Florida Mother Gagged by Judge Brodie Forced To Shut Down Blog

August 6, 2011                                     

Press Release

                                                                                                              

Another mother, another court order by a family court judge violating her constitutional right to Freedom of Speech. In the last few weeks, the Naples News highlighted the story of Julie Price. Julie created a blog  and now…..just like other courageous mothers all over the US….in expressing her right to freedom of speech….. but on August 4, 2011 the trial court of Judge Brodie told Julie to take down the blog.

 

The Naples News in their story told about alarming details from the court file and the felony child abuses charges being faced by her former husband in regards to hog tying Julies daughter to a bed, for which Jon Parrish admitted to. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/jul/08/attorney-Jon-Parrish-zip-tie-daugh..

 

In the hearing the judge was not concerned that the former Husband was not complying with court orders, but yet admonished Julie for her blog, which  only expressed her concern for the safety and well being of her daughters and  how the “court appointed” experts were handling her case.

 

One wonders, when will justice prevail for Julie Price, her children and all of America’s children involved in the child-custody visitation scandal cases happening all over the US.

 

The American Bar Association statistics on Custody states that Batterers go into family court, and ask for Sole Custody and get it 70% of the time. So if a parent has documented evidence of Domestic Violence to the other parent, and documented evidence of child sexual and/or physical abuse that parent will get custody 70% of the time. If you think…that can’t be true..I have attached the ABA Custody Myths stats for you.

 

The Leadership Counsel states that 58,000 children a year are court ordered to live with a sexually and or/physically abusive parent after a divorce in the United States. (www.theleadershipcounsel.org)

 

The safe, “protective parent” has their rights terminated or they are placed on supervised visitation for years and years without a case plan or reunification plan. 

 

Please contact Jacob Carpenter at the Naples News and ask them to please continue to cover this story. His email address is jcarpenter@naplesnews.com

 

Contact JACOB CARPENTER : Naples Daily News: Local Naples, Florida ...

Jun 29, 2011 – Contact JACOB CARPENTER. We will not store the e-mail addresses or share them with .... No matter the predictions, it only takes one storm. ...
www.naplesnews.com/staff/jacob-carpenter/contact/ - Cached

 

Thank you to all of the organizations, advocates and mothers all over the US who continue to be part of the solution to the family court crisis. One day…justice will prevail.

 

For more information:

Please contact:

Linda Marie Sacks

Co-Chair of the Child Custody and Family Court Committee
Florida  NOW (National Organization for Women)

386-453-3017

 

 

 July 29, 2011

 

A Mothers tale of the Family Courts…in this blog below….and a very courageous Mother……

this was just in the Naples News…in Florida……

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/jul/08/attorney-Jon-Parrish-zip-tie-daugh.. (please email this writer and say thank you for covering this story..as this needs to be exposed)

 

Another city….another group of “ Court ordered experts” and a very courageous Mother….one of us….the “squeaky clean Mom”….who only loves her children, and tries to protect them …. from…documented abuse….

 

the court record…shows her child being hog tied by the father to the bed, he admitted that yes..he did this and that it is his constitutional right…and he faces felony child abuse charges…..

 but the court allows him to take another child to Russia who he has Sole physical custody of….. and the GAL is holding him up as father of the year…

 

 the Court Appointed Custody evaluator is Dr. Debra Carter and the father paid $30,000 for an evaluation……and now this wonderful Mother is on Supervised Visitation and faces a hearing where the father wants her to be put in jail….

 

 Please forward this blog everywhere…..this is a very courageous Mom….and now is being told “she will be in big trouble” for writing this blog…

 

 If you know of any Dr. Debra Carter cases from this case  or Dr. Deborah Day cases, in my case,  please let me know….as more of these cases are coming forward…..it is very important to please bring them to my attention.

 

One day justice will prevail….

Thank you,

Linda Marie Sacks

Parrish vs. Price: Crisis in America's Family Courts ...

