Faces of the Family Court Crisis from James Hall Photography on Vimeo.
A project for Center for Judicial Excellence (centerforjudicialexcellence.org).
Video and photography by James Hall (88zero.com).
Original score by Matteo Favero (figuramusicstudio.com/)
To learn more go to: centerforjudicialexcellence.org/PhotoExhibit.htm
But notice that the authorities have a Plan. More anger management for abusers! Which of course, has been PROVEN to be ineffective....
Grace Krejci
Calls from West Allis police to domestic violence hotline so far in 2010, second-most in Milwaukee County.
Calls from city of Milwaukee police, tops in the county.
Calls from Cudahy police, third in the county.
Source: Sojourner Family Peace Center
West Allis — The murder-suicide that caused the deaths of a young couple here last week came just as the city was preparing to step up its attack on domestic violence.
Matthew Krejci, 27, was under a judge's orders - issued when he was convicted of violating a restraining order his wife had sought - not to have contact with her, or with firearms. And his wife, Grace, 23, had been a client of Sojourner Family Peace Center, which advocates for domestic violence victims.
That didn't prevent Krejci from killing his estranged wife before turning the gun on himself.
According to the medical examiner's report, Grace Krejci's father found the couple's bodies in an upstairs bathroom of the house where she lived with a sister and brother-in-law. The couple's 3-year-old daughter was found cowering in a nearby bedroom, the report says. The father had come to check on them after their 5-year-old son's school called because the boy hadn't been picked up.
Grace's father, Jerry Winiarski of New Berlin, said he was fearful for his granddaughter when he found the bodies of her parents.
"I was so panic stricken," Winiarski said. "I was hoping it wouldn't be a third body. I was so grateful to God that I heard her voice and she came to Grandpa."
West Allis Mayor Dan Devine says that although the city was already planning to upgrade domestic violence prevention before the Krejci murder-suicide, "It kind of reinforces the need for it."
Grace Krejci's death was the year's first homicide in West Allis, city officials say, but domestic homicides have been trending up in Milwaukee County and statewide in the past two years. This fall, the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported that 67 people died in 2009 in domestic violence related homicides - far more than any other year since the group started tracking them in 2000.
Tony Gibart, a spokesman for the coalition, said the group doesn't keep a running count of such deaths statewide during the year. But in Milwaukee County, he said, where they're easier to track, there have been 17 or more such deaths this year, already eclipsing last year's total of 12.
West Allis Police Chief Michael Jungbluth and Devine say their city of 60,000 experiences much more domestic violence that doesn't result in deaths.
And the police chief says that even if a new program to reach out to first-time offenders was in place, it may not have done anything to prevent the Krejci tragedy.
But they see domestic violence as a growing problem in their community.
Jungbluth cites statistics compiled by Sojourner Family Peace Center of calls to the group's domestic violence hotline by police that show the city second only to Milwaukee in the county for such calls. And its numbers are far ahead of those from other suburbs.
Through October, the city logged 505 calls to the hotline, up 9% from last year at this time. Milwaukee had 5,344 calls in the same period - down a bit from 2009 - and the community in third place was Cudahy, with just 81 calls, also down from last year.
In an interview in October, and again in the aftermath of the killings last week, Jungbluth and Devine said they wanted to set up a program that would catch domestic violence offenders early on and help turn them around. The program would target people picked up for disorderly conduct in domestic violence cases and require them to participate in a meetings that would assess their problems and then assign them to such things as anger management.
Jungbluth and Devine also plan to appoint an advisory committee of experts on domestic violence - including representatives of the district attorney's office, a member of the clergy, and possibly even a domestic violence victim.
These new initiatives would join other efforts already in place. West Allis has long had a protocol in place requiring its officers who make domestic violence arrests to offer the victims a cell phone connection to the Sojourner hotline.
And it also has had an on-staff victim advocate, Holli Stephens, since 2002 - first paid by grant money and in recent years, as part of the department's budget.
Carmen Pitre, co-executive director of the Sojourner center, said her organization had a long partnership with West Allis.
"They have always taken this issue seriously" she said.
The new program is "an opportunity for the Police Department to take the issue to more of a community level," Jungbluth said. "It shouldn't all just be on the shoulders of the Police Department."
Court documents and an interview with Matthew Krejci's lawyer, Jim Martz, showed that the troubles that led to the deaths started more than a year ago.
Grace Krejci filed for divorce July 10, 2009, and as Martz put it: "He did not want this divorce."
Martz also said, "Matt had a significant history of anxiety and depression."
In the 16 months since the divorce papers were filed, Matthew Krejci was issued a harassment restraining order, and then was convicted of violating the order by repeatedly calling and texting his wife - for which he was given 15 months of probation and ordered to have no contact with his wife. The orders, issued in May, were still in effect last week, a Department of Corrections spokesman said.
Martz said Krejci attempted suicide at least once, adding that his parents sought to have him treated for his emotional problems.
In the most serious attempt, he drank antifreeze to wash down an overdose of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax while he was caring for his 3-year-old daughter - and was charged with child-neglect, according to a Waukesha County criminal complaint.
Martz said the couple's divorce was going to become final Dec. 2.
On Monday, Grace Krejci's mother, Christine Winiarski, read a statement from the family over the phone:
"We are just beginning to experience the reality of our pain and sorrow, but at the same time we hold onto the joy of knowing that she is now safe with our Savior. . . .
"Praise God the babies are safe."
And though Matthew Krejci's family did not want to be interviewed, his sister Anne Krejci said: "We're grieving for both of them."
