Found the objectionable picture

I just talked to my ex-wife about the CPS investigation. She denied making the complaint, and denied having any idea about who did. She said that she only found out about it last Thursday after the kids were interrogated at school. She said that the social worker called her on the phone, and asked about some stories the kids told about me. My ex-wife said that she confirmed that she had heard some of the stories.

My ex-wife was able to direct me to the objectionable web page. I had made a web page over a year ago, and I include a link to these Pretty Pictures. The ranking of the pictures is based on voting by whoever visits the site. It does indeed have some nice pictures, and I thought that my kids might like them.

The site has a companion site for Funny Pictures. Each time you visit the site, it shows a different pair of pictures, and lets you vote on which is funnier. Here is the top vote-getter:
(The text says "UNIQUE - just because you are unique does not mean that you are useful".)

Here are a couple of school-related ones that I think are funny:


Maybe the social worker, Sally Mitchell, will send me a letter that I can submit to the site!

However, the pictures on the site change all the time, and currently some of them are not appropriate for kids. I just deleted the link.

It is difficult to prevent kids from finding sites like this one. If you just Google funniest images, then you get the site as the top link. It is also the top site for the same search on Yahoo. If I am at fault here, then so is every other parent who lets his kid use Google or Yahoo.

The useless welfare pamphlet

Sally Mitchell, the "senior social worker" who confronted me with a two-car armed police escort on Friday, gave me a pamphlet, and I have now found it online. It is the California "Pub 13" Pamphlet offered in 13 languages on this page:

This pamphlet describes your rights and explains what you can do if you have a complaint. The information is for persons applying for, receiving, or who have received aid or services.

It is also offered here, and also here:

In addition to the IHSS Fair Hearing and Assessment Package (above), if you are taking your case before an adminsistrative law judge you may also read About State Hearings (PDF file)

The brochure is a little confusing to read online because it is intended to be printed on both sides of a sheet of paper, and folded into fourths. It starts:

If you are applying for, receiving, or have received public assistance in California, you have specific rights. This brochure describes your rights and explains what you can do if you have a complaint. The information is for persons applying for, receiving, or who have received aid or services in any of the following assistance programs: ...

I really don't see what any of this has to do with me. I am not applying for public assistance, nor have I received any. My ex-wife and kids haven't either, as far as I know.

If all this sounds incredible, I might not have believed it myself, if I did not see it first-hand. I am posting this so that others can see how the system works. I am trying to give the social worker and policewomen the benefit of the doubt, and I am assuming that they are doing their jobs as they have been instructed.

But I really cannot see any innocent explanation for what Sally Mitchell has done. She took my kids out of school and interrogated them without my knowledge or permission. She confronted me unannounced and with armed police at my home. I had no clue that this was coming. She refuses to say who made the complaint. And she does not even have an allegation that anyone did anything illegal or improper, or that the kids have been harmed in any way.

I don't know what kind of investigation she is going to be doing. She showed no interest in learning any facts. When I asked her questions about her concerns, she was vague and evasive. She never told me what the original complaint was, or what the purpose of her investigation is. It is hard to imagine that she has any legitimate purpose. If she did, then I would have expected her to have called for an appointment, to have collected a more factual complaint, and to have made some assessment as to whether anything improper is even being alleged.

I do believe that there are evil people in the world. Some evil people masquerade as do-gooders, and go about trying to poison other people's relationships. I will be posting more on this subject.

Visit from CPS social worker

I just got a visit from Sally Mitchell, a senior social worker with the local Family and Children's Services, which seems to be a county welfare agency. I guess that it is the new name for what used to be call Children's Protective Services, or CPS. She showed up with her car at my house, accompanied by two police cars.

I spoke to her for about 45 minutes in the driveway. She said that someone had made a complaint that I may not be taking the best care of my kids' emotional needs. She refused to say who made the complaint. She said that she interviewed the kids at school yesterday, and got much of her info from the kids.

