching.”

 

“There’s not one document that would show that Moni is not the best father in the world,” said Nabil Samaan while being interviewed by News10 reporter Natalie Sentz.>

Sentz said, “He’s the best dad in the world until he takes the life of his child.”

Nabil responded, “He’s still the best dad in the world.”

Sentz said, “Madeline is dead.

“Yeah, but he’s not the one who killed her,” Nabil said.

So many topics, so little time.   Such a world.  One thing is becoming clearer to me as I spend the hours looking up /looking for one piece of information or another:

Access to information is class & money-based.  It’s a clear message to the citizens of California that the Secretary of State does not expect plebians to be researching local corporations, not really — to find out if who is doing business with our counties, cities, etc.  (did I mention courts?) is actually a legal corporation, an actual nonprofit (as their websites declare) or is not. And whether this is a pattern or not.

Consider how many fields you can sort on in the “Business Entitites site.”  Like, ONE — the business name.

There is no way to look up by EIN# which is THE most common # among corporations, LLCS, for profits and nonprofits.  They need an EIN#.

One cannot search by active or inactive (guess that would require keeping up with the database entry on more fields).  One cannot search by registration agent, for example, to find out how many corporations are registered under C T Corporation (on seventh street in Los Angeles), in order to educate the public faster, and better

Where we are going… Today, the IACP has over 4,000 members from twenty four countries around the world. We are dedicated to educating the public about the Collaborative alternative. We are committed to fostering professional excellence in conflict resolution through Collaborative Practice. We invite you to peruse this site to learn more about IACP, our services and initiatives.

or

or whether it’s a special speedy incorporation specializing in helping lawyers get set up not to pay taxes:

(I don’t know who this one is…)

Venture Capital

New businesses that need money often rely on investors who specialize in loaning money to start-up businesses. Venture capital attorneys help negotiate and document the terms of the investment, including what the investors get for their money, and how the business will be run after the investment. The investors usually want shares in the business and the right to have some input into the company’s business strategies. Structuring this kind of deal can be very complicated; venture capital lawyers know what terms are standard and what terms are negotiable. If you are starting a business and need financing, a venture capital lawyer will provide advice about how to attract and negotiate with venture capital investors.

And when it got suspended (or why):

You can only view 10 records at a time, which is fairly unique in databases throughout the land, including SOS ones.  I don’t know why — since there’s very little data (only 5 fields) showing.  You also can’t sort by date of incorporation or incorporator, which to me is just insane.

and the last one listed is still active….

If we could sort by DATE, we could anticipate what the next phase of AFCC phrases to provide the final solution to family custody disputes coming at us would be, and know (if we have an open case) to ditch whatever profession

al we are consulting currently that is using old-fashioned, tedious-titled,

commonplace, familiar phrases (or, attached to companies which users — or the secretary of state personnel — have figured out are worthless and/or scams….):

CORPORATION SERVICE COMPANY WHICH WILL DO BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA AS CSC – LAWYERS INCORPORATING SERVICE

(at least 3 companies beginning with “C” at this address in Delaware under which Corporation Service Company is itself registered)

Delaware incorporation, Massachusetts registered agent, doing business in California.

Probably still . . . . (this one I think is more child-care related)

World Headquarters

Bright Horizons Family Solutions 
200 Talcott Avenue, South
Watertown, MA 02472
phone: (617) 673 8000
fax: (617) 673 8001

But back to the CSDA — the Child Support Directors Association:

The organization will receive its f:inancia1 support, fran the Countyof San Bernardino, agOVenl!reIltaulnit(hereinafter”County”),andfranthegeneralpublic.’!hesupport fran the Countyis received pursuant to the terms of a contract entered into between the Countyand the organization, September29, 1986 (hereinafter “Contract”). A coW of the Contract is attached hereto as EKhibit 3. Sl.Iptx:>frrtan the general public will be generated through direct fund raising activities. It is anticipated that the sup- port fram the Countywill initially, represent approximately 70%of the total SupfOrt, with the balance fran the general pub1ic~ It is anticipated that after three to four years, that the supfOrt fxan the general public will equal or exceed that fran the County.

Let’s hear it for the City and County of San Francisco’s fiscal management of the courthouses, i.e., announcing the emergency, announcing a last-minute reduction of the scope of the emergency, and calling in the California Judicial Council with its funding as the hero in the situation.

From the main Superior Court Page:

What’s New

• Court Reaches Agreement with AOC for Emergency Funding to Reduce Layoffs, Courtroom Closures
• The San Francisco Superior Court Notifies the AOC of Reduced Clerks’ Office Hours, Closure of 25 Courtrooms, Effective October 3, 2011
• San Franciscans Face Long Lines, 5-Year Case Delays From State Budget Cuts That Force the Court to Lay Off 200 Employees, Close 25 Courtrooms
• Presiding Judge Feinstein: State Budget Cuts Would Force the Court to Close 25 Courtrooms, Lay Off 200 Employees
• San Francisco Superior Court Corrects 92 Percent of Findings Before Release of AOC Audit
• Effective July 1, 2011, Government Agencies Must Pay Fees for Copies of Court Documents

SAN FRANCISCO COURT CLOSINGS AND ITS RECOMMENDATION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO DIVORCE LITIGATION

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Vivian Holley

SAN FRANCISCO COURT CLOSINGS AND ITS RECOMMENDATION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO DIVORCE LITIGATION

Recently the San Francisco Superior Court announced that by the end of September 2011, there will be severe cut backs in courtrooms and judges and custody mediators available for civil litigation and divorces.  The staff lay-offs and court room closures in San Francisco are expected to have a devastating impact on the ability of families to separate, settle their family and custody matters, and obtain even a simple divorce.  Uncontested divorces may take up to a year and a half to be completed – instead of the minimum of six months and a day now allowed by state law.   TheSan Francisco Family Law Court formally announced its recommendation in support of ADR (“Alternative Dispute Resolution”)approaches, including Mediation and Collaborative Law.   As one of the earliest and most experienced practitioners ofSF Family Law Mediation,Collaborative Lawandother ADR specialties, we could not agree more and are here with more experience and options to   serve the SF community

The severe cuts in service are already creating havoc with access to the courts and the ability of San Franciscans to obtain vital services. Long lines are forming at court clerk offices.  Local and national newspapers including TheSan Francisco Chronicle,The S.F. Examiner, andThe New York Timesare featuring stories about this crisis and the impact on our citizens who are seeking resolutions of their family conflicts and justice.

While this news is likely to hurt many San Francisco couples and families, there are some excellent alternatives to the public court system presently available that provide fair and faster resolutions for families than what the courts will be able to provide.  Anyone in a position to help families who need to separate or divorce or resolve parenting disputes should become versed in the various “Alternative Dispute Resolutions.”  Even the San Francisco Superior Court is advising all couples who file divorces to explore these alternatives to the traditional judicial system. Couples can find professionals who will facilitate their peaceful separation, parenting plans, and division of assets without having to resort to lengthy waits for judges and courtrooms.

Business registration search:  Collaborative Law:

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C2891905	08/03/2006	SUSPENDED	CENTRAL VALLEY COLLABORATIVE LAW AFFILIATES, INC.	GERALD M TOMASSION
C3241857	02/01/2010	ACTIVE	KERN COLLABORATIVE FAMILY LAW SOLUTIONS	STEPHEN C KLINK
C2507710	03/21/2003	ACTIVE	LOS ANGELES COLLABORATIVE FAMILY LAW ASSOCIATION (LACFLA)	FREDERICK J. GLASSMAN
C3384440	06/09/2011	ACTIVE	THE LAW COLLABORATIVE LOS ANGELES, A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION	RONALD SUPANCIC

search results for charitable trusts registry, same two words:  “Collaborative Law”  Guess they are for-profits, for sure.

Organization Name Registration Number Record Type Registration Status City State Registration Type Record Type 1

However, “Collaborative Law” in california is quite busy;  See “Collaborative Practice California” (.com)

We are a statewide organization of collaborative practice groups.We will help you to:

• Find collaborative practice professionals in your local area.
• Learn about collaborative practice.
• Discover other dispute resolution alternatives that will keep you out of court.

Our member groups include collaborative lawyers, mental health practitioners, financial specialists, and other professionals. The collaborative process is being used in divorce and family law, domestic partnerships, same sex marriages, employment law, probate law, construction and real property law, malpractice, and other civil law areas.

Our purpose is to:

• Increase public awareness of the benefits of collaborative practice.
• Help to draft local, statewide, and national legislation to facilitate the use of the collaborative practice.
• Share information, education, and training opportunities with like-minded collaborative professionals.
• Maintain the high standards of collaborative practice throughout the state.

We invite you to learn more about California collaborative practice, and to search for a local group to find appropriate professionals to meet your needs.

