The Corrupt Business of Child Protective Services By: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District

The Corrupt Business of Child Protective Services
By: Nancy Schaefer
Senator, 50th District

From the legislative desk of Senator Nancy Schaefer 50th District of Georgia
My introduction into child protective service cases was due to a grandmother in an adjoining state who called me with her tragic story. Her two granddaughters had been taken from her daughter who lived in my district. Her daughter was told wrongly that if she wanted to see her children again she should sign a paper and give up her children. Frightened and young, the daughter did. I have since discovered that parents are often threatened into cooperation of permanent separation of their children.

The children were taken to another county and placed in foster care. The foster parents were told wrongly that they could adopt the children. The grandmother then jumped through every hoop known to man in order to get her granddaughters. When the case finally came to court it was made evident by one of the foster parent's children that the foster parents had, at any given time, 18 foster children and that the foster mother had an inappropriate relationship with the caseworker.

In the courtroom, the juvenile judge, acted as though she was shocked and said the two girls would be removed quickly. They were not removed. Finally, after much pressure being applied to the Department of Family and Children Services of Georgia (DFCS), the children were driven to South Georgia to meet their grandmother who gladly drove to meet them.

After being with their grandmother two or three days, the judge, quite out of the blue, wrote up a new order to send the girls to their father, who previously had no interest in the case and who lived on the West Coast. The father was in "adult entertainment". His girlfriend worked as an "escort" and his brother, who also worked in the business, had a sexual charge brought against him.

Within a couple of days the father was knocking on the grandmother's door and took the girls kicking and screaming to California.

The father developed an unusual relationship with the former foster parents and soon moved back to the southeast, and the foster parents began driving to the father's residence and picking up the little girls for visits. The oldest child had told her mother and grandmother on two different occasions that the foster father molested her.

To this day after five years, this loving, caring blood relative grandmother does not even have visitation privileges with the children. The little girls are in my opinion permanently traumatized and the young mother of the girls was so traumatized with shock when the girls were first removed from her that she has not recovered.

Throughout this case and through the process of dealing with multiple other mismanaged cases of the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS), I have worked with other desperate parents and children across the state because they have no rights and no one with whom to turn. I have witnessed ruthless behavior from many caseworkers, social workers, investigators, lawyers, judges, therapists, and others such as those who "pick up" the children. I have been stunned by what I have seen and heard from victims all over the state of Georgia.



In this report, I am focusing on the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS). However, I believe Child Protective Services nationwide has become corrupt and that the entire system is broken almost beyond repair. I am convinced parents and families should be warned of the dangers.

The Department of Child Protective Services, known as the Department of Family and Children Service (DFCS) in Georgia and other titles in other states, has become a "protected empire" built on taking children and separating families. This is not to say that there are not those children who do need to be removed from wretched situations and need protection. This report is concerned with the children and parents caught up in "legal kidnapping," ineffective policies, and DFCS who do does not remove a child or children when a child is enduring torment and abuse. (See Exhibit A and Exhibit B)

In one county in my District, I arranged a meeting for thirty-seven families to speak freely and without fear. These poor parents and grandparents spoke of their painful, heart wrenching encounters with DFCS. Their suffering was overwhelming. They wept and cried. Some did not know where their children were and had not seen them in years. I had witnessed the "Gestapo" at work and I witnessed the deceitful conditions under which children were taken in the middle of the night, out of hospitals, off of school buses, and out of homes. In one county a private drug testing business was operating within the DFCS department that required many, many drug tests from parents and individuals for profit. In another county children were not removed when they were enduring the worst possible abuse.

Due to being exposed, several employees in a particular DFCS office were fired. However, they have now been rehired either in neighboring counties or in the same county again. According to the calls I am now receiving, the conditions in that county are returning to the same practices that they had before the light was shown on their deeds.

Having worked with probably 300 cases statewide, I am convinced there is no responsibility and no accountability in the system.

