Mad Magazine's "Clueless" Game


Here's one I'll pass on this Christmas. At least in the old version Miss Scarlet was a likeable villain. Double click to enlarge so you can read the fine print.

Florida: Family therapist charged with domestic battery


Florida: Miami Beach psychiatrist linked to prostitution bust


Colorado: Psychotherapist lied about qualifications


North Dakota: Former state mental hospital psychologist pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography

Blogger's Note from the article: "Belanger often was asked to testify in court on whether convicted sex offenders were dangerous and should be confined indefinitely for psychiatric treatment. He was an expert witness in hundreds of cases


Washington: Therapist's arrest and later suicide could trigger challenges in legal cases

(Blogger's Note: Greenberg was allowed some limited practice in Alaska as well)

New York: Psychiatrist Gardner's suicide casts doubt on abuse claims


Just some representative samples of the illustrious characters the courts allow to opine about what is best for children in child custody and child abuse cases.

Ignoring boy's plight costs Alaska $1.5 million
http://www.adn.com/news/government/story/609593.html

From the article: "Neighbors, teachers, foster parents, a nurse and others all made reports to the state that the boy was in danger, 37 reports in all, most of them naming his father as a source of abuse and neglect. But an expert hired by the boy's lawyers determined that not a single report was handled properly, according to the state's own minimal standards, Schleuss said. Some weren't investigated at all."

Alaska's mishandling of abuse and neglect doesn't end with Office of Children's Services. The court system is also miserably failing children in divorce and custody litigation.

I've observed numerous cases where mothers spoke out about theirs and their children's abuse at the hands of a father, and all our judges can seem to accomplish, no matter how much evidence there is, is to coerce the mom into the hands of mediators, co-parenting counselors, therapists and psychologists to try to make her shut up, go away and accept 50/50 custody with the abusive father. Yup, divvy those kids up in half, just like the property. And by doing so, you make sure to insure all your cohorts that feed off the divorcing parents have a continued stream of income.

We should pass a law that prevents kids from being placed in the unsupervised care of abusers.

Oh, wait! We have. Several. The judges rarely acknowledge abuse and go happily along ignoring the laws already in place.

I used to laugh when people said they never vote for any judge's retention. I'm starting to think its not so funny. Maybe if we make a statement as voters by cleaning house we'll actually get a legal professional who understands what "best interest of the child" means. The statutes do not say "best interest of the parent", but that is what ends up happening. Divide Johnny in two to make the parents feel "equal".

I dare the judges to pack a backpack every other week and go live with a guy that yells, calls you names, demeans you, doesn't support your work or education, doesn't allow you access to medical and dental care, puts down your relatives, maybe smacks you around once in a while, locks you in a closet maybe if you speak up.... these are the kind of things kids have to live with because some judge thinks kids "need" both parents, even when one is woefully deficient.

What they need is normalcy and safety.

Thank you to the attorneys taking on the state. We need more of you willing to go to bat for kids and a lot less that are afraid to buck the status quo.

Now, when are the rest of the Alaska Family law section going to start really advocating for their clients and their children instead of pressuring them to cave in and accept a fractured, ping-ponging life for their kids.

Australia is getting it right...they have recently concluded that 50/50 custody is failing kids.
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/shared-parenting-failing-in-australia.html
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24729425-5016679,00.html

Their Attorney-General says some shared-parenting orders that followed relationship breakdowns were "clearly not appropriate and (were) causing extreme distress for children and their parents".

You folks calling yourself custody evaluators? Let me let you in on some basics. Domestic violence perpetrators, incest perpetrators, sexual deviancy, untreated mental disorders, untreated substance abusers--these aren't candidates for father-of-the year. Take a long hard look in the mirror, and ask yourself if it is more important to insure your gravy-train of work by forcing children of hostile, if not one abusive parent, than it is to protect the children you are charged with making lifetime recommendations for.

Wooten's Custody Woes Continue
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/608332.html


The McCann-Wooten custody case is textbook for what not do in custody litigation, and now Wooten is embroiled in another one. Where does he find the time?

You'd think with the entourage McCann's attorney trots around that he could have practiced some client control on the McCann side. Given the current propensity of Alaska Superior Court judges to give really bad fathers every benefit of the doubt (to the children's detriment), it is a wonder Molly hasn't lost her child in entirety to Wooten. Her family, the Palins and the Heaths, also did just about everything on the "don't" list (www.custodyprepformoms.org) in their involvement with sister Molly's custody litigation. Disclosing abuse and poor parenting is appropriate, but reporting it to every possible entity down to the local dogcatcher in triplicate, throwing political weight around and trying to get the ex huband fired is over the top. Interesting though that when S. Palin witnessed her sister being verbally abused by the dad through a window, she did nothing...did not go inside, did not call the police...just went on to a meeting.

Although I do believe the Trooper dad should not have custody for his apparent poor parenting and abusive behaviors which were reported through numerous sources, I also believe the Heath-Palin family blew things way out of proportion and set about to destroy him, destroy his career and in the course of that damaged McCann's case.

The judge made statements exactly to that extent in the transcripts. He also pointed out, if they destroyed dad's career, Molly's kids would not benefit from child support. The Heath and Palin clan set themselves up to get slapped with a lawsuit from Wooten and Monegan for this vendetta...both appear to have lawyered up.

Cooler heads need to prevail on behalf of the children. Judge's are supposed to be that "cooler head". Judge Suddock was right to set forth some terse warnings for McGann, Wooten, the Heaths and the Palins. Everyone needs to behave, because the kids that are the subject of this circus need some modicum of privacy, a lot of stability and a whole lot more peace.

But Suddock, in his frustration, threatens to order the children into Wooten’s residential custody if the “emotional child abuse” continued. Ah yes, throw Parental Alienation Syndrome, i.e. junk science created to silence abused women and children into the mix, judge. Sudduck makes several mistakes--failing to recognize the necessity of a full analysis of "best interests of the child" (BIOC) is the primary one.

First, you don't punish the child for the parent's behavior. That does not meet the BIOC test. If McCann can't control her family members, you don't take custody away from her. That punishes the child by removing him from his primary caregiver who really can't control others if those others refuse to listen. Third parties are not the subject of this custody litigation and are not under the control of the court. And although Molly should not bad mouth the dad to the child, it is her responsibility to bring up poor parenting and abusive behaviors to the courts attention. She should not be punished for speaking out on those subjects to the court and it is simply bad public policy to allude that she shouldn't. The protection of the kids has to be paramount.