One of the trainings is by AFCC, one of the originals, Joan B. Kelly of the Northern California Mediation Center, where we can learn — of course — more about parent coordination, one of the primary functions of which, I gather, is to STOP PARENTAL ALIENATION (as defined by the same entitities):

Upcoming Trainings at the Northern California Mediation Center

http://www.ncmc-mediate.org Parenting Coordination (Special Master) Training: Child Alienation and Relocation: Challenges for Children and Parents, with Joan B. Kelly, Ph.D. MCLE (6 hours), September 16, 2011, 9 am – 4:30 pm $225 (Early Registration: $175 if by 8/5/2011; $200 if by 8/19/2011) here are the businesses registered as “Collaborative Practice” in my state: Entity Number Date Filed Status Entity Name Agent for Service of Process C2887391 06/26/2006 ACTIVE COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE CALIFORNIA DAVID A. FINK C3289178 03/15/2010 ACTIVE COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE OF SAN MATEO COUNTY TIMOTHY D MARTIN C3157118 07/31/2008 ACTIVE NAPA COUNTY COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE GROUP COLLEEN CLARK C2544482 07/08/2003 ACTIVE SACRAMENTO COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE GROUP HAL BARTHOLOMEW As we see they all date to this millennium, and none have been suspended or dissolved, yet, unlike the other fields of practice from the same group. Of these, two have self-identifed as nonprofits and registered with the state, so presumably the ones formed in 2003 and 2008 decided not to go with the nonprofit status.  I would not be so presumptuous as to assume that these 4 are the only ones organized and doing business in California; but they are who shows up. Organization Name Registration Number Record Type Registration Status City State Registration Type Record Type COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE CALIFORNIA EX562971 Charity Exempt – Active SAN FRANCISCO CA Charity Registration Charity COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE OF SAN MATEO COUNTY CT0160739 Charity Exempt – Active SAN MATEO CA Charity Registration Charity 1 Click on Collaborative Practice California; it has not obtained and EIN in the approximately 5 years of operation, filed returns with the state to confirm it exists as a charity, and there is no IRS showing either.   The street address here (=/= registered agent) shows a single-person firm, sfchildandfamilylaw.com  who reports a background from Texas:  A BA in psychologist followed by working as a Child Protective Service Investigator in Dallas, after which law school in the University of California system, Bay Area.   I am wondering what part of her practice is for-profit, and what part nonprofit (unregistered) in the same suite. It is a Law and Mediation Office: Before attending law school, I served as an investigator for Child Protective Services in Dallas, Texas and counseled numerous children in a variety of settings from pre-school to juvenile detention facilities. I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Texas in Denton, where I focused on child development and abuse. All of these experiences combined with my own involvement in the child welfare system have led me to create my own firm where I intend to make the most of my skills, background, and knowledge of the law to assist families and children in need. I hope to not only provide superior legal representation, but also a responsive, personable, humane environment for my clients. Resources include Kids’ Turn and Rally Family Visitation Services, which I was yakkin’ about a few posts ago (the post which ended comparing the Supervised Visitation Network with AFCC personnel). Resources Child and Family Support Services CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates Child and Family WebGuide Child Welfare League of America Children’s Council of San Francisco Family Service Agency of San Francisco Jewish Family and Children’s Services – Parents Place Kid’s Turn Legal Services for Children National Adoption Center National Center for Adoption Law and Policy Parenthood.com Resource List Parents Leadership Institute Rally Family Visitation Services  (broken link) The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies UC San Francisco – Department of Psychiatry Children’s Center Domestic Violence Resources Manalive “June 15, 2010 – Men Creating Peace (MCP) obtains 501(c)(3).” Organization Name Registration Number Record Type Registration Status City State Registration Type Record Type MEN CREATING PEACE, INC. Charity Not Registered PLEASANTON CA Charity Registration Charity 1 Companies at the address given above, for “Men Creating Peace” (Pleasanton, CA) Entity Number Date Filed Status Entity Name Agent for Service of Process C3199584 04/30/2009 ACTIVE MEN CREATING PEACE, INC. GORDON DEVON GASTER JR The “Men Creating Peace” website has url “Manaliveinternational.org” and a profile on Gordon Devon Gaster Jr. as a nonprofit group leader working with “manalive” in SF since 1997.   My point being, out of all the domestic violence resources around, why is this particular attorney referring to a men’s group (not SF-based) and another “consortium” only? (at the bottom of the page):360 GRAND AVENUE • SUITE 76 • OAKLAND, CA 94607 | TEL : 510-730-0184 | FAX : 510-217-7061  CLASSES: LANEY COLLEGE • 900 FALLON STREET • ROOM E201A • OAKLAND, CA 94607 COPYRIGHT© 2010 MEN CREATING PEACE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED • CONTACT WEBMASTER This address, for “http://www.manaliveinternational.org/” also correlates to the Alameda County Probation Department.  They are probably contracting with batterers intervention groups.  The class address is on the same street, 3 blocks away from the Alameda County Courthouse.  360 Grand Avenue is a UPS store, i.e., the “Suite” is a PO Box.   This group is the 11th of a list of 11 (below) approved for Batterers Intervention courses as of May, 2011 [PDF] ALAMEDA COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT acgov.org/probation/…/DVCertifiedProviderListMay2011updated.pdf File Format:PDF/Adobe Acrobat –Quick View Oakland, CA 94607. 360 Grand Ave. Ste. #76. Oakland, CA 94610 devon@ mencreatingpeace.org. Devon Gaster. Tel: (415) 6134499. Main: (510) 7300184 …

As for “Man Alive International,” I don’t know who they are:  any relationship (see start date), this one definitely Christian focus….

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C1909549	08/01/1997	ACTIVE	MAN ALIVE MINISTRIES, INC.	MYLES J GENTZKOW

NOPE — different entity…..

But here are the other “Manalive” groups — so where does “Men of Peace” being a separate nonprofit, fit in?

Organization Name	Registration Number	Record Type	Registration Status	City	State	Registration Type	Record Type
MANALIVE VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAMS	040420	Charity	Current	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
MANALIVE-SACRAMENTO, INC.		Charity	Not Registered	ROSEVILLE	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
1

(if you look up the “Manalive Violence Prevention Programs,” they have been filing regularly, apparently until April, 2010, when the OAG issued them an “incomplete report” status because they failed to enclose the $50 check for the program).  Their income apparently comes from government contracts and fees to run these classes:  2000 filing shows $341K in contracts with Sheriff’s Dept. etc.

This began in 1980 around gender issues as “Center for Research and Education in Human Process,” changed name in 1995 to “Manalive Education and Research Institute,” and again in 1999, as above.  An interesting “Miscellaneous” document (bottom of Charity’s detail) shows they began working with MAWS (Marin Abused Women’s Services), believe in feminist theory that men’s violence towards women is patriarchy-based and run peer-based educational groups, “each one reach one” to help undo that philosophy.  “Good luck” when you run into the religious ones….

Street address locates it in The Castro: (Wikipedia)

The Castro District, commonly referenced as The Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco, California. The Castro is one of America’s first and best-known gay neighborhoods, and it is currently its largest. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro remains a symbol and source of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activism and events.

Manalive Sacramento actually does have an EIN#, and (searched street address), has an interesting registered agent:

Organization Name: Manalive-sacramento Inc

Function, Activity: Spouse Abuse Prevention

Assets: $10,372

Income: $114,615

Contact Info:

Mark Throckmorton
1115 Parkview Dr
Roseville, CA 95661

Mark Throckmorton

Rev. Mark Throckmorton received his Masters of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2001, and has served two congregations as interim pastor. Before recently moving to Sparrow Hawk Village, he served as Executive Director of Manalive-Sacramento, Inc., facilitating a domestic violence prevention program for men in Northern California. In addition to Moore and Gillette, Mark’s workshop will draw on his studies of archetypes with Robert Bly. His teaching also uses unpublished work by John Donovan, Mark’s colleague in a highly effective recidivism reduction program in the Sacramento County jails. 

   

“Great.”  A Robert Bly afficionado, probably the last thing needed in preventing violence against women….”  That paragraph from SanctaSophia comes from a seminary established in 1977 (“Sophia” representing “wisdom”)

Sancta Sophia Seminary offers a distinctive approach to transformation.

Envisioning a life of hope, love and service, each student prepares to be a modern Light Worker through professional preparation. Sancta Sophia, established in 1977 by Carol E. Parrish, is located in the spiritual setting of Sparrow Hawk Village in the foothills of the Ozarks outside Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Guests are always welcome to the Seminary, which is open to all who seek personal growth, various certifications, or ordination. Our ordinations are endorsed by theInternational Council of Community Churches, in cooperation with Churches Uniting in Christ

And for “Robert Bly,” this article (old — 1992) under “New Age Patriarchs” expresses it well.

Feminism helped mould the ‘new man’. But the latest brand of new
man has little truck with feminism. Erica Simmons investigates.

Behold the newest of the new men. You might have seen him on television, adorned with a mask of body paint, dancing around a campfire, entering a sweatlodge, shouting out his grief and anger from some pleasant location in the North American countryside.