Jul 18, 2011 – The psychologist in her case, Dr. Deborah Day, actually provided false and misleading ... Posted by Julie Satterfield-Price at 4:46 PM ...
www.juliepricechildrencrisiscourts.org/.../psychologists-in-floridatruth-integrity.html - Cached

 

Parrish vs. Price: Crisis in America's Family Courts 

1 day ago – Still, Dr. Carter has branded me as the "bad parent." It is ...
www.juliepricechildrencrisiscourts.org/ - Cached

 

6.   Parrish vs. Price: Crisis in America's Family Courts: Day #25

Jul 13, 2011 – Ironically, Lisa's former husband also hired the same ...
www.juliepricechildrencrisiscourts.org/2011/07/day-25.html - Cached

Show more results from juliepricechildrencrisiscourts.org

 

EXTREME CUSTODY DECISIONS THAT RISK LIVES

By Barry Goldstein

Dear Custody Court Judge:

The research is now clear that certain extreme decisions in domestic violence custody cases that have become all too common are contributing to an increase in the frequency of domestic violence homicide and other harmful consequences. This is established in the leading resources about domestic violence and custody including THE BATTERER AS PARENT by Lundy Bancroft and Jay Silverman, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY edited by Mo Therese Hannah and Barry Goldstein and the major new Department of Justice study led by Dr. Daniel Saunders of the University of Michigan. Judges should be aware of the research that demonstrates the danger of creating these dangerous decisions avoid these decisions in the future and modify existing arrangements that create substantial risks to the children.

The decisions that must be avoided and corrected are ones in which an alleged abuser is given custody and a safe, protective mother is limited to supervised or no visitation. I will more fully describe these dangerous cases below and I am not saying it can never be right to give someone custody who was accused of domestic violence or child abuse or that a mother who makes abuse allegations should never be denied normal visitation.

I will discuss the harm and danger of these extreme decisions below, but judges should be aware that these decisions are probably the largest factor in the recent increase in domestic violence homicide. Furthermore these extreme decisions are never in the best interests of children even when the court is right that the abuse allegations are false and the mother seeks to take the father out of the child's life for bad faith reasons. More commonly, the research demonstrates that court professionals who used flawed practices to justify the extreme decision also got the underlying facts wrong. Judges should look to the specialized body of research now available that can help courts make the best decisions in domestic violence custody cases. .....

Excerpts - To read the article in its entirety, please visit Barry's website.

The real problem is the 3.8% of cases that go to trial and usually far beyond. The vast majority of these cases, probably around 90% are domestic violence cases that involve the worst of the worst abusers. These are usually cases where the father had little involvement with the children during the relationship, but suddenly demands custody as a way to pressure her to return or punish her for leaving. Abusers tend to be good at manipulation and court professionals are usually happy to find a father who appears to want to be involved in his children’s lives. The flawed “high conflict” approach works great for abusers because it requires the parties to interact and cooperate with each other. This gives him the access to his victim he sought by playing the custody card. At the same time it pressures the mother to cooperate with her abuser and punishes her reluctance to interact with someone she experienced as dangerous and difficult. In other words the “high conflict” approach gives abusers a huge advantage.

The most dangerous abusers are the ones who believe she has no right to leave him. They usually respond to her leaving in one or more of three ways. They respond by killing her which is why75% of men who kill their partners do so after she has left. They respond by killing their children. In the last couple of years over 175 children have been murdered by abusive fathers involved in contested custody cases. Most often they respond by going after custody as a tactic to regain control and too often custody courts help them do so......

....The evaluators and other mental health professionals routinely relied on by the courts are not experts in domestic violence and usually unfamiliar with the specialized body of research now available. This has led judges and lawyers to be taught a lot of misinformation and continue to use outdated and discredited practices. Significantly, the Department of Justice study found many evaluators and other court professionals do not have the domestic violence training they need. Those professionals without the needed training are more likely to believe the myth that women frequently make false allegations of abuse and therefore make recommendations harmful to children.....

....The Department of Justice study found that court professionals pay far too much attention to the anger or emotion a mother displays in court in comparison to its significance in determining how good a mother she is. Similarly over forty states have had court-sponsored gender bias committees that have found substantial bias against women and particularly against mothers involved in custody disputes. One of the common forms of bias is to blame a mother for the actions of her abuser. This is exactly what a court does when it blames the mother for her emotion or anger caused by the father’s history of abuse and use of abusive litigation tactics instead of blaming him for intimidating and coercive behaviors that caused her reaction. Gender bias is often difficult to recognize because it is not done deliberately or consciously and some court professionals become extremely defensive when this issue is raised. A good remedy is to frequently consider how you would have reacted to the same situation if the genders were reversed....

As discussed earlier these decisions lead to a higher crime rate in addition to the increase in domestic violence homicide. A large majority of our prison population witnessed domestic violence or suffered direct abuse. The extreme decisions discussed in this article increase this unfortunate population. These mistakes also have a profound negative impact on society. The increased crime requires substantial expenditures in the criminal justice system as well as property losses and injuries. These mistakes also substantially increase health expenses that raise insurance rates and taxes when the government pays health costs. At the same time, by destroying or limiting the potential of these children, and others, it reduces economic output thus reducing tax revenue. 