She had a long list of petty complaints. She said that I expect the kids to help with the cooking and the dishes. She said that I asked them to do some homework before going trick-or-treating on Halloween. She said that on a camping trip three months ago, the kids were tired after going on a long hike. She said that on one occasion, a child left the dinner table and that I had eaten her abandoned food. She said that I once drove (harmlessly) past a sleeping dog in the road, with the kids in the car.

She spent most her time on a complaint about setting the alarm clock to wake up the kids for school. She said that the kids complain that sometimes they set the alarm clock, and I change the setting. I asked her if there was something wrong with that. She wouldn't say that there was anything wrong with it, but insisted that it was "unusual". She said that she has been doing social work and interviewing parents for 41 years, and she thinks that most parents of kids that age wake the kids up directly when it is time to get up for school, and do not use an alarm clock in the kids bedroom.

She said that I have a web site with a link to a lewd picture. I couldn't figure out what she was talking about, or what it would have to do with the kids. At first I thought that she was claiming that I had posted a lewd picture of one of the kids, but that was not it. It was a lewd picture of an adult, she explained, and I don't know whom or where.

That's it. Those are all the complaints. She stopped short of accusing me of doing anything wrong, but suggested that maybe my expectations for the kids might be too high. She admitted that none of the complaints, by itself, was any cause for concern.

I told her that I would consider what she told me, and that I would speak to the kids about it. She asked that I speak to them without threat of "repercussions". I asked what she meant by that, and she asked me to speak to them with "kindness". I agreed to do that.

In the end, she gave me her business card and a pamphlet on my rights to apply for welfare benefits. She asked me to sign a form saying that I speak English, and I did. She asked me to call her next week to make an appointment to discuss things further, but would not tell me what the point of that discussion would be. She said that a case number was going to be assigned to the matter, but would not say whether there would be any more investigation.

I am not sure what to make of this yet. I would have thought that our county police and social workers would have better things to do with their time. I really don't see what good is going to come out of this exercise.

Oregon court wants to make circumcision decision

Oregon family court news:

SALEM -- A man who converted to Judaism told the Oregon Supreme Court on Tuesday that he has the right as the custodial parent to circumcise his 12-year-old son against the wishes of his Russian Orthodox ex-wife.

"It's the classic kind of decision a custodial parent would make," said James Boldt, an attorney and former southern Oregon man who argued his own case.

But a lawyer for Lia Boldt argued that she should get a court hearing to try and prove that circumcising a 12-year-old boy poses serious health risks. Their son is afraid to tell his father he doesn't want to go through with it, the mother's attorney said. ...

But as the Supreme Court justices questioned the lawyers, they focused largely on family law and the fallout of divorce.

Over and over again, the justices asked about the limits of a custodial parent's general right to make a wide variety of day-to-day decisions, from where a child goes to school to what neighborhood the family lives in.

Justice Michael Gillette asked whether a noncustodial parent who objected to a child playing football was entitled to a court hearing.

"More people get hurt playing football than having a circumcision," Gillette said.

More and more family courts are sticking their noses into private decisions like this, and no good is coming out of it. This is just not something that the courts are equipped to decide. It is for parents, not judges.

Update: A reader sent me the legal brief from Doctors Opposing Circumcision. They say that circumcision is unethical, and that there ought to be a law against male circumcision, just as Oregon has a law against female circumcision.

I am not expressing an opinion about the merits of circumcision here. My quarrel is with the argument that the parents' divorce somehow empowers the court to use the doctrine of parens patriae to make some decision that would ordinarily be the exclusive province of the parents.

If it is really so bad to give a 12-year-old boy a non-therapeutic circumcision, then Oregon should pass a law against it. Or the physicians should adopt an ethics rule against. It would be bad whether the parents are divorced or not. But if the law leaves the decision to the parents, then judges should not get involved.