I have come to the conclusion:

that poor parents often times are targeted to lose their children because they do not have the where-with-all to hire lawyers and fight the system. Being poor does not mean you are not a good parent or that you do not love your child, or that your child should be removed and placed with strangers;
that all parents are capable of making mistakes and that making a mistake does not mean your children are always to be removed from the home. Even if the home is not perfect, it is home; and that's where a child is the safest and where he or she wants to be, with family;
that parenting classes, anger management classes, counseling referrals, therapy classes and on and on are demanded of parents with no compassion by the system even while they are at work and while their children are separated from them. This can take months or even years and it emotionally devastates both children and parents. Parents are victimized by "the system" that makes a profit for holding children longer and "bonuses" for not returning children;
that caseworkers and social workers are oftentimes guilty of fraud. They withhold evidence. They fabricate evidence and they seek to terminate parental rights. However, when charges are made against them, the charges are ignored;
that the separation of families is growing as a business because local governments have grown accustomed to having taxpayer dollars to balance their ever-expanding budgets;
that Child Protective Service and Juvenile Court can always hide behind a confidentiality clause in order to protect their decisions and keep the funds flowing. There should be open records and "court watches"! Look who is being paid! There are state employees, lawyers, court investigators, court personnel, and judges. There are psychologists, and psychiatrists, counselors, caseworkers, therapists, foster parents, adoptive parents, and on and on. All are looking to the children in state custody to provide job security. Parents do not realize that social workers are the glue that holds "the system" together that funds the court, the child's attorney, and the multiple other jobs including DFCS's attorney.
that The Adoption and the Safe Families Act, set in motion by President Bill Clinton, offered cash "bonuses" to the states for every child they adopted out of foster care. In order to receive the "adoption incentive bonuses" local child protective services need more children. They must have merchandise (children) that sell and you must have plenty of them so the buyer can choose. Some counties are known to give a $4,000 bonus for each child adopted and an additional $2,000 for a "special needs" child. Employees work to keep the federal dollars flowing;
that there is double dipping. The funding continues as long as the child is out of the home. When a child in foster care is placed with a new family then "adoption bonus funds" are available. When a child is placed in a mental health facility and is on 16 drugs per day, like two children of a constituent of mine, more funds are involved;
that there are no financial resources and no real drive to unite a family and help keep them together;
that the incentive for social workers to return children to their parents quickly after taking them has disappeared and who in protective services will step up to the plate and say, "This must end! No one, because they are all in the system together and a system with no leader and no clear policies will always fail the children. Look at the waste in government that is forced upon the tax payer;
that the "Policy Manuel" is considered "the last word" for DFCS. However, it is too long, too confusing, poorly written and does not take the law into consideration;
that if the lives of children were improved by removing them from their homes, there might be a greater need for protective services, but today all children are not always safer. Children, of whom I am aware, have been raped and impregnated in foster care and the head of a Foster Parents Association in my District was recently arrested because of child molestation;
that some parents are even told if they want to see their children or grandchildren, they must divorce their spouse. Many, who are under privileged, feeling they have no option, will divorce and then just continue to live together. This is an anti-family policy, but parents will do anything to get their children home with them.
fathers, (non-custodial parents) I must add, are oftentimes treated as criminals without access to their own children and have child support payments strangling the very life out of them;
that the Foster Parents Bill of Rights does not bring out that a foster parent is there only to care for a child until the child can be returned home. Many Foster Parents today use the Foster Parent Bill of Rights to hire a lawyer and seek to adopt the child from the real parents, who are desperately trying to get their child home and out of the system;
that tax dollars are being used to keep this gigantic system afloat, yet the victims, parents, grandparents, guardians and especially the children, are charged for the system's services.
that grandparents have called from all over the State of Georgia trying to get custody of their grandchildren. DFCS claims relatives are contacted, but there are cases that prove differently. Grandparents who lose their grandchildren to strangers have lost their own flesh and blood. The children lose their family heritage and grandparents, and parents too, lose all connections to their heirs.
that The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in 1998 reported that six times as many children died in foster care than in the general public and that once removed to official "safety", these children are far more likely to suffer abuse, including sexual molestation than in the general population.
That according to the California Little Hoover Commission Report in 2003, 30% to 70% of the children in California group homes do not belong there and should not have been removed from their homes.
Final Remarks
On my desk are scores of cases of exhausted families and troubled children. It has been beyond me to turn my back on these suffering, crying, and sometimes beaten down individuals. We are mistreating the most innocent. Child Protective Services have become adult centered to the detriment of children. No longer is judgment based on what the child needs or who the child wants to be with or what is really best for the whole family; it is some adult or bureaucrat who makes the decisions, based often on just hearsay, without ever consulting a family member, or just what is convenient, profitable, or less troublesome for a director of DFCS.

I have witnessed such injustice and harm brought to these families that I am not sure if I even believe reform of the system is possible! The system cannot be trusted. It does not serve the people. It obliterates families and children simply because it has the power to do so.
Children deserve better. Families deserve better. It's time to pull back the curtain and set our children and families free.