Under the tutelage of Minnesota poet Robert Bly and guided by his bestselling book Iron John, thousands of American men are gathering to forge a new masculine identity.

The tools for this reappraisal include poetry, mythology, fairy tales, mask-making, drumming and sweatlodges – the traditional native Indian version of the sauna. Believers call the movement ‘mythopoetic’; the historically minded observe that it borrows heavily from Jungian psychology.

Bly has diagnosed the psychic wounds of contemporary American men. They are afflicted with inexpressible feelings of grief and are emotionally repressed and socially isolated from one another. They are nice guys who are adept at meeting the needs of women and submerging their own. They have abandoned the old macho version of manhood, but lack a suitable new model of masculinity. They are what Bly calls ‘soft men’.

Just exactly who I’d want coordinating and organizing batterers’ intervention groups; get in touch with your “wild side.”

Apparently “manalive” is a hot topic, however, “men of peace,” if it is (in fact) “manalive” — who aren’t continuing under the same name as of 2010, but “men of peace” started in 2010 —

Under “Men of Peace” (website) is this news:

June 5, 2010 – Men Creating Peace partners with Progressive Transition(s).

360 Grand Ave. Suite #312
Oakland, CA 94610
510.273.9573

. . .  In Other words, it has a PO Box at the same UPS store as Men of Peace? (or, is upstairs in the same building…only it’s a one-story building right next to a tatoo parlor in downtown Oakland.

Organization Name	Registration Number	Record Type	Registration Status	City	State	Registration Type	Record Type
PROGRESSIVE TRANSITION(S), INC.		Charity	Not Registered	BERKELEY	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
1

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C3150168	06/02/2008	ACTIVE	PROGRESSIVE TRANSITION(S), INC.	NORMA R WARD

Founders appear to be social workers.  Registration address is a modest home in south Berkeley street.  Partners:

Our Partners

Based in Oakland, California, Progressive Transition(s) partners with a variety of non-profit and community based organizations, including:

• A Safe Place
• Alameda County Domestic Violence Collaborative
• Alameda County Family Justice Center
• Family Violence Law Center
• Men Creating Peace
• Walden House, Inc.

Interesting.   A nonprofit formed in 2008 lists as its partner a nonprofit formed in 2010 (and vice versa), neither charitable registration yet current. although Men of Peace is doing (in my opinion) a good imitation of simply being “Manalive” reincarnated with a new name, and: the Alameda County Family Justice Center (California Bill SB-557 still pending, and probably will pass, FYI), itself a nonprofit formed in 2006, profiled by me under “Dubious Doings by District Attorneys” (and also researched by and Indy writer, “Steve White.”   For nice pictures of some of the bigwigs involved, go here: and more, here

San Jose Mercury news article of Sep. 2005 shows them in operation, with the current street address, and finally in 2007, they got around to incorporating with the Secretary of State, although among the originators were District Attorneys and County Supervisors….

Inside the Family Justice Center in Oakland a victim can find law enforcement officers, prosecutors, probation officers and civil attorneys as well as therapists, chaplains and job referrals — all under one roof.

The creation of such a centralized refuge is significant, victims and those who work with them say, because those trying to leave an abusive situation often are discouraged from doing so when they find they must shuffle between agencies scattered around town.

That problem has been especially acute in Alameda County, where victims have had to navigate 25 different agencies to do things such as file a police report, obtain a restraining order and seek medical care and counseling, said Nancy O’Malley, an Alameda County prosecutor, during a ceremony Wednesday. . .

Alameda County competed nationally to win $1.3 million of $20 million in federal grant money authorized by President Bush to combat domestic violence. The center is one of only 15 in the nation and one of only two in the state.{@ 2005; now there are more!)  The other California site, in San Diego, has been credited with helping to reduce the number of domestic violence-related deaths in that city.

by whom — its originators?

In July, Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced that a two-year study had found that California’s domestic violence laws weren’t being enforced despite more than 186,000 abuse calls and 169 related killings in the state in 2004. On Wednesday, Lockyer told the crowd that the center was the type of solution needed.

Wow.  Any victim (particularly one with children) could’ve told them that, also see homicides.   Supposedly this center is the solution, however it does nothing to address the state of the family law system, apparently, which where the unenforced domestic violence laws go underground to get buried under a deluge of talk about high-conflict relationships and parental alienation, etc.

FINALLY, in 2007, it gets around to incorporation:

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C2996837	05/10/2007	ACTIVE	ALAMEDA COUNTY FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER, INCORPORATED	HAROLD O BOSCOVICH

and somewhat later, if then, filing for nonprofit status:

Organization Name	Registration Number	Record Type	Registration Status	City	State	Registration Type	Record Type
ALAMEDA COUNTY FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER, INCORPORATED	CT0163526	Charity	Current	OAKLAND	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
1

Below is the detailed data for the registrant you selected. You may CLOSE this window to return to the Search Results and choose another registrant.Registrant Information

Full Name: ALAMEDA COUNTY FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER, INCORPORATED FEIN: Type: Public Benefit Corporate or Organization Number: 2996837

Registration Number: CT0163526 Record Type: Charity Registration Type: Charity Registration Issue Date: 8/6/2010 Renewal Due Date: 5/15/2011 Registration Status: Current Date This Status: 9/29/2010 Date of Last Renewal:

Address Information

Address Line 1: 470-27TH ST Phone: Address Line 2: Address Line 3: Address Line 4: OAKLAND CA 94612

Annual Renewal Information

Fiscal Begin: 01-JAN-07 Fiscal End: 31-DEC-07 Total Assets: $0.00 Gross Annual Revenue: $0.00 RRF Received: 16-AUG-10 Returned Date: 990 Attached: N Status: Accepted

Finally (3 years later), the OAG’s office wrote them (interesting, considering Bill Lockyer involvement from the start, and his wife being their first CEO),

(DATE:  May 27, 2010)

NOTICE TO REGISTER

We have received information indicating that this organization may be subject to the registration and reporting requirements of the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act (Government Code sections 12580, et seq.).

Pursuant to section 12585 and 12586 of the Act, every charitable corporation incorporated or doing business in California, unincorporated association and trustee holding assets for charitable purposes or doing business in the State of California is required to register and file annual reports with the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts, within thirty (30) days of receiving assets (which includes cash or other forms of property). Some entities, such as educational institutions, religious corporations and hospitals, are exempt from registration and reporting under section 12583.

The articles of incorporation and change of address to 27th street as of 8/31/2006  (stamped rec’d May, 2007 — two years after its doors opened right in central Oakland ) bear Nancy O’Malley’s signature (but no date), Harold O Boscovich signature page — unsigned (He’s the corporate registered agent still),

Note:  on that weekend, another woman disappeared in the neighboring county, Nina Reiser, on a court-ordered visitation exchange.  This was high-profile trial and a wrongful death suit filed by her mother and children in this same county.  SFGate chronicled the trial and yet somehow “domestic violence” in certain circles bears no relationship to the family law system at all.

Hans Reiser Trial: July 7, 2008

Henry K. Lee has been liveblogging the Hans Reiser murder trial. See all his Chronicle articles on the case here and all his blog entries here.

Nina Reiser’s body has been found. A handcuffed Hans Reiser, accompanied by his attorney, William Du Bois, led Oakland police, prosecutor Paul Hora and DA’s Inspector Bruce Brock to her remains at about 4 p.m. today, Du Bois confirmed.

Her body was found buried off a hiking trail near the 8200 block of Skyline Boulevard near Redwood Regional Park, authorities said. The body hasn’t been officially identified, but the defense says the body is that of Nina Reiser.

Wednesday’s sentencing may be delayed in light of today’s discovery. Sources say Reiser agreed to lead police to the body in exchange for a second-degree murder conviction — instead of the jury’s finding of first-degree — and a sentence of 15 years to life, in lieu of 25 years to life.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/localnews/category?cat=1428#ixzz1X1YODJdP

REISER himself definitely connected things to the family law system:

Hans Reiser Trial: April 29, 2008

Henry K. Lee is liveblogging the Hans Reiser murder trial. See all his Chronicle articles on the case here and all his blog entries here.

Hans Reiser was brought into the courtroom at 11:22 a.m. today wearing a red jail jumpsuit, not the suit he wore during his trial. The sentencing date was set for Wednesday, July 9. He faces 25 years to life in prison after being convicted Monday of first-degree murder for the premeditated killing of his wife, Nina, in September 2006.

One of the jurors in the six-month-long trial, Vince Dunn, 61, or Juror No. 7, is speaking out about the case. . . .

In an interview with your scribe this morning, Dunn said Reiser never showed any sympathy for Nina and that his premeditation was clear in part because he suddenly stopped using his Visa card in August 2006 and increasingly tried to contact Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele in the days before the murder to rally her help in changing the family court system. For the full story, click here.

