Legally Kidnapped A judge to order Illinois reforms for child services
February 20, 2015 § Leave a comment
Legally Kidnapped
Rampant medication use found among L.A. County foster, delinquent kids
Raising our children on fear
ACLU asks judge to order Illinois reforms for child services
Rauner faces pressure from ACLU to overhaul child services
Orphan Trains were precursor to child foster system
Woman stabbed to death by foster child ‘very sweet’, inquiry hears
Michael Beer Indicted On 1st Degree Murder Charge In Death Of Foster Child Trysten Adams
Connecticut Schools Pin Down and Restrain “Staggering” Number of Kids
Woman stabbed to death by her foster child ‘wanted to help kids’
$558 per hour paid out in child-welfare case
Rampant medication use found among L.A. County foster, delinquent kids
Posted: 17 Feb 2015 04:50 AM PST
Rampant medication use found among L.A. County foster, delinquent kids
Los Angeles County officials are allowing the use of powerful psychiatric drugs on far more children in the juvenile delinquency and foster care systems than they had previously acknowledged, according to data obtained by The Times through a Public Records Act request.
Raising our children on fear
Posted: 17 Feb 2015 04:42 AM PST
Raising our children on fear
We all want what is best for our children. We want them to be happy and successful, and we want to protect them from harm. But what if we are protecting them from extremely remote threats while ignoring the things that most endanger their well-being?
ACLU asks judge to order Illinois reforms for child services
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 09:33 PM PST
ACLU asks judge to order Illinois reforms for child services
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois has asked a federal judge to order the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to start enacting court-ordered reforms.
Rauner faces pressure from ACLU to overhaul child services
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 09:00 PM PST
Rauner faces pressure from ACLU to overhaul child services
First-term Gov. Bruce Rauner has come under increasing pressure to overhaul Illinois’ troubled child welfare system after a leading civil rights group asked for quick federal court action over “dangerously inadequate” care and services.
Orphan Trains were precursor to child foster system
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 08:34 PM PST
Orphan Trains were precursor to child foster system
An estimated 250,000 orphaned, abandoned and homeless children were placed with families throughout the United States and Canada during the Orphan Train Movement from 1854 to 1929. The majority of these children lived in New York City and found themselves destitute for a number of reasons.
Woman stabbed to death by foster child ‘very sweet’, inquiry hears
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 09:07 PM PST
Woman stabbed to death by foster child ‘very sweet’, inquiry hears
A woman killed by her 13-year-old foster child was a kind and caring person who had an affinity with children, her husband has told an inquiry.
Foster carer killing: Inquiry opens into Dawn McKenzie death
Michael Beer Indicted On 1st Degree Murder Charge In Death Of Foster Child Trysten Adams
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 08:18 PM PST
Michael Beer Indicted On 1st Degree Murder Charge In Death Of Foster Child Trysten Adams
48-year-old Michael Beer of Port St. Lucie has been indicted on 1st degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges following the death of his 2-year-old foster child, Trysten Adams, court records show.
Connecticut Schools Pin Down and Restrain “Staggering” Number of Kids
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 09:23 AM PST
Connecticut Schools Pin Down and Restrain “Staggering” Number of Kids
Connecticut public schools are far too quick to restrain or isolate unruly children against their will, leaving hundreds with injuries and many others with unmet educational needs, a state report released last week found.
Woman stabbed to death by her foster child ‘wanted to help kids’
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 08:23 AM PST
Woman stabbed to death by her foster child ‘wanted to help kids’
A woman killed by her 13-year-old foster child was a kind and caring person who had an affinity with children, her husband has told an inquiry.
$558 per hour paid out in child-welfare case
Posted: 16 Feb 2015 08:04 AM PST
$558 per hour paid out in child-welfare case
A state agency is bypassing state attorneys and paying a private law firm $558 an hour in an aggressive effort to try to end court oversight of Michigan’s child-welfare system.
