Parental Alienation and Determining Child Custody
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Richard Gardner initially identified Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) in 1985. This disorder frequently arose during child custody disputes among divorcing couples. When this occurs, the child becomes aligned with one parent with the primary goal of denigrating the other parent. In extreme cases, the child who once had a loving and bonded relationship with the targeted parent becomes alienated from them.
Read more:
http://www.divorcenet.com/resources/divorce/divorce-children/parental-alienation-determining-child-custody
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
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Family fears own government; won't return to home
Family fears own government; won't return to home
'We are trying to sell our house and move our stuff out of the country'
Posted: October 05, 2010
By Bob Unruh
A thriving Dominic is shown in a passport photograph, left, just before he was taken into custody by Swedish social-services agents. The right photo, obtained by the Dominic Johansson website, shows a "not-so-thriving Dominic" some months after he was forcibly placed in the Swedish foster-care system.
A family – exiled to live as visitors in foreign countries for nine months already – has decided to leave Sweden permanently because of the threat of government action against them over their choice to homeschool their children, according to a new report.
The report on the "Pettersson" family, described as using a pseudonym to avoid retaliation, comes from the American-based international Home School Legal Defense Association, which supports homeschool families worldwide.
Previously, the organization documented the case of Dominic Johansson, who was "state-napped" by authorities as his parents were departing on a family move from Sweden to India over their decision to homeschool.
The Johansson case was elevated to the European Court of Human Rights, where the HSLDA and the Alliance Defense Fund have applied for a hearing.
The newer case was the subject of a recent report by the HSLDA, which said the Pettersson family has been traveling across Europe for nine months already, "staying temporarily with relatives and living as visitors in foreign lands."
The problem is that Sweden has boosted aggressively its opposition to parents who choose to teach their own children.
"We decided to leave Sweden and are currently trying to sell our house and move our stuff out of the country," the mother, Lynn, told the homeschooling organization.
The family's story is becoming all too familiar. Despite having submitted the state-mandated paperwork to homeschool, officials refused their plans.
It's now been a year since their battle with their local school district began. Returning to their home, they fear, would subject them to the "threats, stiff fines, continuous court battles, and the possibility of their children being removed from the home" that other families have endured.
The family appears to be on the leading edge of a movement of similarly situated families in Sweden.
"I am very concerned to go back to my home in Sweden because at the moment the Swedish authorities like to kidnap homeschooled kids," Lynn told the HSLDA.
The organization reports, "It is distressing that Sweden has begun to mimic the repressive actions of Germany, its neighbor to the south. Many German families have been forced to flee intense persecution in recent years and have settled in European countries such as Austria, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom."
The HSLDA even cited the case of the Romeike family, whose members fled Germany on the income from the sale of the father's grand piano and traveled to the United States.
In January, the family was granted political asylum to prevent them from being subjected to the penalties Germany would impose on them, including fines, jail time and possible family separation, should they return.
The HSLDA said part of the problem now in Sweden is that parliament has approved new restrictions on homeschooling.
"In the case of the Pettersson family, the headmaster from the local school denied them permission to homeschool. In addition, she threatened them with a social service investigation if the children did not immediately appear in school. The Petterssons waited for the school board to provide an explanation for the rejection of their application, but no explanation was supplied. Since the family had complied with Swedish law, they appealed the denial. The municipal government did not reply with a response until after a month had passed. In the meantime, the headmaster repeatedly summoned Mr. and Mrs. Pettersson to meetings and demanded that their school-age children attend school. The family informed the headmaster they had appealed the rejection of their application, putting the matter in the hands of the local government. Accordingly, they declined to meet with her until the appeal was heard. The headmaster responded by bringing the case to social services," the HSLDA reported.
Mike Donnelly, the chief of international affairs for the HSDLA, contacted the headmaster in March in response to a request from the family, but did not hear back for six months.
The organization reported that the family never has been called in by the local court to provide further information or supporting evidence.
Enough is enough, the family with five children decided in announcing plans to leave Sweden permanently.
In the Johansson case, Swedish authorities "seized the child because they believe homeschooling is an inappropriate way to raise a child and insisted the government should raise Dominic instead. Social-services authorities have placed Dominic in foster care as well as a government school and are only allowing [parents] Christer and Annie to visit their son for one hour every five weeks," according to reports from organizations supporting the family.
It was on June 25, 2009, when authorities dispatched police officers to invade an India-bound jetliner just moments before takeoff and take into custody the young boy.
Dominic's parents had been in a dispute with local government officials over their plans to homeschool him as the family prepared to move to India.
According to a website that supports the family, the head of Sweden's Department of Children and Education, Lena Celion, wrote that it was "for the boy's sake" that agents forcibly and without a warrant took him from his family, placed him with a foster family and enrolled him in a government school.
Gustaf Hofstedt, president of the local social-services board, has told WND by telephone from Sweden that there is more to the dispute than homeschooling, but he refused to explain.
"I understand the public debate has been that is a case that is only concerning the fact of homeschooling," he told WND. "But that is not the case."
Asked to explain, he said, "I can't answer that question because of secrecy."
There also is a petition on Dominic's behalf.
'We are trying to sell our house and move our stuff out of the country'
Posted: October 05, 2010
By Bob Unruh
A thriving Dominic is shown in a passport photograph, left, just before he was taken into custody by Swedish social-services agents. The right photo, obtained by the Dominic Johansson website, shows a "not-so-thriving Dominic" some months after he was forcibly placed in the Swedish foster-care system.
A family – exiled to live as visitors in foreign countries for nine months already – has decided to leave Sweden permanently because of the threat of government action against them over their choice to homeschool their children, according to a new report.
The report on the "Pettersson" family, described as using a pseudonym to avoid retaliation, comes from the American-based international Home School Legal Defense Association, which supports homeschool families worldwide.
Previously, the organization documented the case of Dominic Johansson, who was "state-napped" by authorities as his parents were departing on a family move from Sweden to India over their decision to homeschool.
The Johansson case was elevated to the European Court of Human Rights, where the HSLDA and the Alliance Defense Fund have applied for a hearing.
The newer case was the subject of a recent report by the HSLDA, which said the Pettersson family has been traveling across Europe for nine months already, "staying temporarily with relatives and living as visitors in foreign lands."
The problem is that Sweden has boosted aggressively its opposition to parents who choose to teach their own children.
"We decided to leave Sweden and are currently trying to sell our house and move our stuff out of the country," the mother, Lynn, told the homeschooling organization.
The family's story is becoming all too familiar. Despite having submitted the state-mandated paperwork to homeschool, officials refused their plans.
It's now been a year since their battle with their local school district began. Returning to their home, they fear, would subject them to the "threats, stiff fines, continuous court battles, and the possibility of their children being removed from the home" that other families have endured.
The family appears to be on the leading edge of a movement of similarly situated families in Sweden.
"I am very concerned to go back to my home in Sweden because at the moment the Swedish authorities like to kidnap homeschooled kids," Lynn told the HSLDA.
The organization reports, "It is distressing that Sweden has begun to mimic the repressive actions of Germany, its neighbor to the south. Many German families have been forced to flee intense persecution in recent years and have settled in European countries such as Austria, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom."