Judge gets fired for reviewing evidence

Glenn Sacks reports:

Virginia judge James Michael Shull, who smoked out a woman who sought to extend a restraining order based on false charges of domestic violence, was just removed from the bench ...

The other complaint against the judge was that he once decided a family court issue by tossing a coin. The VA supreme court didn't say that there was anything wrong with tossing a coin or ruling in an arbitrary way, but it said that it was bad for the dignity of the process to tell the litigants that he was tossing a coin. It would have been better to toss the coin secretly, and to never reveal his process, according to the reasoning.

The judge's main offense was that he asked to see a thigh wound on a woman who was asking for a domestic violence restraining order. It turned out that the wound was self-inflicted. The judge should be commended for examining evidence and rejecting a phony claim, not fired.

The VA supreme court said that the judge should have been more sensitive because the woman had a "clear history of mental instability", and wore pants to court. I guess the trick to getting a restraining order in Virginia now is to just act like a crazy woman and refuse to show your evidence.

Suspect has kids shipped to Russia

Here is the story of Hans Reiser, a computer genius who is now in jail under suspicion about the disappearance of his Russian wife. No body has been found, and the evidence against him is very weak. There are other plausible explanations for her disappearance. But the article does not even mention this:

Of everything that the Oakland Police did, sending the kids to Russia is by far and away the most bizzare and perhaps even illegal (on the part of the Oakland Police) action in this case. In spite of the fact that the children were born to two (at the time) American citizens... Hans and Nina... and that they were also born in the USA, Russia is claiming that they are Russian citizens and refusing to grant a "passport" for either child or an "exit visa".

On this particular issue, I think Hans has a reasonable chance of a successful lawsuit against the Alameda County prosecutor's office, particularly if he is acquitted. By California State law and U.S. Federal guidelines on the subject, those children should not have been allowed to leave the state of California, much less been granted a U.S. Passport to leave.

Americans are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. What possible justification could have been given for deporting a couple of American kids against the wishes of the only parent available?

Ordeal not over for NC man

From Overlawyered reports:

Dwayne Dail spent 18 years in a North Carolina prison on false charges of rape. When he got out based on new DNA findings, his ex-girlfriend promptly sued him for child support. (Mandy Locke, "Dail, expecting $360,000, sued by ex-girlfriend", Raleigh News & Observer, Oct. 24; "Wrongly Convicted Man Sued for Child Support", WRAL, Oct. 23; "Prosecutor: Wrongful Conviction Is 'Nightmare'", WRAL, Aug. 29; "Dwayne Dail responds to lawsuit", Goldsboro News-Argus, Oct. 28).

Using MySpace for legal evidence

A lawyer columnist writes:

In one case, Malbrough said she helped secure shared custody for the father after finding his wife had posted sexually explicit comments on her boyfriend's MySpace page. In another case, a husband's credibility was questioned because, on his MySpace page, he said he was single and looking.

Lawyers in civil and criminal cases are increasingly finding that social networking sites can contain treasure chests of information for their cases. Armed with printouts from sites such as Facebook and MySpace, attorneys have used pictures, comments and connections from these sites as powerful evidence in the courtroom.

One problem with family court is that any part of your private life can be invaded and questioned. What you think might be okay for MySpace could be attacked in court.

If I were represented by a lawyer in my divorce case, I am sure he would have told me to shut down this blog. My ex-wife did try to use it against me, by submitting selected printouts to the judge and court experts.

Mom’s religion dominates custody hearing

A Tennessee paper reports:

A Maryville woman who went to court on Aug. 14 for a child custody hearing says she was persecuted because of her religious beliefs at the hands of the Blount County judicial system.

According to Jo Anne White, what was supposed to be a standard child custody hearing turned into an almost hourlong "Bible study" in the courtroom in spite of the repeated protests of her attorney, Kevin W. Shepherd.

