Federal appeals court judges question dismissal of R.I. child advocate’s lawsuit
01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, January 6, 2010
By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Writer
BOSTON — A federal appeals court panel that includes retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter appeared perplexed Tuesday by the dismissal of a lawsuit that accuses the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families of widespread abuse and neglect of children in state foster care.
Rhode Island Child Advocate Jametta O. Alston and the New York-based advocacy group Children’s Rights asked the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Senior U.S. District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux’s dismissal of the lawsuit alleging the system was underfunded, understaffed and mismanaged, and that children were being molested, beaten and shuffled from home to home while in state foster care. They argued that Lagueux had used a law intended to guarantee children access to the federal courts instead to bar them from seeking justice.
The DCYF countered that Lagueux was correct in finding that the children’s interests were already being served in state Family Court, where guardians had been appointed to handle each child’s case.
“The District Court judge did find these … children have the ability to have their voices heard,” Asst. Attorney General Brenda D. Baum said.
But those arguments did not sit well with the appeals court judges. Lagueux’s ruling seemed to chronicle years of mistreatment of children in state care, only to reject the three “next friends” chosen to represent the children in bringing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, noted Senior Judge Norman H. Stahl.
Didn’t Lagueux have the duty to then name appropriate people to take on the children’s federal case? Stahl asked. A minor may only bring suit when represented by a “next friend” or guardian appointed by the court. By dismissing the case, the judge is essentially saying “what is going on is good enough?” Stahl said.
Souter echoed that reasoning. “He’s throwing up his hands and throwing the case out,” said Souter, who returned to the appeals court for the first time since his retirement.
The record, Baum said, is thick with Family Court documents that show active engagement in the children’s cases. Souter replied that Family Court involvement is not in question. What is, he said, is whether “insufficient things are being done to protect children.”
Alston’s case may target the DCYF, Baum said, but Family Court is also involved in decision making. “It can’t be limited to them.”
The case, Souter said, boils down to whether the Family Court and the DCYF are doing the best they can. Alston is claiming, he said, that the next friends are needed because the system “does not provide minimum things that need to be provided.”
Susan Lambiase, associate director of Children’s Rights, argued that the Family Court guardians were not appropriate to represent the children in federal court because they were part of the system the suit seeks to overhaul.
She asked the appeals court to develop a test to gauge whether a next friend is qualified not on how close he or she is to the child, but on whether the person has a “good-faith interest in seeking justice” on a child’s behalf.
“[The next friends] are not ideologues,” Lambiase said. “They are here on behalf of the children.”
Alston and Children’s Rights filed the suit in 2007 on behalf of the 3,000 children in state custody following the death of T.J. Wright, a Woonsocket toddler beaten to death by his aunt and her boyfriend while in DCYF care. The suit initially named 10 children as plaintiffs and sought class-action status, saying their civil rights were being violated.
Alston appointed “next friends” to represent the children, including one child’s former foster mother, another’s past school psychologist and a Brown University professor who specializes in child maltreatment.
Lagueux dismissed the suit, saying Alston had no authority to proceed because the children were already under state Family Court jurisdiction. The three “next friends,” he said, had limited or nonexistent relationships with the children.
Alston wept after Tuesday’s arguments. “This is the first time I’ve heard judges understand the plight of children in their care,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen how facts and justice can blend.”
Jim Lee, chief of the attorney general’s civil division, was more circumspect. “I think they see it as a serious case, and they’re going to give it serious consideration.” He was accompanied by Kevin Aucoin, chief counsel of the DCYF.
kmulvane@projo.com
http://www.projo.com/news/content/ADVOCATE_APPEAL_01-06-10_S7H0RRK_v8.3a64771.html
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Depositions, CISD records, sworn statements, & other Certified/Certifiable evidence revealed a home with an AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT FELON, wrist CUTTING, daily VIOLENCE, runaway teen, destruction, criminals, drug abuse (METH, COCAINE, XANAX, OXYCOTIN, etc), frequent police visits & a SEARCH WARRANT confiscated drug paraphernalia, probation violations, multiple sex partners, suspensions for drugs & violence, burglary, vandalism, shootings, disease, fighting, screaming, profanity, pornography (incl BEASTIALITY), boys/men sleeping over, my daughter sleeping at men’s homes, being taught obscene language & gestures, & so much more.
ReplyDeleteAggravated perjury, forged letters, falsified evidence, unsupported, inconsistent, & unchallenged false accusations, by the mother, CPS, et al., outweighed exhaustive undisputed facts, certified evidence, sworn statements, & objective/testable/verifiable documentation, disproving the accusations, & proving neglect/ abuse by the mother.
With the knowledge &/or support of Dr Edward G Silverman, Lynn T Coleman, Theresa Burbank, & Elaine Baggerley, the mother has so thwarted my daughter’s education that, in Kindergarten, at 6½ y/o, she is below District Guidelines.
At 4 y/o my daughter could count to 29, count to 100 by tens, write her name, recognize most letters, tie her shoes, play checkers, had her own computer with games, play card games, & much more.
At 6+ years old, she could do none of those, & now she requires special attention, & is a behavioral problem.
Well known to Dr Edward G Silverman, Lynn Coleman, & Theresa Burbank, the mother provided & reared her young children on GRAPHICALLY SEXUALLY VIOLENT entertainment & since infancy has repeatedly exposed my daughter to the same.