The HSLDA even cited the case of the Romeike family, whose members fled Germany on the income from the sale of the father's grand piano and traveled to the United States.
In January, the family was granted political asylum to prevent them from being subjected to the penalties Germany would impose on them, including fines, jail time and possible family separation, should they return.
The HSLDA said part of the problem now in Sweden is that parliament has approved new restrictions on homeschooling.
"In the case of the Pettersson family, the headmaster from the local school denied them permission to homeschool. In addition, she threatened them with a social service investigation if the children did not immediately appear in school. The Petterssons waited for the school board to provide an explanation for the rejection of their application, but no explanation was supplied. Since the family had complied with Swedish law, they appealed the denial. The municipal government did not reply with a response until after a month had passed. In the meantime, the headmaster repeatedly summoned Mr. and Mrs. Pettersson to meetings and demanded that their school-age children attend school. The family informed the headmaster they had appealed the rejection of their application, putting the matter in the hands of the local government. Accordingly, they declined to meet with her until the appeal was heard. The headmaster responded by bringing the case to social services," the HSLDA reported.
Mike Donnelly, the chief of international affairs for the HSDLA, contacted the headmaster in March in response to a request from the family, but did not hear back for six months.
The organization reported that the family never has been called in by the local court to provide further information or supporting evidence.
Enough is enough, the family with five children decided in announcing plans to leave Sweden permanently.
In the Johansson case, Swedish authorities "seized the child because they believe homeschooling is an inappropriate way to raise a child and insisted the government should raise Dominic instead. Social-services authorities have placed Dominic in foster care as well as a government school and are only allowing [parents] Christer and Annie to visit their son for one hour every five weeks," according to reports from organizations supporting the family.
It was on June 25, 2009, when authorities dispatched police officers to invade an India-bound jetliner just moments before takeoff and take into custody the young boy.
Dominic's parents had been in a dispute with local government officials over their plans to homeschool him as the family prepared to move to India.
According to a website that supports the family, the head of Sweden's Department of Children and Education, Lena Celion, wrote that it was "for the boy's sake" that agents forcibly and without a warrant took him from his family, placed him with a foster family and enrolled him in a government school.
Gustaf Hofstedt, president of the local social-services board, has told WND by telephone from Sweden that there is more to the dispute than homeschooling, but he refused to explain.
"I understand the public debate has been that is a case that is only concerning the fact of homeschooling," he told WND. "But that is not the case."
Asked to explain, he said, "I can't answer that question because of secrecy."
There also is a petition on Dominic's behalf.
Hard to miss irony in court budget suit
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Hard to miss irony in court budget suit
KEY POINTS
BACKGROUND: Four sets of plaintiffs have filed suit against the state, claiming they are being denied speedy civil trials as a result of $4 million in budget cuts imposed upon the judicial branch to help balance the budget.
CONCLUSION: We’re not surprised, given the state constitution makes no exception for budget shortfalls in guaranteeing citizens the right to a civil trial.
It was only a matter of time before someone went to court – ironically enough – to complain that state budget cuts had rendered the New Hampshire court system incapable of meeting its constitutional obligations to its citizens.
And that’s exactly what happened Tuesday when a group of lawyers, led by former New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Chuck Douglas, filed suit in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, seeking restoration of $4 million in cuts imposed by Gov. John Lynch to help erase a deficit in the current two-year state budget.
That action resulted in a suspension of civil jury trials in Concord District Court, the scheduling of small claims cases in Manchester District Court, systemwide court closures one day a month, employee furloughs and a freezing of dozens of vacant positions.
Closer to home, Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua will not assemble jury pools in December, February and April or the first two weeks of June, which means civil trials will be a rare occurrence over the next year.
Given our previously stated misgivings about the impact of these cuts on public access to the courts, we’re not at all unhappy that they did.
The suit, Baxter v. State of New Hampshire, claims the virtual elimination of civil trials and other cuts in services is a violation of the state constitution, which holds as “sacred” the right to have a civil trial by jury.
As such, beyond the restoration of the $4 million, the parties are also asking the court to issue a writ of mandamus to ensure adequate funding for civil trials going forward, as well as attorneys fees and costs.
“When people can’t get into court, can’t get their disputes resolved in a timely manner, their rights are being taken away,” said Douglas, who served on the state’s high court from 1977 to 1985.
“I’ve never seen it this bad in 42 years, where wholesale parts of the dockets are just canceled indefinitely and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.”
The petition was filed on behalf of four sets of litigants, each of whom is claiming they are being denied a speedy trial:
n Patricia Baxter, of Sanbornville, filed a lawsuit in 2001, claiming her minor child was exposed to lead paint. The state’s high court ruled she was entitled to a jury trial three years ago, but the case has been postponed indefinitely.
n Wayne and Kristy Haggie, of Manchester, who have two young children, have been embroiled in a custody dispute since temporary custody was awarded to her parents last June. At one point, a custody hearing had to be canceled when the court failed to arrange for a sign language interpreter to be present for Kristy Haggie, who is deaf.
n A third plaintiff represents the estate of an unnamed 39-year-old, who died after undergoing heart surgery in March 2005. His medical malpractice case has been awaiting trial since September 2006.
n The final plaintiff is a “Jack Doe,” who upon learning that he would have to wait more than a year for a trial, reluctantly agreed to settle his slip-and-fall case for $18,500. He argues he would have been entitled to a fairer settlement had he been able to make his case in court in a more reasonable time period.
As we stated in our July 20 editorial (“Judicial budget cuts a cause for concern”), neither the federal nor state constitutions make any exceptions for budget shortfalls in guaranteeing the right to speedy trials for criminal defendants and those seeking justice in civil courts.
We also reminded the administration that the judicial branch is not a state department but a co-equal branch of government with constitutional obligations that should not be compromised.
So stay tuned to what happens when this case gets before a judge in Merrimack County Superior Court, but don’t hold your breath.
As of last month, 500 criminal and civil cases had yet to be put on the docket at that court, according to a report by the Concord Monitor, and there was a backlog of 350 judicial decisions that had yet to be issued.
dwjoae 6 days ago (Comment)
Let's play Pin the Tail on the Donkey!!
What ever happened to investigative journalism? Why are the newspapers in New Hampshire reporting everything on the surface, but nothing about why the NH Judicial Branch is actually having budget problems? That's easy! It's because none of the papers are digging down to why the Courts are blowing all their money. What's worse, is that much of the information they'd need to uncover the problem is getting handed to them on a silver platter in these blogs after each article, yet they don't even use that to dig deeper.
Why don't the papers want to report on the fact that the NH Citizen's Commission study on the Courts revealed that the Family Division, under Administrative Director Ed Kelly, received three times as many complaints as ALL OTHER COURTS COMBINED for egregious abuses of discretion, violations of Civil Rights, deprivation of Due Process, Parental Alienation, and so on and so on, and that's the cause for COPIOUS AMOUNTS of redundant litigation! They've been told!!
Why haven't the papers reported why Judge Michalik lied to the public when he refused to include critical information in his Citizen's Commission reports? They've been told!!
