Battle over foster child hits court
By MICHAEL PLATT, CALGARY SUN
Last Updated: April 8, 2010 11:13am
Noah Kirkman turned 12 nearly two weeks ago.
The last time he slept in his own bed, back home in Calgary, he was ten.
If it started as a holiday, the boy’s trip to Oregon, it’s now become a two-year-long nightmare, rife with red tape.
And the strange case of Noah Kirkman is on the verge of becoming an international incident.
On Friday, a judge in Oregon will determine what to do with the Canadian child seized by the State of Oregon and placed in foster care, despite having a mother and family in Calgary desperate to get him back.
“We’re hoping the judge will back out of his position, but there’s also a chance he will say ‘screw you,’” said Lisa Kirkman, Noah’s 34-year-old mother.
Waiting on the sidelines, ready to throw the official weight of Canada’s federal government behind the Kirkman cause, is Calgary West MP Rob Anders.
Anders says he is ready to head south, with a tentative travel date of April 19, to collect Noah and bring him home to his family, depending on what the judge decides this week.
“We want the judge to see fit in his own good wisdom, that Noah should return home,” said Anders.
“We’re waiting to hear what the judge decides, and we don’t want to do anything that may jeopardize Noah’s case.”
Anders is all about diplomacy — but his involvement, as a sitting member of the ruling federal government, is a massive development in a case that’s dragged on, under the public radar, for nearly two years.
Noah’s family calls Oregon’s refusal to release Noah an abduction — but that word makes the case sound calculated, sly and sinister.
Really, it has a lot more to do with heavy-handed court orders and a stubborn bureaucracy run amok.
In the eyes of that state’s child welfare office, Lisa Kirkman is an unfit parent, or at least a mom too sketchy to trust with the child she raised and nurtured until September 2008.
That’s when authorities in Oakridge, Oregon took Noah into custody, after police found him riding in their town without a bike helmet.
Noah, a straight-A student who suffers from severe attention deficit disorder, struggled to explain who he was, and that he was on holiday in Oregon with his younger sister, staying with their non-legal stepdad.
The confusion led officers to run the boy’s name through the system, where they discovered his past history with Canadian social services, the result of Lisa seeking help with her son’s special needs.
The social service system doesn’t differentiate between parents seeking help with unique children, and parents forced into the system through abuse and neglect of their kids.
Hence, with no legal guardian and a suspicious background, authorities in Oregon took Noah and placed him in foster care.
A simple misunderstanding, in other words, with the boy’s best interests in mind. But untangling the red tape that snagged Noah has proved impossible.
Lisa’s own past is the major hurdle: She’s has a criminal record in Canada.
An outspoken marijuana crusader and pro-pot journalist, she was busted years ago for growing medical marijuana without a permit.
As a result, the court has forced her to undergo psychiatric evaluations, and parenting tests. Most telling of all, the court says she must swear off drugs before Noah can come home.
Though authorities in Oregon refuse to discuss the case with reporters, it’s clear Lisa is the reason Noah can’t escape the foster care system, which could ultimately lead to his permanent adoption in the U.S.
Thus, his Calgary grandparents have stepped forward, offering to care for Noah in Lisa’s stead, if only to get him back in Canada with the family who loves him.
Those grandparents, both working professionals, have undergone a complete assessment of their home and lives, to prove to Oregon that the Canadian child is headed to a good place — but the wait continues.
For Lisa, who last saw her son in July 2009, she’s afraid to even feel optimism over Friday’s hearing and the involvement of a federal Member of Parliament.
“I get my hopes up, and get all excited, and then something else goes wrong — I feel like a wound up spring.”
Your Comments
4 CommentsView/Leave Comment
Today is Sunday, April 12. I have searched high and low to find out what happened in this case last Friday.
What Calgary West MP Rob Anders needs to know about is-
ORS418.010 - "Children not to be taken charge of when parents object. Nothing in ORS 418.005 shall be construed as authorizing any state official, agent or representative, in carrying out any of the provisions of that section, to take charge of any child over the objection of either of the parents of such child..."
CPS loves kids with "mental problems". Huge money from the Feds.