__._,_.___
Attorney
Posted: November 16, 2010 03:18 PM
Read More: Child Abusers , Childrens Custody , Custody Battles , Human Rights , Mother's Rights , U.S. Courts, Women's Rights , Politics News
Ten mothers, one victimized child now an adult, and six organizations working in the field of child abuse and family law filed a petition on April 10, 2007, at the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C., against the United States for the pattern and practice of courts awarding custody or unsupervised visitation to child abusers and molesters. The petitioners come from Kansas, Georgia, California, New York, Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Illinois and Nevada.
Ten years earlier, on Mother's Day, May 11, 1997, a group of mothers who lost custody of their children gathered on the steps of the U. S. Capitol in Washington, D. C. Entitled "Give Us Back Our Children," the event was held to represent the increasing numbers of women who are losing custody of their children to batterers and child abusers. This event, co-sponsored by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the House of Ruth, My Sister's Place, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD), and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), brought attention to the plight of women and children unfairly victimized by the legal system, and to dispel the myth that women always win custody of their children. That was 13 years ago. The situation today is even worse. The stories of these petitioners are not unique. They are the tip of the proverbial iceberg indicating a grave and growing injury to human rights.
Wendy Titelman is one of the petitioners. Her attorney, Richard Ducote, who has represented battered women for years, said:
After twenty years in family law courtrooms throughout the country, I confidently say that no woman, despite very abundant evidence that her child has been sexually molested by her ex-husband or that she has been repeatedly pummeled by the violent father of her child, can safely walk into any family court in the country and not face a grave risk of losing custody to the abuser for the sole reason that she dared to present the evidence to the judge and ask that the child be protected.
Sol Gothard, Judge of the Court of Appeals in Louisiana said:
There are very few times in law when you can state anything categorically, but I can certainly say that beyond any doubt whatsoever, the problem expressed by Wendy Titelman in this book is epidemic and widespread, and it has been this way for the forty-four years that I have been involved with the legal system.
Karen Anderson has been fighting for her children for 17 years. Her son Jeff Hoverson, now of age, has joined in the petition. He recounts that the day he was taken from his mother at 10 years of age was traumatizing:
So now I had no brothers, no pets, I was 3-4 hours from my home, and again... no mom. This is when I was damaged so severely emotionally... No one told me anything about my mom or why I was at my dad's or why we were in San Francisco on a sidewalk. I asked but received no answers. I felt that if I wasn't told anything that I was worthless to everyone. I was made into a possession rather than a child.
The facts of the individual cases are a catalog of proven domestic violence and child sexual molestation ignored by the courts. The mothers are labeled as mentally ill or having Parental Alienation Syndrome, though PAS has absolutely no scientific validity and is used in a very discriminatory way to remove children from mothers who try to protect the children and themselves from violence and abuse. Yet in these petitioners' cases it is used over and over to punish the protective parent.
This problem has been brought to the attention of family court systems, states and the national government all to no avail. In 1990, Congress passed a resolution recommending the prohibition of giving joint or sole custody to abusers. 20 years later, it continues unabated. Legislation has been passed. Judges have been educated. Still it continues. Thus petitioners are turning to international courts to protect their human rights and the rights and safety of their children.
While state courts are responsible for custody cases, the federal government is responsible to ensure that their judicial systems operate in accordance with the Organization of American States Declaration of the Rights and Responsibilities of Man. The specific articles the petitioners claim to have been violated are:
Article I. Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security of his person.
The courts place the children directly in danger without regard to their right to life, liberty or security of person. In addition, often the arrangements made for visitation are unsafe to the mother as well.
Article II. All persons are equal before the law and have the rights and duties established in this Declaration, without distinction as to race, sex, language, creed or any other factor.
The gender discrimination both in the courts in general and in custody cases in particular has been known, studied and proven for years. The gender bias studies in the 1980's showed bias that has never been corrected. The studies of custody have shown that it is a complete myth that women get custody over men or that men are disfavored in family court. It is such a pervasive myth that years of litigation and proof has not shaken it -- to the harm of the victims of violence.
Article IV. Every person has the right to freedom of investigation, of opinion, and of the expression and dissemination of ideas, by any medium whatsoever.
Litigants, especially mothers, who report child abuse are punished with jail or the loss of custody of their children. The protective parents are in a Catch-22 situation. If they do not protect their children, they are charged with failure to protect and the child protection agencies take their children. If they do act to protect, the courts put the children directly into the arms of the abuser.
Article V. Every person has the right to the protection of the law against abusive attacks upon his honor, his reputation, and his private and family life.
Often the protective parents who report abuse are labeled mentally ill or diagnosed with such imaginative syndromes as parental alienation or munchhausen's by proxy. Often they are ordered into counseling or in the case of one petitioner, taken to the mental hospital.
Article VI. Every person has the right to establish a family, the basic element of society, and to receive protection therefor.
By separating the protective parents from their children for no valid reason, the parent is denied the right to establish a family. Some of these petitioners have not seen their children for years. Every single petitioner was denied contact with their child for some period of time though none was ever proven to have harmed them.
Article VII. All women, during pregnancy and the nursing period, and all children have the right to special protection, care and aid.
Often battering begins during pregnancy, yet special protection is not afforded the mothers, even when they have an order of protection. Much research has proven that children of abusers are likely to be abused themselves and have a higher rate of sexual molest. Yet courts continue to refuse to protect the children. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the DeSheney case that the state does not owe any right of protection to children even when they know of the abuse and have in fact placed that child in that home with the father. This is in plain violation of the Declaration.