Why haven't the papers reported why three NH Judges were brought up before the House of Representatives on Bills of Address to be removed for bloody awful offenses against the people? They've been told!!
Why haven't the newspapers dug deep enough to learn that there will be three Bills of Impeachment for at least those three Judges after November? They've been told!!
Why aren't the newspapers reporting that the Democrats are the ones fighting the action to stop the Court corruption? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report that Democrat House Speaker Terri Norelli violated her Oath of Office to Uphold the Constitution as she forbade her Committee Chairmen to hear Petitions for Redress of Grievances against corrupt Judges? See Articles 31 and 32 in the NH Constitution's Bill of Rights. They were told!!
Why didn't the newspapers report that the Democrat Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative David Cote of Nashua, violated his Oath of Office to Uphold the NH Constitution as he blocked the citizens of NH from their Right to bring a Petition for Redress to the House of Representatives? They were told!!
Why didn't the newspapers report that Democrat Representative Betty Lasky of Nashua, now Senator Lasky, while she served on the House Judiciary Committee, violated her Oath of Office to Uphold the NH Constitution as she voted to block the citizens from their Right to bring a Petition for Redress against the corrupt Courts, after she stood on the House floor and lied to the other Representatives as she misrepresented the presentations by the Sponsors of the Bill to re-implement the mechanism in the House Rules for Petitions? They were told!!
Why won't the newspapers report to the public that the NH Judicial Conduct Committee is actually powerless to bring about the removal of a corrupt Judge, as there are NO Constitutional provisions for the Judicial Branch to do so? They were told!!
When are the newspapers going to report that the Judicial Conduct Committee is merely a mirage to trick litigants into thinking it's a venue to seek a remedy for Judicial corruption? They've been told!!
When are the newspapers going to investigate the real reasons behind all these articles they've been publishing about the Judicial budget crisis? They've been told!!
When are the newspapers going to report the unnecessary and costly redundancy in the Judicial Branch of having a Professional Conduct Committee AND an Attorney Disciplinary Counsel? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report the fact that NH citizens can face trial after the Grand Jury finds a preponderance of of the evidence, but to bring charges against a corrupt attorney, there needs to be clear and convincing evidence, which is a double standard, denies justice for a citizen who has been wronged, and obstructs justice? They've been told?
When are the newspapers going to report the fact that after Marital Master Philip Cross was the recipient of many Petitions for horrifying violations and egregious abuses, and a Bill of Address to Remove him from the bench, the Supreme Court placed him on the Advisory Council for Judicial Ethics!?! They were told!!
When are the newspapers going to report that the NH Department of Justice dismissed a Complaint to the Office of the Attorney General about corruption and conspiracy between the Supreme Court and two Judges who once worked in the AG's Office, and obstruction of justice? They were told!!
When are the newspapers going to report that the Judicial Branch gets millions of dollars from Federal interventionist funding, which never goes through the House, and that Chief Justice Broderick doesn't want to talk about that! They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report that while the Commission on the Status of Women was getting over $100,000.00 per year, the Commission on the Status of Men never got a dime? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report the the Commission on the Status of Men revealed that it is actually the NH Courts that are doing the most damage to men and fathers and their children? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report that Democrat Governor John Lynch has always refused and still won't fill the majority of empty seats on the Commission on the Status of Men? They've been told!!
I'm going to put it right out there! We are all saying the same things to ourselves and to each other; "Why don't the newspapers expose the corruption in our Courts?" "Why don't they do ANYTHING while people are getting screwed for no valid reason."
Why!?! Because investigative journalism is DEAD in New Hampshire. If you want information, you have to read the blogs, because you certainly won't read it in the articles!!
The newspapers acted more responsibly in the past. Today, they regurgitate what they're told by the powers that be, and they DO NOT ask why!
The Judicial Branch is lying through their teeth about the budget crisis. They are CAUSING IT THEMSELVES!! Judge Kelly's Family Division is a compilation of common outlaws and usurpers of the Constitution. I have hard evidence and documentation of filthy lies and abuses by the Judges and Marital Masters.
Now, after they're blowing their own budget, they're denying justice to the people of New Hampshire by closing the Courts and failing miserably. Chief Justice Broderick is absolutely useless and fully responsible for allowing Judge Kelly to run the Family Division into the dirt. The two of them are incompetent no-accounts.
Every time someone I know writes a complaint about the abuses of Family Division Marital Masters and the Judges RUBBER STAMPING their recommendations, he always responds with statement of his inability to get involved! If the Administrative Director, who is a Judge, can't get involved in the corruption in his Courts, then why do we need a Judge to direct the Family Division?
After all this, the newspapers will still wuss out of their responsibility to the public, and they won't investigate why the Courts are blowing their budget, denying the public access to the Courts, failing to disclose Federal funding dollars, and that they're lying about it.
We do get to read about how Chuck Douglas is suing the taxpayer for more money!!
We do get to read about how Broderick is resigning around November so Lynch can appoint another liberal buffoon to the Bench in his place.
I challenge the newspapers to COWBOY UP and investigate this fiasco! All they have to do is contact the bloggers who are the victims of this filth and corruption. It can't get ANY EASIER! They can contact the Representatives who are on the the Redress Caucus. (there is a caucus because Speaker Norelli is stomping all over the Constitution because she's too corrupt to allow a House Committee to hear Petitions.)
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/editorials/867842-263/hard-to-miss-irony-in-court-budget.html
Hard to miss irony in court budget suit
KEY POINTS
BACKGROUND: Four sets of plaintiffs have filed suit against the state, claiming they are being denied speedy civil trials as a result of $4 million in budget cuts imposed upon the judicial branch to help balance the budget.
CONCLUSION: We’re not surprised, given the state constitution makes no exception for budget shortfalls in guaranteeing citizens the right to a civil trial.
It was only a matter of time before someone went to court – ironically enough – to complain that state budget cuts had rendered the New Hampshire court system incapable of meeting its constitutional obligations to its citizens.
And that’s exactly what happened Tuesday when a group of lawyers, led by former New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Chuck Douglas, filed suit in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, seeking restoration of $4 million in cuts imposed by Gov. John Lynch to help erase a deficit in the current two-year state budget.
That action resulted in a suspension of civil jury trials in Concord District Court, the scheduling of small claims cases in Manchester District Court, systemwide court closures one day a month, employee furloughs and a freezing of dozens of vacant positions.
Closer to home, Hillsborough County Superior Court in Nashua will not assemble jury pools in December, February and April or the first two weeks of June, which means civil trials will be a rare occurrence over the next year.
Given our previously stated misgivings about the impact of these cuts on public access to the courts, we’re not at all unhappy that they did.
The suit, Baxter v. State of New Hampshire, claims the virtual elimination of civil trials and other cuts in services is a violation of the state constitution, which holds as “sacred” the right to have a civil trial by jury.
As such, beyond the restoration of the $4 million, the parties are also asking the court to issue a writ of mandamus to ensure adequate funding for civil trials going forward, as well as attorneys fees and costs.
“When people can’t get into court, can’t get their disputes resolved in a timely manner, their rights are being taken away,” said Douglas, who served on the state’s high court from 1977 to 1985.