Secondly, Suddock is applying the theories of Parental Alienation Syndrome, whereby you threaten the abused mom with loss of custody if she doesn't stop trying to protect her kids from abuse. Oh judge, check your National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges benchbook. Ya ain't supposed to do that.

And lastly, forcing these warring factions to "share" children under a joint custody arrangement is insane. Let the child have a main home base with mom who has no reported history of violence or substance abuse.

That said, we don't know what the most recent custody modification agreement order was in this case. We also really don't know if it truly was an "agreement" or a coercion. Coercion is more typical of the local process for mothers--a custody evaluator with their hand in the parent's bank accounts pushes for shared custody knowing that will keep the parents embroiled in battle and the children exposed to endless meddling by the system. No normal childhood for children in custody litigation with an abuser. More money for the custody evaluator. The judge, too lazy to do the hard work himself, rubber stamps the custody evaluator's recommendation and threatens the mom that if she doesn't take the agreement she'll lose her kids to the dad. Not much of an agreement, but I'd be willing to bet the agreement was something like that and that McCann was pressured into some sort of shared custody arrangement. I'd like to hope Judge Suddock didn't take that easy way out and truly thought about what was healthy for the child.

Given dad's propensity towards violence, controlling behaviors, misuse of alcohol, and now refusal to return a child to another mother who resides out of state, supervised visitation is probably in order. But sole custody to the primary caregiver doesn't make the system money. Nope, dollars to donuts, I'd bet the judge has these two people, who couldn't agree on the color of the sky sharing custody. And the child will suffer for it.

Common sense, judge, common sense. Children need to heal and that can't be done packing a suitcase every other week between hostile camps.

The mom in Washington state says, "What I can't fathom is why this man is allowed to get away with so much." He gets away with so much because the system keeps placing father's access to their children over the children's mental and physical health, well-being and safety. When and if the system rights itself, we'll once again have stable kids in this country. Until then, we are creating future generations with pretty messed up people.


More bloggers and articles on this subject:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/158140
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/10/10018/1899
http://sharpynews.com/politics/sarah-palin/sarah-palin-news/can-a-family-court-judge-restrict-the-right-to-petition-the-government-palin-r-alaska.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_ak_troopergate_trooper.html

You've got to see it to believe it.

Here's Palin apparently hoping to look Presidential, slathering for more media, yet with absolutely nothing to say.


Palin blathers on and on glancing back every once in a while to smile as the turkeys get beheaded and drained, saying..."at least this was FUN!!!"

Since the election, Palin has done nothing for the state of Alaska, continuing to attempt to advance herself on the state dime. After losing on November 4th, she immediately began conducting self-serving fluffy interviews in the "mainstream media" she loves to put down, attempting to look homey and maternal, yet re-heating the moose chili her dad admitted in an earlier interview he made and brought to her house, which she pretends to cook it in her designer duds. Her grade school daughter admits on camera she missed a lot of school, would have a hard time catching up, didn't like the rallies and missed her friends.

Well I'm not so sure that education and family are really things Sarah bothers with much except when the cameras are on. This same "family values" governor failed to attend or address the Alaska Dropout Prevention Summit convened by the Department of Education & Early Development. Yet Alaska's drop-out rate idouble that of the US average. And Palin seems to place little priority on her own children's education. She now has 2 high school drop outs in the family, all of her school age children's education seems to have taken a back seat to either mom's ambition or religious views, and she'll soon be the mother-in-law to another high school drop out.

But wait, there's more! Veteran's Day came and went without a peep of acknowledgement or thanks from our dear governor, who also has a son serving in Iraq. But boy, she trots out that fact every opportunity she gets when she thinks it plays well for the crowds or the media.

My congratulations and sincerest thanks to Mark Begich for delaying her attempt to weasel her way into the Senate. Hopefully now, this will give more of our responsible and educated citizens time to continue to demand accountability for her actions, for the media to start actually asking follow-up questions when she lies or avoids answers, and for the Alaska legislature to locate their responsibility to the citizens of Alaska to act upon her numerous ethical lapses and misuse of state funds and resources.

"Wasilla Hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581/page/1

Temper tantrums at negative press

Charging state of Alaska +/_ $1,000 a day for a staffer to run the State's business while on the campaign trail with her and refusing to turn over the reins to Lt. Gov. Parnell. Fiscal conservative, yeah, right.

Charged state of Alaska for nights staying in her own home when she damned well should have been in Juneau...you know...THE STATE CAPITOL!!!!

Soaking the RNC and campaign donors for shopping sprees of over $150,000 for herself and her family.

Soaking the state of Alaska for unauthorized travel for her children.

Race-baiting at her rallies causing spikes in threats against Obama.

Smearing of respected public servants and legislators.

Repeated lying every time opens mouth

Can't form a complete sentence involving pronouns

Unprofessional winking

Can't name one paper or magazine she reads.

Claims foreign policy experience because of her location near Russia and Canada...repeatedly...even when she's been nationally ridiculed for these statements.

Can't figure out that a call referencing Nailin' Palin is a prank and actually believe it is the President of France.

Gawd. And Alaskan voters voted for this nightmare...58% to 41%. But wait...these are also the group of voters who chose to give roughly 50% of the vote to a convicted felon.

I am mortified for Alaskans.

But please, please keep in mind that there were 41% of here with a brain and a conscience.

Governor Palin, I Don't Like People Who Lie, Cheat and Steal

My mother raised me to be honest and ethical.

I expect the people who run for public office to live by those same standards.

Governor Palin has failed her constituents miserably.

She has a lot of explaining to do to the nation after this campaign is over, but I plan to talk with my legislators about demanding she face some sort of consequences for the lying, cheating and stealing she has done to the people of Alaska and what I consider theft from the State coffers.

No, its not ok to expect the State of Alaska to pay to stay in your own home. Your place of business is Juneau, not Wasilla. You knew that when you took the job and I'm not aware that there were any up-front negotations that would allow you to increase your salary in that manner.

No, its not ok to expect the State of Alaska to pay for your children to travel with you whenever you feel like it. Its fine if you want to take them along, but that comes out of your own pocket, not ours. I'm not buying that it was necessary for our state funds to pay for you and your kids to go watch daddy race a snow machine. I'm not buying it that it was necessary to treat Bristol to a 5 day New York vacation with mom when you were only doing state business for 5 HOURS. And no, Mrs. Fiscal Conservative, I'm not buying that $700 per night for a hotel was the most reasonable accommodations you could find.

No, its not ok to try to deceive your constituents by going back in and changing notations on your travel authorizations to make it look like your KIDS were conducting official state business.

No, Sarah, you were not cleared of all wrongdoing in Troopergate. The report clearly said that you breached state ethics LAWS. That means you were found to be unethical and unlawful in yours and Todd's activities to smear a good man for your own families personal benefit.