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and the needy" Proverbs 31:8-9

Learn More...
Recommendations
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Recommendations
Call for an independent audit of the Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) to expose corruption and fraud.
Activate immediate change. Every day that passes means more families and children are subject to being held hostage.
End the financial incentives that separate families.
Grant to parents their rights in writing.
Mandate a search for family members to be given the opportunity to adopt their own relatives.
Mandate a jury trial where every piece of evidence is presented before removing a child from his or her parents.
Require a warrant or a positive emergency circumstance before removing children from their parents. (Judge Arthur G. Christean, Utah Bar Journal, January, 1997 reported that "except in emergency circumstances, including the need for immediate medical care, require warrants upon affidavits of probable cause before entry upon private property is permitted for the forcible removal of children from their parents.")
Uphold the laws when someone fabricates or presents false evidence. If a parent alleges fraud, hold a hearing with the right to discovery of all evidence.
Exhibit A
December 5, 2006
Jeremy's Story
(Some names withheld due to future hearings.)
As told to Senator Nancy Schaefer by Sandra (Xxxx), a foster parent of Jeremy for 2 ½ years.
My husband and I received Jeremy when he was 2-weeks-old and we have been the only parents he has really ever known. He lived with us for 27-months. (Xxxx) is the grandfather of Jeremy, and he is known for molesting his own children, for molesting Jeremy and has been court ordered not to be around Jeremy. (Xxxx) is the mother of Jeremy, who has been diagnosed to be mentally ill, and also is known to have molested Jeremy. (Xxxx) and Jeremy's uncle is a registered sex offender and (Xxxx) is the biological father, who is a drug addict and alcoholic and who continues to be in and out of jail. Having just described Jeremy's world, all of these adults are not to be any part of Jeremy's life, yet for years DFCS has known that they are.

DFCS had to test (Xxxx) (the grandfather) and his son (Xxxx) (the uncle) and (Xxxx) to determine the real father. (Xxxx) is the biological father although any of them might have been. In court, it appeared from the case study, that everyone involved knew that this little boy had been molested by family members, even by his own mother, (Xxxx). In court, (XXX), the mother of Jeremy, admitted to having had sex with (Xxxx) (the grandfather) and (Xxxx) (her own brother) that morning. Judge (Xxxx) and DFCS gave Jeremy to his grandmother that same day. (Xxxx), the grandmother, is over 300 lbs., is unable to drive, and is unable to take care of Jeremy due to physical problems. She also has been in a mental hospital several times due to her behavior.

Even though it was ordered by the court that the grandfather (Xxxx), the uncle (Xxxx) (a convicted sex offender), (Xxxx) his mother who molested him and (Xxxx) his biological father, a convicted drug addict, were not to have anything to do with the child, they all continue to come and go as they please at (Xxxx address), where Jeremy has been "sentenced to live" for years. This residence has no bathroom and little heat. The front door and the windows are boarded. This home should have been condemned years ago. I have been in this home. No child should ever have to live like this or with such people.

Jeremy was taken from us at age 2 ½ years after (Xxxx) obtained attorney (Xxxx), who was the same attorney who represented him in a large settlement from an auto accident. I am told, that attorney (Xxxx), as grandfather's attorney, is known to have repeatedly gotten (Xxxx) off of several criminal charges in White County. This is a matter of record and is known by many in White County. I have copies of some records. (Xxxx grandfather), through (Xxxx attorney's) work, got (Xxxx), the grandmother of Jeremy, legal custody of Jeremy. (Xxxx grandfather) who cannot read or write also got his daughter (Xxxx) and son (Xxxx) diagnosed by government agencies as mentally ill. (Xxxx grandfather), through legal channels, has taken upon himself all control of the family and is able to take possession of any government funding coming to these people.

It was during this time that Jeremy was to have a six-month transitional period between (Xxxx grandmother) and my family as we were to give him up. The court ordered agreement was to have been 4-days at our house and 3-days at (Xxxx grandmother). DFCS stopped the visits within 2-weeks. The reason given by DFCS was the child was too traumatized going back and forth. In truth, Jeremy begged us and screamed never to be taken back to (Xxxx) his grandmother's house, which we have on video.

We, as a family, have seen Jeremy in stores time to time with (Xxxx grandmother) and the very people he is not to be around. At each meeting Jeremy continues to run to us wherever he sees us and it is clear he is suffering. This child is in a desperate situation and this is why I am writing, and begging you Senator Schaefer, to do something in this child's behalf. Jeremy can clearly describe in detail his sexual molestation by every member of this family and this sexual abuse continues to this day.