Article XVIII. Every person may resort to the courts to ensure respect for his legal rights. There should likewise be available to him a simple, brief procedure whereby the courts will protect him from acts of authority that, to his prejudice, violate any fundamental constitutional rights.
The lack of due process in family court is legion. Ex parte hearings and communications, decisions without hearings, refusal to admit the mother, refusal to admit evidence of violence is rampant in the cases and violates the most basic principles of due process. Little attention or time is given to these decisions that shape a child's life forever.
Article XXIV. Every person has the right to submit respectful petitions to any competent authority, for reasons of either general or private interest, and the right to obtain a prompt decision thereon.
The gender bias studies of the 1980's showed that courts are not competent when dealing with women. Unfortunately, things have not improved. In spite of training, legislation and lobbying, judges continue to ignore statutes that mandate no custody to abusers. The petitioners have tried to hold the judges accountable by appeal or disciplinary procedures, all to no avail.
Article XXV. No person may be deprived of his liberty except in the cases and according to the procedures established by pre-existing law.
The many children who are put directly into harms way by being placed with an abuser or molester are deprived of their liberty. When courts ignore evidence of violence, they are not following pre-existing law. It is commonplace for judges to completely ignore state statutes that mandate that custody will not go to a perpetrator thereby violating state law as well as putting children in danger.
Article XXX. It is the duty of every person to aid, support, educate and protect his minor children, and it is the duty of children to honor their parents always and to aid, support and protect them when they need it.
These petitioners have tried to protect their children. It is the courts that have prohibited them. The cost to both child and parent is overwhelming and devastating.
The Gonzales case, also filed at the InterAmerican Commission, illustrated in their hearing the failure of the American justice system to protect battered women and children. That case dealt with the failure of the police department. This case deals with legal abuse -- the failure of the legal system, the courts, the guardians ad litem, the attorneys for the children, the state protective agencies to both follow the law and to protect the helpless children who face the horror of violence daily.
Unfortunately, the IACHR has not moved on the case. After more than three years, they have not even examined it or forwarded it to the U.S. government. How many children have to suffer before justice is done?
FILED IN: BAD JUDGES, CALIFORNIA, CHILD CUSTODY, CHILD CUSTODY BATTLE, CHILD CUSTODY ISSUES,CHILD CUSTODY FOR SALE, CHILDREN WHO WITNESS ABUSE, CORRUPT BASTARDS, DOMESTIC ABUSE,DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, FATHERS RIGHTS, JUDGE SCOTT GORDON, MEL GIBSON, OKSANA GRIGORIEVA,BATTERED WOMEN, CHILD CUSTODY FOR ABUSERS
Again, another battered woman speaks out, and the judge threatens to take custody of her baby from her. Shame on Judge Scott Gordon and all the other judges that want to hide how women are being beaten and abused. My money is on her losing her baby to that dangerous, drunken asshole. That is standard operating procedure in family court now.
And by the way, why is it a “custody war?” Drunken asshole Mel Gibson threatened to kill her…he ASSAULTED her…he should be in prison. Why should custody be any question? Because abusers are getting custody of children in family court. Bet there is some $$$ involved too. This MUST stop!
Oksana Grigorieva Defies Judge with Larry King
11/14/2010 7:40 AM PST by TMZ Staff
Oksana Grigorieva has defied the judge in her custody war with Mel Gibson by taping an interview with Larry King Saturday night, TMZ has learned … and it’s Oksana’s opening salvo in “speaking out on behalf of battered women.”
Oksana did the interview (which was supposed to only last a half-hour but ended up an hour) along with one of her lawyers, Marty Garbus — this despite Judge Scott Gordon telling Oksana that if she did media, she might pay when it comes to awarding custody … this according to Oksana’s team.Sources connected with Oksana tell TMZ she did the interview because “she feels she’s been silent too long and feels bad for other battered women if she stays silent.” Sources tell TMZ Oksana is now working with a group called Peace Over Violence — an L.A.-based battered women’s group — and she’s planning a number of news conferences in the near future.
We’re told Larry King played portions of a number of the tapes Oksana secretly recorded, in which Mel goes crazy. King asks for her reaction to the various tapes.
And we’re told Oksana repeats over and over that she believes Mel is a great father, but he needs therapy to deal with his issues so he can safely be around Lucia.
Oksana is also working with a lobbying group in Sacramento — California Partnership to End Domestic Violence — on battered women legislation.
Rene you can shut down the blog all you want. We took screen shots of everything that was out there and I am now publishing it for all to see.
Now for everyone to understand we must post the screen shots so they can see for themselves. So we will start with your blogger profile: 
Next we move in to your question in blogger/google help files: 
Now we have established that you are Rene we can move on to the blog posts (which sorry folks are no longer available but here are the screen shots of the alleged blog posts. This is the first one but it is extremely shrunk so hard to make out. I also zoomed in and took a second screen shot of the same post in order to show the actual wording: 
Now we have the second blog post made by Rene: 
And the third post: 
I am not sure which of these posts is more disturbing. You have here a woman who is a lawyer. But in the first post she publishes information about Claudine which should (whether true or not) be protected under medical confidentiality.
The second post contains more information about Claudine's alleged mental disorder (keep in mind folks that an abuser's biggest tool in his toolbox is to claim the mother is mentally ill or promiscuous or both).
The third post then contains the statement that the blogger is going to reveal Claudine's address to "both of her supporters". Claudine is and has been a participant in the safe at home address program. This is for victims of violence to be able to live in safety and not worry about future violence. Why on earth would a program administered by the state allow Claudine to be a participant if she is indeed lying about the abuse that happened?