Holding Family Law Judges Accountable on reversible error in appellate court on statutory law.
March 12, 2014 § Leave a comment
Holding Family Law Judges Accountable
Written by: Rob
Guess what group is among top of those showing contempt of court?
Family Law Judges!
Family law courts in the United States are a disgusting and abusive mess. While we can’t blame it all on the judges as many problems are caused by lying litigants, the judges are ultimately responsible for most of the problems. They should be upholding the law, ensuring that people’s rights are not violated, and requiring reasonable proof of allegations before they are acted upon. But in the United States today, that’s not the function of family law judges.
Family Law Judges Rubber-Stamp Civil Rights Abuses
Today’s family law judges are generally rubber stamps for civil rights abuses. It is routine for due process to be violated. Unequal protection by the law is the norm. The judges generally think this is all OK because family law courts aren’t criminal courts.
Judges complain they don’t have enough time to handle the numerous cases they have. They complain about budget cuts. They complain about needless litigation. Whose fault is all of that? They should look themselves in their mirrors as they have created the problems that have lead to the family law courts being overwhelmed with destructive litigation.
Family Law Courts Reward Criminals, Punish Victims
For starters, their failure to punish perjury results in massive increases in court hearings. It also results in far more complicated cases in which innocent parties who are being truthful are abused by lying litigants with the assistance of incompetent judges. And all of this adds up to spiraling legal costs which often don’t end until after all of the marital assets are depleted.
The judges who don’t punish perjury are often the same incompetent judges who think they can tell the truth without reading court filings and without strong evidentiary standards. Such judges are enablers and co-conspirators of government abuse against honest people. They may argue that they “don’t have time to punish perjury”, but their arguments are invalid. Failure to punish perjury guarantees there will be a lot more of it and that injustices, countless unwarranted court hearings, and abuse of innocent children and parents will be the norm. Failure to punish perjury means the load on the family court system is higher than it would have been if perjury was punished all the way along.
Because incompetent judges reward perjury, dishonest litigants quickly learn that whenever they are unhappy, all they have to do is make up a new set of lies and tell it to the judge who, in his or her “exercising extreme caution” will likely violate the US Constitution, throw due process out the window, and strip those falsely accused by family court liars of their rights.
Typical Family Law Abuses Include “Kick Out” Orders
The victims often don’t even know destruction is coming until after they are served with papers kicking them out of their homes and banning them from seeing their children. Their “due process” consists of being persecuted and severely harmed prior to a chance to defend themselves from false accusations, often months and sometimes years later. And those are the ones who can afford attorneys — many others can’t and have their civil rights totally trampled as the lying ex, her or his attorney, and the incompetent judge skewer people who are already badly harmed and weakened by severe financial and psychological damage caused by the aggression, dishonesty, and lawlessness shown towards them.
Courts Ban Parents From Seeing Children Without Due Process
What rights do people lose because of incompetent judges? They usually lose their access to their children and most of their income for “child support” payments calculated with zero custody time based upon false accusations. Add to those falsely obtained child support payments the horrendously expensive supervised visitations that can cost more than a person makes per month, often at $30 to $100 (or more!) per hour, to be watched like a hawk by strangers while they are with their children. This can last for months or years, bankrupting these victims and eventually meaning they can no longer afford to see their children. Then the courts are likely to rule that they will continue to have zero custody because they didn’t care enough to see their children!
Courts Encourage Financial Victimization by Aggressor Spouses
It’s also common to be kicked out of one’s home with no advance notice. As a result, one may lose all of his or her property for months or years or forever. When this is brought up in court, the judges whine about how they can’t talk about property issues until the end of the divorce case. By then, likely years later, much or all of the property will have been lost, destroyed, sold, and stolen — hmm, it was all already stolen with help of the court — stolen yet again. All of this can’t really be proven because the liar who requested the court to abuse his or her ex didn’t document what the property was, the victim didn’t have a chance to do so, either, and the court will seldom if ever require such documentation and seldom if ever gets neutral third parties to create it. Even if they did, they would provide ample time for the liar to make property disappear prior to a neutral third party showing up to photograph or videotape the property.