No, its not ok to deny my kids the right to medically accurate sex education. I personally don't think your daughter is any kind of a role model for my children. And you especially are not one.

There's so much more...and that's what is so sad. You don't seem to be able to speak in public anymore without lying. The Empress Has No Clothes.

Come on home. There's some folks that want to talk to you.

Palin Has Set Women in the Workplace Back 50 Years

It is hard to reconcile in my mind how anyone could conceive that Sarah Palin won the Vice Presidential Debate. In order to "win" a debate, you have to present persuasive and compelling arguments on a given topic. Palin didn't participate in a debate because she was too busy giving a canned speech and reciting catchy phrases she hoped would make the American public believe that she is "just like you"... wink, wink.

Had Ifill actually asked Palin follow-up questions, we would have clearly seen the deer-in-the-headlights look we saw in the Couric interviews again. Palin didn't answer the questions last night, and couldn't answer them for Couric. She had the gall to announce that she was going to refuse to answer the questions the night of the debate and then says she was "annoyed" that Couric wouldn't allow her to derail the interview in the same way. When you are the person being interviewed, or participating in a debate, you don't get to call the shots. You answer the damned questions and no, you don't get to pose your own. What an incredible sense of entitlement this woman has.

Her cutesie-pie act is insulting to women and her constant references to Joe 6-pack, haaackey maaams and saaaacer maaams and middle class America should be insulting to anyone. And make no mistake--it was an act. She used no accent during 75% of her presentation, but it suddenly came out when trying to appeal with all of you she thinks are too stupid to actually learn about issues. Wink-wink, golly-gosh-darn, bless-your-heart,maverick, reform, reform, maverick. She spoke down to Americans and basically said we should vote for her ticket because she's just so darn cute and just like you. Let's look at what the truth is. Her and Taaaaddd make over $250K per year and have $1 mill+ in assets. They are NOT middle class by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the middle class can't afford designers suits and several pairs of $400 eyeglasses. Most of the middle class doesn't have huge stock portfolios. A good portion of us don't have affordable health insurance.

Her winking, flirtatious performance at the vice presidential debate reminds me of the type of woman who sleeps her way to the top in business. Other women have remarked to me that it reminded them of the woman who steals your husband all the while pretending to be your best friend. These are the negative female stereotypes that those of us who have careers fought so hard to overcome. And she dishes it right back to us, claming that she is breaking a glass ceiling for women everywhere. In actuality, she is pressing hard on top of that glass, smothering the women underneath it, and sneering and winking at the Republican, patriarchal and sexist machine cheering behind her as she looks for approval.

If I had been interviewing her for a job I would have tossed her resume into the trash can if she answered my interview questions like she answered Ifill and Couric. And if she had winked at me during an interview, I would have shown her the door faster than it could have hit her in her shiny designer skirt.

The performance was insulting to our intelligence, and demeaning to every woman that has had to make it in educational settings and in the workplace on the strength of her abilities, not on her looks and not on her sexuality.

The Wasilla Rape Kit Issue Definitively Answered

Yes, she did know and she did nothing about it. One unconfirmed anectodal reference reports a victim who said that when she was unable to pay and her insurance wouldn’t pay that Wasilla garnished her Permanent Fund check to pay the fee as well. Could it be that those nasty rape kits included EC (Emergency Contraception?) Oh how naughty of me to suspect that might have been an underlying problem with Sarah's willingness to fund evidence collection. Yes, Sarah, the quote is actually, "there is a special place in hell for women that DO NOT HELP OTHER WOMEN".

Alaska had to ban this practice in order to qualify for funding under the Violence Against Women Act, which was, of course, sponsored by Joe Biden. Governor Knowles attention and special legislation (unanimous, I might add) was required to prohibit by state law Wasilla’s failure to stop this practice. Palin was in office, and she appointed the police chief who maintained this stance. The Wasilla PD was contacted and asked to stop the practice and refused. Palin was given every opportunity as mayor to correct this and did not. The police chief she appointed insisted in the media, even up to the signing of the bill that this practice was far better than "burdening the taxpayers".

This new video produced by a group calling themselves "The Wasilla Project" should put to rest the myth that Sarah Palin did not know of the practice of Wasilla charging sexual assault victims for their own evidence collection (i.e. rape kits).

This is also directly from legistative testimony on the state legislation that was required to correct this disgusting practice:

(Lauree Hugonen, then Executive Director, Alaska Network on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault quoted in the testimony)

"She emphasized that it is incomprehensible that the victim should have to relive the crime upon receiving a bill for the assault exam from his/her insurance company. Just as Mr. Smith had testified, billings have not come from police agencies but have come from hospitals...these charges occur as a result of hospital accounting procedures. The range of costs can be from between $300- $1000 dollars. The direct charges usually result from the accounting procedures at the hospitals and not the law enforcement agencies. She noted that there has been some difficulty in Mat-Su, Anchorage, Kenai and Sitka and possibly in Bethel. She was not aware of other parts of the State where there was a problem. Ms. Hugonin advised that this problem is not on going and pervasive, but that it does occur more than sporadically."

So, the police department instructs the hospitals to bill the victim or their insurance companies directly, under the policies and beliefs of Police Chief Fannon, a Palin appointee, and under Wasilla budget directives that Palin personally signed off on.

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Donate to Planned Parenthood on Behalf of Sarah Palin

Please consider making a donation to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name.
A Planned Parenthood donation is tax deductible, while a political donation isn't.
You'll be helping a good cause whose major efforts are in preventing unwanted pregnancies and education, and even better, Planned Parenthood will send Palin a card telling her of the donation made in her honor!

Planned Parenthood > Donate > Honorary Gifts > "in Sarah Palin's honor".
https://secure.ga0.org/02/pp10000_inhonor

A suggested address is the McCain campaign headquarters:
McCain for President
1235 South Clark Street, 1st Floor
Arlington, VA 22202

Sarah Palin....Where to Begin?

Its been a long while since I've posted...but to use a cutsie, folksie, Sarah Palin-like phrase...its got my dander up and requires a-bloggin'. (By the way, the rest of us Alaskans DO NOT share that accent).

The announcement of Sarah Palin as the VP nominee for presidential candidate John McCain caught all of us in Alaska by surprise. For those who didn't vote for her in her run for governor, it was horrifying, to say the least.

Sarah, to me, is the antipathy of everything I have worked so hard for as a woman, and everything I have advocated for on girls and women's issues. I'll be talking more about several of those thoughts in future posts, but for now, lets look at her treatment of women's health, and victims of domestic violence, incest and sexual assault.