There is a Facebook page created in Rene's honor. We ask on behalf of the creator that you join and help Claudine start the complaint process which will ultimately strip Rene Netherton of the privilege to practice law anywhere.
Hat Tip to "R" and thank you for your part in keeping the world safe from abusers and those who would support them.
Posted by Glenn's Cult? at 12:55 PM 
Labels: abuse, Abuse Victims, abused children, abused moms, abusive dad, Claudine Dombrowski, Halleck Richardson, Reneee Netherton
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/DVP.html
As more and more abused women lose custody to batterers in family courts, they are wrongly embracing the very ideas that enabled their abusers to gain custody in the first place. False accusations of “parental alienation" are often used by batterers to gain custody and to defend against accusations of abuse.
Some unfortunate women after years of enduring domestic violence have lost custody to the batterers who abused them. In these cases, batterers have made good on their threat to attack their ex-partner in the place she is the most vulnerable—by taking her children away from her. After separation, these batterers continue to wage their campaign of manipulation and abuse by attempting to convince involved children that their mothers never loved them. Looking for a way to describe their batterers' behavior, some mothers have called what their batterer is doing "parental alienation syndrome."
In reality, what these women are describing from their ex-partners is better termed Domestic Violence by Proxy (DV by Proxy), a term first used by Alina Patterson, author of Health and Healing. DV by Proxy refers to a pattern of behavior which is a parent with a history of using domestic violence or intimidation, uses a child as a substitute when he no longer has access to his former partner. Calling this behavior “parental alienation” is not strong enough to convey the criminal pattern of terroristic behaviors employed by batterers.
When his victim leaves him, batterers often recognize that the most expedient way to continue to hurt his partner is to assert his legal rights to control her access to their children. By gaining control of the children, an abusive male now has a powerful tool which allows him to continue to stalk, harass and batter an ex-partner even when he has no direct access to her. Moreover, by emotionally torturing the child and severing the bond between children and their mother, he is able to hurt his intended victim -- the mother -- in a way she cannot resist.
DV by Proxy includes tactics such as: threats of harm to children if they display a positive bond to the mother, destroying favored possessions given by the mother, and emotional torture (for example, telling the child the mother hates them, wanted an abortion, and is not coming to get them because they are unloved).
DV by Proxy may also include coaching the child to make false allegations regarding their mother's behavior and harming or punishing the child for not complying. DV by Proxy perpetrators may also create fraudulent documents to defraud the court in order to prevent the mother from gaining custody. Whether or not the child is biologically related to them is irrelevant to perpetrators of DV by Proxy. The perpetrator's main motivation is to hurt his ex; whether or not his own child is harmed in the process is irrelevant to him.
This is very different from "parental alienation syndrome" as described by the late Richard A. Gardner. Dr. Gardner described PAS as an internal process by which a child aligns themselves with a preferred parent to protect themselves from the divorce conflict. “PAS” is conceptualized as a psychological process of identification with a parent who, according to the theory, encourages this identification at the expense of the other parent.
PAS inducing parents, according to Gardner, are often unconscious of what they are doing to encourage the identification. In contrast, perpetrators of DV by Proxy are very conscious of what they are doing. Controlling, coercive, illegal acts often done by abusive and controlling people, usually men, are not subtle, and do not encourage an identification with a parent. Criminal, fraudulent, coercive acts are visible and obvious. These behaviors encourage compliance by threats and fear. Behaviors involved in DV by Proxy are deliberate and often illegal. These behaviors include: battery, destruction of property, locking children in rooms to prevent them from calling parents, falsifying documents, along with other similar overt behaviors.
The most dangerous aspect of Gardner's PAS theory is that that the alienating parent's behavior is theorized to be so subtle as to be unobservable. In other words, the behaviors that are supposed to cause the alienation are assumed to be happening without any proof that they have actually occured. As many women have discovered this makes a charge of "alienation" almost impossible to defend against.
While Gardner's theories regarding PAS have been shown to be overly general and have not been supported by careful research, behaviors seen in DV by Proxy can be readily observed. Behaviors involved in DV by Proxy are deliberate and planned; many are illegal, and if the child is given the freedom to talk, will be described in great detail by the child.
If the child's formerly favorable view of the victimized parent changes when exposed to tactics like this over time then it is more likely a form of "Stockholm Syndrome" or traumatic attachment to the abuser, rather than the alignment with one parent and negative reaction to the other that Gardner described as "alienation".
A recent and comprehensive article on PAS and its use in the court system, by Jennifer Hoult can be downloaded here.
For further information:
According to a conservative estimate by experts at the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence (LC), more than 58,000 children a year are ordered into unsupervised contact with physically or sexually abusive parents following divorce in the United States. This is over twice the yearly rate of new cases of childhood cancer. Read rest of Article here: http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/ampp-article-library-family-court-custody-abuse-dv/1-research-articles-family-court-bias-custody-abuse-battered-moms/41-how-many-children-are-court-ordered-into-unsupervised-contact-with-an-abusive-parent-after-divorce
As you view these photos keep in mind that the court awarded FULL CUSTODY of their daughter to the "man" who did this to Claudine.
To read Claudine's history that was submitted to the IACHR, click here
If you want to know some of the many reasons women stay in abusive relationships, click here
AFTER THE BIRTH OF HER DAUGHTER, 1994
AFTER EX-HUSBAND BEAT HER WITH A CROW BAR, 1996
AFTER EX-HUSBAND RAPED AND BATTERED HER, 2000
AFTER EX-HUSBAND HIRED SOMEONE TO ASSAULT HER, 2003
THE "COFFEE TABLE" IN THE FATHER'S HOME IS A CHILD'S COFFIN. MOUNTED ON THE WALL ABOVE THE SOFA IS A GUN.