Well known to Dr Edward G Silverman, Theresa Burbank, Lynn Coleman, & several Montgomery County Courts & Juvenile Probation, the mother’s other children became violent, drug abusing criminals, who attended alternative high schools & exposed my daughter to drugs & diseases.
On their first meeting, Elaine Baggerley of CPS began diagnosing my daughter as ADHD, & more.
20 months of Theresa Burbank’s therapy & the mother’s sole parenting have resulted in my daughter being referred to a psychiatrist.
http://local.yahoo.com/info-19096883-teresa-burbank-pc-conroe
The mother’s family & friends have threatened me at my home & away, & my property has been vandalized.
I have received harassing, obscene, & middle of the night phone calls.
The well paid, well insured mother has lived rent & utilities free for 3½ years, but claims to be deep in debt from undisclosed medical expenses.
The mother has committed tax, CHIPs, Medicaid, & insurance fraud at least since 2003.
I have neither a history of, nor is there any evidence that I have ever been violent, destructive, abusive, hostile, etc.
My debt exceeds twice my gross annual income & is increasing.
Fees & expenses have exceeded 4 times my gross annual income & are increasing.
I have recorded nearly every contact with the mother, CPS, ad litem, & many others.
I will be presenting this case to the Texas: Bar, Commission on Judicial Conduct, Attorneys General, Appellate Courts, Supreme Court, Board of Examiners of Psychologists, TDFPS, etc. & will include:
medical & doctors records of years of mistreatment
CPS reports of violence, drugs, medical mistreatment, etc
psychological evaluations include lying, abuse, etc
depositions of lying, violence, drug abuse, sex, etc
CISD records of violence, drugs, sex, etc
police reports of violence, drugs, shootings, etc
myspace of violence, drug abuse, sex, pornography, etc
emails to/from the: ad litem, psychologist, therapist
I have always loved & wanted my daughter & always will, & I will never, ever, ever give up trying to rescue her.
Judge Stovall of 221st State District Court of Montgomery County, TX: Please right this injustice & return my daughter.
In July, 2009, I was massacred in a 3¼ year custody battle for my, now, 6½ y/o daughter.
ReplyDeleteConvicted child molesters have more access to their children than I do.
Calls, letters, & gifts are intercepted, & I have no visitation.
The mother secreted her 2 month & 14 month old babies, 1200 miles from their father, & for 15½ years, her family prevented all contact.
The mother’s 18 year history & pattern of hostility, alienation, & medical mistreatment was well known to evaluating psychologist Dr Edward G Silverman, therapist Theresa Burbank, ad litem Lynn T Coleman, the attorneys, et.al.
Despite months of exams & x-rays by pediatricians & specialists, for a real & progressing condition, & prescribing increasingly invasive treatment, the mother, Edward G Silverman, Theresa Burbank, Lynn Coleman, Elaine Baggerley of CPS, & Judge Suzanne Stovall, refused to believe the diagnosis of the medical professionals & necessity for treatment.
Even after several of them spoke with the medical professionals, & were provided the records, they all persisted in their false beliefs despite the invalidating evidence.
A specialist repeatedly requested the mother & Lynn Coleman, attend the appointments, but even with weeks of advance notice they refused.
Even with the mother’s sworn statements of medically abusing/neglecting our daughter & with the doctors corroborating records of her mistreatment, Judge Suzanne Stovall took my daughter from me & placed her into the mother’s sole custody.
Symptoms have persisted, but her condition is withheld.
Since infancy, the mother has secreted our daughter to doctors, & medically mistreated her.
For at least 15 months, the mother yo-yoed our daughter on steroids.
She has deliberately neglected her dental care.
The mother has a history & pattern of medically mistreating her other children with steroids, psychiatric drugs, numerous prescriptions, & OTC medicines, & they have had significant dental issues due to her neglect.
http://www.courthouseforum.com
Judge Suzanne Stovall signed a Final Decree to remove me from my daughter, without a trial, without my signature, without my lawyer's signature, & without compelling the mother’s (plaintiff) discovery.
Despite 3 years of Hearings, Rule 11’s, hundreds of emails, letters, & conversations, Judge Suzanne Stovall refused to compel the mother to produce discovery, yet granted the mother years of continuances because her discovery was incomplete; including continuing a preferentially set trial.
Everyone knew how devastating her discovery would be & Judge Suzanne Stovall refused to compel.
Judge Suzanne Stovall inconsistently ruled on motions, laws, or rules to favor the mother.
My lawyers complained that she favored the mother.
Judge Suzanne Stovall ignored the overwhelming certified/certifiable evidence of violence, hostility, aggression, & abuse by the mother, her family, & her friends.
Judge Suzanne Stovall disregarded over 3 years & over 300 exhibited provable charges of Contempt against the mother, including failure to pay child support, interfering with child custody, & worse.
It required my lawyer’s written threat of a Writ of Habeas Corpus for the mother to surrender my daughter to me.
I paid the jury fee, & for 3 years, pleaded, in vain, for a trial or in some way, to present a case.
Judge Suzanne Stovall punished me with over 20% plus $100, monthly child support.
Depositions, CISD records, sworn statements, & other Certified/Certifiable evidence revealed a home with an AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT FELON, wrist CUTTING, daily VIOLENCE, runaway teen, destruction, criminals, drug abuse (METH, COCAINE, XANAX, OXYCOTIN, etc), frequent police visits & a SEARCH WARRANT confiscated drug paraphernalia, probation violations, multiple sex partners, suspensions for drugs & violence, burglary, vandalism, shootings, disease, fighting, screaming, profanity, pornography (incl BEASTIALITY)