Leonard Henderson, co-founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
"Until Every Child Comes Home" ©
"The Voice of America's Families" ©
Leonard Henderson, April 11th 2010, 6:48am
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/columnists/michael_platt/2010/04/07/13504351.html
Isabella Brooke Knightly and Austin Gamez-Knightly
In Memory of my Loving Husband, William F. Knightly Jr. Murdered by ILLEGAL Palliative Care at a Nashua, NH Hospital
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Families of Orphan Train riders keep history alive
Families of Orphan Train riders keep history alive
Part 2 – Conclusion
Barbara Ann Dush
Fullerton, Neb.
Jane Clements points to a family photo as she explains ancestral history about her father and two aunts who came to Fremont County, Iowa, on the Orphan Train.
Jane Clements has a myriad of photos and information she's gleaned about her father, Orphan Train rider Robert J. Hunt.
She recalls memories of him as a “wonderful” parent; and considering his upbringing, Jane calls it nothing short of a miracle.
“My dad was adopted by a couple with the last name of Hume who had a son that died, and he would have been the age of my dad. That was the reason they wanted a child; however, it would have been much better had they never taken him and he could have gone to a better home. It's a miracle my dad turned out to be a nice man.”
Robert Hunt was born in 1900 in Greenwich Village, New York City. In 1901, his family gave his sisters Margaret and Sadie away to the Five Point House of Industry in New York City, but the family kept Robert for a period of time.
The Five Point House of Industry orphan home was established in 1851 by Rev. Lewis Pease, who conducted its affairs for nearly three years without public aid. It was located in what was then the “most depraved and wretched portion of the city.”
In 1904, a few months after Robert was also taken to the Five Point House of Industry, Robert and sisters Margaret and Sadie were moved to the Children's Aid Society. Soon after, they were put on the Orphan Train.
“My aunt said they fed them raspberry jelly sandwiches on the train. She also talked about coming halfway from New York and some of the kids got head lice, so they had to stop the train and cut hair and other things to get rid of head lice.
“There were 17 kids brought to Sidney, Iowa. They were given away at the front of the Methodist Church in Sidney. The church had just been built and paid for at that time, and the same church is still here.”
ROBERT WAS 4-years-old, Sadie was around six and Margaret close to 11 years of age when they arrived in Iowa.
Sadie was chosen by Mrs. Melissa Hutchinson. The couple had three boys and she wanted a girl.
“They raised Sadie and gave her a lot of advantages,” Jane said of her aunt. “The day she was taken, Aunt Sadie said Mrs. Hutchinson gave her a little bracelet and a bag of candy when they went to go home. Before they got to Anderson, Iowa, just a little north of Sidney, she said, ‘I'll give you back the bracelet and the candy if you give me back my sister'.”
Mrs. Hutchinson proceeded to tell Sadie she was not taking her sister away from her and that she would get to see her. However, the words didn't satisfy Sadie's longing for her sister and she didn't eat well for several weeks. The Hutchinsons finally took her to see Margaret and Robert, who were temporarily staying with their great-grandparents. The three childen were able to stay in contact as they grew up.
Sadie was never adopted by the Hutchinsons. She eventually married and was a telegrapher and had her own telegraphy office in Shenandoah. “She sent out the telegram about the gold standard that (President Franklin D.) Roosevelt put out and sent to the banks. That was one of the things she was most proud of in her career,” Jane said.
Sadie went on to work in an orphanage in Council Bluffs, and had an apple orchard in Tabor. “It meant so much to her because she remembered fresh apples being brought into the home in New York City. They would each get one apple and Aunt Sadie and her friend would take one bite out of an apple a day and save it for the next day.”
MARGARET LIVED IN a number of homes, a fact Jane discovered during a casual conversation with a stranger.
“After Jim and I were married and lived in Leon, Iowa, I was visiting with a woman across the street from his aunt and uncle's home. She didn't know me and asked me about my background and family, and I commented my dad had come on the Orphan Train.”
The woman told Jane she knew a girl that came on the Orphan Train. When Jane inquired as to what her name was, the lady replied “Margaret Hunt.”
“I told her that's my aunt; but that couldn't be, she was never over here.”
After the woman described Margaret, Jane knew it was her aunt. “The woman said the meanest family you could imagine took her. Finally they came and removed her. I told my dad about this and he said Margaret was never at that place.