She is opposed to anything other than abstinence-only sex education in public schools. Yet Alaska has the highest rate of chlamydia in the nation, while ranking in the middle of the 50 states for other STI's and HIV. Do you think maybe a governor of a state with these public health statistics ought to be concerned that maybe our kids aren't getting the information they need to be healthy and safe?

I personally recall an advocate from STAR's (Standing Together Against Rape) presentation to my 2nd grade son's class about "good touch/bad touch". The advocate told me afterward that they almost always have one or two children come forward after such presentations that report molestation by an immediate family member or relative. My teen daughter has related stories to me of friends who were sexually molested by fathers, stepfathers, uncles, etc. who only got the courage to come forward because of such presentations. These children deserve to know where resources lie. Yet the McCain/Palin campaign has maligned Barack Obama for supporting legislation in his home state that would support such safety-oriented presentations to kids, and McCain has publicly opposed medically accurate and comprehensive sex education.

Palin is virulently pro-life to the point of not believing a victim of rape or incest should be able to elect to have an abortion. Although she says she supports contraception, she doesn't support EC (Emergency Contraception).

What a kick in the gut to girls and women who have been victimized by sexual assault over their lifetimes. And let me say, these are no small numbers. 1 in 6 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. 9% of Alaska students in grades 9-12 report having been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to (2007 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Study). The Harvard School of Public Health’s exhaustive research on the lives of girls demonstrates that girls who are victims of violence from dating partners are four to six times more likely than non-abused girls to become pregnant, and eight to nine times more likely to attempt suicide.

Katie Couric's recent interview of Palin put this in real terms: In response to the example Couric gave of a 15 year-old victim of incest impregnated by her father, Palin said that the girl should have to carry the rapists baby to term.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty on that example. 80% of rape victims will suffer from chronic physical or psychological conditions over time. (Strategies for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Assault. 1995) Rape survivors are also 13 times more likely to attempt suicide than not crime victims and 6 times more likely than victims of other crimes. (Rape in America: A Report to the Nation, 1992) 26% of women with bulimia nervosa were raped at some point in their lives. The mental health costs of sexual assault victims are very high, studies have shown that 25 - 50% of rape and child sexual abuse victims receive some sort of mental health treatment as a result of the victimization. (Miller, 1996) . So per Palin, the mothers emotional, mental and physical well being is not important. Not only should a sexual assault victim not be allowed to end a pregnancy that occurred as a result of a crime, but she can't even use EC to prevent the pregnancy because Palin believes that to be abortion as well. There is nothing about this that is not simply sick and twisted, and displays Palin's childlike views as lacking insight into the real lives of sexual assault victims and survivors, their health, safety and welfare.

But that just highlights more of what we already know about her indifference towards women. During her time as mayor of podunk Wasilla, sexual assault victims were held responsibile for payment of their own "rape kits" --the forensic examination needed to collect evidence. Her supporters keep saying, "but did she know?" Please. Wasilla is a small town, the budget is small potatoes, and Palin appointed the police chief who supported that policy and personally signed off on the budget that reflected that policy. Eric Croft, the former state legislator who sponsored the corrective legislation stated Palin never spoke out against the practice, and her police chief was quoted as complaining about the passage of the state bill in her own local newspaper because of the burden to taxpayers. For those of you reading from outside of Alaska, Wasilla is too small a town for her to claim she didn't know about major state legislation concerning this item and the accompanying media coverage of it.

Lets take this even further. This policy and the anti-victim stances regarding EC are even more horrifying in light of the specific statistics about incest and sexual assault in Alaska. Alaska has the highest per capita rates of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Alaska's incidence of sexual assault is 2.5 times the national average. Its rates of child sexual abuse is 6 times the national average. And its per-capita rate of women killed by men is consistently one of the highest in the nation. For Native Alaskan women, the reality is even grimmer. 1 in 3 female Native Alaskans and American Indians are raped in their lifetime, and 3 in 4 have been sexually assaulted. Native Alaskan women are 10 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than all other Alaskan women.

As governor, Palin stood in the way of efforts to expand legal-services to victims of sexual assault, fired Walt Monegan, a life-long committed public safety officer with broad respect from police, urban and Bush Alaskans, for his dedication to these issues. As Public Safety Commissioner, he established and supported measures to strengthen law enforcement in the Bush (Alaska's euphamism for native rural areas). Most recently she claimed, through her attorney, Thomas Van Flein, that Monegan's trip to D.C. to request federal funds to help combat domestic violence and sexual assault was "the last straw." Palin asserts she had not authorized the trip and is now claiming he was fired because he was a "rogue". Palin's habitual lying showed up again, however, with state travel authorization forms and e-mails showing that her chief of staff did indeed know of the intent of this trip and approved the funds for travel.

State agencies involved with the protection of women and children have had to be notably vague, given that she may be back here and in a position to exact her brand of vengeance on those that oppose her. "She's really done a lot of work on oil and gas, but when it comes to violence against women and children. . . we haven't been on her radar as a priority," said Peggy Brown, executive director of the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. "..."publicly speaking out against domestic violence," noted Judy Cordell, director of Abused Women's Aid in Crisis (AWAIC). Wow. She publicly spoke out against domestic violence. Excuse me while I hold back my adoration. Anyone out there who is in favor of domestic violence?

I will give some credit where credit is due. She did fund the minimum budget requests from the Council on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, and did sign off on several pieces of legislation advanced by others related to crimes including domestic violence and sexual assault during her time as governor of Alaska.

I won't credit her on not acting on her personal beliefs in regards to abortion that jeopardizes women's lives. She's chimed in on those issues at every opportunity. Although she did not push another bill limiting such rights it was only because it was advanced during special legislative session, and there simply wasn't enough time nor votes for it to pass--not because she wasn't supporting it. She called the decision of the Alaska Supreme Court, declaring a parental notification bill unconstitutional, "outrageous" and ordered the Attorney General to file papers for a re-hearing. In Alaska that year approximately 126 teens obtained abortions, and only small number did so without involving family. Per the attorney for Planned Parenthood of Alaska, Jeff Feldman, "very few minors find themselves in this situation," Those that do often come "from difficult or troubled families, where maybe the father or stepfather is the father..." Her personal religious convictions and use of her office to keep this issue in the courts, spending taxpayer dollars to fuel this agenda, further ignores the horrific complexities and challenges faced by abused young women.