When Jeremy was 5 years of age I took him to Dr. (Xxxx) of Habersham County who did indeed agree that Jeremy's rectum was black and blue and the physical damage to the child was clearly a case of sexual molestation.

Early in Jeremy's life, when he was in such bad physical condition, we took him to Egleston Children Hospital where at two-months of age therapy was to begin three times a week. DFCS decided that the (Xxxx grandparent family) should participate in his therapy. However, the therapist complained over and over that the (Xxxx grandparent family) would not even wash their hands and would cause Jeremy to cry during these sessions. (Xxxx the grandmother), after receiving custody no longer allowed the therapy because it was an inconvenience. The therapist reported that this would be a terrible thing to do to this child. Therapy was stopped and it was detrimental to the health of Jeremy.

During (Xxxx grandmother) custody, (Xxxx uncle) has shot Jeremy with a BB gun and there is a report at (Xxxx) County Sheriff's office. There are several amber alerts at Cornelia Wal-Mart, Commerce Wal-Mart, and a 911 report from (Xxxx) County Sheriff's Department when Jeremy was lost. (Xxxx grandmother), to teach Jeremy a lesson, took thorn bush limbs and beat the bottoms of his feet. Jeremy's feet got infected and his feet had to be lanced by Dr. (Xxxx). Then Judy called me to pick him up after about 4-days to take back him to the doctor because of intense pain. I took Jeremy to Dr. (Xxxx) in Gainesville. Dr. (Xxxx) said surgery was needed immediately and a cast was added. After returning home, (Xxxx), his grandfather and (Xxxx), his uncle, took him into the hog lot and allowed him to walk in the filth.

Jeremy's feet became so infected for a 2nd time that he was again taken back to Dr. (Xxxx) and the hospital. No one in the hospital could believe this child's living conditions.

Jeremy is threatened to keep quiet and not say anything to anyone. I have videos, reports, arrest records and almost anything you might need to help Jeremy.

Please call my husband, Wendell, or I at any time.
Sandra and (Xxxx) husband (Xxxx)
Exhibit B
Failure of DFCS to remove six desperate children
A brief report regarding six children that Habersham County DFCS director failed to remove as disclosed to Senator Nancy Schaefer by Sheriff Deray Fincher of Habersham County.

Sheriff Deray Fincher, Chief of Police Don Ford and Chief Investigator Lt. Greg Bowen Chief called me to meet with them immediately, which I did on Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Sheriff Fincher, after contacting the Director of Habersham County DFCS several times to remove six children from being horribly abused, finally had to get a court order to remove the children himself with the help of two police officers.

The children, four boys and two girls, were not just being abused; they were being tortured by a monster father.

The six children and a live in girl friend were terrified of this man, the abuser. The children never slept in a bed, but always on the floor. The place where they lived was unfit for human habitation.

The father on one occasion hit one of the boys across his head with a bat and cut the boy's head open. The father then proceeded to hold the boy down and sew up the child's head with a needle and red thread. However, even with beatings and burnings, this is only a fraction of what the father did to these children and to the live-in girlfriend.

Sheriff Fincher has pictures of the abuse and condition of one of the boys and at the writing of this report, he has the father in jail in Habersham County.

It should be noted that when the DFCS director found out that Sheriff Fincher was going to remove the children, she called the father and warned him to flee.

This is not the only time this DFCS director failed to remove a child when she needed to do so. (See Exhibit A)

The egregious acts and abhorrent behavior of officials who are supposed to protect children can no longer be tolerated.

Senator Nancy Schaefer
50th District of Georgia

Senator Nancy Schaefer
302 B Coverdell Office Building
18 Capitol Square, SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Phone: 404-463-1367
Fax: 404-657-3217
Senator Nancy Schaefer
District Office
P O Box 294
Turnerville, Georgia 30580
Phone: 706-754-1998
Fax: 706-754-1803
Please forward to anyone interested
Posted: December 5, 2007
PO Box 1645,
Twain Harte, CA 95383 Kidjacked © 2010
Last Updated: 5/25/2008 Contact: Webmaster
Hosted & Designed by:

http://kidjacked.com/family/schaefer.asp

Nancy Schaefer's Articles

Home
Subscribe
About Nancy
News & Issues
Nancy Schaefer's Articles
Parents' Rights
Child Protective Services
Georgia Eagle Forum Resources
Phyllis Schlafly's Reports
"Georgia Insights"/Legislation
Sue Ella Deadwyler
U.S. Congressional and
Federal Information
Georgia State and
Local Government