“In later years in talking to my aunt, she didn't admit it. So I talked to her daughter, and she said her mother wasn't there. They got to talking to her and Aunt Margaret admitted she was taken to this place. They were so mean to her she'd blotted it out.”
Margaret was moved to three other homes around Clarinda and Shenandoah before she settled in with a family in Afton, Iowa; however, like her sister, she was never adopted.
Margaret later married and moved to California. After raising her family, she went back to school and taught until she was past 80 years old.
ROBERT WAS CHOSEN by the Hume family.
“My dad probably had the worst life of all three of the kids because of the couple that raised him. The father was an alcoholic, plus the drug of choice at that time was opium and they put him in an institution for that at one time. The mother also began to drink, plus she was a mean personality woman anyway. She used to tell my dad on a regular basis ‘you're just an adopted brat'.”
Jane obtained the census records and discovered more about the Hunt family, “which really thrilled my aunts,” she said. “That's the first time Aunt Sadie ever knew she lived with her parents in her own home. When she saw that, she said ‘we were a family at one time'.”
At the time Jane's dad was given away, his father was out of work for a lengthy period of time. The census revealed he was a driver.
Jane also learned members of the Hunt family were very musical and entertained on the weekends in New York City.
“My dad hated the accordion and I don't like it either. I found out his father played an accordion. Perhaps they found out they were given away by a man that played an accordion ... I don't know.”
Despite not being able to finish the 8th grade, Robert became a self-educated man and very well read. He went on to do carpentry and concrete work and farmed.
“If there was anything to do he could do it,” Jane said with a daughter's proud smile. “He was a blacksmith, and I spent my life between one and five in his blacksmith shop with him. I have wonderful memories of that time. We weren't rich in money, but we were rich in other things.”
http://www.thefencepost.com/article/20100411/NEWS/100409938/1032&ParentProfile=1001
Part 2 – Conclusion
Barbara Ann Dush
Fullerton, Neb.
Jane Clements points to a family photo as she explains ancestral history about her father and two aunts who came to Fremont County, Iowa, on the Orphan Train.
Jane Clements has a myriad of photos and information she's gleaned about her father, Orphan Train rider Robert J. Hunt.
She recalls memories of him as a “wonderful” parent; and considering his upbringing, Jane calls it nothing short of a miracle.
“My dad was adopted by a couple with the last name of Hume who had a son that died, and he would have been the age of my dad. That was the reason they wanted a child; however, it would have been much better had they never taken him and he could have gone to a better home. It's a miracle my dad turned out to be a nice man.”
Robert Hunt was born in 1900 in Greenwich Village, New York City. In 1901, his family gave his sisters Margaret and Sadie away to the Five Point House of Industry in New York City, but the family kept Robert for a period of time.
The Five Point House of Industry orphan home was established in 1851 by Rev. Lewis Pease, who conducted its affairs for nearly three years without public aid. It was located in what was then the “most depraved and wretched portion of the city.”
In 1904, a few months after Robert was also taken to the Five Point House of Industry, Robert and sisters Margaret and Sadie were moved to the Children's Aid Society. Soon after, they were put on the Orphan Train.
“My aunt said they fed them raspberry jelly sandwiches on the train. She also talked about coming halfway from New York and some of the kids got head lice, so they had to stop the train and cut hair and other things to get rid of head lice.
“There were 17 kids brought to Sidney, Iowa. They were given away at the front of the Methodist Church in Sidney. The church had just been built and paid for at that time, and the same church is still here.”
ROBERT WAS 4-years-old, Sadie was around six and Margaret close to 11 years of age when they arrived in Iowa.
Sadie was chosen by Mrs. Melissa Hutchinson. The couple had three boys and she wanted a girl.
“They raised Sadie and gave her a lot of advantages,” Jane said of her aunt. “The day she was taken, Aunt Sadie said Mrs. Hutchinson gave her a little bracelet and a bag of candy when they went to go home. Before they got to Anderson, Iowa, just a little north of Sidney, she said, ‘I'll give you back the bracelet and the candy if you give me back my sister'.”
Mrs. Hutchinson proceeded to tell Sadie she was not taking her sister away from her and that she would get to see her. However, the words didn't satisfy Sadie's longing for her sister and she didn't eat well for several weeks. The Hutchinsons finally took her to see Margaret and Robert, who were temporarily staying with their great-grandparents. The three childen were able to stay in contact as they grew up.
