From: John Murtari (murtarij@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jan 08 2010 - 15:44:35 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 info on: 1. Steele - his letter from jail. Expects release Jan 12th! 2. Murtari - charges dismissed, resuming Jan 12th. 3. Science & Psych Evals - who is the better parent? [NOTE - please send replies to this message to a monitored address: jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org ] 1. Andrew Steele - his letter from jail. Expects release Jan 12th! ----------------------------------------------------------------- [ I recv'd a letter from Andrew Steele, the Boston area parent who has been in jail for about a month after writing on a Courthouse wall. http://www.AKidsRight.Org/action_boston He did appear in Court on Jan 6th, was able to plead guilty to a lesser charge and the Judge just wanted him to pay restitution, app $2000 before being released (no more jail time or probation) -- that should be next Tuesday, Jan 12th. If you wish to communicate with Andrew you can send messages through a friend Ms. Mandy Varona <mandyvarona@yahoo.com>. As soon as we have his email address we will let you know. Any list FEEDBACK is also welcome. - John] ------------------------------- December 31, 2009 "Dear John, ... It strikes me that America has become like parents who don't know what to do with their troubled children. This in spite of the fact we have thousands of years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom from which to draw in our decision making. The study of society, the study of people and conflict, and conflict resolution. No matter if we read religious or spiritual texts, a book about the needs of our children, an article in a magazine discussing family conflict ... we can find this dominant message: family is the most important building block for a healthy society; and healthy, fair conflict resolution is paramount to maintaining a healthy family environment, whether that family be intact or divided through divorce. I have never read or heard anything that suggests drawing out a conflict, as in a divorce, is healthy for anyone, least of all the children. Yet this happens in our probate courts [The Massachusetts name for 'family' courts] time and time again. Our probate courts have become like ancient Roman Coliseums in which people are all too often thrown to "fight to the death" and it that isn't exciting enough, why, thrown in a lion or two! Once in our probate courts the lawyers and the judges allow our children to be thrown in, to be emotionally mauled and mutilated. Our children become collateral damage in what is best called a "divorce war." A "divorce war" is any divorce, any dysfunctional divorce, overseen and allowed to become such by a judge who, by action or inaction, appears not to understand how to help those "troubled children" (husbands and wives divorcing) who MUST come to the court seeking conflict resolution. Why does a judge, why do so many judges, seem completely unable to effectively -- and fairly -- bring a troubled marriage to an end? Why, frankly, do judges and lawyers botch divorces so severely by allowing emotional states to turn poisonous, which then breeds vindictiveness and greed? As though they intend us, divorcing mothers and fathers, to fight to the death. "Throw in the lions! Throw in the children!" After two years of "divorce war," during the final hearing, Judge Sabaitis, who presided over my divorce, seeing tears in my eyes and hearing me plead to please allow us all to just get on with our lives -- said, "Divorce is hard on everyone." And then, as though she had not heard her own words, Judge Sabaitis took a bit more than thirteen additional months to deliver a final judgment. It is as though Judge Sabaitis is a "child god" who has no idea the pain she was causing us all. It is as though she is a surgeon ripping our children's souls from the fabric of their being, and mine; for me every day is/was like this, for three years and her judgment only continues the dysfunctional atmosphere. A judge should be able to draw from the knowledge and wisdom earned over the past millenniums -- for us all to use -- to know that the fabric of our children's lives, weaved as they grow and learn (partly be example from us) are best weaved with the guidance of both a mother and a father (with variations in family makeup; of course); and that weaving process should not be allowed an interruption by a court, by a judge, or by parents who during such difficult times lose their focus -- that the well being of their children is paramount (something a wise judge is not meant to temper). Yet probate judges seems to operate in their own world, and by their own laws (as though a dictator), in contrast to the wisdom one can find in the Bible, or in any number of writings on the subject of healthy children, healthy families, a healthy society. In our case, Judge Sabaitis seemed to be focused on the money (that was the reason she gave for denying the children a garden ad litem), rather than focusing on relationship. In a society such as we have here in America, where money dominates our attention at the cost of healthy children, healthy families, a healthy society, we should not be surprised we give birth to a Judge Sabaitis. And my sons, I, and my ex-wife, the suffer the consequences -- we all suffer the consequences, all of society. I wanted to spend less time making money and more time with my sons. Judge Sabaitis has been given the "dictator-like" power by the State of Massachusetts to order the designs of my sons' lives at the opposite polar end of my wishes. By ordering me to make more money that I was able, and keeping my sons and I apart. Wow! One would do well to begin questioning, if one is not already, what this means to the freedom America so boasts about. Walt Whitman wrote this poem "To the States": To the States or any one of them, or any city of the States, Resist much, obey little, Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved, Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever afterward resumes its liberty. I say a judge is a human being, no more, dressed in a black robe and titled judges all too easily and too often acting like a dictator playing the part of God. If people are suffering, and my sons and I are, the government is failing us, in this case by denying my sons their right to have me, and my right to have them, to share our lives with each other, which many would say if a God-given right, and not for a judge, a human, to deny. And I say this: If the laws do not change, if we do not solve conflict from a place of empathy, compassion, love, and now LAW, for our children's sake, then my sons, four of them, and your sons, all of them -- in a fate of irony of this society we've created. All of our sons may someday stand before Judge Sabaitis, and as grown men be ordered to make more money than they can, or want to, and worse yet, they my be kept from having their sons in their lives, their children in their lives. My grandchildren, your grandchildren, separated from fathers! During which generation will we stop the judges from defining our lives, and those of our children? For this I rebel. For my sons, who someday will be men, I reject the premise that the government has the right to father my sons. That the government has the right to father my grandchildren. I am my son's father, not the President, not the House or the Senate, not the Governor of this State, nor the lawmakers of this State, and absolutely not Judge Catherine Sabaitis This will be my one and only protest, the only time I will push at the limits of the law, but I will never, never, stop fighting for my son's rights, now as children, and in the future when they are men. God willing. Sincerely, Mr. Andrew Steele Plymouth County Correctional Facility Plymouth, Massachusetts ----------------------------------------------- 2. John Murtari - charges dismissed, resuming Jan 12th. ------------------------------------------------------ During a court appearance on January 6th, my assigned counsel, Ms. Denise Munson, did an excellent job in advocating for my rights as a defendant. She submitted a very effective motion: http://www.akidsright.org/parental_notification/motion1_affidav.pdf quoting good case law and asking for dismissal of the four pending charges based on the idea that "chalk can't damage" and there was no "intent to damage". The DAs office concurred with the motion and also agreed with dismissal. I was very happy with the result. I had been ready to resume my activities next week (Jan 12th) and having this decided first should make things 'simpler'. I'll be back at the Courthouse, chalk in hand, on Jan 12th. Your support is welcome, for more details see: http://www.akidsright.org/parental_notification If you have time, please checkout the "Declaration of Family Rights" -- the site allows you to sign and also leave a public comment. http://www.ThePetitionSite.com/3/the-declaration-of-family-rights 3. Science & Psych Evals ------------------------ As part of what I can only call 'harassment/intimidation' the DA's office had earlier requested a psychological examination over my competency to stand trial. This was completed in early December and you are welcome to read two reports by both a Psychologist and Psychiatrist. http://www.AKidsRight.org/parental_notification/psychologist.pdf http://www.AKidsRight.org/parental_notification/psychiatrist.pdf They were both nice people and there were no problems during the interviews. I do, however; encourage you to read the final paragraph in the Psychiatrist's report above. The new 'modern' trend is to have a psychological custody evaluation and let 'science' decide what is best for children. I could just imagine a similar paragraph in a report to a Family Court Judge and the Judge ordering 'counseling' because a parent had fond memories and a good relationship with their parent? This could be suspect? I always find it counter-productive when I see 'science' used to justify family law reform because WE ARE NOT EQUAL when measured by microscope and caliper. The Declaration of Independence: "We find these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." Scientific Studies ------------------ I recently saw a scientific 'study' that said in the clear majority of cases children do better with a "single father" vs. "single mother" -- regardless of if it's even good science, is that really suppose to matter? Are we suppose to start awarding custody to fathers in preference to mothers? I just finished a wonderful Christmas vacation with my son, Domenic (I'm still coming off the 'high'). I'm a bald-headed-bearded-italian, if science said that 75% of bald-headed-bearded-italians make bad parents -- should I be cutoff from Domenic as too big a risk? This question may sound bizarre, but it is one we ALL have a lot of trouble with -- because we ALL want to do the right thing. I believe the answer is 'no' -- and again, it's something we all can relate to in our present criminal system. I have spent a fair amount of time in Jail, and in holding cells with people accused of crimes. Now I can tell you that about 90% of those people were guilty -- do we dispense with the need for a trial, jury, and presumption of innocence? If 9 out of 10 black teenagers we pick up on the streets of New York are guilty as charged -- do we skip the other protections as a matter of GOOD PUBLIC POLICY? No we do not. Your right to "liberty" is yours -- and the state cannot take it away as a matter of policy (since it did not give it to you). Your right to "family" is also yours. Does it mean we occasionally let murderers go and that they may kill again -- yes we do and they do! But we accept that risk and consequence as part of the protection of our freedoms. --------- 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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