“I’ve never seen it this bad in 42 years, where wholesale parts of the dockets are just canceled indefinitely and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.”
The petition was filed on behalf of four sets of litigants, each of whom is claiming they are being denied a speedy trial:
n Patricia Baxter, of Sanbornville, filed a lawsuit in 2001, claiming her minor child was exposed to lead paint. The state’s high court ruled she was entitled to a jury trial three years ago, but the case has been postponed indefinitely.
n Wayne and Kristy Haggie, of Manchester, who have two young children, have been embroiled in a custody dispute since temporary custody was awarded to her parents last June. At one point, a custody hearing had to be canceled when the court failed to arrange for a sign language interpreter to be present for Kristy Haggie, who is deaf.
n A third plaintiff represents the estate of an unnamed 39-year-old, who died after undergoing heart surgery in March 2005. His medical malpractice case has been awaiting trial since September 2006.
n The final plaintiff is a “Jack Doe,” who upon learning that he would have to wait more than a year for a trial, reluctantly agreed to settle his slip-and-fall case for $18,500. He argues he would have been entitled to a fairer settlement had he been able to make his case in court in a more reasonable time period.
As we stated in our July 20 editorial (“Judicial budget cuts a cause for concern”), neither the federal nor state constitutions make any exceptions for budget shortfalls in guaranteeing the right to speedy trials for criminal defendants and those seeking justice in civil courts.
We also reminded the administration that the judicial branch is not a state department but a co-equal branch of government with constitutional obligations that should not be compromised.
So stay tuned to what happens when this case gets before a judge in Merrimack County Superior Court, but don’t hold your breath.
As of last month, 500 criminal and civil cases had yet to be put on the docket at that court, according to a report by the Concord Monitor, and there was a backlog of 350 judicial decisions that had yet to be issued.
dwjoae 6 days ago (Comment)
Let's play Pin the Tail on the Donkey!!
What ever happened to investigative journalism? Why are the newspapers in New Hampshire reporting everything on the surface, but nothing about why the NH Judicial Branch is actually having budget problems? That's easy! It's because none of the papers are digging down to why the Courts are blowing all their money. What's worse, is that much of the information they'd need to uncover the problem is getting handed to them on a silver platter in these blogs after each article, yet they don't even use that to dig deeper.
Why don't the papers want to report on the fact that the NH Citizen's Commission study on the Courts revealed that the Family Division, under Administrative Director Ed Kelly, received three times as many complaints as ALL OTHER COURTS COMBINED for egregious abuses of discretion, violations of Civil Rights, deprivation of Due Process, Parental Alienation, and so on and so on, and that's the cause for COPIOUS AMOUNTS of redundant litigation! They've been told!!
Why haven't the papers reported why Judge Michalik lied to the public when he refused to include critical information in his Citizen's Commission reports? They've been told!!
Why haven't the papers reported why three NH Judges were brought up before the House of Representatives on Bills of Address to be removed for bloody awful offenses against the people? They've been told!!
Why haven't the newspapers dug deep enough to learn that there will be three Bills of Impeachment for at least those three Judges after November? They've been told!!
Why aren't the newspapers reporting that the Democrats are the ones fighting the action to stop the Court corruption? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report that Democrat House Speaker Terri Norelli violated her Oath of Office to Uphold the Constitution as she forbade her Committee Chairmen to hear Petitions for Redress of Grievances against corrupt Judges? See Articles 31 and 32 in the NH Constitution's Bill of Rights. They were told!!
Why didn't the newspapers report that the Democrat Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative David Cote of Nashua, violated his Oath of Office to Uphold the NH Constitution as he blocked the citizens of NH from their Right to bring a Petition for Redress to the House of Representatives? They were told!!
Why didn't the newspapers report that Democrat Representative Betty Lasky of Nashua, now Senator Lasky, while she served on the House Judiciary Committee, violated her Oath of Office to Uphold the NH Constitution as she voted to block the citizens from their Right to bring a Petition for Redress against the corrupt Courts, after she stood on the House floor and lied to the other Representatives as she misrepresented the presentations by the Sponsors of the Bill to re-implement the mechanism in the House Rules for Petitions? They were told!!
Why won't the newspapers report to the public that the NH Judicial Conduct Committee is actually powerless to bring about the removal of a corrupt Judge, as there are NO Constitutional provisions for the Judicial Branch to do so? They were told!!
When are the newspapers going to report that the Judicial Conduct Committee is merely a mirage to trick litigants into thinking it's a venue to seek a remedy for Judicial corruption? They've been told!!
When are the newspapers going to investigate the real reasons behind all these articles they've been publishing about the Judicial budget crisis? They've been told!!
When are the newspapers going to report the unnecessary and costly redundancy in the Judicial Branch of having a Professional Conduct Committee AND an Attorney Disciplinary Counsel? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report the fact that NH citizens can face trial after the Grand Jury finds a preponderance of of the evidence, but to bring charges against a corrupt attorney, there needs to be clear and convincing evidence, which is a double standard, denies justice for a citizen who has been wronged, and obstructs justice? They've been told?
When are the newspapers going to report the fact that after Marital Master Philip Cross was the recipient of many Petitions for horrifying violations and egregious abuses, and a Bill of Address to Remove him from the bench, the Supreme Court placed him on the Advisory Council for Judicial Ethics!?! They were told!!
When are the newspapers going to report that the NH Department of Justice dismissed a Complaint to the Office of the Attorney General about corruption and conspiracy between the Supreme Court and two Judges who once worked in the AG's Office, and obstruction of justice? They were told!!
When are the newspapers going to report that the Judicial Branch gets millions of dollars from Federal interventionist funding, which never goes through the House, and that Chief Justice Broderick doesn't want to talk about that! They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report that while the Commission on the Status of Women was getting over $100,000.00 per year, the Commission on the Status of Men never got a dime? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report the the Commission on the Status of Men revealed that it is actually the NH Courts that are doing the most damage to men and fathers and their children? They've been told!!
Why won't the newspapers report that Democrat Governor John Lynch has always refused and still won't fill the majority of empty seats on the Commission on the Status of Men? They've been told!!
I'm going to put it right out there! We are all saying the same things to ourselves and to each other; "Why don't the newspapers expose the corruption in our Courts?" "Why don't they do ANYTHING while people are getting screwed for no valid reason."
Why!?! Because investigative journalism is DEAD in New Hampshire. If you want information, you have to read the blogs, because you certainly won't read it in the articles!!
The newspapers acted more responsibly in the past. Today, they regurgitate what they're told by the powers that be, and they DO NOT ask why!
The Judicial Branch is lying through their teeth about the budget crisis. They are CAUSING IT THEMSELVES!! Judge Kelly's Family Division is a compilation of common outlaws and usurpers of the Constitution. I have hard evidence and documentation of filthy lies and abuses by the Judges and Marital Masters.
Now, after they're blowing their own budget, they're denying justice to the people of New Hampshire by closing the Courts and failing miserably. Chief Justice Broderick is absolutely useless and fully responsible for allowing Judge Kelly to run the Family Division into the dirt. The two of them are incompetent no-accounts.