Sadie was never adopted by the Hutchinsons. She eventually married and was a telegrapher and had her own telegraphy office in Shenandoah. “She sent out the telegram about the gold standard that (President Franklin D.) Roosevelt put out and sent to the banks. That was one of the things she was most proud of in her career,” Jane said.
Sadie went on to work in an orphanage in Council Bluffs, and had an apple orchard in Tabor. “It meant so much to her because she remembered fresh apples being brought into the home in New York City. They would each get one apple and Aunt Sadie and her friend would take one bite out of an apple a day and save it for the next day.”
MARGARET LIVED IN a number of homes, a fact Jane discovered during a casual conversation with a stranger.
“After Jim and I were married and lived in Leon, Iowa, I was visiting with a woman across the street from his aunt and uncle's home. She didn't know me and asked me about my background and family, and I commented my dad had come on the Orphan Train.”
The woman told Jane she knew a girl that came on the Orphan Train. When Jane inquired as to what her name was, the lady replied “Margaret Hunt.”
“I told her that's my aunt; but that couldn't be, she was never over here.”
After the woman described Margaret, Jane knew it was her aunt. “The woman said the meanest family you could imagine took her. Finally they came and removed her. I told my dad about this and he said Margaret was never at that place.
“In later years in talking to my aunt, she didn't admit it. So I talked to her daughter, and she said her mother wasn't there. They got to talking to her and Aunt Margaret admitted she was taken to this place. They were so mean to her she'd blotted it out.”
Margaret was moved to three other homes around Clarinda and Shenandoah before she settled in with a family in Afton, Iowa; however, like her sister, she was never adopted.
Margaret later married and moved to California. After raising her family, she went back to school and taught until she was past 80 years old.
ROBERT WAS CHOSEN by the Hume family.
“My dad probably had the worst life of all three of the kids because of the couple that raised him. The father was an alcoholic, plus the drug of choice at that time was opium and they put him in an institution for that at one time. The mother also began to drink, plus she was a mean personality woman anyway. She used to tell my dad on a regular basis ‘you're just an adopted brat'.”
Jane obtained the census records and discovered more about the Hunt family, “which really thrilled my aunts,” she said. “That's the first time Aunt Sadie ever knew she lived with her parents in her own home. When she saw that, she said ‘we were a family at one time'.”
At the time Jane's dad was given away, his father was out of work for a lengthy period of time. The census revealed he was a driver.
Jane also learned members of the Hunt family were very musical and entertained on the weekends in New York City.
“My dad hated the accordion and I don't like it either. I found out his father played an accordion. Perhaps they found out they were given away by a man that played an accordion ... I don't know.”
Despite not being able to finish the 8th grade, Robert became a self-educated man and very well read. He went on to do carpentry and concrete work and farmed.
“If there was anything to do he could do it,” Jane said with a daughter's proud smile. “He was a blacksmith, and I spent my life between one and five in his blacksmith shop with him. I have wonderful memories of that time. We weren't rich in money, but we were rich in other things.”
http://www.thefencepost.com/article/20100411/NEWS/100409938/1032&ParentProfile=1001
Suicides prompt child custody shakeup
Suicides prompt child custody shakeup
Posted by NATHAN BEAUMONT on April 11th, 2010 | Category: Family Law Reform parental suicide
A high suicide rate among people involved in Family Court custody proceedings has prompted the country's top family judge to shake up the system.
The court is speeding up the way it deals with childcare disputes, particularly when they involve potential violence or abuse.
Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier said too many people were losing hope when cases dragged on, and were taking their own lives. "If they can't see a solution in sight then what started off as depression becomes full-on hopelessness. I am driven by a desire to give people a light at the end of the tunnel."
Between May 2008 and June last year, 18 people died from suspected suicide. Judge Boshier had anecdotal evidence that suggested the pattern was continuing.
Cases involving family break-ups often resulted in bitter disputes between parents.
"Some parents use the court as a battleground to vent their frustrations with the other parent, and being able to do that is more important than concentrating on the real issue.
"This can cause considerable delay in resolving the issues, which can be harmful to the welfare of the children caught in the middle of these conflicts."
From Monday, the more than 27,000 cases filed each year that relate to children will enter the court's new early intervention process.