After a detailed discussion of her religious beliefs -- documented in court reporter transcripts obtained by The Daily Times -- and a brief recess to chambers, Blount County Circuit Court Judge W. Dale Young awarded temporary custody of White's two children to her ex-husband. The custody will be reviewed again in Circuit Court on Dec. 11.

While Young questioned White about one specific aspect of her religion, attorney Craig Garrett, who represented White's ex-husband, asked numerous probing questions about her faith. Of the 65 pages of court transcripts reviewed by The Daily Times, 41 pages deal directly with White's religious beliefs.

"We were discussing specific Scriptures and the details of end-times prophesy," White said. "My attorney kept protesting, but the judge kept it going for almost an hour.

"At one point, I told the judge, 'I didn’t write the Bible — so why are we discussing this?' ...

Calls from The Daily Times to Young’s office and home were not returned. Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) and expert on both child custody and religion in the courtroom, said, "A judge can’t say 'this religion isn’t good for the children' — you must have evidence.

"You have to be able to demonstrate that it isn’t in the best interest of the child.
"I think it's inadvisable to investigate someone’s religion in depth in the courtroom.
"This is not the kind of behavior we want to see from judges, but it doesn't necessarily constitute grounds for reversal."

While transcripts of the court proceedings do not state why the judge awarded temporary custody to White's ex-husband, they do show that religion was the primary topic of discussion in the courtroom that day.

I think that the real crime here is that a judge can make a custody decision and not even explain his factfinding or reasoning on the record. He can just make some arbitrary and predujiced decision, and get away with it as long as it doesn't put a stupid explanation on the record.

In this case, the judge quizzed the mom on whether the Bible says to celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday or Sunday. Either way, it should not be relevant to child custody.

Got another subpoena and remittitur

I just got a notice from my bank that it received a subpoena from my ex-wife.

I also got another remittitur from the court. I guess that means that the appeals court is turning jurisdiction back to the family court. Comm. Joseph told us in family court that it would notify us of a date for it to act on the result of the appeals court. That never happened for the last remittitur, and my ex-wife tells me that it won't happen for this one either.

I wonder how the average person can cope with the legal system when even the guy who has been running the local family court for the past couple of years doesn't seem to know how it works. Joseph was so positive that his clerk would send us a hearing date that he refused to put the matter on his calendar.

Meanwhile, my ex-wife asked me to sign a stipulated motion to postpone this month's status conference in family court. She says that her baby is a week overdue, and she is expecting to give birth any day.

Ordering labor without evidence

The San Mateo County child support system will have another tool to get parents to make payments under legislation recently signed by the governor.

State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Mateo/San Francisco, sponsored the legislation, Senate Bill 523, which allows a judge to order an unemployed person responsible for child support to find a job at the initial hearing for the case. ...

"It's trying to be proactive," Yee said. "If the parents continue to be responsible for the financial health of their children, then they are less of a responsibility to the city and county."

The legislation will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2008, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law on Sept. 26.

After a judge's order, child support obligors must show proof every two weeks that they have applied for at least five jobs.

In other words, they want to maximize welfare reimbursement, so they passed a law allowing judges to order men to work without any presentation of evidence.

Life's Short -- Get a Divorce

ABC News reports:

An all-female law firm is turning heads in Chicago with a new billboard and a blunt message:

"Life's Short. Get a Divorce."

The billboard, sponsored by Fetman, Garland & Associates, Ltd., a firm that specializes in divorce cases, features the six-pack abs of a headless male torso and tanned female cleavage heaving forth from a black lace bra....