Every time someone I know writes a complaint about the abuses of Family Division Marital Masters and the Judges RUBBER STAMPING their recommendations, he always responds with statement of his inability to get involved! If the Administrative Director, who is a Judge, can't get involved in the corruption in his Courts, then why do we need a Judge to direct the Family Division?
After all this, the newspapers will still wuss out of their responsibility to the public, and they won't investigate why the Courts are blowing their budget, denying the public access to the Courts, failing to disclose Federal funding dollars, and that they're lying about it.
We do get to read about how Chuck Douglas is suing the taxpayer for more money!!
We do get to read about how Broderick is resigning around November so Lynch can appoint another liberal buffoon to the Bench in his place.
I challenge the newspapers to COWBOY UP and investigate this fiasco! All they have to do is contact the bloggers who are the victims of this filth and corruption. It can't get ANY EASIER! They can contact the Representatives who are on the the Redress Caucus. (there is a caucus because Speaker Norelli is stomping all over the Constitution because she's too corrupt to allow a House Committee to hear Petitions.)
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinion/editorials/867842-263/hard-to-miss-irony-in-court-budget.html
Ga. judge pinched for pills, prostitution
Ga. judge pinched for pills, prostitution
ATLANTA (AP) - The 67-year-old federal judge's wild relationship with a stripper started with just a lap dance, prosecutors said, but quickly escalated into escapades of prostitution and gun-toting drug deals involving cocaine and prescription pills. Senior Judge Jack T. Camp, a veteran jurist who had achieved a status that allowed him a lighter caseload, now finds himself in a peculiar position, in front of one of his peers, and with lawyers combing through his decisions, wondering whether they have grounds to challenge them.
"I don't know whether the allegations are true or whether they infected the decision making, but it's incumbent upon me to raise these issues," said Gerry Weber, a civil rights attorney.
Camp, a Vietnam War veteran who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, built a reputation for handing out stiff sentences, including for drug convictions. He could face years behind bars on drug and gun charges. The judge's attorney has said he intends to plead not guilty.
The stripper, who previously had a felony drug trafficking conviction, had been secretly working with the FBI since the spring to build a case against the judge. In exchange, prosecutors pledged not to charge her.
Camp's relationship with the dancer, who was not identified in court documents, began earlier this year. A day after receiving his first dance, he returned to the Goldrush Showbar for more dances, and added sex and cocaine to his tab, authorities said.
Over the next few months, the two used cocaine and other drugs together, sometimes at the strip club, and the judge would paid $40 to $50 to join her getting high, according to a sworn statement.
In June, the judge followed the stripper to a house in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta to buy drugs, carrying a semiautomatic handgun with him he later told her he brought to protect her, the affidavit said.
The relationship finally unraveled Friday. Camp told the stripper he would try to help with her criminal record and advised her to tell a potential employer who had rejected her application that "it was a minor offense and that one of the judges on the court can explain that to him," according to the affidavit.
A few hours later, the dancer asked Camp to follow her to the Publix grocery store parking lot in northeast Atlanta to meet a drug dealer. When she said she feared for her safety, authorities said he responded with a dash of bravado: "I not only have my little pistol, I've got my big pistol so, uh, we'll take care of any problems that come up."
Camp, who is married with two grown children, then gave the stripper $160 to buy the drugs from an undercover officer. When the agent, posing as a dealer, told Camp he had given the two a few extra pills, the judge sounded pleased. "We'll call you again," the judge said.
FBI agents swarmed the judge's car about 10 minutes later when he drove to the Velvet Room, a nearby night club. They recovered the plastic bag containing blue pills and a white substance, along with two guns from his front seat.
Not only has the case shocked the legal community, it has created a conflict of interest mess. For Camp's bail hearing, prosecutors were flown in from Washington and a magistrate traveled from Alabama because the local judges recused themselves from the case.
Camp supervised several cases while he was being investigated, including an April trial involving a pilot charged with shipping cocaine for drug traffickers. A jury acquitted the pilot after a trial in which prosecutors carted out 174 kilograms of cocaine in front of the jury several times.
It's unclear whether any of the judge's decisions will be revisited.
"If you could establish that a judge was under the influence of some substance at the time he presided or ruled, then you could conceive of a basis for a challenge,' said Pete Donaldson, a criminal defense attorney based in Albany, Ga. "You can envision all manner of circumstances where that might come into play."
The judge grew up on a working farm in rural Coweta County, and he enjoyed talking to colleagues about raising timber, pumpkins and cows on a plot of land he still owns.
During his more than two decades on the federal bench, he hated when attorneys grandstanded and sometimes required them to cite the specific federal code when they dared raise an objection. But he always maintained a cordial relationship, said defense attorney Page Pate.
"He was a true Southern gentleman who was definitely tough with defenders - even more so in drug cases," said Pate.
Camp sentenced two men accused of killing DeKalb County Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown to life in prison without parole in 2004, and gave the personal doctor to a professional wrestler who killed himself, his wife and their 7-year-old son 10 years behind bars for prescription drug-related charges.
At a brief hearing Monday, the judge found himself surrounded by four defense attorneys. He flashed a quick smile to his family before he was released on a $50,000 bond.
William Morrison, who tried several cases before Camp before becoming his attorney, assured the judge's family that he was doing fine, and then told reporters Camp would likely take a leave of absence.
"This is really a case between Judge Camp and his wife. It's not about Judge Camp being a judge. It's about him being a husband," said Morrison, who added: "It is not a case about judging. It's a case about judgment."
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/worldnation/873767-227/ga.-judge-pinched-for-pills-prostitution.html
ATLANTA (AP) - The 67-year-old federal judge's wild relationship with a stripper started with just a lap dance, prosecutors said, but quickly escalated into escapades of prostitution and gun-toting drug deals involving cocaine and prescription pills. Senior Judge Jack T. Camp, a veteran jurist who had achieved a status that allowed him a lighter caseload, now finds himself in a peculiar position, in front of one of his peers, and with lawyers combing through his decisions, wondering whether they have grounds to challenge them.
"I don't know whether the allegations are true or whether they infected the decision making, but it's incumbent upon me to raise these issues," said Gerry Weber, a civil rights attorney.
Camp, a Vietnam War veteran who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, built a reputation for handing out stiff sentences, including for drug convictions. He could face years behind bars on drug and gun charges. The judge's attorney has said he intends to plead not guilty.
The stripper, who previously had a felony drug trafficking conviction, had been secretly working with the FBI since the spring to build a case against the judge. In exchange, prosecutors pledged not to charge her.
Camp's relationship with the dancer, who was not identified in court documents, began earlier this year. A day after receiving his first dance, he returned to the Goldrush Showbar for more dances, and added sex and cocaine to his tab, authorities said.
Over the next few months, the two used cocaine and other drugs together, sometimes at the strip club, and the judge would paid $40 to $50 to join her getting high, according to a sworn statement.
In June, the judge followed the stripper to a house in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta to buy drugs, carrying a semiautomatic handgun with him he later told her he brought to protect her, the affidavit said.