Cases in which there are safety concerns for children will be treated swiftly.
Parents in non-urgent cases will be sent to counselling. If this fails they will move on to lawyer-assisted mediation and then a conference before a judge.
If the parents are still unable to reach an agreement the case will go to a full hearing before a judge, with wait times no longer than a month.
Judge Boshier said the new system would be quicker, cheaper and more effective than the old one, once Justice Ministry staff and lawyers adjusted to the changes.
"The . . . process is a landmark for the court and will be one of its most significant reforms since the Family Court was created in 1981.
"We have struggled to control our custody conflicts for a long time and there are still too many cases that are taking too long to proceed through the system. Children need stability restored to their lives after the trauma of family break up. It is vital to their welfare that the conflict surrounding them is reduced . . . as soon as possible."
Mental Health Foundation chief executive Judi Clements was delighted at the changes, which would reduce families' stress and anxiety. "I applaud the move."
Law Society spokesman Paul Maskell said the group also supported the move. "Cases will come to judges much sooner and many families will get results from court a lot more quickly."
http://blog.fathers4equality-australia.org/equalparenting/fidblog.nsf/dx/suicides-prompt-child-custody-shakeup
Posted by NATHAN BEAUMONT on April 11th, 2010 | Category: Family Law Reform parental suicide
A high suicide rate among people involved in Family Court custody proceedings has prompted the country's top family judge to shake up the system.
The court is speeding up the way it deals with childcare disputes, particularly when they involve potential violence or abuse.
Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier said too many people were losing hope when cases dragged on, and were taking their own lives. "If they can't see a solution in sight then what started off as depression becomes full-on hopelessness. I am driven by a desire to give people a light at the end of the tunnel."
Between May 2008 and June last year, 18 people died from suspected suicide. Judge Boshier had anecdotal evidence that suggested the pattern was continuing.
Cases involving family break-ups often resulted in bitter disputes between parents.
"Some parents use the court as a battleground to vent their frustrations with the other parent, and being able to do that is more important than concentrating on the real issue.
"This can cause considerable delay in resolving the issues, which can be harmful to the welfare of the children caught in the middle of these conflicts."
From Monday, the more than 27,000 cases filed each year that relate to children will enter the court's new early intervention process.
Cases in which there are safety concerns for children will be treated swiftly.
Parents in non-urgent cases will be sent to counselling. If this fails they will move on to lawyer-assisted mediation and then a conference before a judge.
If the parents are still unable to reach an agreement the case will go to a full hearing before a judge, with wait times no longer than a month.
Judge Boshier said the new system would be quicker, cheaper and more effective than the old one, once Justice Ministry staff and lawyers adjusted to the changes.
"The . . . process is a landmark for the court and will be one of its most significant reforms since the Family Court was created in 1981.
"We have struggled to control our custody conflicts for a long time and there are still too many cases that are taking too long to proceed through the system. Children need stability restored to their lives after the trauma of family break up. It is vital to their welfare that the conflict surrounding them is reduced . . . as soon as possible."
Mental Health Foundation chief executive Judi Clements was delighted at the changes, which would reduce families' stress and anxiety. "I applaud the move."
Law Society spokesman Paul Maskell said the group also supported the move. "Cases will come to judges much sooner and many families will get results from court a lot more quickly."
http://blog.fathers4equality-australia.org/equalparenting/fidblog.nsf/dx/suicides-prompt-child-custody-shakeup
N.H. Chief justice decries court budget cuts
Friday, April 9, 2010 10:01AM
N.H. Chief justice decries court budget cuts
CONCORD MONITOR - If lawmakers cut the judicial budget by an additional $4 million as Gov. John Lynch proposed yesterday, the courts couldn't hold civil jury trials, fill the 10 judicial vacancies or keep adequate security at the courthouses, Chief Justice John Broderick said.The retired judges who sit frequently would also be let go, forcing the court system to further slow down cases, Broderick said yesterday. The other choice, Broderick said, would be eliminating 71 positions in addition to the 67 already vacant and unfunded.
"The state courts as I knew them are dying," Broderick said in an interview with Monitor editors yesterday. "We can pretend it's not happening or that we are overreacting. I am not overreacting."