I urge women who truly support other girls and women's health, safety and well-being to critically analyze the candidates. For me, there is no question that Sarah Palin is either so narrow minded and religiously boggled so as to have lost sight of the realities, complexities and risks of being female in our society, or she is just plain cruel. Either way, there is no amount of lipstick that can cover the bruising and battering of women's bodies and souls that McCain and Palin's stances and policies may on inflict on American women and girls.

"The Complaints Came in; Abuse Went On"

The State of Alaska will pay a $2.4 million settlement on a civil lawsuit that claimed it failed two boys who were abused and neglected in and out of state foster care. The worst abuse involving these teens and another child occurred in 1999 when they witessed their foster mother kill the other child, then were forced to lie about it. At least 40 Reports of Harm were made concerning these boys by a mix of mandated reporters, non-related citizens and anonymous callers, yet many were mishandled or never investigated.

The state Office of Children's Services, continues to be under-funded and under-staffed, which contributes to these significant lapses in child protection. Turnover is high and case workers are overloaded, which results in a poorly trained, burned-out, stressed and over worked staff. State Senator Les Gara, D-Anchorage said, overloaded workers make "rash and uninformed decisions. That's an understatement.

OCS routinely dismisses complaints out of hand from separated or divorced parents as positioning for custody without taking reports or doing a proper investigation as would be accorded any other complainant.

Inadequate, unsafe or filthy living conditions for children are minimized with the off-the-cuff dismissal of "we don't penalize parents for being poor". Again no investigation or reports taken.

Sexual molestation cases are particularly poorly investigated. The assumption seems to be made at OCS that if there is no physical evidence then there is no harm/no foul on the alleged male perps part. All the perp has to do is march in with an attorney, throw some accusations of "alienation" or some other junk science muck at the mom trying to protect her child and he's off the hook. Its far easier to pathologize the mothers behavior as crazy or vindictive then to really handle a child sexual abuse allegation well. But anyone with half a brain knows that there is rarely physical evidence in molestation cases. The child's disclosures, the child's behaviors, the protective parents first hand reports and the perpetrators risk factors (male, domestic violence perpetrator, sexually deviant behavior, boundary issues) all have to be given consideration. If I recall correctly, the Anchorage Daily News carried an interview with a former DFYS worker expressing his opinion that reunification with the perpetrator was what was best for victims of incest. This seems to still be the prevailing attitude. Ask the protective mother to hold hands with the alleged incest perpetrator, sing "Kumbaya" and ignore her child's outcries, all so the case can be closed quickly. After all, mom usually doesn't have a whole lot of money for attorneys to threaten OCS with.

Oh my yes, and let's not forget about the Superior Courts fondness for forcing abused women and children into joint custody arrangements so the perp can "share" the child. "Oh dear", says the judge (pat, pat), "I can't believe you can say such awful things about this child's father. He seems like such a nice man..." Yeah, all batterers wear labels stamped on their foreheads. NOT.

Let's let these judges send their children to live with these violent men and see how long that lasts. I think you'd see the Pollyanna viewpoints about shared physical custody vanish overnight.

In 2002, the state Office of Public Advocacy tried to get a special guardian appointed to investigate Alaska's child protection system, using one of these boy's stories to advance that cause. But a judge dismissed its effort on procedural grounds.

It is time now for our legislature of the governor's office to launch a full scale investigation of OCS practices, as well as Alaska Superior Court child custody proceedings, particularly in their treatment and handling of domestic violence victims trying to protect their children. Mothers should not be threatened with "failure to protect" on one hand and then told to send their child off unsupervised to perpetrating fathers via custody court coercion and force when they do get the courage to leave.

Related Anchorage Daily News Articles
http://www.adn.com/crime/story/262445.html
http://www.adn.com/anchorage/story/265170.html

Get a load of the punishment for this "father". Parenting classes and 15 days in jail. Parenting classes???? No substance abuse treatment program, no license suspension...
This blogger wonders, where is the child's mother?

Alaska judges in custody cases involving drinking dads often put in clauses in custody decrees stating that "father shall not consume alcohol within X hours of parenting time". Yeah, that's gonna stop em. Are these judges really about protecting the children's right to safety or protecting father's rights? Attorneys anectodally report that alcoholics having children drive isn't all that uncommon.

http://newsminer.com/2007/08/30/8651

Drunk dad puts 11-year-old boy in driver’s seat

By Amanda Bohman
abohman@newsminer.com
Published August 30, 2007

Fairbanks police stopped an 11-year-old boy after he was seen driving the wrong way on a one-way street in his father’s 1992 Chevy pick-up truck late Tuesday.

Authorities say the boy’s father, 35-year-old Frank Neff of Fairbanks, was too drunk to drive and had told the child to drive them home.

Neff pleaded no contest to charges of reckless endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in connection with the incident. He was ordered to spend 15 days in jail and to take parenting classes.

Prosecutor Joe Dallaire said an 11-year-old is not an appropriate designated driver.

“When you’ve got your 11-year-old son who is driving you around who is unlicensed, that creates a hazard not only for the child but for the public,” Dallaire said.

The jail term is 12 days longer than if Neff had been convicted as a first-time drunken driver.

The incident took place after Neff had been drinking beer and shots with a friend in the Northward Building.

“He was really drunk,” said Ron Schumann, who saw Neff in the hallway.

Schumann and his friend left the building at the same time Neff left with his son.

“My friend said, ‘Man, do you know what he is going to do? He’s going to have his little son drive the truck,’” Schumann said.

Concerned, Schumann and the friend followed the Chevy.

The boy squealed the tires as he turned from Second Avenue to Noble Street, Schumann said.

“He was going over the curbs,” Schumann said. “He didn’t know how to drive.”

The boy turned onto First Avenue and then headed southbound on Cushman Street, which is a one-way street going north.

“We called the police,” Schumann said. “We just wanted to get him stopped right away so that he wouldn’t go any further.”

The boy passed the Fairbanks Police Department, where surveillance cameras reportedly caught him on tape.

The boy turned right onto 10th Avenue and left onto Barnette Street, where a police officer stopped him, according to court records.

The officer saw Neff lean over and place a seat belt over the boy, the prosecutor said.

Neff told authorities that he had been teaching his son how to drive since the child was 8 years old.

Neff registered 0.193 on a preliminary chemical breath test, so a DUI charge would have been likely had Neff been caught driving, Dallaire said.

“The only good thing that can be said about your conduct is that you didn’t drive drunk,” said Mary Greene, a retired Superior Court Judge and temporary magistrate who sentenced Neff on Wednesday.

Greene dismissed charges of disorderly conduct and permitting an unlicensed driver to drive after Neff accepted a plea deal at his arraignment.

Neff’s punishment includes 110 days of suspended jail time, which is time Neff could be ordered to serve if he gets into more trouble.