(04-29) 12:24 PDT Oakland — Hans Reiser’s arrogance and his lack of compassion for his estranged wife helped persuade jurors to convict the computer programmer of first-degree murder, a member of the Oakland jury said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Chronicle, Vince Dunn, 61, said that while Reiser had been going through a bitter divorce with his wife, Nina Reiser, “He never showed any kind of sympathy for the fact that she was the mother of his kids.”

. . . Dunn declined to discuss the opinions of other jurors, but he said the group was convinced that Nina Reiser’s murder was the result of deliberation because Reiser stopped using his Visa card in August 2006 and used cash instead, and repeatedly called county Supervisor Gail Steele in the days before he killed his wife.   Reiser believed Steele could help change the family court system that had awarded Nina Reiser custody of their young son and daughter, the supervisor testified during the trial.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/29/BAKU10DLNG.DTL#ixzz1X1ZnPN6k

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/localnews/category?cat=1428&o=10#ixzz1X1YzWpqJ

However (after groundbreaking right around the time this woman disappeared on a court-ordered visitation, same county) it is explained that this nonprofit was formed ONLY to get the government grants that individual agencies couldn’t, although it is ENTIRELY paid for (as to staff) by the County of Alameda:

Re: Alameda county Family Justice center cr File # cr0r63s26

Dear Ms. Gonzales,

This is in response to your letter of August 6th (copy attached).

<> The Alameda County Justice Center (ACFJC) has operated as a government agency since its inception. The C.ounty of Alameda,bistrict auorneyis office obtained a federal grant to establish the Center. It is located in a county-owned and maintained building, housing governmental and non-profit agencies working in collaboration to provide services to victims and families who have experienced family violence. It has [been operating] and still operates under the administration of the District Attorney’s office and funded under the budget of the county of Alameda. It has no assets, all utilized assets belong to the County of Alameda.

<> With the ever-shrinking county-budget and the need to ensure the continued operation of the A-cfJC and expandiervices, a decision was made to incorporate as a non-profit and thereby maximize the potential for obtaining grants and receiving donations normally not available to government agencies. An application_for Recognition of Exemption (InS Form 1023 copy attached) has

been submitted to IRS and we are awaiting their decision.

<> Registration Renewal Fee Forms (RRF-l) are attache dfor 12/31107,l2/3I/0g,

and I2/31l09′ There is no annual gross revenue for these periods, as all funding is provided within the budget of the county of Alameda.

This nonprofit didn’t, however, explain this until the OAG sent them ANOTHER letter reminding them of the requirements:

August 6, 2010 CT FILE NUMBER:

(From address) 1300 I Street P. O. Box 903447 Sacramento, CA 94203-4470 Telephone: (916) 445-2021 Ext. 4 Fax: (916) 444-3651 E-Mail Address: Registration@doj.ca.gov

CT0163526

RE: CONFIRMATION OF REGISTRATION WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S REGISTRY OF CHARITABLE TRUSTS

The captioned entity is now registered with the Registry of Charitable Trusts and has been assigned the registration (“CT”) number set forth above.

In order to complete the Registry file, please submit the following, together with a copy of this letter:

1. The date, month and year the entity first received property (assets).

2. A copy of the Application for Recognition of Exemption (IRS Form 1023) and a copy of the Internal Revenue Service determination letter.

3. Registration Renewal Fee (RRF-1) Reports, together with required renewal fee, for fiscal year(s) ending:

12/31/07, 12/31/08, and 12/31/09. 4. IRS Form 990, 990-PF, or 990-EZ reports for fiscal years ending: 12/31/07, 12/31/08, and 12/31/09.

The RRF-1

Minor note:  The salary of the CEO of this entity was originally set to be $65,000, but raised to $90,000, after which Bill Lockyer’s wife was chosen.  Among the responsibilities of taking $90,000/year (plus benefits no doubt) from the citizens of this county (by being on its payroll), why should we not her to know how to file for a registered charity without generating more correspondence from the Office of the Attorney General? And not need to be reminded:

All forms and instructions are available on our website at http://ag.ca.gov/charities . Directors of nonprofit corporations are required to adhere to the provisions of the California Nonprofit

Corporation Law (Corporations Code section 5000, et seq.).

Trustees for charitable purposes are required to adhere to the provisions of California Probate Code (commencing with section 15000).

Bill Lockyer (Wikipedia):

William Westwood “Bill” Lockyer (born May 8, 1941) is an American politician. He is the current 32nd State Treasurer ofCalifornia, elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He has also served as California Attorney General and President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate. Having held elective office since 1973, Lockyer has arguably had more varied executive and legislative experience than any other current official of the State Government.^[1] Lockyer is unable to run for a third term in 2014 due to term limits.

As treasurer, he should know about these things.  As attorney general, also, obviously.  So should his wife:

Personal life

Lockyer has been married since April 2003 to attorney Nadia Maria Davis, an Orange County native of Hispanic, Native American and European descent. He has been married twice before, has an adult daughter who is an attorney for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and a son born in 2003.

Nadia Lockyer has been a public interest law attorney since 1997. She currently {to article; not now} works as Executive Director of the Alameda County Family Justice Center. In January 2010, she was appointed to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors by Governor Schwarzenegger. She was elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in the November 2010 election.^[4]

WE should be relieved to know that one other (of the multiple) family justice centers now operating in Califor nia, which have before the legislature a bill to make them the standard — has actually bothered to register as a charity.  Or has it? (note, this would be the fund-raiser for the actual justice center, presumably)

Organization Name	Registration Number	Record Type	Registration Status	City	State	Registration Type	Record Type
FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER SONOMA COUNTY FOUNDATION		Charity	Not Registered	SANTA ROSA	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
1

The address of this one turns out to be the Sonoma County Courts, and there is a “Sonoma County Alliance,” incorporated in 1975  (Take Back Our Streets-style)

The Sonoma County Courts
600 Administration Dr.
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Phone: 707-565-2657

Sonoma County Alliance shows current nonprofit status, reporting since the year 2000; its 1975 articles of incorporation include “the right to attempt to influence the actions of government agencies and entities.”

http://ca.opengovernment.org/sessions/20112012/bills/sb-557

Twitter Mentions

No tweets were found for #cabill #sb557.

I mentioned it, obviously…

Some discussion on the internet — NOT MUCH, although it’s “only” going to repeal part of the penal code, replace it with other text, and among the key issues are.  Some discussion here:

KEY ISSUES 
          SHOULD LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENTITIES BE AUTHORIZED IN STATE LAW TO
          ESTABLISH "FAMILY JUSTICE CENTERS," WITH ENUMERATED PURPOSES,

and …

DEFINITIONS, STAFF MEMBERS, CONFIDENTIALITY PROVISIONS, AND RELATED
          SPECIFICATIONS? 

          SHOULD THE NATIONAL FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER ALLIANCE BE AUTHORIZED TO
          MAINTAIN AGGREGATE, NON-IDENTIFYING DATA ON CLIENTS OF THE FAMILY
          JUSTICE CENTERS AUTHORIZED BY THIS BILL,SUBJECT TO AUTHORIZATION FROM INDIVIDUAL VICTIMS?**

{{**likely to be traumatized... and apt to sign away rights in exchange for promise of help...Note, individual victims
includes child victims of trafficking, from what I understand.}}
                                       PURPOSE

          The purposes of this bill are to 1) authorize local government
          entities to establish a  multiagency, multidisciplinary family
          justice center to provide services to victims of domestic
          violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and elder abuse, as
          specified; and 2) authorize the National Family Justice Center Alliance {{i.e., the one in San Diego}} to maintain, and 
a family justice center to provide,
          nonidentifying, aggregate data on victims receiving services from family justice centers and the outcomes from the services provided, and to report findings and outcomes to the Legislature annually, as specified.

They are asking for special recognition and privileges in front of the legislature, having gotten some major grants funding,

and this after failing to incorporate on time, report their nonprofit status on time, and when called on this, completely

like other nonprofits are supposed to.

SB 557 defines family justice centers for the first
               time in California law.  Family justice centers have been identified as a "best practice" by the U.S. Department of Justice.

NOTE:  there’s a history to the head of OVW and prior family law involvement, as to who’s getting these grants…

Susan Carbon — appointed by President Obama in 2009, clearly has a very Family Law background, including collaborating

with AFCC on some projects, being a family law judge in New Hampshire, involvement in the Greenbook INitiative, which has heavy

HHS (translation:  marriage/fatherhood components) involvement, and which basically does not address batterers getting custody.

President Obama, despite this OVW and Office of Women & Girls, has taken fatherhood granting up several notches from where it was already,

and despite our national debt.    The statement that the “DOJ” identifies it as a best practice doesn’t mean it IS a best practice.  Has there been

any grassroots movement — from victims — for a convenient one-stop shop, and glowing reports — from victims — of these centers?

NOTE: I am not going to follow this trail further for purposes of this post.