Lynch announced the proposed judicial reductions yesterday as part of his overall plan to cut $85 million statewide this year and next. In addition to budget cuts, Lynch would lay off between 30 and 35 state workers and increase the cigarette tax by 20 cents to close a projected $220 million budget shortfall.
Broderick met with Lynch late last week and urged him to rethink cutting the judicial budget. He said he reminded Lynch that the judicial branch returned $2 million to the state in 2009 and is cutting $3.1 million from its budget this year with unpaid furloughs.
Now, Broderick is looking to lawmakers.
"There are no bad people in this equation," he said. "But there are very bad circumstances and some poor decisions. It's the poor decisions that I'm fighting back against."
At Lynch's request, Broderick identified where he'd find the $4 million and what those cuts would mean for the court system:
• He'd leave open the 10 judicial openings and stop using senior judges on a per diem basis in the district and family courts. That would save about $1.48 million but further burden a court system that is already struggling to accommodate trials and hearings, Broderick said.
District court sessions, which cover all misdemeanors, arraignments, small claims and other smaller civil cases, are already down 12 percent, Broderick said. Eliminating the per diem judges would further slow cases by 30 percent.
Divorce cases in family court, where custody and livelihoods are at stake, are already dragged out because of an overbooked court docket, Broderick said. That would get worse.
• Broderick would cut the budget for jury trials in half, to $400,000. Criminal trials would take precedent because defendants are guaranteed a trial within four months unless they waive that right.
Under these cuts, "smart lawyers won't (continue) a thing," Broderick said. "They know we won't be able to get to their case in four months." Cases will be dismissed as a consequence, he said.
And there would be no money left for civil jury trials, which are not under the same time constraints, Broderick said. More business, medical claims and other civil disputes would be settled out of court in private mediation, where rules of law don't apply and there is no appeal.
• Broderick would also cut security expenses by 20 percent, for a savings of $200,000. Court security officers are paid $80 a day and must supply their own gun and uniform. If there were too few security officers on duty to provide safety, Broderick would occasionally suspend hearings to find the savings.
Timely access to courts is protected by the state constitution, and Broderick returned to that often yesterday.
"We are one of the promises democracy makes," he said. "I took an oath to uphold those promises, and I'm growing increasingly concerned that we are not fulfilling them."
He said he's also worried the courts are becoming irreverent to people's lives.
The state's courts get 230,000 new cases each year. Each case, Broderick said, touches the lives of at least two people, often more. There are already too few judges and employees to move those cases through in a reasonable amount of time, he said.
During a recent visit to a family court in Strafford County, Broderick asked about the files that filled two metal carts, each three shelves deep. They were all rulings - in divorce, domestic violence and other family matters - that needed to be passed on to the parties involved. The clerks hadn't had time to process them.
"Every one of these failures is somebody's life," Broderick said.
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
A copy of Broderick's letter can be found on the court's Web site: www.courts.state.nh.us/press/index.htm
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/699879-196/chief-justice-decries-court-budget-cuts.html?i=1
N.H. Chief justice decries court budget cuts
CONCORD MONITOR - If lawmakers cut the judicial budget by an additional $4 million as Gov. John Lynch proposed yesterday, the courts couldn't hold civil jury trials, fill the 10 judicial vacancies or keep adequate security at the courthouses, Chief Justice John Broderick said.The retired judges who sit frequently would also be let go, forcing the court system to further slow down cases, Broderick said yesterday. The other choice, Broderick said, would be eliminating 71 positions in addition to the 67 already vacant and unfunded.
"The state courts as I knew them are dying," Broderick said in an interview with Monitor editors yesterday. "We can pretend it's not happening or that we are overreacting. I am not overreacting."
Lynch announced the proposed judicial reductions yesterday as part of his overall plan to cut $85 million statewide this year and next. In addition to budget cuts, Lynch would lay off between 30 and 35 state workers and increase the cigarette tax by 20 cents to close a projected $220 million budget shortfall.
Broderick met with Lynch late last week and urged him to rethink cutting the judicial budget. He said he reminded Lynch that the judicial branch returned $2 million to the state in 2009 and is cutting $3.1 million from its budget this year with unpaid furloughs.
Now, Broderick is looking to lawmakers.
"There are no bad people in this equation," he said. "But there are very bad circumstances and some poor decisions. It's the poor decisions that I'm fighting back against."