The prosecutor said he deliberately asked for a harsher jail sentence than is imposed on first-time drunken drivers.

Pete Eagan, president of local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, called the incident frightening.

“I think it points out just how impaired one’s judgment can be when you’re drinking,” Eagan said. “It could very easily have been yet another tragedy here.”

Contact staff writer Amanda Bohman at 459-7544.

(ANDVSA wrote Governor Palin's office in approximately March 2007 alerting them to the problems with PAS and advising them against signing any PAS Day Proclamations. Kudos for their quick and decisive action.

Sick Joke or Sick Reality?

Below the Belt: A Biweekly Column by NOW President Kim Gandy

May 17, 2007

I know you think I'm talking about "Opie and Anthony," recently suspended from their radio talk gig for "joking" with a guest, "Homeless Charlie" who said he wanted to rape Condoleezza Rice and Laura Bush. The hosts encouraged these horrifying remarks -- in fact they laughed and imagined "the horror" on Rice's face as she is held down and punched in the face.

No, I'm talking about another sick reality. Let me ask you first: Would you trust a guy who wrote that rape victims "gain pleasure from being beaten, bound, and otherwise made to suffer" as "the price they are willing to pay for gaining the gratification of receiving the sperm?" A guy who published his belief that "the child who has suffered bona fide abuse may very well have enjoyed the experience..."? A guy who claimed that incest is not harmful, (citing Shakespeare) only "thinking makes it so"?

And I know I don't even have to ask this -- but would you trust this guy with your kids?

I thought not. Which leads me to ponder how on earth the "theory" this guy thought up has found its way into court rooms across the country, and is currently influencing child custody decisions, especially those involving child abuse. That's right, this guy, a psychiatrist named Richard Gardner -- who, by the way, also asserted that adult-child sex is normal AND beneficial for both parties as well as for the survival of the human race -- is being given credence in cases involving the fate of children and families.

And believe it or not, it seems that nine state governors have jumped on Gardner's pro-pedophilia bandwagon. In Florida, Indiana, Connecticut, Kentucky, Nebraska, Iowa, Maine, and Nevada, there is now reportedly a whole day officially dedicated to raising "awareness" about Gardner's theory called Parental Alienation Syndrome, in which the very reports of abuse by a child against a father are themselves evidence that the child is being brainwashed by the mother (and if the child is angry at the father, or doesn't want to visit, that's even more evidence) and the only "cure" for this syndrome is to force the child to live with the abuser and deny ANY contact with the protective mother, who has no history of abuse.

C'mon, you're thinking, what judge would buy this crock? Doesn't it matter if the abuse really happened? Apparently not.

Although it may sound like it, this is no sick joke. It's a sad, sick reality. And anyone who cares even a little about children's human rights and the epidemic of family violence should take note and take action.

Let's start with the lowdown on "parental alienation syndrome" (PAS), which is also being called "parental alienation." Like I said, Richard Gardner thought it up. The late Dr. Gardner was a child psychiatrist who liked to tell people he was a full professor at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Actually, he was an unpaid volunteer. But hey -- professor, volunteer; child sexual abuse, fun adult-child sex -- hey, what's the difference? If you're Richard Gardner, not much.

But I digress. While Gardner was volunteering at Columbia in the 1980s, he formed some opinions and made some personal observations that, together, he decided to call "parental alienation syndrome." He defined PAS as a condition arising from one parent's (mostly mothers, he said) "programming" of the child to wage an unreasonable "campaign of denigration against" the other parent (most of the time, the father, according to Gardner). PAS, he said, arises most often during child custody disputes, usually involves false allegations of child sexual abuse as part of the programmer parent's attempt to turn the child against the other parent, and causes "enormous grief" in the alienated parent.

Gardner's diagnostic criteria included finding out from the child the parent's "frequency of programming thoughts" and the parent's "success in manipulating the legal system to enhance the programming." The ridiculousness of these criteria goes without saying. Gardner was insistent that the "programming parent" is the mother, and that the alienated parent is the father. He opined that treatment involve forcing the mother to stop expressing negative views about the father and granting custody of the child to him and denying any visitation to her. No part of the PAS diagnostic process involves examining the father's psychiatric history or conduct, or even inquiring whether he had actually engaged in abuse.

According to an article by Dr. Paul J. Fink, past president of the American Psychiatric Association, and Hon. Sol Gothard, retired judge and former faculty member for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges:

"Parental Alienation Syndrome has been used nationwide by batterers as a courtroom tactic to silence abused children by attempting to discredit their disclosures of abuse. This theory is not recognized as valid by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, or the American Medical Association. Parental Alienation Syndrome is not accepted as a psychiatric diagnosis, and has been rejected by the mainstream psychological community. Parental Alienation Syndrome is junk science; there is no valid research or empirical data to support this unproven theory."

To date, none of the studies necessary to judge the validity of Gardner's so-called syndrome have been conducted. In 2006, the Children's Legal Rights Journal (a multi-disciplinary journal published in conjunction with the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and the Loyola University School of Law) and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges each published analyses finding no scientific or legal basis for the use of PAS.

And yet, PAS keeps making appearances in courts across the country, subverting and perverting the pursuit of justice one family at a time. According to the Children's Legal Rights Journal, a North Carolina court incarcerated a teenage girl who refused to visit her father, and a New Jersey court suspended a mother's contact with her two children, granting sole custody to the father despite "'foreseeable emotional upset and possible trauma'" to the children (Hoult, 1). In Pennsylvania, a court ordered a teenager into "PAS treatment," and he subsequently hung himself.

Young people who have suffered due to inhumane court rulings involving PAS are speaking out.

They are not the only ones. This month, the NOW Foundation joined other leading organizations working on family law and family violence in a complaint filed against the United States with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The complaint charges that U.S. courts are failing to protect the life, liberties, security, and other human rights of abused mothers and children by frequently awarding child custody to abusers and child molesters. PAS is one predominant strategy being used by lawyers to place children in such danger. A recent Newsweek article noted the finding of a Harvard study that in custody cases involving documented spousal abuse, 54% granted custody to the batterer, and parental alienation was used as an argument in nearly every single one.

This is not a trend that will fade away. It's junk science that's gaining momentum, amassing victims, fooling powerful government officials, and even attracting an unfortunately famous ally or two like Alec Baldwin. PAS advocates play down the theory's unquestionably absurd roots in Gardner's pseudo-science, pathologize and punish mothers fighting to protect themselves and their children, and stand faithfully by fathers' so-called right to unfettered access to their children despite any history of assault or abuse. And the judges and the media are buying it hook, line and sinker.