The relationship finally unraveled Friday. Camp told the stripper he would try to help with her criminal record and advised her to tell a potential employer who had rejected her application that "it was a minor offense and that one of the judges on the court can explain that to him," according to the affidavit.
A few hours later, the dancer asked Camp to follow her to the Publix grocery store parking lot in northeast Atlanta to meet a drug dealer. When she said she feared for her safety, authorities said he responded with a dash of bravado: "I not only have my little pistol, I've got my big pistol so, uh, we'll take care of any problems that come up."
Camp, who is married with two grown children, then gave the stripper $160 to buy the drugs from an undercover officer. When the agent, posing as a dealer, told Camp he had given the two a few extra pills, the judge sounded pleased. "We'll call you again," the judge said.
FBI agents swarmed the judge's car about 10 minutes later when he drove to the Velvet Room, a nearby night club. They recovered the plastic bag containing blue pills and a white substance, along with two guns from his front seat.
Not only has the case shocked the legal community, it has created a conflict of interest mess. For Camp's bail hearing, prosecutors were flown in from Washington and a magistrate traveled from Alabama because the local judges recused themselves from the case.
Camp supervised several cases while he was being investigated, including an April trial involving a pilot charged with shipping cocaine for drug traffickers. A jury acquitted the pilot after a trial in which prosecutors carted out 174 kilograms of cocaine in front of the jury several times.
It's unclear whether any of the judge's decisions will be revisited.
"If you could establish that a judge was under the influence of some substance at the time he presided or ruled, then you could conceive of a basis for a challenge,' said Pete Donaldson, a criminal defense attorney based in Albany, Ga. "You can envision all manner of circumstances where that might come into play."
The judge grew up on a working farm in rural Coweta County, and he enjoyed talking to colleagues about raising timber, pumpkins and cows on a plot of land he still owns.
During his more than two decades on the federal bench, he hated when attorneys grandstanded and sometimes required them to cite the specific federal code when they dared raise an objection. But he always maintained a cordial relationship, said defense attorney Page Pate.
"He was a true Southern gentleman who was definitely tough with defenders - even more so in drug cases," said Pate.
Camp sentenced two men accused of killing DeKalb County Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown to life in prison without parole in 2004, and gave the personal doctor to a professional wrestler who killed himself, his wife and their 7-year-old son 10 years behind bars for prescription drug-related charges.
At a brief hearing Monday, the judge found himself surrounded by four defense attorneys. He flashed a quick smile to his family before he was released on a $50,000 bond.
William Morrison, who tried several cases before Camp before becoming his attorney, assured the judge's family that he was doing fine, and then told reporters Camp would likely take a leave of absence.
"This is really a case between Judge Camp and his wife. It's not about Judge Camp being a judge. It's about him being a husband," said Morrison, who added: "It is not a case about judging. It's a case about judgment."
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/worldnation/873767-227/ga.-judge-pinched-for-pills-prostitution.html
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Study: Why Child Abuse Investigations Don't Help Kids
Study: Why Child Abuse Investigations Don't Help Kids
By Maia Szalavitz Monday, October 4, 2010
Child welfare agencies have a thankless task: investigate reports of child maltreatment and determine, first, whether they are true or false, then whether more damage will be done by a) leaving children in a potentially harmful environment, or b) ripping them away from the only parents they know and placing them in a new family that may or may not be better.
Now a new study published Monday suggests that child abuse investigations do not result in long-term improvement in family functioning or child behavior, and in fact are associated with increased depression among mothers. An editorial accompanying the new study proclaims: “Child Protective Services [CPS] Has Outlived Its Usefulness.” (More on Time.com: Side Effect of the Recession: An Increase in Child Abuse)
The study and editorial were both published in the most recent edition of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The research examined data on 595 at-risk children who were already involved in a study about the long-term causes and consequences of child maltreatment. It compared children whose families were investigated by CPS — about 28% of the sample — with those who were not.
The study did not investigate the effects of foster care placement: researchers looked only at cases where the child had the same maternal caregiver at age 4 and again at age 8, although those who spent some time in foster care were not excluded. Since about 80% of child maltreatment cases do not result in child removal, the results would probably apply to the majority of children in the CPS system.
According to lead study author Dr. Kristine Campbell, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah: “Over a long-term view, between ages 4 and 8, there was no evidence within this sample that a CPS investigation changed certain modifiable risk factors such as education, poverty and social support [for these families.] There was no change in family [functioning or child behavior problems] where a CPS investigation occurred, and for maternal depression symptoms there was actually a worsening.”
Campbell notes that the research couldn't determine whether being investigated for child abuse caused depression among mothers — but it would obviously not be surprising if it did.
“I don't think we should be surprised by [the findings] and I don't think that it's role of CPS to fix poverty. But we do spend lot of money on investigations. They're mandated by law. If we are going to go through this process as a society and say that it's important to do investigations, we should look at it as an opportunity to prevent future problems,” Campbell says. But her research suggests that that opportunity is currently being missed. (More on Time.com: Cyberbullying? Homophobia? Tyler Clementi's Death Highlights Online Lawlessness)
That's why editorial author Dr. Abraham Bergman, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, proposes a radical solution. He suggests leaving investigations of physical abuse to police, turning prevention and treatment services over to public health nurses and leaving CPS with a narrower role as intermediaries when courts must be involved with child abuse.
He says that what CPS does now “is mostly investigation and not much support and it's an overwhelming task given to people who don't have much training and tremendous turnover.” In the editorial, he cites a 2003 GAO investigation that found that only 28% of CPS workers even had undergraduate degrees in social work (15% had a bachelor's and 13% had a Master's) and that most workers had spent two years or less on the job.
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR), thinks the research illustrates obvious problems with the system, but believes different solutions are needed.
“My first reaction to the study is simple,” he says. “They had to do a study to figure this out? This study simply confirms what NCCPR has been saying for years: Child Protective Services won't be effective until it becomes Child *Poverty* Services.”
He adds, “That doesn't mean you have to eliminate poverty to eliminate child maltreatment — though whoever does the first will come closer than anyone else to doing the second. You can make enormous strides simply by ameliorating the worst effects of poverty.”
Wexler thinks that much of the problem with CPS has to do with the way families are approached when trouble arises. “It's almost always a cookie-cutter 'service plan' requiring lots and lots of 'counseling' and 'parent education' while the actual problems of poverty are ignored. So the 'services' only add more burdens to this family,” he says.
For example, a single mother who cannot afford daycare might leave her child home alone — telling the mother that this is a wrong-headed choice won't help her if she needs to work and has no safe place to leave her child. As a result, it's not surprising that CPS investigations don't produce change.
"I don't think we know how to solve this problem," says Dr. Bruce Perry, senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy (full disclosure: Dr. Perry and I have co-authored two books). "A lot of times the situation calls for the formation of a healing relationship and so the very act of going there in an investigatory mode impairs the ability to form a meaningful relationship in which parents can be open, ask for and get help."
Eighteen states are currently experimenting with an approach that offers services rather than investigations to families in which the risk of severe abuse or neglect is not high. Wexler suggests that this “differential” or “alternative” response might make a real difference. “If you go into a home where the allegation is a typical case of neglect, extending an open hand instead of a wagging finger, you are likely to get more cooperation from the family,” he says.