And lastly, this SFCHILDANDFAMILYLAW.com site lists for resources:

San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium

The San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium (aka SFDVC and/or DVC) founded in 1982, is a network of seventeen domestic violence service agencies that come together with the goal of providing high quality, coordinated and comprehensive services to San Francisco’s victims of domestic abuse. The services of the individual agencies include emergency shelter, transitional housing, crisis lines, counseling, prevention programs, education and legal assistance. Services are available in the many different languages of San Francisco’s diverse populations. One of the main activities of the SFDVC is networking. SFDVC agencies share information, learn about issues that impact their work and coordinate their services and activities with a particular focus on public funding, specifically coordinating grant proposals and conducting advocacy/lobbying of government departments as to the importance of funding domestic violence services

The SFDVC is a nonprofit organization and a project of the Tides Center. The SFDVC is led by its co-chairs and committees. The SFDVC recognizes that San Francisco is a diverse city and domestic violence is a problem in all communities regardless of ethnicity, race, class, physical ability, religion, age, immigration and economic status, sexual orientation and gender identity. Therefore, the SFDVC reaches out to all communities in order to insure a broad representation in its membership. To provide accessible services for all individuals and communities, the SFDVC strives to eliminate social, institutional, language and physical barriers to its agencies’ services.

How odd that this consortium has as one of its members the Family Violence Prevention Fund (which I’ve written so much about) and which takes fatherhood funding, with according fatherhood emphasis — yet has allied with a group that says it’s feminist.  WHatever ….

THE TIDES CENTER:   (as of 2010) appears, unlike many others, to be actually filing, including when it conducts a raffle to raise money.  It incorporated in 1994? with 3 people, and commandeers assets of $77 million, plus revenue of $68 million.  It is SF-based.    If you are a nonprofit operating in this state, you should register.  if you are a commercial fundraiser doing a raffle, that has to be registered (once per year), also. Something like this:

Organization Name Registration Number Record Type Registration Status City State Registration Type Record Type THE TIDES CENTER 4110-2007 Raffle Expired SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Registration Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-2006 Raffle Expired SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Registration Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-2005 Raffle Expired SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Registration Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-2007-04 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-2005-1 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-2006-2 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-2005-3 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110 Raffle Registered SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Registration Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-08-5 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 094566 Charity Current SAN FRANCISCO CA Charity Registration Charity THE TIDES CENTER 4110-08-6 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-08-7 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-08-8 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-10-1 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle THE TIDES CENTER 4110-10-2 Raffle Complete SAN FRANCISCO CA Raffle Report Raffle 1

the tax-exempt goal:  “Activities: To .promote and support emerging social change_ and educational ~programs._

I.e., to change the world.  Very active overseas, and registered as a nonprofit in 38 out of 50 of the USA.

Because that’s enough for this post, I”m going to point again to one “Collaborative Practice” organization (nonprofit, formed 2010 as we

pointed out), and business address at which the young (?) attorney above from Texas posts her resources (including Kids’ Turn):

Entity Name:	COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE CALIFORNIA
Entity Number:	C2887391
Date Filed:	06/26/2006
Status:	ACTIVE
Jurisdiction:	CALIFORNIA
Entity Address:	291 GEARY STREET, SUITE 600
Entity City, State, Zip:	SAN FRANCISCO CA 94102-1811
Agent for Service of Process:	DAVID A. FINK
Agent Address:	291 GEARY STREET, SUITE 600
Agent City, State, Zip:	SAN FRANCISCO CA 94102

 

At this site (a little birdie told me…..)

(CRIIS.com  “Access to Public Records for County Government”)

One can access SOME California county’s records, in SOME sort of database,

And (years, 1995 – 1999 search), I notice a lot of activity:

		Date	Document		Doc Type	E/R	Name
	Show Detail	07/29/1999	G627668-00		SUBSTITUTION TRUSTEE	R	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	05/22/1996	F978078-00		RECONVEYANCE	E	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	05/03/1996	F967391-00		DEED	R	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	03/06/1996	F939501-00		DEED	E	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	03/01/1996	F937875-00		RELEASE JUDGMENT	R	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	03/01/1996	F937874-00		RELEASE JUDGMENT	R	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	03/01/1996	F937873-00		RELEASE JUDGMENT	R	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	12/13/1995	F895936-00		ASSIGNMENT OF DEED OF TRUST	E	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	08/28/1995	F838511-00		DEED OF TRUST	E	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	08/28/1995	F838511-01		ASSIGNMENT OF RENTS	E	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	07/20/1995	F817773-00		SUBSTITUTION TRUSTEE	R	FINK DAVID A
	Show Detail	01/24/1995	F747931-00		SUBSTITUTION TRUSTEE	R	FINK DAVID A

 

Many of these (per “show detail” link) appear to have business dealings with the Thorn family (i.e., Kids’ Turn, 1242 Market Street Limited, SF, etc.)

whether Schapiro-Thorn, Suzie Thorn, or another (presumably) relation.  For example,

(hard to paste to this format), the second item above has American Securities reconveying something to both Mr. Fink and Joe W. Thorn, Jr.

who (with Sr. & Suzie) are Kids’ Turn Donors:

1. Kids’ Turn » Donors . .

Joe Thorn, Jr.
Joe W. Thorn, Sr.
Suzie S. Thorn, Esq.

and some property (APN 2608-062) transferred between them on 03/06/1996, from Joe Jr. to Mr. Fink

From 1996-2006 (searching by APN tag) this is one active piece of property, shifting around between several different families, and banks, and living trusts.

Might be worth a look (I’m curious what street address, i.e., is it a commercial building):

Possibly (judging by who was at the top of the transfer list) not that I know if it’s current:

 33 Park Hill Avenue
San Francisco-Castro/Upper Market, CA 94117
Owner: Todd D Stein (Living Trust)

Joe Thorn (I DNK whether Sr. or Jr.) is on staff at Schapiro-Thorn, and Managing partner for the LLC  owning the property,

“1242 Market Street Limited”

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
198501800044	01/18/1985	ACTIVE	1242 MARKET STREET, LTD.	SUZIE S. THORN

Sometimes all 3 will be in a transaction — this one appears to be some real estate in the care of a trust:

Or another, dating back to 1990.  Point being, that real estate recorded deeds (often involving family trusts) are relevant to keep track of, and retired judges,

active judges, family lawyers, etc. can definitely be landlords or involved in real estate transfer, as well as administering estates which may include property.

I am not prepared to struggle with the (copy & paste function) today on this, however, in tracking finances, one has to look at real estate and administration

of trusts.  For example, if one attorney is representing wife, the other husband, and both are together attorneys administering property, or own it together,

we should know this.   See bottom of this post on another corporation which has a lien with the courts….

((David A. Fink) Attorney Description on the firm’s page)

Admitted:1987, California, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California and U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Law School:Golden Gate University, J.D.

Member:Collaborative Practice California (Executive Board Member, 2006—); Bar Association of San Francisco (Chair, Executive Committee, Family Law Section, 1995); State Bar of California (Member, Sections on: Family Law; International Law; Chair, 1999-2000, Member 1996-2007, Executive Committee, Family Law Section; Co-Chair, Council of State Bar Sections, 2002-2003); American Bar Association (Member, Family Law Section); International Bar Association; Association of Certified Family Law Specialists; Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Biography:Named: Northern California Super Lawyer, Law and Politics, San Francisco Magazine Top 10, 2006 and Top 100, 2005—; One of the Bay Area’s Top Family Law Attorneys, The Recorder, November 2003. Recipient: Distinguished Service Award, Family Law Section, State Bar of California, 2007; Eureka Award, Collaborative Practice California, 2007.** Judge Pro Tem, San Francisco Superior Court, 1992—. Fellow: American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers[[AAML”]] (California Chapter President, 2008); American Bar Foundation.

Born: San Francisco, California, September 13, 1960

 

**notice:  Collaborative Practice California incorporated 2006 with Mr. Fink as the registered agent, and by 2007 they already had created an award, which he got.  It’s the AFCC way ……    Interesting, Eureka is the California State motto, referring to the story of Archimedes’ exclamation “I have found it!” namely a way to prove or disprove the amount of pure gold in a king’s crown.  In the historic incident, the goldsmith was found to have cheated. ….   ”

“The motto is widely accepted to relate to the discovery of gold in California and some have reported that Eureka was an exclamation shouted by miners when they came upon the precious metal. Note though, that according to the legal Journal above, the motto could also apply to “…the principle involved in the admission of the State…”

Whatever the purpose of the Eureka award, it’s pretty clear that while courthouses are closing, the most recent phase/phrase among family lawyers, “collaborative law” (compared to some of the predecessor terms) is likely to be striking gold outside them (also).