Do something about it. Contact the governors who've proclaimed "Parental Alienation Awareness" days and raise their awareness about what's in the best interest of our families. Contact the media outlets who are giving PAS advocates like Alec Baldwin a platform to lie to the public. Pressure your judges to educate themselves and get our justice system back on track.

Gloria Steinem said, "The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." I'm definitely pissed off about PAS and hope you are too. It's just what we need to set our families free from junk science, junk justice, and sick realities.

---

For more detailed information and sources on PAS: Hoult, Jennifer, (Spring 2006). The Evidentiary Admissibility of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Science, Law, and Policy, Children's Legal Rights Journal, 26(1) pp. 1-61.

More unbelievable quotes from Richard Gardner

International complaint Against the United States on Behalf of Abused Mothers, Children
Mother’s Day complaint claims United States courts systematically violate children’s and mothers’ human rights.

On May 11, just before Mother’s Day weekend, ten mothers, one victimized child (now an adult) and leading national organizations will file a complaint against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. Press conferences in Los Angeles and Sacramento will announce the details and motivation of the complaint. The complaint claims that U.S. courts, by frequently awarding child custody to abusers and child molesters, has failed to protect the life, liberties, security and other human rights of abused mothers and their children.

The petition seeks a finding from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the U.S. has violated the Declaration of the Rights and Responsibilities of Man and the Charter of the Organization of American States and a statement of the steps that the U.S. must take to comply with its human rights obligations in regards to battered women and children in child custody cases.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was created in 1959 and is expressly authorized to examine allegations of human rights violations by members of the Organization of American States, which include the United States. It also carries out on-site visits to observe the general human rights situations in all 35 member states of the Organization of American States and to investigate specific allegations of violations of Inter-American human rights treaties. Its charge is to promote the observance and the defense of human rights in the Americas.

The complaint details several cases where there was documented medical evidence of child sexual abuse, yet in each instance the identified abusing father was given full custody of the children he abused. Several of the mothers were jailed by the courts because of their persistent efforts to protect their children from abuse. Every single mother was denied contact with her child for some period of time, though none was ever proven to have harmed them.

"My life was completely shattered apart on that day and my childhood was destroyed," said Jeff Hoverson, the adult child petitioner, about the day a family court judge ordered sheriff deputies to deliver him into the custody of his abuser. "It was as if I was just kidnapped. I was torn from everything I knew....I was made into a possession rather than a child." Hoverson endured years of trauma and fear living in his father's home before escaping and returning to his mother at age 17. He is haunted by years of feeling helpless to prevent his father's night-time visits to his sisters’ bedrooms.

“Abused parents in Alaska face the same obstacles to protecting their children as those faced by women across the country.” said Paige Hodson, founder of the grassroots Alaska Moms for Custodial Justice”. “Abusive parents often know how to manipulate the court process and have the money to litigate the protective parent into poverty. I get several calls or emails through my website each month from women across the state that have been re-victimized by the same court system that is supposed to be protecting them.”

Studies of gender bias in the courts, conducted in the 1980’s and 90’s, found disturbing trends of courts minimizing or excusing men’s violence against women, and favoring the abusers. In 1990 the United States Congress passed a resolution recommending the prohibition of giving joint or sole custody to abusers. Seventeen years later, the practice continues unabated. Ten years ago today, leading national organizations were joined by members of Congress in a protest in Washington D.C. to again raise awareness about the problems in family courts. Today, petitioners say, the problem is systemic and widespread in family law courts across the nation.

“For more than 30 years U.S. judges have given custody or unsupervised visitation of children to abusers and molesters putting the children directly at risk,” says Dianne Post, an international attorney who authored the petition. “These horrendous human rights violations have been brought to the attention of family court systems, and state and federal governments, to no avail. We turn now to international courts to protect the rights and safety of U.S. children.”

The national organizations supporting the international complaint include: The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, National Organization for Women, National Organization for Women Foundation, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Justice For Children, Sexual Assault Report, National Family Court Watch Project, Stop Family Violence, Family Violence Prevention Fund, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Sidran Institute, Legal Momentum and the National Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence. The petition is supported by many state organizations as well.

In December 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights for their failure to protect Jessica Gonzales’ three children from their abusive father, who murdered them. Their petition, the first of its kind, asserted that domestic violence victims have the right to be protected by the state from the violent acts of their abusers.

More information, as well as speakers and plaintiffs, will be available at the press conferences. For additional information, contact Irene Weiser, Stop Family Violence
iw@stopfamilyviolence.org .The petition and supporting documentation will be available on the Stop Family Violence website on Friday May 11 at 10 am EST. www.StopFamilyViolence.org

Documentary films:
Small Justice: Little Justice in America’s Family Courts by Garland Waller
www.smalljustice.org

Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories by Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur
http://www.tatgelasseur.com/pages/bts.html

###

Alec Baldwin's Profane Taped Rage at Child

Alec Baldwin did abused women and children in custody litigation a favor by providing a Class A example of how such men treat their children, demean and denigrate the mother's of their children, but scream at the top of their lungs that they are being treated unfairly by the courts and spout claims that it is all the protective mother's fault because she is a psycho, alienating bitch.

Baldwin goes into a lengthy and profane diatribe to his 11 year old daughter on her cell phone voice mail. Not only does he swear, call her names, call her mother names and threaten her, but his rant demonstrates he doesn't even have a clue as to how old she is.

Further sickening is some of the public's response, which is representative of the treatment of domestic violence victims in society and underlying support of abuse against women and children. So many people have justified his treatment of his daughter and ex wife as being "deserved" or "provoked" and equate Kim Basinger's attempts to protect her daughter from this abusive parenting as equally abusive.

There is NO excuse for woman abuse and child abuse and Basinger is to be applauded for doing every thing she can for their child.

It should be clear to anyone who truly has children's best interests at heart to curtail visitation and contact with a parent who thinks that he is entitled to get love and attention by demanding it. Court personnel hearing this case and so many others like it should consider how it feels to be treated like this by your father.

The Baldwin tape illustrates common sense in child raising and human behavior, as well as the findings in domestic violence literature related to custody issues: children reject parents that bully them, threaten them and humiliate them. One can only imagine the terror at visiting the parent who made threats as he did.

Father's rights groups are all over the net in support of Baldwin and justifying his behavior. Basinger is being pilloried for supposed "parental alienation". The only alienation going on is that the Baldwin has created for himself.

So now he is caught and busy trying to gain sympathy by playing the victim.
No surprise here--this is what batterers do.