With research suggesting that the bad economy is increasing child abuse — and with no sign that extra funds to help will be forthcoming — it's more important than ever to determine which approaches work and target scarce dollars accordingly.
(Note: The Federal Administration for Children and Families, which is in charge of the Obama Administration's child welfare policies, did not reply to a request for comment before the deadline for this article.)
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/04/study-why-child-abuse-investigations-dont-help-kids/#ixzz11XXRNncd
By Maia Szalavitz Monday, October 4, 2010
Child welfare agencies have a thankless task: investigate reports of child maltreatment and determine, first, whether they are true or false, then whether more damage will be done by a) leaving children in a potentially harmful environment, or b) ripping them away from the only parents they know and placing them in a new family that may or may not be better.
Now a new study published Monday suggests that child abuse investigations do not result in long-term improvement in family functioning or child behavior, and in fact are associated with increased depression among mothers. An editorial accompanying the new study proclaims: “Child Protective Services [CPS] Has Outlived Its Usefulness.” (More on Time.com: Side Effect of the Recession: An Increase in Child Abuse)
The study and editorial were both published in the most recent edition of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The research examined data on 595 at-risk children who were already involved in a study about the long-term causes and consequences of child maltreatment. It compared children whose families were investigated by CPS — about 28% of the sample — with those who were not.
The study did not investigate the effects of foster care placement: researchers looked only at cases where the child had the same maternal caregiver at age 4 and again at age 8, although those who spent some time in foster care were not excluded. Since about 80% of child maltreatment cases do not result in child removal, the results would probably apply to the majority of children in the CPS system.
According to lead study author Dr. Kristine Campbell, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah: “Over a long-term view, between ages 4 and 8, there was no evidence within this sample that a CPS investigation changed certain modifiable risk factors such as education, poverty and social support [for these families.] There was no change in family [functioning or child behavior problems] where a CPS investigation occurred, and for maternal depression symptoms there was actually a worsening.”
Campbell notes that the research couldn't determine whether being investigated for child abuse caused depression among mothers — but it would obviously not be surprising if it did.
“I don't think we should be surprised by [the findings] and I don't think that it's role of CPS to fix poverty. But we do spend lot of money on investigations. They're mandated by law. If we are going to go through this process as a society and say that it's important to do investigations, we should look at it as an opportunity to prevent future problems,” Campbell says. But her research suggests that that opportunity is currently being missed. (More on Time.com: Cyberbullying? Homophobia? Tyler Clementi's Death Highlights Online Lawlessness)
That's why editorial author Dr. Abraham Bergman, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, proposes a radical solution. He suggests leaving investigations of physical abuse to police, turning prevention and treatment services over to public health nurses and leaving CPS with a narrower role as intermediaries when courts must be involved with child abuse.
He says that what CPS does now “is mostly investigation and not much support and it's an overwhelming task given to people who don't have much training and tremendous turnover.” In the editorial, he cites a 2003 GAO investigation that found that only 28% of CPS workers even had undergraduate degrees in social work (15% had a bachelor's and 13% had a Master's) and that most workers had spent two years or less on the job.
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR), thinks the research illustrates obvious problems with the system, but believes different solutions are needed.
“My first reaction to the study is simple,” he says. “They had to do a study to figure this out? This study simply confirms what NCCPR has been saying for years: Child Protective Services won't be effective until it becomes Child *Poverty* Services.”
He adds, “That doesn't mean you have to eliminate poverty to eliminate child maltreatment — though whoever does the first will come closer than anyone else to doing the second. You can make enormous strides simply by ameliorating the worst effects of poverty.”
Wexler thinks that much of the problem with CPS has to do with the way families are approached when trouble arises. “It's almost always a cookie-cutter 'service plan' requiring lots and lots of 'counseling' and 'parent education' while the actual problems of poverty are ignored. So the 'services' only add more burdens to this family,” he says.
For example, a single mother who cannot afford daycare might leave her child home alone — telling the mother that this is a wrong-headed choice won't help her if she needs to work and has no safe place to leave her child. As a result, it's not surprising that CPS investigations don't produce change.
"I don't think we know how to solve this problem," says Dr. Bruce Perry, senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy (full disclosure: Dr. Perry and I have co-authored two books). "A lot of times the situation calls for the formation of a healing relationship and so the very act of going there in an investigatory mode impairs the ability to form a meaningful relationship in which parents can be open, ask for and get help."
Eighteen states are currently experimenting with an approach that offers services rather than investigations to families in which the risk of severe abuse or neglect is not high. Wexler suggests that this “differential” or “alternative” response might make a real difference. “If you go into a home where the allegation is a typical case of neglect, extending an open hand instead of a wagging finger, you are likely to get more cooperation from the family,” he says.
With research suggesting that the bad economy is increasing child abuse — and with no sign that extra funds to help will be forthcoming — it's more important than ever to determine which approaches work and target scarce dollars accordingly.
(Note: The Federal Administration for Children and Families, which is in charge of the Obama Administration's child welfare policies, did not reply to a request for comment before the deadline for this article.)
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/04/study-why-child-abuse-investigations-dont-help-kids/#ixzz11XXRNncd
FDA Okays First ADHD Drug for Use With Stimulant
FDA Okays First ADHD Drug for Use With Stimulant
By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: October 05, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The FDA has approved clonidine hydrochloride (Kapvay) as the first attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug concomitantly used with a stimulant.
The drug -- manufactured by Shionogi -- is an alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist indicated for children and teens ages 6 to 17. It is also approved for use as a monotherapy in ADHD.
The drug's formulation "minimizes peaks and troughs in blood levels," Donald C. Manning, MD, the chief medical officer at Shionogi, said in a statement.
Approval was based on two phase III trials of 6-to-17-year-olds, one of which tested the drug as a stand-alone ADHD treatment, while the other tested efficacy and safety as an add-on to therapy with a stimulant.
The eight-week monotherapy trial randomized 236 patients with ADHD or combined inattentive/hyperactive subtype to either clonidine 0.4 mg/day, clonidine 0.2 mg/day, or placebo. Patients in either clonidine group were started on 0.1 mg/day and received a dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg to the respective dose, and then treated on that final dose for at least two weeks before then gradually decreasing dosage down to 0.1 mg/day during the final treatment week.
The second eight-week study included 198 patients ages 6 to 17 who had been treated with a psychostimulant (methylphenidate or amphetamine) for four weeks and had an inadequate response. Patients were randomized to a clonidine 0.4 mg/day and psychostimulant group or to a psychostimulant-only group. Those in the clonidine group were started at 0.1 mg/day and had dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg as divided doses over three weeks based on tolerability and clinical response, before gradually decreasing dosage to 0.1 mg/day for the final week of treatment.
ADHD symptom scores showed significant improvement in each clonidine group over placebo, and in the clonidine and psychostimulant group over psychostimulant-alone group at five weeks of treatment.
In the monotherapy trial, adverse events included somnolence, headache, upper abdominal pain, fatigue, and upper respiratory tract infection.