Father Spared from Paying Outrageous Massachusetts Child Support

A reader writes:

A recent Massachusetts family court ruling said they do not have personal or subject matter jurisdiction over a Father that lives in Ohio for child support. My former spouse tried to extort a massive increase in child support simply because the Father moved from WV to Ohio while their child and Mother live in Massachusetts. The Father appeared in Massachusetts family court by "Special Appearance" without an attorney and challenged the courts jurisdiction in the matter. A valid order was in effect from WV and Father claimed Massachusetts did not have jurisdiction. Because the Father was not served in Massachusetts and has never lived in Massachusetts, the judge ruled that Massachusetts does not have personal or subject matter jurisdiction over the Father and that Mother must go to Ohio to modify child support. Massachusetts family court ruled they have jurisdiction over child and Mother and will only hear modification of visitation. Ohio child support is roughly 1/2 the cost of Massachusetts which is thought to be the highest in the country.

New subpoena for records

I just got a subpoena for banking records from 1996 to 2003. I guess my ex-wife is still fishing for money.

The subpoena was issued thru a legal service company across the bay, but was unsigned. I've always told her that she can inspect my records whenever she wishes. I don't know why she'd bother to issue an official subpoena and then not even sign it. I wonder whether an unsigned subpoena is even binding.

Des Moines police investigate attack by onion

Iowa news:

A Des Moines man went to jail Wednesday afternoon for allegedly throwing an onion at his wife.

The police report begins: "(The victim) states her husband had been drinking and they got into an argument."

James Izzolena, 54, of 3515 Sheridan Ave., was charged with domestic assault causing injury. Police said he became upset with his wife, Nicole Izzolena, 27, and tossed an onion at her, striking her in the back of the head.

She told police it made her head hurt. James Izzolena admitted throwing the onion, police said, but he claimed he did not intend to hit her with it. He was being held without bond pending a court appearance today.

The next time that you hear that some man is in jail for domestic violence, remember that it might be something really trivial.

The best interest of the dog

A reader sent this story, and said "Now judges determine the best interest of the dog".

IN RECENT YEARS, Dr. Amy Marder, a veterinarian practicing in Lexington, has found herself called upon to decide which human "parent" a pet prefers.

Pet custody disputes have become an increasingly common fixture in divorce cases and Marder, an animal behavior specialist, has consulted in several. To do a proper evaluation, she likes to spend at least an hour and a half with the couple and the pet. She asks the owners a barrage of questions: which of the two spends more time with the animal, who plays with it more, who feeds it. She asks about the pet's upbringing, its temperament, how much it exercises.

Marder frowns on so-called "calling contests," a method used by lawyers in some custody cases, in which the owners stand at opposite ends of a room and call the pet to see which way it will go. She prefers to observe the animal's body language as it interacts with its owners. She looks at whether it sits closer to one or the other, and how it reacts when each pets it.

At the end of the session, Marder makes her recommendation, based not only on who she thinks would take better care of the pet, but whom she has decided the pet has a stronger bond with -- the same sort of considerations that would go into deciding a child-custody case. Sometimes she recommends joint custody, but only if she thinks the animal can handle it.

"Some animals think it's terrific to go live in two homes," she says. "Others have separation anxiety and splitting time would only make it worse."

At first, I thought that this was some sort of parody or joke. But this appears in the Boston Globe, a reputable newspaper.

I don't even agree with those idiotic custody evaluations when they are applied to (human) children. I just heard from a woman who lost a custody evaluation because of her appearance. Or maybe it was some other prejudice, as you can never be sure. All she knows is that the report cited her clothing and other trivial factors negatively.

1957 divorce movie on TCM channel

I just watched Man on Fire, a 1957 Bing Crosby movie about a nasty child custody dispute. (It is unrelated to the 2004 Denzel Washington thriller.)

The dispute was actually rather tame by today's standards. There were no accusations of domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, or child neglect.

Crosby's wife ran off with a higher status man, and relinquished custody of their 8-year-old boy because she wanted to start a new family. But she has a miscarriage with the new husband and cannot have more kids, and sues for full custody. The boy, now 10, is strongly attached to the father and doesn't want to live with the mother.

Nevertheless, the female judge awards custody to the mother, and lets her move away to another city! The judge was portrayed as conscientious, but also arbitrary, capricious, biased, and cruel.

