As I explained then, they told me that they had a policy of sending reports to the court. If I expressed an opinion that was contrary to the school philosophy, such as saying that spanking was acceptable under certain circumstances, then they would send a bad report to the court. The school rejected me at the end of the intake interview. Comm. Joseph said that I "flunked" the class.
What I did not know at the time was that the school sent a secret report against me to the court! I just discovered this email in the court file:
From: Jodi Harvey [jodiannharvey@yahoo.com]Yes, we were not a good match. I was following court instructions, and they were creeps who were backstabbing clients.
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 2:50 PM
To: melissa.berrenge@co.santa-cruz.ca.us
Melissa,
Our staff had a very uncomfortable interaction with a potential client named George AngryDad who came in with 2 little girls around ages 5 and 7 or so.
The intake conversation started to get weird when our intake staff member gave him our intake assessment which collects information from clients.
He didn't want any reports sent to the court because he said he was afraid that things he said would be used against him.
Our staff member said an example of something we might include in the reports of a negative example would be that the client utilizes spanking as a discipline technique. He said, "What's wrong with spanking." and he cited research that supports spanking, ...
Our staff was very uncomfortable and she asked him to leave as he stayed over an hour. She told him that we were not a good match and he was denied admittance to the program and referred to the parenting center and he wrote down the name of the class text. ...
We've only rejected 3 people in 5 years.
Just an FYI...
Jodi Harvey
Simply Your Best
I include the real names of Jodi Harvey and Melissa Berrenge because they were using their names to secretly sabotage my court case. If they act against me and my kids in court, then they should be willing to stand behind what they say and do.
I was never admitted to the Simply Your Best class. I never signed the form authorizing them to send reports to the court. They just did it anyway, and did not even tell me. They should know that courts operate based on admissible evidence, and that all parties have to see the evidence before it is presented to the court. There is no place for letters like this.
Melissa Berrenge is a psychologist who worked for the court at the time. She should certainly know how improper it is for her to put such an email into my court file. It is unsworn. It is hearsay from an identified "staff member". It was not sent to me. I had no opportunity to rebut it. And yet she did it anyway.
The email also reveals what a treacherous and dishonest outfit Simply Your Best is. They wanted to punish me for citing some research that runs counter to their prejudices. Spanking is a legal and acceptable disciplinary technique, and they have no business trying to forbid it. They certainly should not be punishing parents who merely express an opinion about the published research. Their classes consist of discussion groups in which all participants are encouraged to tell about their parenting experiences. And they should not be writing secret reports to the court.
A real court would not accept email letters like this. It violates basic principles of fairness and rules of evidence.
If you are unfortunate enough to have to take a class from Simply Your Best, watch your back. They are slimeballs of the worst kind, and they will maliciously try to ruin your life if they can. Do not attempt to have an honest discussion with them. Just tell them what they want to hear, and hope you get good reports.
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