Business registration search:  “Dispute Resolution” (60 entities):

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C3239935	01/04/2010	ACTIVE	AGENCY FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION, INC.	MARK FOTOHABADI
C3037060	03/14/2008	SUSPENDED	ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION COACH, INC.	ANGELA D SHAW
C2135935	04/06/1999	SUSPENDED	ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION DESIGN GROUP INC.	JENNIFER L ALTER
C3328113	10/19/2010	ACTIVE	ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION, A PROFESSIONAL LAW CORPORATION	JOHN L BAILEY
C2459829	03/05/2003	DISSOLVED	ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION, INCORPORATED	THOMAS MALIZIA
C1664841	05/10/1990	SUSPENDED	ALTERNATIVES IN DISPUTE RESOLUTION OF ORANGE COUNTY	KATHLEEN M RINALDI
C1987887	07/14/1997	DISSOLVED	AMERICAN BOARD OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION	MARSHAL MORGAN
C1536523	07/08/1986	DISSOLVED	AMERICAN DISPUTE RESOLUTION SERVICES, INC.	SHARON BERRERA
C1741053	03/18/1994	DISSOLVED	APPROPRIATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION APPLICATIONS, INC.	NANCY N YEEND
C1462790	06/05/1989	ACTIVE	ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTER OF LOS ANGELES	CHARLES INCHUL CHANG
1 2 3 4 5 6

Of the two formed in 2010 (notice how far back the formations go), I looked up the top row, Mark Fotohabadi, who turns out to be a Pepperdine  / Straus Institute graduate; I believe I blogged this already — but a search shows that the ADR community is organized and ready to refer each other’s business just fine:

New members of ADR hub.com are asked, and Mr. Fotohabadi answered:

What is your profession and title?    Principal

What is your ADR experience? (trainings and education

MDR Graduate of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law.

What are you hoping to get from ADRhub.com

Collaborate with other like minded professionals and practitioners.

Another logo (on the site) ADR hub.com is “Created and supported by the Werner Institute” it says…

The “Werner Institute” is, predictably, also based at a university, this time “Creighton University School of Law”:

Taking the field of conflict resolution to a higher level

The Werner Institute was established in 2005 thanks to a generous gift from the C.L. Werner family, creating the most richly endowed program of its kind in the country. The mission of the Werner Institute is to be a leader in advancing the field of conflict resolution to a new quantum level with a focus on developing the next generation of practitioners and scholars who are responsive to the real, and often unacknowledged, needs of those in conflict. With an interdisciplinary foundation and a focus on collaboration and open inquiry, the Institute supports the mission of Creighton University and builds a bridge between the field of conflict resolution and the issues faced by people in an increasingly complex world.

I’d be interested to see how the “real and often unacknowledged needs” that these graduates will be able to identify will, in practice, trump identified criminal activity by one or more of the partners in “conflict” with each other primarily because of that criminal activity.

Like Pepperdine, Creighton (in Omaha, NE)  has a religious origin:     Catholic/Jesuit.  This can get interesting when the topic is divorce…..

The Mission and Identity of Creighton University

Creighton is a Jesuit university, rooted in the Catholic tradition. At Creighton we live this mission and are guided by our identity. Because we are Catholic, we approach education with a passion for learning and a zeal for making a difference in our world. In the Catholic intellectual tradition, we celebrate our diversity, we learn through dialogue, and we pursue the truth in all its forms. As a Jesuit university we are continually bringing the richness of a 450 year old educational tradition to bear on the most contemporary issues of our world. Our Jesuit vision commits us to form women and men of competence, conscience and compassion who have learned from reflecting upon their experiences of being for and with others. We do this in service of a faith that does justice.

ANYHOW, good luck, Mark Fotohabadi….currently of Beverly Hills, with your practice and business incorporation.  It should do OK, looks like there are some entertainment lawyers and one of the board of directors of Beverly Hills CHamber of Commerce with the same street address, or at least on the same floor (a.k.a. I tend to look up street addresses):
Allan Alexander, Esq.
9595 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Phone: (310) 273-8400

The 4th row of “Alternate Dispute Resolution” companies, also Active, and formed October 2010 (red font), when I looked up the address, turns out to have been a 2011 Executive Committee of the Monterey County Bar Association in Salinas, Mr. John L. Bailey, Esq.

(FROM THE SECTION ON COllaborative Practice / Registered Agent David A. Fink of Nachlis & Fink, and “recorded documents” Criis.com site:)

I pointed out that the parent education nonprofit Kids’ Turn (SF), which has been found with a lien involving the San Francisco Courts, and a history from articles of incorporation of place of business, 1242 Market Street (Schapiro Thorn) San Francisco — and noticed a different “Thorn” also granting the SFTC (the SF Trial Court system) liens as well:

Record

Date

Document

Doc Type

E/R

Name

Show Detail

01/26/2010

I917579-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Show Detail

01/26/2010

I917578-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Show Detail

01/26/2010

I917577-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Show Detail

01/26/2010

I917575-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Show Detail

01/28/2000

G728049-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Show Detail

01/28/2000

G728048-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Show Detail

01/28/2000

G728047-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Show Detail

01/28/2000

G728045-00

NOTICE LIEN

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

Thorn Americas, Inc.  — formerly American arm of a British Firm — was bought out by someone else, and is not incorporated to do business in California.  Go check yourself — but every one of these liens (2000 & 2010) has SFTC involved in the “Show Detail” segment.

Record

GrantoR

Year

Document

Date

Reel

Image

Document Type

APN

GranteE

Name

2010

I917579-00

01/26/2010

K066

1671

NOTICE LIEN

–

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

–

E

SFTC

Record

GrantoR

Year

Document

Date

Reel

Image

Document Type

APN

GranteE

Name

2000

G728045-00

01/28/2000

H562

1074

NOTICE LIEN

–

R

THORN AMERICAS INC

–

E

SFTC

It may be totally unrelated to the attorney family, but apart from being the subject of some civil rights lawsuits, and apparently from Wichita, this group isn’t operating in California under its own name, legally, that I can see:Notice the year:

BUSINESS

Renters Choice to Buy Thorn’s U.S. Unit for $900 Million

June 18, 1998 | From Bloomberg News

Renters Choice Inc. said Wednesday that it will buy British company Thorn’s U.S. rent-to-own business for $900 million in cash, combining the two largest chains of appliance and furniture rental centers that give customers an option to buy. Thorn Americas Inc., the leading U.S. rent-to-own company, with about 1,400 stores under the Rent-A-Center, {{see below}} Remco and U-Can Rent names, had revenue of about $890 million last year.

Earlier article I presume here:

THORN AMERICAS, INC.
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS

The nation’s largest rent-to-own company, Rent-A-Center, conducts its corporate operations in a new 120,000-square-foot facility in northeast Wichita. The company’s sale in 1987 to Thorn EMI, a British company, propelled Rent-A-Center to the number one slot in furniture, electronics and appliance rentals.

Established in 1973 when the first Sight and Sound rental store opened in Kansas City, Missouri, the Rent-A-Center name was adopted in 1980, the same year the company opened their 25th store. At the present time over 300 facilities are in operation.

Flexibility and expansion were the primary goals in designing the new $8 million headquarters, which allows for the expansion to 400 employees at this site.

Conference and training rooms on the first floor include one room with full multi-media capabilities for training and seminars. A large exercise area for employees is located in the partial basement with locker rooms, a padded floor for aerobics and a basketball court that can accommodate three racquetball courts….

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C1282901	08/05/1985	FORFEITED	C & H INVESTMENTS, INC., WHICH WILL DO BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA AS RENT-A-CENTER OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	** RESIGNED ON 10/30/1992
C1705691	04/16/1992	SURRENDER	RAC USA, INC. WHICH WILL DO BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA AS RENT-A-CENTER OFSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	THE PRENTICE-HALL CORPORATION SYSTEM, INC.
C1270453	03/05/1985	FORFEITED	RENT-A-CENTER OF AMERICA, INC.	** RESIGNED ON 10/16/1991
C2491181	12/23/2002	ACTIVE	RENT-A-CENTER WEST, INC.	C T CORPORATION SYSTEM
C1637191	03/16/1989	SURRENDER	RENT-A-CENTER, INC.	THE PRENTICE-HALL CORPORATION SYSTEM, INC.
C1969694	05/23/1996	ACTIVE	RENT-A-CENTER, INC.	C T CORPORATION SYSTEM

RENT-A-CENTER, Inc. shows as”  Incorporated in Delaware (i.e., hard to track), place of business, Plano, Texas, and Registered agent, C T Corporation System is in Los Angeles.

The top 3 (forfeited/surrender/forfeited) all show Kansas in their information; the 3/16/89 “Surrender” shows PLano Texas and Sacramento.  Corporation mill, much?

.

The “Family Connections” in this business appear to me to be the collegial collaborations with the family of the family law attorneys and affiliates, overall.