Make Checks Payable to:
Eagle Forum of Georgia, Inc.
458 Yates Circle
Clakesville, Georgia 30523

Nancy Schaefer
Former State Senator of Georgia
President, Eagle Forum of Georgia
Eagle Forum National Chairman of Parents' Rights

Contact information
458 Yates Circle
Clarkesville, GA 30523
Phone: (706) 754-8321
Fax: (706) 754-1803
Website:
EagleForumOfGeorgia.org

Email:
nancy.schaefer@nancyschaefer.com

News and Issues

+ Review other Articles

9-03-2009 Hear Nancy Schaefer's speech in Amsterdam, The Netherlands 8-16-09


+ Review other Issues Articles

February 17, 2010 - Are We Targeted for Forced Microchip Implants?
January 31, 2010 - A SURGEON'S REFLECTIONS
January 26, 2010 - Action - Two Georgia Bills Decriminalize Juvenile Prostitution!
January 14, 2010 - A 2010 MESSAGE FROM NANCY SCHAEFER
January 14, 2010 - ALERT
November 21, 2009 - HEALTHCARE UPDATE - Eagle Forum Runs New Ad Responding To Senator Nelson!!
11-07-2009 - THE TIME IS NOW: PELOSI'S HEALTH CARE BILL UP FOR VOTE
11-05-2009 WESTERN CIVILIZATION: BEING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
10-23-2009 WHAT HAPPENED TO TRANSPARENCY?
09-25-2009 - PRAYER, THE PURIFYING FORCE (National Eagle Forum Conference, "TAKE BACK AMERICA", 9/25 - 9/26, 2009)
9-23-2009 The Largest Capitol Protest Ever
9-10-2009 Eagle Forum "HOW TO TAKE BACK AMERICA" Conference 2009
9-03-2009 Hear Nancy Schaefer's speech in Amsterdam, The Netherlands 8-16-09
8-16-2009 Nancy Schaefer Speaks at the World Congress on Families
8-08-2009 Nancy Schaefer goes to Amsterdam
8-01-2009 Alert - Obama's Government Health Care
7-30-2009 Alert - Total Solar Eclipse
7-24-2009 And Now... Nationalized Health Care Reform!
7-18-2009 Texas Senate Bill 1440 to increase power to Child Protective Services was vetoed by Governor Rick Perry.
7-15-2009 Is Hate Crimes Legislation, S.909, being voted on NOW?
6-30-2009 Liberals Pass Climate Change Bill. Families Lose! Cap and Trade Energy Program Moves to Senate
6-23-2009 Liberals Pull Out all the Stops to Rush through Pelosi's Energy Tax!
6-11-2009 Urge Governor Rick Perry to Veto Bill That Will Increase Power to Child Protective Services (CPS)
5-21-2009 Stemcell Research Regulations
5-12-2009 Vincente Fox, Former President of Mexico, In Atlanta to Promote the North American Union
5-11-2009 Urgent Opposition Needed Against Passage of S. 909, Hate Crimes Legislation
5-08-2009 Eagle Forum announces the appointment of Nancy Schaefer
3-19-2009 What Happened to SB 415
9-26-2008 Nancy Schaefer speaks on Child Protective Services at the Eagle Forum National Conference on September 26, 2008 in Washington, D.C.
UPDATED - 9-25-2008 - THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
3-19-2008 DFCS announcement for Nancy Schaefer Runs for Congress
2-18-2008 SB 415 - Senator Schaefer introduces legislation to protect children in government care
2-18-2009 Senate Press Release on SB 415
12-20-2007 The Mental Heath Screening of Children
11-27-2007 Will Israel Be Divided
6-08-2007 Threats To Our National Security
Are Illegal Immigration and the North American Union the Same Issue
3-12-2007 SR 827
3-09-2007 - SB 278 - A Bill relating to Family Court and Juvenile Proceedings
03-05-2007 CPAC Speech Washington
2-20-2007 - SR 129 - A Resolution that supported Israel
12-08-2006 SPP Article - North American Union
10-10-2006 Senator Schaefer Visits the Mexican Border
SB 529 - Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act Bill
3-31-2006 SR 124
2-09-2006 Ten Commandment SR 326 Resolution


http://www.eagleforumofga.org/articles_and_alerts.php?filter=32

Nancy Schaefer You Tube Videos

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nancy+Schaefer

Georgia Senator Nancy Schaefer, a great Humanitarian and Fighter for Families against DCYF/CPS corruption, died March 26th, 2010. She will be greatly missed and never be forgotten. She has given us all the strength to fight for our families.
Rest in Peace Nancy and know that your strength lives on in all of us.