Barry Goldstein is a nationally recognized domestic violence expert, speaker, writer and consultant. He is the co-editor with Mo Therese Hannah of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY. Barry can be reached by email at their web site www.Domesticviolenceabuseandchildcustody.com 

‘It Should Not Hurt to Be a Child’

Commentary by Eileen King

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, and it is an occasion for being reminded that  “it should not hurt to be a child.”  The soul-destroying, long-term consequences of child physical/sexual abuse and neglect obviously merit a year-round focus, but media attention to such awareness campaigns helps encourage parents, especially mothers, to seek help if they suspect child abuse.

At the same time, however, the long and exhausting journey that parents must take to secure protection for endangered children, often involving legal battles costing many thousands of dollars, is rarely mentioned.  

Who wants to hear that no amount of money can assure justice in systems that disbelieve children and distrust protective parents?

It is, however, a grim reality.  Parents who act appropriately and lawfully to protect their children may be punished by family court judges for reporting abuse or for refusing to force their terrified child to visit an abusive parent.  

In the worst cases, custody is reversed and the protective parent may be denied any contact with his or her child.   The message: failure to be a “friendly parent” is worse than child physical or sexual abuse.

The non-profit agency I work for, Justice for Children, often finds itself on the front lines of complex cases of child abuse, arising during separation and divorce,  that may be litigated for years.  Although Child Protective Services (CPS) investigates abuse reports, these cases are generally treated with suspicion and ruled out as “custody battles” despite urgent, compelling evidence.  

Rarely prosecuted by the State, intra-familial abuse allegations are relegated to a domestic relations court of equity where a serious crime against a child is reduced to a civil law question of property. Such courts, in  contrast to the traditional adversarial nature of a courtroom, allow judges to apply injunctions or writs instead of monetary damages, according to the principle of “fairness. ”

Family courts in most (if not all) jurisdictions are considered “courts of equity.”  A recent New York case in which the Court of Appeals was asked to decide whether a teacher imprisoned for molesting boys can see his own child illustrates the limits of an approach that considers a child just a piece of property to be divided.[Stephen H1] 

The systemic failures and practices that place abused or at-risk children in the care or custody of a dangerous parent are well known, but it has taken over 15 years for these agonizing and sometimes tragic cases to be officially recognized as serious problems in our judicial and CPS systems.  

The Catch 22 nature of a parent’s duty to report, and penalties for failure to protect, sinks protective parents in the quicksand of family court litigation. Very little help is available from public agencies or non-profits.  Abusers know they have unparalleled opportunities to abuse and control their children and ex-partners with few consequences. 

Non-profit advocates have been working for years to get these issues before federal agencies. 

Last month, the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)[Stephen H2]  held a Roundtable at George Washington University Law School, sponsored by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence with help from the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project.  Judge Susan Carbon, OVW director, , and participants from other federal agencies listened to a panel of mothers and a courageous 13-year-old share their experiences in family court. 

In the experts’ panel, we shared our extensive knowledge of how CPS and family courts can fail abused children and their protective parents.  A report on the roundtable will be posted soon on the OVW website.

Change must also happen in state CPS agencies and family courts. Court appointees (psychological evaluators, Guardians ad litem, children’s attorneys, mediators and parenting coordinators) should not evade oversight or consequences for negligent practices that harm children.  

Policies forcing children to reunite with their sexual assault perpetrators need immediate re-evaluation.  These are just of few of the many changes recommended by advocates and legal/mental health professionals.

The worst betrayal a child can endure is sexual/physical abuse or neglect by a parent.  Assuring a child that if they tell they will be protected, but then failing to protect heaps betrayal upon betrayal. 

We need to carry through on our promises to children.   This is the next  level of child abuse awareness our society needs!

 Here are some further resources for anyone who wants to explore the issue further:

From Madness to Mutiny: Why Mothers Are Running From the Family Courts and What to Do About It, by Amy Neustein, Ph.D. and Michael Lesher, J.D., Northeastern University Press, 2005. www.upne.com/1-58465-462-7.html

Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody edited by Mo Therese Hannah, Ph.D and Barry Goldstein, J.D., The Civic Research Institute, 2010. http://www.civicresearchinstitute.com/dvac.html

Eileen King is Regional Director of Justice for Children-DC.  She welcomes comments from readers.