I do not have a “family” of data researchers (and certainly no copyeditors!) at this point, so am going to call it a day on calling out a few different places to look for information.  Added to the technology restraints is the fact that the best databases are not free to the public, usually.  one thing has become clear — neither CRIIS.com (as informative as it seems) nor the secretary of state’s business database, were really meant for the public to conduct any serious research on them.  Other states have better ones — but to be unable to tell at a glance WHEN a corporation was suspended, dissolved (or etc.) — and not being able to sort on any field — for example, for-profit/ not for profit is not showing on the incorporations, is troubling.   I realize one comes before the other (theoretically), but wouldn’t it be great if the OAG would actually talk to the SOS and share information – and a common identity number?

COLLABORATIVE LAW — Wikipedia article — shows the organization, and if one scrolls straight down to the bottom, it’s clear that this is an AFCC phenomenon and northern california originated (says the article):

History

This approach to conflict resolution was created in 1990 by a Minnesota family lawyer Stuart Webb,^[2] who saw that traditional litigation was not always helpful to parties and their families, and often was damaging.

I love reading group’s own histories of themselves.  A single attorney realized that divorce proceedings were a mess and “not always helpful.”

Since 1990, the Collaborative Law movement has spread rapidly to most of the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia. Per the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (“IACP”),^[3] more than 22,000 lawyers have been trained in Collaborative Law worldwide, with collaborative practitioners in at least 46 states. In some localities, Collaborative Law has become the predominant method for resolving divorce, co-habitation and other family disputes. More than 1,250 lawyers have completed their training in England where collaborative law was launched in 2003.

The growth of the collaborative process in England and Wales has been encouraged by both the judiciary and the family lawyers organisation, Resolution.^[4] In an address to London family lawyers in October 2009, the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice, Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore became the first member of the Supreme Court to publicly endorse Collaborative Law and called for its extension to other areas.^[5][6] Previously, in October 2008 the Hon. Mr Justice Coleridge, a High Court Judge of the Family Division, had promised that collaborative agreements would be fast tracked in the High Court of England and Wales.^[7]

[edit]Organizations

The primary global collaborative organisation is the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), which was founded in the late 1990’s by a group of northern California lawyers, psychotherapists, and financial planners. *  There are numerous practice groups (or PODS) of collaborative practitioners worldwide. An updated list of worldwide practice groups and their individual members can be located on the IACP website, http://www.collaborativepractice.com.

(if this were a cult, or insurgent political group, the word “cells” would apply  However, not to be so obvious, it’s “PODS”  Remind anyone of science fiction, yet?)

The American Bar Association (“ABA”), the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (“IAML”)^[8] all have Collaborative Law committees.

IACP is an interdisciplinary organisation whose members include lawyers, mental health professionals and financial specialists*

(*Hard to practice law outside the courts if you don’t know where the money is hidden in a situation, right?)

Did this group of northern California lawyers going international incorporate in northern california?

“ABOUT US” shows its origins in Minnesota:  allegedly with one person.

In the beginning, there was Stu…

The story of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals begins with the founder of the Collaborative movement: Stu Webb, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stu practiced traditional family law for more than twenty years when, during the late 1980s, he became interested in mediation and alternate dispute resolution.

No doubt this just rained down from the sky or sprung up from his clientele; I’m sure it didn’t have anything to do with who he was associating with, or any professional organization he might have been a member of (I won’t name names here…)

Stu’s challenge was to craft a way to bring the particular talent of lawyers as problem-solvers into a “settlement only” process for family law representation. What Stu envisioned was a model where lawyers could not, under any circumstances, go to court over any issue. Lacking court as a dispute-resolution option, lawyers would have no alternative but to rise to the challenge of solving the problem.

How is the problem of criminal activity by a partner handled?  Continuing to solve the problem, and do not report any child abuse?  If child abuse is found and reported, continue to “settle” while one parent goes somewhere else in an attempt to actually protect a child, and him/herself?

From this insight, Collaborative Law was born. In 1990, Stu announced to his clients and colleagues that he would no longer go to court;

Yes, it was conceived in his mind, in the form of insight, and gave birth, like many of his clients did, physically.  . . .

Collaborative Law catches on…

The Collaborative Law concept quickly spread beyond Minneapolis and arrived in California in 1993, when lawyers from San Mateo County learned of this new process from Minneapolis lawyers presenting the idea for the first time at a national conference. By early 1994, family lawyers in northern California had begun practicing Collaborative Law.

and . . .

…and then there was the American Institute of Collaborative Professionals

As Collaborative Practice in its many forms began to develop in several areas of the San Francisco Bay Area, it became clear that collaborative practitioners should work together in order to promote and improve the process. The concept was to share what they were learning, to explore the processes that worked and those that didn’t, and to share resources.

Pauline Tesler, Peggy Thompson, Nancy Ross, David Green and Karen Russell began to meet monthly in 1997. They were soon joined in 1998 by Gene Seltzer, Jennifer Jackson, Catherine Conner, Linda Seinturier and James Sheehy. Their vision was to form an umbrella networking organization to serve Collaborative Practice in its many forms.

(JENNIFER JACKSON had about a decade earlier started Kid’s Turn.  Now, she is a collaborative & mediation lawyer:

Under Divorce/Marriage Resources are some interesting ones:

centers, and, for a fee, child support calculations for your state.

KIDS TURN Kids’ Turn is renowned throughout the United States as a leader in divorce education for children and parents. The goal of Kids’ Turn programs is to help minimize the negative effects of divorce on children. The programs are educational (not therapy) focusing on skill building and positively affecting each family’s ability to manage the changes created by divorce or separation.

Children’s Rights Council The Children’s Rights Council is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting children of separation and divorce through advocacy and parenting education. Their site offers excellent, up-to-date research: legislative information, links to other sites and resources and a good book catalog. There is a California chapter.

{{YEP, there sure is — right here!

Organization Name	Registration Number	Record Type	Registration Status	City	State	Registration Type	Record Type
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA (THE CALIFORNIA CHAPTER OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON, D.C.)		Charity	Not Registered	SACRAMENTO	CA	Charity Registration	Charity
1

wonder how long it’s been operating in California . . . .let me look:

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C1862355	06/29/1993	DISSOLVED	CHILDREN’S RIGHTS COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA (THE CALIFORNIA CHAPTER OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON, D.C.)	PATRICIA GEHLEN

WOW — since 1993, and NEVER REGISTERED YET!  Ms. Jackson, please update your website as to both KT and the CRC, please!

1. LaDads Forum – LaDads

   ladads.info/modules/newbb/report.php?forum=2… – Cached

   Patricia Gehlen, Coordinator CRCCalif@aol.com. Phone: 916-635-2590 voice and fax 5.8CRC of California Sacramento Chapter Paul Stroub, President …

1. Resources Around the Country

   http://www.fathersrightsne.org/ResourceList.htm – Cached

   Children’s Rights Council Patricia Gehlen, Coordinator P. O. Box 163801. Sacramento, CA 95816-9081 916-635-2590 voice and fax CRCCalif@aol.com …

UCDavis INTERNSHIP AND CAREER CENTER lists possibility of interning with this group, alphabetical opportunities

16. Catholic Social Service of Sacramento – Immigration Program
17. Children’s Rights Council of California
18. Citizens Commission on Human Rights
19. Coalition of Concerned Legal Professinals

When I click on #17, here, it reads:

Address: 915 L Street, Suite C-282
City: Sacramento State: CA Zip: 958143700

Contact Person: Patricia Gehlen
Contact’s Position: Calif State Coordinator
Phone: 9166352590
Email: crccalif@aol.com
Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Descriptions: Promotes healthy development of children of separated parents. Encourages joint custody, shared financial responsibility, liberalized visitation, access to school and medical records, and making the present mediation/counseling system accountable. Discourages the use of the legal system as a tool of revenge. Legislative advocacy, community awareness, newsletter, and discount on resource materials. Monthly information and support meetings, and legal clinics. Keywords: youth

(Address shows up   at a Police Chief’s Association 2011 conference roo?)

California College & University Police Chiefs Association   {{anyone can find this one registered as a nonprofit, comment-me….}}

Attn: CCUPCA Conference 915 L Street C#282 Sacramento, CA 95814

 

Clearly it’s a going concern, and I’d say a valuable one:

The California College and University Police Chiefs Association (CCUPCA), was founded in 1982 to represent and promote the interests of safety and security in the public and private institutions of higher education throughout California.

The non-profit Association is dedicated to promoting and advancing the professional development of higher educational campus safety by acting as a focal point for the exchange of professional ideas and information, and by hosting conferences and training classes.

CCUPCA is committed to strengthening the political voice of higher educational campus safety by working with legislators on issues which affect the safety of the students, faculty, and staff of California’s colleges and universities.

CCUPCA Members

CCUPCA consists of police chiefs from over 75 colleges and universities in California. Our current members are listed below.

Membership Fees for each level of membership:

• Institutional Membership $100.00
• Associate Membership $50.00
• Corporate Membership $200.00

 

Apparently this vibrant organization does not exist as a corporation or a nonprofit in California.  I also looked (checking spelling, using partial words, etc.) in NCCSDataweb and 990 finder.  There are Police associations, but not that I can see with the words “College” or “Universities” in them.  Perhaps someone can illuminate me.