PRESS RELEASEOVERVIEW and FAQ's in materials on the right side of this page.
Scroll down to read full petitition, including case histories of several of the petitioners. You will be horrified to learn what is happening to abused women and children in courtrooms all across this country.
Exhibit 28: Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories
Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Tatge Lasseur Productions, 2006 Underwritten by a grant from the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.
Full length of this documentary was submitted to the IACHR.
Full Petition to the IACHR (large file)
Petitioners
- Dombrowski KS
- Titelman GA
- K.A Amador Co., CA
- J.H. Amador Co., CA
- Shockome NY
- Navratil CA
- Horton NY
- Petitioners A, B, C are confidential to protect their safety. Not included in public materials.
- Organization petitioners
Court Gender Bias - academic studies
Court Gender Bias -experiential studies
Alleged Violations of the Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
Additional Supporting Organizations - list
EXHIBITS
1. Photos of petitioner Claudine Dombrowski . (graphic)
2. Affidavit and book, Let My Children Go, A Mother’s Journal , Wendy Titelman, Kinderlex Books, 2005.
3. Letter from California Protective Parents Association .
4. Affidavit from Kourts for Kids.
5. Letter from StopFamilyViolence.org .
6. EXPOSE The Failure of Family Courts to Protect Children from Abuse in Custody Disputes: A Resource Book for Lawmakers, Judges, Attorneys and Mental health Professionals, Our Children Our Future Charitable Foundation, Los Gatos, CA, 1999.
( very large file - long time to load)7. Chesler, Phyllis, Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody, McGraw-Hill Book Company, NY, 1986, select pages.
8. Battered Mothers’ Testimony Project: A Human Rights Approach to Child Custody and Domestic Violence, Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence, June 2003.
9. Common Misconceptions in Addressing Domestic Violence in Child Custody Disputes , Jaffee, Crooks, and Poisson, 57 Juvenile and Family Court Journal Fall 2003.
10. Justice in the Domestic Relations Division of the Philadelphia Family Court: A Report to the Community, Women’s Law Project, Philadelphia, Pa, April 2003.
11. California Protective Parents Network , national survey, September 2001 to December 2004.
Part 1 - table
Part 2 - report
12. Jana Bommersbach, Jana’s View, Phoenix Magazine , May 2006, p. 28.
13. Article Launched: 6/18/2006 12:00 AM , Mom termed 'parental alienator' wins rare vindication in courts , BY TROY ANDERSON, Staff Writer, LA Daily News.
14. Hoult, Jennifer, J.D., The Evidentiary Admissibility of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Science, Law and Policy, Children’s Legal Rights Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 2006.
15. Navigating Custody and Visitation Evaluations in Cases with Domestic Violence: A Judges Guide , National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 2004, revised 2006.
16. Report on Women’s Rights in the United States under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in response to the Second and Third Periodic Report of the United States of America, July 2006.
17. Courageous Kids personal stories.
Part 1 - Courageous Kids Network
Part 2 - Case Studies
Part 3 - Letter to IACHR by siblings
Part 4 - Alana Krause, Girl, Interrupted
18. Letter from Legal Momentum to Daniel Meron, DHHS , Washington, DC dated 28 February 2007.
19. European Parliament, A6-0404/2005, Report , 9.12.2005 on the current situation in combating violence against women and any future action (2004/2220(INI)) Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality Rapporteur: Maria Carlshamre PE 364.709v02-00 2/17 RR364709EN.doc
20. Testimony to the Truth Commission , Fourth Battered Mothers Custody Conference, January 2007.
21. Examples of Injustices in NYC Family Courts , Battered Women’s Resources Center, January 2007.
22. Letter and columns from The Parenting Project , Rhode Island.
23. Letter from the Illinois Coalition for Family Court Reform .
24. Letter from Child Abuse Forensic Institute , Napa, CA.
25. Legal Momentum letter and summary of Battered
Mother's Speak Out26. Letter from National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
27. Letter from Justice for Children
28. Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories , Connecticut Public Broadcasting (see above for excerpt)
29. Letters of support from additional organizations.
National organizations
- National Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence , TX
- The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence , PA
- Sidran Traumatic Stress Institute , MD
- National Alliance to End Sexual Violence , Washington, DC
- Domestic Violence Report , Washington, DC
- Family Violence Prevention Fund , San Francisco, CA
- National Organization for Women and National Organization for Women Foundation , Washington, DC
- National Family Court Watch Project , MI
State Organizations
- Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence
- California National Organization for Women , Sacramento, CA
- Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Michigan National Organization for Women
- New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
- National Organization for Women – New York State, Inc .
I have had a lot of mothers contact me lately, and if I haven’t gotten back with you yet, I apologize. I am still hospitalized from an accident I had in August, trying to do something about my broken down vehicle, which also served as my home. I continue to post as much as I can however, since I know how important it is to get information out in a timely fashion, to let new noncustodial moms know they are not alone, and to continue to highlight our issues as the White House and other agencies have been coming to my site the last couple years, more frequently lately. The most recent visit by the White House was last month to see the pictures and other coverage we had on the D.C. Rally Oct 1st and 2nd. I thought I’d take this opportunity to highlight some very good support groups for noncustodial mothers that are available. Also, I have covered the upcoming Battered Mothers Custody Conference in Albany, New York, being held January 7th through the 9th 2011, for several years now. I highly recommend this conference as it will give you the opportunity to network with the professionals working on this issue. Here is a recent post on it:
Eighth Annual Battered Mothers Custody Conference: Start Making Plans to Attend This January
Download the brochure for the event: BMCC VIII brochure final outsideand BMCC VIII brochure final inside.