At Lynch's request, Broderick identified where he'd find the $4 million and what those cuts would mean for the court system:
• He'd leave open the 10 judicial openings and stop using senior judges on a per diem basis in the district and family courts. That would save about $1.48 million but further burden a court system that is already struggling to accommodate trials and hearings, Broderick said.
District court sessions, which cover all misdemeanors, arraignments, small claims and other smaller civil cases, are already down 12 percent, Broderick said. Eliminating the per diem judges would further slow cases by 30 percent.
Divorce cases in family court, where custody and livelihoods are at stake, are already dragged out because of an overbooked court docket, Broderick said. That would get worse.
• Broderick would cut the budget for jury trials in half, to $400,000. Criminal trials would take precedent because defendants are guaranteed a trial within four months unless they waive that right.
Under these cuts, "smart lawyers won't (continue) a thing," Broderick said. "They know we won't be able to get to their case in four months." Cases will be dismissed as a consequence, he said.
And there would be no money left for civil jury trials, which are not under the same time constraints, Broderick said. More business, medical claims and other civil disputes would be settled out of court in private mediation, where rules of law don't apply and there is no appeal.
• Broderick would also cut security expenses by 20 percent, for a savings of $200,000. Court security officers are paid $80 a day and must supply their own gun and uniform. If there were too few security officers on duty to provide safety, Broderick would occasionally suspend hearings to find the savings.
Timely access to courts is protected by the state constitution, and Broderick returned to that often yesterday.
"We are one of the promises democracy makes," he said. "I took an oath to uphold those promises, and I'm growing increasingly concerned that we are not fulfilling them."
He said he's also worried the courts are becoming irreverent to people's lives.
The state's courts get 230,000 new cases each year. Each case, Broderick said, touches the lives of at least two people, often more. There are already too few judges and employees to move those cases through in a reasonable amount of time, he said.
During a recent visit to a family court in Strafford County, Broderick asked about the files that filled two metal carts, each three shelves deep. They were all rulings - in divorce, domestic violence and other family matters - that needed to be passed on to the parties involved. The clerks hadn't had time to process them.
"Every one of these failures is somebody's life," Broderick said.
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
A copy of Broderick's letter can be found on the court's Web site: www.courts.state.nh.us/press/index.htm
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/699879-196/chief-justice-decries-court-budget-cuts.html?i=1
Tennessee Mother Ships Adopted Son Back to Moscow Alone
Tennessee Mother Ships Adopted Son Back to Moscow Alone
Russian President Medvedev Calls Boy's Return a 'Monstrous Deed'
422 comments By SARAH NETTER and ZOE MAGEE
April 9, 2010
A Tennesee mother's decision to send her 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia, alone and with a note that she no longer wanted him, has horrified officials and adoption experts in both countries.
Outrage erupts over American woman who sent adopted son back to Russia alone.
Angry Russian officials are calling for a halt to all U.S. adoptions until the two countries can hammer out a new agreement that spells out the conditions and obligations for such adoptions.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the boy's abrupt return "a monstrous deed." The Russian president told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview that he had a "special concern" about the recent treatment of Russian children adopted by Americans.
Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, Tenn., put 7-year-old Artyem Saviliev -- renamed Justin Artyem Hansen in the U.S. -- on a plane to Moscow's Domodedovo airport with a note in his pocket saying she was returning him, that the boy had severe psychological problems and that the orphanage had lied about his condition.
"I no longer wish to parent this child," the note read, calling the boy a liability.
"This child is mentally unstable." Hansen wrote to the Russian Ministry of Education. "He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues/behaviours. I was lied to and misled by the Russian Orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability and other issues."
Related
WATCH: Adopted Child Sent Back to Russia AloneWATCH: U.S. Mom Returns Adoptive Boy to RussiaWhen Adoption Isn't Happily Ever After
Adopted six months ago, the boy was traveling on an expired U.S. visa. He was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation. Video footage showed Artyem looking bewildered as he is taken from the police station to the hospital by Russian social service workers.
"On every level putting a little kid on a plane and shipping them somewhere is horrific behavior. If you have a problem, you deal with the problem," said Adam Pertman, executive of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. "It is certainly the equivalent of abandoning your child."