On one week's notice, the judge had briefs from both sides, and an investigator's report. It appeared that the parents were not allowed to see the report. The judge interviewed the boy with no one else present. The mother lies to the judge about why she waited two years to file for custody.

In the end, both parents are overcomed with noble thoughts, and offer each other full custody. Everyone agrees that the lesson from King Solomon was that a parent can prove greater love for the child by being more willing to give up the child. The father has the greater love, lets the boy go with the mother, and the father gets a new girlfriend. I guess that this is what the 1950s movie audience expected.

Broncos running back pays for multiple kids

A reader writes that cases like this explain why most white people lack sympathy for deadbeat dads and support draconian measures to collect child support:

Travis Henry just got tackled by a $3,000-a-month child support judgment.

Sure, the Denver Broncos running back has a $25 million contract and a base monthly salary approaching $50,000, but that kind of bill can still crimp your style when you're accustomed to expensive cars and fancy jewelry — and lots of other child support payments.

Southern states and has been ordered by various judges to provide child support for seven of them, according to court records involving one child living in DeKalb County.

DeKalb Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger this week ordered Henry to provide $3,000 a month for the Lithonia boy he fathered out of wedlock three years ago with Jameshia Beacham, now 29.

Henry isn't the most thrifty guy, according to court records, so the judge wants to ensure payment by establishing an unusual $250,000 trust that Henry must fund by next spring.

Seeliger wrote that the football player displayed "bad judgment in his spending habits," dropping $100,000 for a car and $146,000 for jewelry. Meanwhile, Henry fell behind on support payments for his child with Beacham that were mandated by a previous order. Threatened with jail, he borrowed $9,800 from his former team, the Tennessee Titans, to pay the bill, according to court records.

... Indeed, part of the custody arrangement Henry reached with Beacham requires two weekend visits when he is playing pro ball.

I guess the argument is that Henry is rich and irresponsible, so it is better to take his money away and keep his nine illegitimate kids off welfare.

I am just not sure the courts are solving anything, even in his case. He cannot take the kids on alternate weekends while he is playing professional football. His football career is likely to be over in five years, and he won't have the big bucks anymore. While Henry is squandering his money, the moms may also be squandering the money he pays them. Some of those women may have gotten pregnant deliberately in order to cash in on child support. Bad as this situation is, it may have been made worse by child support laws.

More from the appeals court

Here is the conclusion from the appeals court:

As evidenced by the court's comments on the record, the trial court considered the arguments and evidence submitted by both parties and did not simply ignore George's factual contentions. The attorney's fees order is well-supported, and we find no error in the court's ruling.

The June 20, 2006 attorney's fees order is affirmed.

In other words, the decision is approved because the judge listened to my argument. They don't care if I showed that Miss Gray lied to cheat me out of some money.

Appellate court makes me pay attorney fees

The California court of appeals just rejected my appeal. I had been ordered to pay $10k in attorney fees for my ex-wife, in addition to previous fees.

I appealed because the lawyer, Miss Jennifer J. Gray, filed a sworn declaration in support of the fees that was filled with lies. Even my ex-wife admitted on appeal that Miss Gray lied about the length of time she was on the case.

Jennifer Gray didn't just lie about how long she had been on the case. She lied in nearly every major point of her declaration. She lied about what she did on the case, about what I did, and about what the court did. She lied deliberately, and for the purpose of defrauding me out of money.

I asked Comm. Irwin Joseph for an opportunity to cross-examine Miss Gray. He refused, and awarded her $10k of the $14k she was asking.

Keep in mind that my ex-wife is a lawyer; I am not; she was represented by a lawyer; I was not; and the fees in question were for a losing attempt to gain custody of our two kids.

It still baffles me as to why Comm. Joseph is so eager to order payments to lawyers, even when the lawyer's claims are so totally without merit. He has shown much more interest in paying crooked lawyers than in children seeing their parents.