Further compounding the damage, the debt on the home one can no longer enter or approach and property which one can no longer have is often ordered to be paid for by the victim of family law courts. The lying ex will be living in it, possibly with the person with whom he or she had an affair. But the victim will be paying for 50% or more of it, sometimes even 100%.
How to Report Bad Family Law Judges
None of this is going to change unless the courts and specifically the judges are held accountable for their incompetent and abusive actions.
How are we, the victims of family law courts, supposed to hold judges accountable?
Generally speaking, except for extreme abuses, it does not appear that state judicial boards take most complaints seriously. However, if they receive massive quantities of detailed complaints about a judge, perhaps they will take note.
You can fill out surveys and post comments about judges across the US at Courthouse Forum.
You can find similarly abused parties in your area and protest the court. Picket it. Be sure to put the name of the abusive judge on big signs when you picket the courthouse. Although death threats may seem appropriate, don’t use them because you might end up with local law enforcement causing even more trouble for you.
Contact local media and explain to them how abusive and irresponsible a judge is being. You might actually get an article written about it, especially if there are many people being abused by the judge. For example, see the Sacramento News & Review article Down by law: Beaten by the system, four fearless Sacramentans coulda been contenders.
Campaign Against Bad Family Law Judges
Most judges at some point have to run for re-election. You can campaign against them. Rally together with people who have been abused to hold them accountable and ensure they are not re-elected. Expose their dirty laundry during the election. Even if it does not affect that particular election, if enough of this is done consistently, it will probably result in candidates in future elections focusing on compliance with US law, punishment of perjury and contempt of court, and use of evidentiary standards of at least “clear and convincing evidence” before people’s rights are stripped away.
It’s up to those abused by the courts to force change. That’s because politicians don’t care and most people have no clue how evil the family law courts in this country have become. They won’t find out until they end up in them, and that’s too late to do much to force change as then they are in the middle of a war that will likely destroy their lives.
Further Reading
A Judge’s View of “Best Interests of the Children”
Cole Stuart’s Review of Baskerville’s “Taken Into Custody”
Commissioner IRWIN H. JOSEPH Orders NO EVIDENCE ALLOWED
More News on Santa Cruz County Family Law Courts and despicable Commissioner Irwin H. Joseph
The appearance of abuse in Family Courts System Expensive, Inefficient And Abusive to children ,,,,
March 10, 2014 § 1 Comment
Opinion: Family Court System Expensive, Inefficient And Abusive
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On Feb. 26, there was a historic vote at the state Capitol in which family court Judge Leslie Olear was only narrowly reappointed by the legislature. This vote came after public protests which gained media attention and after legislators were called into action to address the serious problems in our state’s family courts. After this vote, some members of the legal community understandably rushed to defend Judge Olear, claiming that the votes against her were politically motivated and only in response to complaints being expressed by a “small number of family court critics.” This is simply not the case.
This vote came after scores of parents, adult children of divorce, grandparents, attorneys and business executives testified until the early morning hours in front of a task force in January, after more than 630 parents signed a petition demanding legislative reforms of the family court’s broken guardian ad litem (GAL) system, and after legislators were inundated with thousands of complaints about our family courts from parents, as consumers of the family court system’s services.
In an op-ed piece submitted to the Law Tribune, Kimberly Knox, president of the Connecticut Bar Association, fell back on well-worn industry rhetoric trying to blame the actual victims in this scenario — the thousands of parents and families who have been financially devastated and unfairly denied access to their children solely due the problems in our family courts. The vote on Feb. 26 was not about a judge and what was in her best interests. The vote was about parents, children, families, citizens and taxpayers and what is in our best interests. The protests and the vote reflected how expensive, ineffective, abusive and damaging our family courts have become.