Memorial to Senator Nancy Schaefer

Murder-suicide possible cause of deaths of former state Sen. Schaefer and husband

ShareThis PrintE-mail
By Mashaun D. Simon and Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Conservative political activist and former state Sen. Nancy Schaefer and her husband Bruce have died of an apparent murder-suicide.



Ben Gray, AJC Former Ga. state senator Nancy Schaefer and her husband were found dead Friday in Habersham.




"There will be a thorough investigation to determine what happened," GBI spokesman John Bankhead told the AJC. He could not say who might have been the shooter. Six GBI agents and two crime scene technicians are at the scene of the Schaefer home in Haberham County.

An announcement was made around 7:30 p.m. Friday on the floor of the Georgia General Assembly.

Sen. Don Thomas, a physician and who said he knew the couple well, said he believed Bruce Schaefer, 74, had cancer.

“In those moments, you are not at your complete sanity," said Thomas, of Dalton. "Some people figure the best way is to end it for both of you. They were married for so long. Loved each other so much. When you see somebody that you love so much, every now and then, you think the best way out of it is to go and be with the Lord. ”

Schaefer, a former Atlanta mayoral candidate and two-term senator, was beaten by Habersham County Commission Chairman Jim Butterworth in a north Georgia Republican runoff in 2008.

“Nancy Schaefer was a great lady, and she served Georgia and her constituents with honor and grace,” said Rep. Rick Austin who made the announcement from the house floor of the couple's death before the chamber observed a moment of silence. Austin, represents Habersham and White counties, near Schaefer's home.

Schaefer and her husband were the parents of five children and moved to Habersham County in North Georgia after living in Atlanta for 35 years. The daughter of a North Georgia Superior Court Judge and granddaughter of a state legislator, Schaefer, 73, entered the public eye in 1985 when she organized a Constitutional Liberties Rally in Atlanta.

The following year, she founded Schaefer Family Concerns, Inc., a nonprofit foundation dedicated to issues such as display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings and opposition to abortion.

She was the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor in 1994. In 1998, she sought the GOP nomination for governor.

According to her state senate biography, she was an eight year Trustee of the National Ethics and Religions Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). She represented Family Concerns and the SBC at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, the U.N. Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul, the U.N. Conference on Food in Rome, Italy and the U.N. follow up Conference to Beijing in New York.

She is a former First Vice President of the Georgia Baptist Convention, a frequent speaker to churches of all denominations, a speaker to civic and political organizations, and a frequent guest on radio and local and national television programs across the nation. She was also a Sunday School Teacher.

Nancy Schaefer was chosen as a Gracious Lady of Georgia, served on numerous advisory boards and directorships and in 2001 became the first woman Trustee for Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa, Georgia.

As a state senator, Schaefer represented the 50th district, including Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Rabun, Stephens, and Towns Counties, as well as part of White County.

- Staff writers Ernie Suggs, Nancy Badertscher and Alexis Stevens contributed to this report

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/murder-suicide-possible-cause-408021.html

State of NH Constitution

State Constitution
ESTABLISHED OCTOBER 31, 1783 TO TAKE EFFECT JUNE 2, 1784 AS SUBSEQUENTLY AMENDED AND IN FORCE JANUARY 2007

PART FIRST- BILL OF RIGHTS
Article
1. Equality of men; origin and object of government.
2. Natural rights.
2-a. The bearing of arms.
3. Society, its organization and purposes.
4. Rights of conscience unalienable.
5. Religious freedom recognized.
6. Morality and piety.
7. State sovereignty.
8. Accountability of magistrates and officers; public’s right to know.
9. No hereditary office or place.
10. Right of revolution.
11. Elections and elective franchises.
12. Protection and taxation reciprocal.
12-a. Power t take property limited.
13. Conscientious objectors not compelled to bear arms.
14. Legal remedies to be free, complete, and prompt.
15. Right of accused.
16. Former jeopardy; jury trial in capital cases.
17. Venue of criminal prosecution.
18. Penalties to be proportioned to offenses; true design of punishment.
19. Searches and seizures regulated.
20. Jury trial in civil causes.
21. Jurors; compensation.
22. Free speech; liberty of the press.
23. Retrospective laws prohibited.
24. Militia.
25. Standing armies.
26. Military, subject to civil power.
27. Quartering of soldiers.
28. Taxes, by whom levied.
28-a. Mandated programs.
29. Suspension of laws by legislature only.
30. Freedom of speech.
31. Meetings of legislature, for what purposes.
32. Rights of assembly, instruction, and petition.
33. Excessive bail, fines, and punishments prohibited.
34. Martial law limited.
35. The judiciary; tenure of office, etc.
36. Pensions.
36-a. Use of retirement funds.
37. Separation of powers.
38. Social virtues inculcated.
39. Changes in town and city charters; referendum required.