Here are the great support groups that are available:
1. Noncustodial Moms Breaking the Silence: A very good group with group members all over the country and some in Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Approximately 350 members. You must apply and talk with a moderator on the phone to gain access to the group, but this ensures safety for all the members.
2. Massachusetts Protective Mothers for Custodial Justice
3. California Protective Parents Association
4. Mothers of Lost Children – California
5. Mothers of Lost Children – Indiana
6. Alaska Moms for Custodial Justice
Also, join the American Mothers Political Party. AMPP is a social movement seeking justice and accountability within the family court system which includes DHHS/CPS, psychologists and other so called experts.
FILED IN: ACTIVISM, ALASKA, BATTERED MOTHERS CUSTODY CONFERENCE, CALIFORNIA, CALIFORNIA PROTECTIVE PARENTS ASSOCIATION, CHILD CUSTODY, CHILD CUSTODY BATTLE, INDIANA, MASSACHUSETTS,NONCUSTODIAL MOTHERS, SUPPORT FOR NONCUSTODIAL MOMS
Teresa says: aka Rene M Netherton
Thank god Rikki will be 18 soon and can speak her peace! Then and only then will the truth come out-what will Ms. Dombrowsky do with all her time then?
Nancy Carroll says:
@ Teresa: Yes it will be good when Rikki turns 18, but it is no guarantee she will be free. A child needs to find her own voice before breaking away from an abusive control freak, and age isn’t a factor in this. When Rikki does break free, it will be great for her and her mother, for I know they love each other. Fear is a mighty powerful factor. Once that is past, then time can be spent together, time that was cruely stolen from them.
AMPP says:
@ Teresa– You wouldnt be Rene M. Netherton The Psycho GAL who is harrasing Claudine now? tsk tsk
LetsGetHonest says:
Whoever Teresa is, she can’t spell “Dombrowski” right – which takes some doing, considered how many places this is on the internet. If she’s a GAL in the case, perhaps this might be par for the course — not reading the paperwork enough to pick up on the spelling of the client’s name.
Anne Caroline Drake, are the lights on yet? How many groups want people to believe it’s that the legal representation “just don’t understand” or are “inadequate” and not that someone has paid off someone in this case, perhaps, much? Or that Kansas, like many other states, is prime Fatherhood country, at least as to funding, organizations promoting it, etc. I’m sure that hasn’t affected anyone’s judgment in the courts yet, though. it’s all about personal vendettas, right, and not about money to be made off the case.
Summarized in August 2010 on RightsForMothers & Comments:
Claudine has been a strong voice for battered and abused mothers, having testified before State Rep Mike Kiegerl‘s (R-Olathe) Joint Committee on Children’s Issues in December 2009.
Claudine has been gagged, denied documents to her case, denied parenting time (AGAIN), and even had her phone confiscated from her. She came to court with 67 violations of the last court order of daddy Hal Richardson keeping Daughter from seeing her mother.
And Anne Caroline seemed to think that if only the Legislature would make sure that judges understand about PAS:
Bravo, Nancy! Bravo!
I’d like to know why the judges in KS haven’t had judicial training in PAS. This is something the legislature can fix immediately.
I think someone else explained that they ARE being trained in PAS (that it’s a terrible thing fathers must be protected against…..those nasty, alienating mothers, false allegations of domestic violence, etc….)
August 23, 2010 (& ff.) Comments included:
suggest we stop letting the legislators play “I see NUTTin’.” And the only way to keep on doing that is find out if they know what’s going on in their own districts, at least. Like I mentioned in comments to AnneCarolineDrake’s post (if you can wade through them), Fathers.com is based in Leawood Kansas, where the Governors live.
Also, the main access/visitation funding are coming straight to the Office of the Governor in Kansas. ALSO, wasn’t it in about 1998 that the concept of Fathering Courts re: child support, sprang forth? There’s some in Kansas City, MO, right across the border from Claudine in KCK area. Do these people really not understand that these things are affecting family law cases?
I know legislators have to delegate a whole lot, but they have aides. Who are their chief aides?
It’s not enough to know the individual cases/personnel, but also to know the context in which they set.
Speaking of which, here’s another article from last March, referring to policies kicked off by our President the previous year (2009);
Last year, Obama addressed a group of community leaders, fathers, and children from schools near D.C. in a speech meant to kick off a national conversation on fatherhood. He noted that his accomplishments were due to the efforts of his mother and grandparents but added, “Despite all their extraordinary love and attention that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel my father’s absence. That’s something that leaves a hole in a child’s heart that a government can’t fill.”
Indeed, Obama has never suggested it should, but he has acknowledged the government can encourage fathers to get more involved. This marks a slight departure from his predecessor. For George W. Bush and his fellow conservatives, involved fathers were important because nuclear families were important.Advocates for anti-poverty programs grew frustrated with Bush because both his rhetoric and his policies emphasized personal and familial responsibility, as if all poor families lacked were moral values. He allocated federal money to programs that promoted marriage, but the bill authorizing the funds did not use language that restricted their use for low-income families exclusively; they were open to anyone.