Sheriff: 'There May Be No Crime'
Bedford County Sheriff Randall Boyce told ABC News that he had tried to visit Hansen Thursday and again today, but was told by Hansen's lawyer "they said they will meet with us later, sometime next week they said."
"This is a touchy deal and I'm not sure if anything illegal has been done or not," Boyce said.
The sheriff said, "Our plan is to have the adoption agency check with the people in Moscow or whatever part of Russia they're in and check with this child and see if they see signs of abuse."
Boyce said he intended to move slowly and carefully in his investigation.
"We're breaking new ground here," he said. "There may be no crime at all when you really get down to it. Maybe some bad judgment in the way she turned this child back."
The Tennessee Department of Child Services also is looking into elements of the case.
"DCS looks into child abuse and neglect," said Rob Johnson, the department's director of communications. "By statute we look into cases alongside law enforcement. We look at it from a child welfare point of view.
"We have tried to visit the Hansen family today," Johnson added. "We are working alongside law enforcement on trying to interview them."
Of particular interest to DCS would be the safety of any children that may be in the Hansen home, Johnson said.
"We do not track international adoptions," Johnson said. "They are private adoptions."
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/anger-mom-adopted-boy-back-russia/story?id=10331728
Russian President Medvedev Calls Boy's Return a 'Monstrous Deed'
422 comments By SARAH NETTER and ZOE MAGEE
April 9, 2010
A Tennesee mother's decision to send her 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia, alone and with a note that she no longer wanted him, has horrified officials and adoption experts in both countries.
Outrage erupts over American woman who sent adopted son back to Russia alone.
Angry Russian officials are calling for a halt to all U.S. adoptions until the two countries can hammer out a new agreement that spells out the conditions and obligations for such adoptions.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the boy's abrupt return "a monstrous deed." The Russian president told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview that he had a "special concern" about the recent treatment of Russian children adopted by Americans.
Torry Hansen of Shelbyville, Tenn., put 7-year-old Artyem Saviliev -- renamed Justin Artyem Hansen in the U.S. -- on a plane to Moscow's Domodedovo airport with a note in his pocket saying she was returning him, that the boy had severe psychological problems and that the orphanage had lied about his condition.
"I no longer wish to parent this child," the note read, calling the boy a liability.
"This child is mentally unstable." Hansen wrote to the Russian Ministry of Education. "He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues/behaviours. I was lied to and misled by the Russian Orphanage workers and director regarding his mental stability and other issues."
Related
WATCH: Adopted Child Sent Back to Russia AloneWATCH: U.S. Mom Returns Adoptive Boy to RussiaWhen Adoption Isn't Happily Ever After
Adopted six months ago, the boy was traveling on an expired U.S. visa. He was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation. Video footage showed Artyem looking bewildered as he is taken from the police station to the hospital by Russian social service workers.
"On every level putting a little kid on a plane and shipping them somewhere is horrific behavior. If you have a problem, you deal with the problem," said Adam Pertman, executive of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. "It is certainly the equivalent of abandoning your child."
Sheriff: 'There May Be No Crime'
Bedford County Sheriff Randall Boyce told ABC News that he had tried to visit Hansen Thursday and again today, but was told by Hansen's lawyer "they said they will meet with us later, sometime next week they said."
"This is a touchy deal and I'm not sure if anything illegal has been done or not," Boyce said.
The sheriff said, "Our plan is to have the adoption agency check with the people in Moscow or whatever part of Russia they're in and check with this child and see if they see signs of abuse."
Boyce said he intended to move slowly and carefully in his investigation.
"We're breaking new ground here," he said. "There may be no crime at all when you really get down to it. Maybe some bad judgment in the way she turned this child back."
The Tennessee Department of Child Services also is looking into elements of the case.
"DCS looks into child abuse and neglect," said Rob Johnson, the department's director of communications. "By statute we look into cases alongside law enforcement. We look at it from a child welfare point of view.
"We have tried to visit the Hansen family today," Johnson added. "We are working alongside law enforcement on trying to interview them."
Of particular interest to DCS would be the safety of any children that may be in the Hansen home, Johnson said.
"We do not track international adoptions," Johnson said. "They are private adoptions."
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/anger-mom-adopted-boy-back-russia/story?id=10331728
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)