PART SECOND --- FORM OF GOVERNMENT
1. Name of body politic.
2. Legislature, how constituted.
3. General court, when to meet and dissolve.
4. Power of general court to establish courts.
5. Power to make laws, elect officers, define their powers and duties, impose fines, and assess taxes; prohibited from authorizing towns to aid certain corporations.
5-a. Continuity of government in case of enemy attack.
5-b. Power to provide for tax valuations based on use.
6. Valuation and taxation.
6-a. Use of certain revenues restricted to highways.
6-b. Use of Lottery Revenues Restricted to Educational Purposes.
7. Members of legislature not to take fees or act as counsel.
8. Open sessions of legislature.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9. Representatives elected every second year; apportionment of representatives.
9-a. Legislative adjustments of census with reference to non-residents.
10. [Repealed, 1889.]
11. Small towns, representation by districts and floterial districts.
11-a. Division of town, ward, or place; representative districts.
12. Biennial election of representatives in November.
13. [Repealed, 1976.]
14. Representatives, how elected, qualifications of.
15. Compensation of the legislature.
16. Vacancies in house, how filled.
17. House to impeach before the senate.
18. Money bills to originate in house.
18-a. Budget bills.
19. Adjournment.
20. Quorum, what constitutes.
21. Privileges of members of the legislature.
22. House to elect speaker and officers, settle rules of proceedings, and punish misconduct.
23. Senate and executive have like powers; imprisonment limited.
24. Journals and laws to be pub lished; yeas and nays, and protests.

SENATE
25. Senate; how constituted.
26. Senatorial districts, how constituted.
26-a. Division of town, ward, or lace; senatorial districts.
27. Election of senators.
28. [Repealed, 1976.]
29. Qualifications of senators.
30. Inhabitant defined.
31. Inhabitants of unincorporated places; their rights, etc.
32. Biennial meetings, how warned, governed, and conducted; return of votes, etc.
33. Secretary of state to count votes for senators and notify persons elected.
34. Vacancies in senate, how filled.
35. Senate, judges of their own elections.
36. Adjournment.
37. Senate to elect their own officers; quorum.
38. Senate to try impeachments; mode of proceeding.
39. Judgment on impeachment limited.
40. Chief justice to preside on impeachment of governor.

EXECUTIVE POWER - GOVERNOR
41. Governor, supreme executive magistrate.
42. Election of governor, return of votes; electors; if no choice, legislature to elect one of two highest candidates; qualifications for governor.
43. In cases of disagreement, governor to adjourn or prorogue legislature; if causes exist, may convene them elsewhere.
44. Veto to bills.
45. Resolves to be treated like bills.
46. Nomination and appointment of officers.
47. Governor and council have negative on each other.
48. [Repealed, 1976.]
49. President of senate, etc. to act as governor when office vacant; speaker of house to act when office of president of senate also vacant.
49-a. Prolonged failure to qualify; vacancy in office of governor due to physical or mental incapacity, etc.
50. Governor to prorogue or adjourn legislature, and call extra sessions.
51. Powers and duties of governor as commander-in-chief.
52. Pardoning power.
53. [Repealed, 1976.]
54. [Repealed, 1976.]
55. [Repealed, 1976.]
56. Disbursements from treasury.
57. [Repealed, 1950.]
58. Compensation of governor and council.
59. Salaries of judges.

COUNCIL
60. Councilors; mode of election, etc.
61. Vacancies, how filled, if no choice.
62. Subsequent vacancies; governor to convene; duties.
63. Impeachment of councilors.
64. Secretary to record proceedings of council.
65. Councilor districts provided for.
66. Elections by legislature may be adjourned from day to day; order thereof.

SECRETARY, TREASURER, ETC.
67. Election of secretary and treasurer.
68. State records, where kept; duty of secretary.
69. Deputy secretary.
70. Secretary to give bond.