{{this includes the Hal Richardsons of the world, and the professionals associated with them…}}
Now, under Obama, fatherhood programs and marriage initiatives are poised to get more funding. His 2011 budget allocates money under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also known as welfare-to-work, for a new initiative intended to help parents with barriers to self-sufficiency.
A parallel Obama effort, the “conversation on fatherhood,” run by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, targets Americans of all income levels but doesn’t administer grant money.
This article quotes several key fatherhood people/organizations; we didn’t know about it, I guess… were busy elsewhere… No one telling the story about who this hurts mothers and kids was in on that conversation, called “Is promoting responsible fatherhood really the best way to lift families out of poverty?”
But if we had been, the answer would’ve been read: Just refer to FVPF’s
National Institute on Fathering and Domestic Violence
Funded by the same people making more and more cases like Claudine’s, Tammy’s and others. Solution to this: More of the same, such as:
Public and Private Partnerships:
The NIFDV has been supported by public and private partners including the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Office on Violence Against Women, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Family Violence Prevention & Services Program, Administration on Children and Families.
U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesThis project is being developed in partnership with other national organizations, such as the Center for Family Policy and Practice [CFFPP], the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community [IDVAAC], the National Latino Alliance to Eliminate Domestic Violence, Mending the Sacred Hoop, the Domestic Violence Resource Network, and the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse.
The National Institute has three core elements:1. Training and Technical Assistance Leadership Academy
2. Program Practice and Development Center
3. Information ClearinghouseFatherhood has proven to be a powerful tool to reach men in understanding the effects of family violence
Thankfully, we were “heard” recently, resulting in (yet another) initiative, grant going to the same FVPF that has sucked up the conversation and excluded the custody-switch, batterers getting custody talk.
Here is from the KS Governor’s site, soliciting grant applications for the 2011 year, I guess, SAVP — “State Access Visitation Programs.”
This is what they do:
Purpose
To provide supervised child exchange or supervised child visitation to children and families at risk because of circumstances relating to neglect; substance abuse; emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; domestic or family violence; etc.
Eligible Applicants
Funds are available to units of state or local government, for profit organizations and private nonprofit organizations. A 10% non-federal cash match is required.
Funding Source
The Federal State Access & Visitation grant program is a formula grant program to states and participation is voluntary. The federal administrative agency is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For 2010, the recipients were:
County Organization Name Grant Award
Allen Hope Unlimited $7,338
Cloud 12th Judicial District $7,042
Crawford Crisis Resource Center of Southeast Kansas $8,780
Douglas The Farm Inc. $10,872
Leavenworth First Judicial District CASA Association $10,990
Lyon SOS $1,888
Lyon SOS $9,442
Reno Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Center $11,932
Riley Sunflower CASA Project, Inc. $7,224
Sedgwick Wichita Children’s Home $9,522
Shawnee YMCA of Topeka $2,324
Shawnee YMCA of Topeka $14,729
Conveniently, former-governor Kathleen Sebelius is at HHS watching over these things, I guess…However on 06-17-2010 (wasn’t that JUST ABOUT on Father’s Day, or right before it?) as governor, she, or she & current governor, established — through Executive Order — an Early Childhood Council. After all, Rikki is about to age out, and where will the new fatherhood customers come from (Fatherhood funding has long also been in Head Start initiatives, FYI).
Oh, and here’s a 2009 AFCC site, catching up on the most recent alienation etc. strategies:
As a strategy to help Claudine, and people like her, I think we should ignore these things.
Advanced Parenting Coordination Training
AFCC, in collaboration with the AFCC Missouri Chapter and the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law, will be offering Attachment, Alienation and Access: Advanced Interventions for Parenting Coordinators on September 30-October 1, 2009. Arnold Shienvold, Ph.D. will focus on how to work effectively with the most challenging clients and issues, including those with personality disorders and attachment problems.
Denver Call for Presenters
AFCC’s 47th Annual Conference, Traversing the Trail of Alienation: Rocky Relationships, Mountains of Emotion, Mile High Conflict, will take place June 2-5, 2010 at the Sheraton Denver. If you have an interesting workshop idea that you would like considered, please submit a proposal prior to October 5, 2009.
Click here to view Call for Presenters…
Click here to submit a workshop proposal…
I wonder where the professionals are getting all those ideas about alienation from…..
Gotta run. Pardon me, but I have a 17 yr old, a 19 yr old… Miss them …. Too bad someone didn’t tell me this stuff 5 years ago, I’d've known which trees to bark up and which not to bark up.
Rikki Dombrowski, as shown on Guardian ad Litem M. Jill Dyke's Facebook page.
Rikki is often on my mind. Granted, not as much as on her mother, Claudine Dombrowski’s, mind. I was also a child victim of family courts, just as Rikki is. Just as my children are now, although I don’t write about them at all (too traumatic).
Rikki was taken to talk to the judge (alone, no witnesses), Judge David Debenham, a couple of weeks ago, while her mother Claudine was in the midst of another judicial smackdown. Although she had been given the right to see her daughter after years of no or limited (supervised) contact in the January 2010 hearing that I attended as a court watcher, daddy Hal Richardson did everything in his power to not allow the visits to take place. He had 83 violations of the court order up to a point this fall…read about the case here.
Witnesses have told me that when daddy Hal Richardson brought Rikki to be interviewed by the judge, he was acting very sternly towards her, and she was crying just before going in. Knowing that the last time Rikki was “allowed” to call her mother this past spring to cancel her two hour Sunday visitation, daddy Hall Richardson was yelling at Rikki in the background and Rikki was uncontrollably crying while she was telling Claudine she couldn’t see her that day. That was the last phone call to take place.