Unfortunately, Olear did not come before the legislature with a stellar record. In 2011, the state Supreme Court overturned a custody case ruling made by Olear where Chief Justice Chase Rogers expressed strong constitutional concerns. The opinions of the family law attorneys who testified in favor of Olear have a vested interest in doing so. The question should be asked how many parents and adult children of divorce testified – those impacted by the judge’s rulings. It is quite unfortunate that these voices and opinions are seldom solicited or heard.
What legislators heard (and responded to) were complaints about children being arbitrarily separated from their parents and parents forced to pay for supervised visitations to see them. Parents being jailed for not being able to pay outlandish GAL fees. Parents being jailed for not being able to pay outlandish GAL feesThis same scenario has become the operational norm in our family courts, not one only associated with a small number of “high-conflict cases.”
The majority of the family courts’ time is consumed by the growing number of 3,400 or so custody cases it hears. It is the underlying politics and misguided policies of the family court itself which created this crisis – and one which is harming parents, children and families.
The vote signaled that citizens are no longer tolerating the status quo and expecting far better of our legislature and judiciary. It reflects a historic shift in attitudes and approaches towards family law happening not just here in Connecticut, but nationally and internationally as well. Connecticut is characteristically late to the game.
Many states have already enacted sweeping changes in their family laws and made shared parenting a standard. Maine reformed its GAL system last summer, following states such as Maryland, which eliminated GAL immunity. The chief justice of New York State and a task force in Delaware both proposed opening their family courts in order to “eliminate the atmosphere of corruption.” The chief justice of Canada called the country’s family courts “beyond the point of simple repair” and a Royal Commission is examining ways to replace their system with “something else.”
Connecticut’s family courts are in a state of operational dysfunction solely due to a self-inflicted legal monstrosity it created and of epic proportions. We have the largest Practice Book in the country, as our judiciary has essentially been allowed to write self-serving legislation.
None of the people in the fast growing family court reform movement deny that custody cases can be difficult. This is not the issue. The issue is that in this state, we have allowed a very small group of family law attorneys and GALs to directly and adversely impact family court operations in a manner designed to personally enrich them at the expense of parents and families. This has created a situation where 85 percent of the cases before the court involve a pro se party, as no one can afford the agenda being promoted by these individuals. To be clear, this group does not represent mainstream legal thought in this state and many attorneys are increasingly speaking out about this.
Our state’s GALs are almost exclusively family law attorneys who enjoy complete immunity and been granted quasi-judicial authority – this is not common elsewhere in the country. Our GALs are not held to any standard of performance or excellence and they are not licensed or monitored. They are allowed to bill with impunity with the expected results. GALs in this state legally trump a parent’s right to be a parent as soon as they are assigned to case. These individuals are allowed to make life-altering decisions directly impacting children and families as judges routinely outsource their judicial authority to them – for the entire life of a case and child. This is misguided, unethical and simply wrong.
Too many of our judges operate with the misguided belief that parents are to blame and inherently flawed, invalid, and incapable of parenting solely because they have dared to approach the Court for help or have a dispute with the other parent. Instead of making effective rulings, even simple cases are allowed to drag on for months and years as children and families suffer and parents are literally bankrupted in process. Concerns for their clients expressed to the family court by well-meaning attorneys and professionals, fall of deaf ears as these people are shut out of the system.
Along with many others, I attended and watched the recent hearings of a task force assigned to study the costs of custody cases. Ms. Knox did not. This task force failed its legislative mandate as it was chaired by two “full-time GALs” who blocked every effort by other task force members to collect and analyze meaningful financial cost and operational metrics data related to custody cases. This may explain why many legislators have little faith in what the task force ultimately recommended.
In summary, the legal industry and judiciary need to recognize that the world has changed. As with many other movements, social media has brought together thousands of parents, progressive lawyers, former judges, concerned mental health professionals, business executives and legislators on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, uniting us in a common cause. A cause which cuts across all political lines, all social and economic classes, all genders and race classifications.