COUNTY TREASURER, ETC.
71. County treasurers, registers of probate, county attorneys, sheriffs, and registers of deeds elected.
72. Counties may be divided into districts for registering deeds.

JUDICIARY POWER
72-a. Supreme and superior courts.
73. Tenure of office to be expressed in commissions; judges to hold office during good behavior, etc.; removal.
73-a. Supreme court, administration
74. Judges to give opinions, when.
75. Justices of peace commissioned for five years.
76. Divorce and probate appeals, where tried.
77. Jurisdiction of justices in civil causes.
78. Judges and sheriffs, when disqualified by age.
79. Judges and justices not to act as counsel.
80. Jurisdiction and term of probate courts.
81. Judges and registers of probate not to act as counsel.

CLERKS OF COURTS
82. Clerks of courts, by whom appointed.

ENCOURAGEMENT OF LITERATURE, TRADE, ETC.
83. Encouragement of literature, etc.; control of corporations, monopolies, etc.

OATHS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS EXCLUSION FROM OFFICES, ETC.
84. Oath of civil officers.
85. Before whom taken.
86. Form of commissions.
87. Form of writs.
88. Form of indictments, etc.
89. Suicides and deodands.
90. Existing laws continued if not repugnant.
91. Habeas corpus.
92. Enacting style of statutes.
93. Governor and judges prohibited from holding other offices.
94. Incompatibility of offices; only two offices of profit to be holden at same time.
95. Incompatibility of certain offices.
96. Bribery and corruption disqualify for office.
97. [Repealed, 1950.]
98. Constitution, when to take effect.
99. [Repealed, 1980.]
100. Alternate methods of Proposing amendments.
101. Enrollment of constitution

http://www.nh.gov/constitution/constitution.html

Hearsay-Allowed in NH Family Courts

Hearsay
n. 1) second-hand evidence in which the witness is not telling what he/she knows personally, but what others have said to him/her. 2) a common objection made by the opposing lawyer to testimony, when it appears the witness has violated the hearsay rule. 3) scuttlebutt or gossip. (See: Hearsay in United States law ) (Related Reading)

hearsay exceptions May want to add this to your knowledge base. Here is a link for further explaination http://www.courts.state.nh.us/rules/evid/evid-803.htm (added 08/09-GPC-will be expanding)

hearsay rule n. the basic rule that testimony or documents which quote persons not in court are not admissible. Because the person who supposedly knew the facts is not in court to state his/her exact words, the trier of fact cannot judge the demeanor and credibility of the alleged first-hand witness, and the other party's lawyer cannot cross-examine (ask questions of) him or her. However, as significant as the hearsay rule itself are the exceptions to the rule which allow hearsay testimony such as: a) a statement by the opposing party in the lawsuit which is inconsistent with what he/she has said in court (called an "admission against interest"); b) business entries made in the regular course of business, when a qualified witness can identify the records and tell how they were kept; c) official government records which can be shown to be properly kept; d) a writing about an event made close to the time it occurred, which may be used during trial to refresh a witness' memory about the event; e) a "learned treatise" which means historical works, scientific books, published art works, maps and charts; f) judgments in other cases; g) a spontaneous excited or startled utterance ("oh, God, the bus hit the little girl"); h) contemporaneous statement which explains the meaning of conduct if the conduct was ambiguous; i) a statement which explains a person's state of mind at the time of an event; j) a statement which explains a person's future intentions ("I plan to....") if that person's state of mind is in question; k) prior testimony, such as in deposition (taken under oath outside of court), or at a hearing, if the witness is not available (including being dead); l) a declaration by the opposing party in the lawsuit which was contrary to his/her best interest if the party is not available at trial (this differs from an admission against interest which is admissible in trial if it differs from testimony at trial); m) a dying declaration by a person believing he/she is dying; n) a statement made about one's mental set, feeling, pain or health, if the person is not available---most often applied if the declarant is dead ("my back hurts horribly," and then dies); o) a statement about one's own will when the person is not available; p) other exceptions based on a judge's discretion that the hearsay testimony in the circumstances must be reliable. (See: hearsay, admission against interest, dying declaration)

http://nfpcar.org/eBook/Registry.htm#State_Statutes_Summaries

Perjury-Allowed in NH Family Courts

Perjury
v. also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. It is important that the false statement be material to the case at hand—that it could affect the outcome of the case. It is not considered perjury, for example, to lie about one's age, unless that person's age is a key factor in proving the case. (added 8/08GPC)