My point is Rikki is one of many children in a situation like this, threatened to follow the abuser’s script or face the consequences. In Rikki’s case, there is a child’s coffin in Hal Richardson’s living room ready for use. If the corrupt court officials in this case actually did their jobs, Richardson would be in prison and Rikki would be with her mother. There is a movement now to disbar Rene Netherton. M. Jill Dykes lunged at Claudine in the courthouse hallway, and had her husband call to threaten her…actions will be filed on this also. Snorting Topeka attorney Jason P. Hoffman continues to lie in court about anything to help his abusive client Hal Richardson, including claiming Claudine Dombrowski is me when he knows she is not. No, Rikki Dombrowski is a cash cow to them.
Children like this are often a big source of income to people like this. Snorting Jason L. Hoffman used the term “parental alienation” so much during the January 2010 hearing, I lost count. This term, and syndromes/disorders associated with it, were invented by people (like Dr. William Bernet) who make lots of money from it, using it to sell books and sell their “testimony.” It is well known by judge’s associations as a tool for abusers to get custody of children. It certainly worked in this case…imbecile Judge Debenham fell for it (or maybe was paid off).
When I think of Rikki getting threatened in the courthouse hallway and her crying, I get really mad. This is what our children are going through. When will it stop? The White House addressed family court cases during it’s press conference somewhat due to this case (afterall they have beenreading about it here), but when is something actually going to be done?
TAGS:
We need more courtwatchers to let these abusers, abusive attorneys, and abusive judges know that we are not going to take it any more. We need courtwatchers so that we can document this crime against children & moms. We need to keep writing, keep networking, keep protesting wherever we are, for this injustice will not continue.
One would think that after the little to no contact that Claudine has had, the parental alienation would bte thrown out. What does this say about the judge. It’s time for the olaws to change and allow us to go after obviously corrupt or ignorant (ignorance is not an excuse) judges.
Joe Biden, who is a steadfast champion for abused women and children, said that one of the greatest obstacles for women is access to competent legal representation. I have examined this case in-depth and believe that’s what’s going on here.
Claudine has been accompanied to court by attorneys, but I don’t see much evidence of vigorous representation of her interests.
The lights are on at the American Bar Association’s DV commission, but nobody’s home. As Joe Biden said, women need more help than somebody getting them a restraining order. The KS governor and first lady both claim to be champions for abused women and children. Why aren’t their buddies stepping up to the plate with some real pro bono representation of Claudine???
My two cents,
Anne Caroline Drake
These Kansas oHfficials are so backwards assed they would rather pick on an abused woman than DEFEND her! Someday and somewhere over that rainbow skies are blue…and a mother and child will NEVER have to deal with such wickedness!
My abusive X would not give my son back to me in the custody battle and went and disowned him and placed him in foster care. Now foster care is abusing him and placing him into this program called Intercept where he does not belong My son is not fighting back and has learned helplessness how do they think this is helping my splitting the family up so I can not drive for 3 hours to visit my son in Richmond and they know that! They are locking my son away because it is the easy thing for them to do.
The Trial is this monday the 15th at 11 in JDC in Fairfax county third floor for Folse if you can come out and provide your support please
I guess Oklahoma (home of the Good Ole Boys) is bad too. Sounds just like California. Do they collect C.A.F.T.A. funds form the feds in their courts too?
Here is a post about an Algerian daughter of a 30yr. now retired, Algerian Senator. She had her child taken away and given to her HIV pos husband when she divorced him.
She divorced him for marrying her without disclosing that he was HIV positive, for not telling her he had been arrested for sex crimes, etc. During the separation the daughter had visits at the husband’s home. After the visits to daddy’s house she started telling mommy stories about daddy making movies with her, licking her legs like a dog, putting his finger in her, eating her poop….and then there was the Children’s Hospital report of a torn hymen and a vaginal infection wherein the daughter told the doctor that daddy gave her a big boo boo in her vagina. Guess what??? The court awarded sole custody to the father. We have the videotaped discussion of the girl with her mommy. In it, she is describing things only a child being molested would know. She was three years old then. A very articulate, warm girl. Her mother is a doctor of veterinary and totally sane. She had no criminal record and owed no taxes.
http://legalizedpedophillia.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html
@ Rajab: Oh wow! This is happening FAR TOO MUCH! It is to the point I almost look at disgust if I see a father alone with children. This is the fault of all the courts giving so many children to abusers and rapists, it is almost guaranteed they will get custody. Please never stop trying to do something about this! Everyday people and the media is finally starting to take notice of this. The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice has been on these posts a few times lately, especially looking at these posts. I’m sure they will read your comment.
FILED IN: ACTIVISM, ANGRY FATHERS, BAD DADS, BAD GUARDIAN AD LITEM, BAD JUDGES, BAD LAWYERS,BARACK OBAMA, BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD, CHILD CUSTODY FOR SALE, CLAUDINE DOMBROWSKI,CORRUPT JUDGES, CORRUPT LAWYERS, CORRUPT BASTARDS, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DR. WILLIAM BERNET,FATHERS RIGHTS, HAL RICHARDSON, JASON P. HOFFMAN, JILL DYKES, JUDGE DAVID DEBENHAM, KANSAS,NONCUSTODIAL MOTHERS, PAS, PARENTAL ALIENATION DISORDER, PARENTAL ALIENATION DISORDERS,PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME, RIKKI DOMBROWSKI, CHILD CUSTODY FOR ABUSERS, PARENTAL ALIENATION