In the stimulant trial, adverse events included somnolence, fatigue, abdominal pain, nasal congestion, throat pain, decreased appetite, increased body temperature, dizziness, insomnia, epistaxis, rhinorrhea, anxiety, and pain in extremities.
Patients taking tricyclic antidepressants may experience reduced efficacy of clonidine.
Clonidine may have increased risk for bradycardia and AV block in patients taking drugs that affect sinus node function or AV nodal conduction.
Patients taking hypertension drugs should avoid taking clonidine due to risk of hypotension and other overlapping side effects.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/FDAGeneral/22563
By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: October 05, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The FDA has approved clonidine hydrochloride (Kapvay) as the first attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug concomitantly used with a stimulant.
The drug -- manufactured by Shionogi -- is an alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist indicated for children and teens ages 6 to 17. It is also approved for use as a monotherapy in ADHD.
The drug's formulation "minimizes peaks and troughs in blood levels," Donald C. Manning, MD, the chief medical officer at Shionogi, said in a statement.
Approval was based on two phase III trials of 6-to-17-year-olds, one of which tested the drug as a stand-alone ADHD treatment, while the other tested efficacy and safety as an add-on to therapy with a stimulant.
The eight-week monotherapy trial randomized 236 patients with ADHD or combined inattentive/hyperactive subtype to either clonidine 0.4 mg/day, clonidine 0.2 mg/day, or placebo. Patients in either clonidine group were started on 0.1 mg/day and received a dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg to the respective dose, and then treated on that final dose for at least two weeks before then gradually decreasing dosage down to 0.1 mg/day during the final treatment week.
The second eight-week study included 198 patients ages 6 to 17 who had been treated with a psychostimulant (methylphenidate or amphetamine) for four weeks and had an inadequate response. Patients were randomized to a clonidine 0.4 mg/day and psychostimulant group or to a psychostimulant-only group. Those in the clonidine group were started at 0.1 mg/day and had dosage increased weekly by 0.1 mg as divided doses over three weeks based on tolerability and clinical response, before gradually decreasing dosage to 0.1 mg/day for the final week of treatment.
ADHD symptom scores showed significant improvement in each clonidine group over placebo, and in the clonidine and psychostimulant group over psychostimulant-alone group at five weeks of treatment.
In the monotherapy trial, adverse events included somnolence, headache, upper abdominal pain, fatigue, and upper respiratory tract infection.
In the stimulant trial, adverse events included somnolence, fatigue, abdominal pain, nasal congestion, throat pain, decreased appetite, increased body temperature, dizziness, insomnia, epistaxis, rhinorrhea, anxiety, and pain in extremities.
Patients taking tricyclic antidepressants may experience reduced efficacy of clonidine.
Clonidine may have increased risk for bradycardia and AV block in patients taking drugs that affect sinus node function or AV nodal conduction.
Patients taking hypertension drugs should avoid taking clonidine due to risk of hypotension and other overlapping side effects.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/FDAGeneral/22563
Prosecutorial Misconduct Is Rarely Punished, Says New Study
Prosecutorial Misconduct Is Rarely Punished, Says New Study
Leigh Jones
The National Law Journal
October 05, 2010
Only a tiny percentage of prosecutors who engaged in misconduct were disciplined by the State Bar of California during a 12-year period, according to a report released Monday.
The report, issued by the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law, found 707 cases between 1997 and 2009 in which courts explicitly determined that prosecutors had committed misconduct. It examined more than 4,000 cases.
Among the 707 cases, only six prosecutors -- 0.8% -- were disciplined by the State Bar of California. Only 10 of the 4,741 disciplinary actions by the state bar during the same period involved prosecutors.
"In the most populated state in the country, we have a legal system that does not hold prosecutors accountable who have abused public trust," said Kathleen "Cookie" Ridolfi, executive director of the Northern California Innocence Project, in a press release.
The project found that judges often failed to report misconduct to the state bar despite having a legal obligation to do so. Sixty-seven prosecutors committed misconduct more than once and some as many as five times. The majority of those prosecutors were never publicly disciplined, the project said.
"Preventable Error: A Report on Prosecutorial Misconduct 1997-2009," issued by the Innocence Project's Northern California chapter, was written by Ridolfi and Maurice Possley, a visiting research fellow at the project. Possley won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting at the Chicago Tribune. Ridolfi is a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law.
The report included recommendations for reform. It called for district attorneys to adopt internal policies that do not tolerate misconduct. It also called for the state bar to increase disciplinary transparency.
The State Bar of California issued a written statement in response to a request for comment.
"[P]rosecutorial misconduct as indicated in the Innocence Project report does not always equate with attorney misconduct for disciplinary purposes," the association said. "The State Bar believes that it is disciplining criminal prosecutors where appropriate and where the misconduct was willful and can be establish by clear and convincing evidence." It added that misconduct is a "serious issue" and that the bar association is looking into the assertions made by the Innocence Project.
The report also found that in 282 of the cases, the courts did not decide whether a prosecutor's actions were improper. Instead, they concluded that regardless of the alleged misconduct, the defendant received a fair trial. The Innocence Project reviewed only appellate court rulings and a few other cases.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472897418
Leigh Jones
The National Law Journal
October 05, 2010
Only a tiny percentage of prosecutors who engaged in misconduct were disciplined by the State Bar of California during a 12-year period, according to a report released Monday.
The report, issued by the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law, found 707 cases between 1997 and 2009 in which courts explicitly determined that prosecutors had committed misconduct. It examined more than 4,000 cases.
Among the 707 cases, only six prosecutors -- 0.8% -- were disciplined by the State Bar of California. Only 10 of the 4,741 disciplinary actions by the state bar during the same period involved prosecutors.
"In the most populated state in the country, we have a legal system that does not hold prosecutors accountable who have abused public trust," said Kathleen "Cookie" Ridolfi, executive director of the Northern California Innocence Project, in a press release.
The project found that judges often failed to report misconduct to the state bar despite having a legal obligation to do so. Sixty-seven prosecutors committed misconduct more than once and some as many as five times. The majority of those prosecutors were never publicly disciplined, the project said.
"Preventable Error: A Report on Prosecutorial Misconduct 1997-2009," issued by the Innocence Project's Northern California chapter, was written by Ridolfi and Maurice Possley, a visiting research fellow at the project. Possley won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting at the Chicago Tribune. Ridolfi is a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law.
The report included recommendations for reform. It called for district attorneys to adopt internal policies that do not tolerate misconduct. It also called for the state bar to increase disciplinary transparency.
The State Bar of California issued a written statement in response to a request for comment.
"[P]rosecutorial misconduct as indicated in the Innocence Project report does not always equate with attorney misconduct for disciplinary purposes," the association said. "The State Bar believes that it is disciplining criminal prosecutors where appropriate and where the misconduct was willful and can be establish by clear and convincing evidence." It added that misconduct is a "serious issue" and that the bar association is looking into the assertions made by the Innocence Project.
The report also found that in 282 of the cases, the courts did not decide whether a prosecutor's actions were improper. Instead, they concluded that regardless of the alleged misconduct, the defendant received a fair trial. The Innocence Project reviewed only appellate court rulings and a few other cases.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472897418
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