We have three branches of government because when one of these branches goes astray and operates in a manner which violates the Constitution and ignores basic civil and due process rights, the other two must step in to take correction action. Having no other recourse, citizens have properly turned to the legislature and the legislature is responding – which mirrors what has happened in many other states.
Parents who have suffered for years due to the problems in our family courts are the actual experts and our voices must be heard – not just those of the legal industry. This is the very best way to run a government and court system – for the people, of the people, and by the people.
Peter T. Szymonik is a portfolio manager at UnitedHealthcare, where he works as a liaison between business technology executives and the legal and compliance teams. He is a former member of the executive board at Cummings & Lockwood and has served as the state chair of the Council of Litigation Management. He is also the father of two young sons and has been working with state legislators on family court reform for many years.
The Appearance that Pam L. office has lots of shadows and they run deep into the pockets of Title IV monies and Massive GREED from the state actors.
March 5, 2016 § Leave a comment
The Herald-Review (Decatur IL, USA)
21 February 1999
Former State Resident Given Formal Apology by Illinois Division of Child Support Enforcement.
by Amanda Wilson
The Illinois State Supreme Court has ordered Guy Hastings, Director of Child Support Enforcement, to send a formal letter of apology to a former Illinois state resident who was forced to pay $9000 more in support than ordered. Paul Laird, now a resident of Washington state and a former resident of Strasburg, IL, has said he will make a written statement in a few days. The Court also ordered DCSE to pay him almost $150,000 in punitive damages.
The pertinent facts are not in dispute. Mr. Laird was ordered to pay $400/mo in child support in 1985. Kankakee County records indicate Mr. Laird had voluntarily overpaid his account by May, 1991. That is when his troubles started.
Mr. Laird was forced to take a medical leave of absence due to Multiple Sclerosis. He presented Illinois DCSE doctor statements and 7 requests for temporary reduction from November 1991 through May, 1993. He was never answered by Illinois DCSE and they now admit that he did send the request and that those requests were ignored. They also admit Mr. Laird never missed a payment.
A suit was filed by DCSE in November, 1993 to modify the child support award. Mr. Laird was never notified of this hearing. The department received a default judgment increasing the support amount to $800. DCSE admits Mr. Laird was never notified of the new amount.
The amount was reduced in 1996 back to the original $400 figure. DCSE CONTINUED to count the extra $400 from November 1993 to October, 1996 as child support arrears. They garnished his wages, filed liens against him, reported him to CREDIT BUREAUS and continue collection thought taking his IRS refunds. Mr. Laird filed suit in 1996 against DCSE and specific employees within that agency. The Appellate Court awarded him almost $60,000 in January, 1998. That judgment has been paid.
The State’s Attorney of Champaign County filed charges of malfesciance of office against three DCSE employees – Karen Breaker, Linda Richardson, and Barbara McCloud. Breaker and Richardson were also tried on perjury, falsifiction of records, and theft. McCloud was found not guilty in November, 1998. Breaker plead guilty to the charge of perjury and falsification in a plea bargain. Ms. Richardson was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to 18 months in prison. All three lost their jobs with
Illinois DCSE.
This is only the first of 8 cases against the Champaign office. In the most recent case a custodial mother received child support payments 9 months after the father made payments through the court. The father in this case was prosecuted for non-payment and was found not guilty when he presented receipts and cancelled checks. A check by the Auditor’s office revealed a practice by the Champaign office of putting support checks in a hidden fund to draw interest for the state. That case has been merged with 7 others in a class action lawsuit. It is scheduled to be heard in April, 2000.
Governor Ryan and his cabinet were unavailable for comment. This reporter has verified that the governor urged DCSE to settle this case out-of-court and that Mr. Hastings refused. DCSE director Hastings also had no comment.
Because the state was found to have acted fraudulently in his case, the Supreme Court had to rule on punitive damages.