 

ORGANIZATION NAME	STATE	YEAR	TOTAL ASSETS	FORM	PAGES	EIN
California Police Chiefs Association	CA	2010	$633,314	990O	23	23-707255

Fresno Police Chiefs Foundation

CA

2009

$45,726

990EZ

16

41-2029665

L A County Police Chiefs Assc

CA

2005

$24,638

990O

11

81-0555130

San Diego Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association

CA

2010

$14,452

990EO

5

33-0680289

(990 finder, searching the words “police chiefs” in California comes up with four different organizations / EINs.  The same search on the attorney general’s site shows nothing (results, zero), at the Secretary of STate site seems to show these four, (statewide + 3 cities’ worth) plus some predecessors:

Entity Number	Date Filed	Status	Entity Name	Agent for Service of Process
C0132395	02/02/1929	SUSPENDED	CALIFORNIA POLICE CHIEFS AND SHERRIFFS ASS’N
C0511549	07/01/1966	ACTIVE	CALIFORNIA POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION, INC.	LESLIE JOHNSON MCGILL
C2675740	09/08/2004	SUSPENDED	CALIFORNIA TRIBAL POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION, INC.	MICHAEL B MEESE
C2166436	06/14/1999	ACTIVE	LOS ANGELES COUNTY POLICE CHIEF’S ASSOCIATION	ELIZABETH HERNANDEZ
C3166969	10/24/2008	ACTIVE	MANTECA POLICE CHIEF’S FOUNDATION	DAVID BRICKER
C3279969	02/18/2010	ACTIVE	MARIN COUNTY POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION	ERIC STERNBERGER, ESQ.
C1671103	08/20/1990	ACTIVE	NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE, INC.	CORPORATE CREATIONS NETWORK INC.
C1923985	09/01/1995	ACTIVE	SAN DIEGO POLICE CHIEF’S AND SHERIFF’S ASSOCIATION	PAT SPRECCO
C2404755	02/27/2002	ACTIVE	THE FRESNO POLICE CHIEF’S FOUNDATION	DONALD HENRY GROSS

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the attorney Ms. Jackson’s website:

Plus Smart Marriages, obviously something related to CFDA 93.086 (fatherhood/marriage grantee type projects):

Smart Marriages “… all couples disagree about all the same basic issues – money, kids, sex, housework, in-laws and leisure time.The difference between successful and unsuccessful couples is how they handle their differences. Successful couples disagree in a way that makes their relationship stronger. They also have other skills and attitudes which help them build long-term happiness and satisfaction. The good news is that anyone can learn to do it better and smarter. . .”

There is no question that the founders of Kids’ Turn know how to propagate their nonprofits.  FUNNY, HOW WHEN THEY GET TOGETHER, LATER, THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER NONPROFIT, MOVEMENT, OR CONCEPT BEING “BORN.”  This would be something like, when couples repeatedly have sex together, showing up surprised that one day, about 9 months later, a baby will be born.  I mean, what that’s what the associations enable — more nonprofit births.  So let’s get honest and say it was intentional — and not some sort of awesome wonderful miraculous (virgin) birth of the latest nonprofit network whose incorporators were lawyers and/or judges with a few social workers in there as well, OK?

While Collaborative Law, here, began with a MN family lawyer, in his mind — it says that “kids’ Turn began in court” (i.e., in the mind of a family law judge, and helped by Jennifer Jackson, here….)  From the KT site:

The idea for Kids’ Turn began in court. While presiding over the family law department of the domestic relations court in the late 80’s, Judge Ina Levin Gyemant noted that while lawyers filed motions and parents sought orders regarding custody, visitation and other disputes, children and their needs were almost completely ignored. Mediation services were mandated for parents in California at the time, but no educational program was available for children, who are often the people most vulnerable and confused during parental separation.

In 1988, Kids’ Turn was created. With the foresight and vision of renowned San Francisco mediator, Jeanne Ames, Family Law Judge, The Hon. Ina Gyemant, psychiatrist, John Sikorski, and attorneys Ann Van Balen and Jennifer Jackson, Kids’ Turn started as a nonprofit agency in order to offer direct educational services to children and their parents who are undergoing separation or divorce. Located in San Francisco, Kids’ Turn now serves six Bay Area counties: Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara.

In the early 90′s, the Kids’ Turn board developed a framework for sharing the curriculum and for licensing affiliates.

Initially called the American Institute of Collaborative Professionals (AICP), the group’s activities included local networking meetings, a newsletter meant to be a voice for the collaborative movement (now known as The Collaborative Review) and an annual networking forum. AICP was incorporated in 1999 as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation.

… and now we are International

In May of 1999, the first annual AICP networking forum was held in Oakland, California. The following year, a meeting was held in Chicago to discuss the state of Collaborative legal practice across the country. The nearly 50 practitioners who attended this meeting agreed that AICP should serve as the umbrella organization for our rapidly-growing movement. At the same time, they recognized that since Collaborative Practice was also developing exponentially across Canada, the organization needed a broader, more inclusive name and mission. Thus the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals was born in late 2000, officially changing its name in 2001.

{{Note:  It’s so disconcerting to continually hear about corporations, which are made by people by deliberately filing with their secretaries of state — as things which are passively “born.”  I guess it’s just that “detachment” thing — we are to believe these things had a life of their own, and were not pushed, really, by profesisonals.  Yes, they’re narrating who did what, but always this “was born” or “founded” or “launched” [i.e. the feminine or the masculine attributions] keep showing up when the announcement is about each bouncing new baby nonprofit or for-profit that shows up — as though this were something new in the world, when in fact that’s primarily what Family Lawyers seem to be in the business of doing — collaborating, associating, publishing, and incorporating.}} ANyhow, here it is, in California showing a Phoenix, Arizona address also:

Entity Name:	THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONALS
Entity Number:	C2133860
Date Filed:	02/05/1999
Status:	ACTIVE
Jurisdiction:	CALIFORNIA
Entity Address:	11811 N TATUM BLVD STE 1000
Entity City, State, Zip:	PHOENIX AZ 85028
Agent for Service of Process:	DONNA BECK WEAVER
Agent Address:	520 BROADWAY STE 350
Agent City, State, Zip:	SANTA MONICA CA 90401

The Collaborative Review has been published continuously since May, 1999. The work begun by initial editors Jennifer Jackson and Pauline Tesler has grown into an in-depth, scholarly publication with contributors from around the world. The 2nd annual IACP Networking Forum took place in October 2001, again in Oakland, California with over 100 practitioners gathering from across the United States, Canada and Switzerland. The scope of the annual forum has gradually expanded to include education, inspiration, dialogue, and opportunities for member feedback on important IACP initiatives. In 2009, IACP celebrated its 10th Anniversary Networking and Educational Forum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with nearly 600 attendees from across the globe.

I think it funny, the fascination with hooking up with the UK and other countries.  Somewhere in our distant United States history, declaration was made of independence from the same country, and institution of a different form of government which would disable tyranny, particularly of religion.  It also resisted the idea of colonizing others through taxes, and (well, etc.).   Here, all these tax-exempt professional organizations — run by people whose professionas are often quite profitable to start with — are readying themselves to catch the fallout from the family courts ,which have been apparently bankrupted by budget cuts – and not years of management by rapidly expanding administrative offices of the courts, changing the cultures of custody, and throwing family divorce business to the local nonprofit, whichever one is closest crony to who assigns the county contracts. .  . .

Each new nonprofit formed is added to the professional’s website as a gold star indicating their vast experience and competence.  While I’m not questioning Ms. Jackson’s, here’s hers:

Jennifer believes that a lawyer must be actively involved in her professional community, and that life is about making a difference. Jennifer is one of the founders of Kids’ Turn, a program for separating families begun in San Francisco which has expanded exponentially in size and in quality of service to children and families. She is one of the founders of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and served for eight years as co-editor of its journal, The Collaborative Review. She has had leadership roles in her professional organizations at local, state national and international levels, and is a past president of the Northern California chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

I imagine having millionaire donors, grants, court-connections, and founders with international connections would probably help anything expand exponentially.  But of course it did so mostly because it was just such a great idea . . . . . Ask the parents in Lackawanna County, PA (who are being subjected to a Kids Turn lookalike, Kids’ First — through their courts — how they feel about where their money is going, and the coursework.

I know it must be a little over-stimulating to be birthing and conceiving (well, in reverse order) and associating to propagate some more great ideas, primarily along the lines of AFCC & CRC (no parental alienation!) – – but I think it’s time to ask our professionals to take some trips back to the home area and incorporate properly, report their charitable organization with the OAG — not just press releases and such — and file tax returns promptly and properly with the first attempt, too!  I mean, if ALameda County Family Justice Center can’t get it straight, how much really can the lawbreaking individuals that created the clientele they serve (i.e. victims) to?