From: John Murtari (jmurtari@akidsright.org)
Date: Thu Dec 17 2009 - 20:54:27 EST
AKidsRight.Org - All the information in our messages if FREE for reuse as you desire. Subscribe/unsubscribe info at end of this message. ========================================= Good People & People of Faith, This message has a little more follow up information on Mr. Andrew Steele. The parent who was arrested last week for writing on some Courthouse walls in the Boston area. For more background check: http://www.AKidsRight.Org/action_boston -- it includes a picture of Andrew from his arraignment and also links to two local news stories. It looks like Andrew will be in jail over Christmas -- not the best place for holiday cheer while being separated from your family! If you have a few moments, just sending a simple Christmas card would be great. (I spent Christmas of 2000 in jail and getting cards from other parents was a very nice present!) His Address: Andrew Steele, #53441 Plymouth House of Corrections Housing Unit BS1 26 Long Pond Rd. Plymouth, MA 02360 Also, if you have some extra time you are welcome to write the District Attorney for that area: Mr. Timothy Cruz Plymouth County Dist Atty 215 Main Street Plymouth, MA 02301 Ms. Mandy Varona <mandyvarona@yahoo.com>, a good friend of Andrews, has still not been able to communicate directly with Andrew. Mandy is looking for help in contacting the Media in the Boston area. She did call the jail and was told he was in the "medical unit" -- although they did not explain why. We will update the site when more info is available. Mandy wrote the following to explain a bit more about what happened to Andrew as he went through the system: "If anybody is interested in specifics on Judge Sabaitis, here are a couple. Early in the Steele divorce proceedings the Wife requested supervised visits for the boys because she said she was fearful. In response, Andrew and his attorney requested an independent guardian ad litem, at his expense, to review the matter. Judge Sabaitis denied that request without comment. Andrew then asked for a psychological evaluation for himself which he would pay for. Again, Her Honor denied that request without comment. Before the final judgment, Judge Sabaitis ordered Andrew to pay more than $700 a week in support, basing that amount on his earnings several years prior, an amount he hadn't earned in years and an amount he wasn't able to pay. In the final judgment, the amount ordered is $150 a week, which is now artificially low and is probably the judge's way of trying to correct her previous earnings error, but a more fair solution would be to erase the arrears, which were without foundation in the first place and which have grown to be substantial. In the final divorce judgment, Judge Sabaitis allowed two supervised visits per month with the boys, every other Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, with approval of the supervisors resting solely with Wife. Earlier this year Wife advised Andrew that Andrew's mother, the boys' grandmother, was no longer a suitable supervisor. The requirement for a supervisor is even more egregious in light of the testimony at trial wherein Wife responded "No" to the following questions: ´Have I ever struck you?, ´Have I ever threatened you?, and ´Have I ever struck the children? So based on nothing at all, the judge required supervised visits, which means the Wife decides who oversees Andrew's visits with his own children. He has no right to privacy with his children, and these visits would be uncomfortable and sad for all participating. The Wife was happy enough when Andrew was earning good money, but as soon as that was no longer the case, he was made to pay, and Judge Sabaitis is complicit in that injustice. The children are made to pay in ways only they can feel and probably cannot articulate. This is why Andrew has engaged in his peaceful act of civil disobedience." -- Mandy Varona -- John Murtari _______________________________________________________ Coordinator AKidsRight.Org jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org A Kid's Right to BOTH parents" (315) 944-0999(x-211) http://www.AKidsRight.Org/ ========================================= http://www.AKidsRight.Org/ A Kid's Right to Both Parents! --- Newsletter mailing list Newsletter@kids-right.org http://kids-right.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter
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