This tape confirms what Basinger has been saying all along, clearly demonstrating the way abusive men use Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) against abused women and children and
shows in detail the ways abusive men justify, minimize and excuse their behaviors and how society is complicit in the cover-up.


http://www.tmz.com/2007/04/19/alec-baldwins-threatening-message-to-daughter/

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-basingerapr24,0,5459394.story?coll=la-home-entertainment

http://www.alaskastar.com/stories/081006/new_20060810001.shtml

Woman points camera at domestic violenceDocumentary to show how DV, courts impact children

An Eagle River documentary maker is examining the impacts of domestic violence on children and the shortfalls of the Alaskan judicial system that she said often grants joint custody to parents with a history of domestic violence.

Elisa Fleener is writing, directing and producing the documentary with the working title "Who Will Hear Our Voices."

Rhonda Street, a domestic violence investigator with the Anchorage Police Department, said Alaska has the highest rate of domestic violence in the country and the department responds to about 300 domestic violence calls a month.

"It's very prevalent in our community here and across the nation," Fleener said, adding that a majority of the victims she spoke with are women.

Fleener, 50, said she began working on the project in November 2005 with funds supplied through a chancellor's grant received by the University of Alaska Anchorage's sociology and justice departments, which coordinated the production of the documentary with her.
Since then, Fleener has been on a journey of discovery that has taken her to the doorsteps of battered wives and into the judicial system that determines the fate of children throughout the state.

Fleener, who lived in a volatile home as a child, said she has seen the impacts of domestic violence throughout her life.
"I grew up in a house where my parents fought a lot, and it had really affected me. It has affected my life," she said.

In compiling the information for the documentary, Fleener said she talked with a gamut of personalities, to include Tanya Brown, who is Nicole Simpson's sister. Local women also shared their stories of domestic violence and the impacts of being forced by courts to share custody or allow visitation with their children with their former abusive partners.

"The children are used as pawns in these situations," Fleener said. "I'm really concerned about the children. It just breaks my heart to hear some of the stories I've heard."

Melanie Horner, 31, of Eagle River went in front of the camera as a means of dealing with the domestic violence she experienced and to help educate the public on how imperative responsible court rulings are to the well being of children, despite the difficulty she has discussing her experiences.

"It's not something that you want to go out and talk about to a documentary, and it's not something you want to go to a columnist about," she said. "A lot of people didn't know. It's a secret thing a lot of the time, and the effects of having your name being printed or your picture on the TV, that in itself is really hard."

Horner said she was in a destructive relationship with her ex-husband for 10 years before she realized how seriously it was impacting her. She said she left him in 2002, after being married for about six years, when her daughter began to emulate his abusive behavior.
She said she is currently in appeal over the court's decision to allow her ex-husband to share joint custody of her daughter despite documented domestic violence evidence she presented in court.

"They believe it happened in the past. It didn't directly happen to her, so the connection of it affecting her isn't quite made," Horner said.

Fleener said the documentary examines how parents such as Horner often seek to protect children by removing them from homes filled with domestic violence only to be seen as impeding with the perpetrator's rights as a parent.

Family lawyer Allen Bailey of Anchorage has worked for 32 years representing abuse victims and prosecuting domestic violence perpetrators. He says Fleener's examination of the state's Friendly Parent Rule could shed some light on why many judges grant abusive parents custodial and visitation rights.

According to Bailey, the Friendly Parent Rule concept was adopted by the Alaska Legislature in the early '80s and stressed the importance of each parent's willingness to foster a loving and frequent relationship with the other, which often worked against parents who removed children from abusive homes.

"A good parent that has been victimized by her partner is going to want to protect her children from the risk of spending too much time with their dad or being in his custody. That's normal. It's good parenting," Bailey said, adding that visitation or joint custody is often granted because separating children from abusive parents is sometimes viewed as interfering with their rights by the courts.

Bailey also participated in the documentary as a family court authority and as someone who has had personal experiences with domestic violence.

"I represent abuse victims, both men and women. I have been a witness in a domestic homicide before I went to law school. My best friend was murdered by an ex-girlfriend. I've had clients shot, stabbed, raped, every degree of assault that there is. The children have been sexually abused, and this is something that needs to change," he said.

Fleener said she hopes the documentary will educate lawyers, judges and mental health professionals on the long-term effects of domestic violence.

"It seems to me that it is kind of disregarded. The issues that happen in a domestic violence relationship continue on," she said. "There's still control and there's still issues that are presented and when there's a child involved, it's really easy for them to continue to control you."
Horner agreed saying she continues to struggle with her ex-husband's controlling behavior.
"You cannot co-parent with someone who is trying to control you," she said. "There's no communication."

Fleener said the documentary is scheduled to be released in November, and she has tentative commitments for it to air on local television. She said UAA would incorporate it into its curriculum as well to help educate the next generation of judicial officials.

"I think that on a grander scale I can effect the society as a whole," Fleener said. "I mean, we live in a very violent society and this situation just makes it even more violent. We're breeding and cloning these kinds of kids in these situations. I hope it helps in making our society a more peaceful place."

Reach the reporter at mary.rall@alaskastar.com. Click here to return to story:http://www.alaskastar.com/stories/081006/new_20060810001.shtml

Attack on Women's Rights Week
Ya know, if a person loved a good conspiracy theory, one might start thinking something was up following the Alito nomination. First comes the Supreme Court decision to end the injunction against abortion protestors harrassing women outside clinics providing abortions and ruling that federal racketeering and extortion laws couldn't be used to ban the demonstrators.

Then there is the spate of state legislation written or in the works to limit or eliminate abortions in South Dakota, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. Oh, wait, I'm not imagining a conspiracy. There most certainly is one --the intent all along was to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the pro-lifers are racing with glee to get to their new Bushie Supreme Court to give it a whirl. Some of these new laws provide no exception for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Let me spell this out clearly. The states have decided to force women to become receptacles. Roll back the clock.

Oh yes, lets not forget the Illinois judge that threatened a 20 year old woman with jail if she continued to refuse to watch a video of her own alleged gang rape at age 16. He relented eventually, but Judge Kennedy still says he may show the video in open court after her testimony. Ah yes, let's drag the victim through the mud just for fun. This video could be seen by just the judge and jury, the consenting parties and their attorneys, but no, let's traumatize the victim all over again by showing it to anyone who walks through the courtroom door.
http://khon.com/khon/display.cfm?storyID=11691&sectionID=1150

Wounded Boy's Mother Relates Past Threats to Kill Children If She Left
A Minnesota fugitive pulled a gun on law enforcement officers who had blocked in his car as he waited at a Homer, Alaska airport parking lot. Within the car were his 6 month old and 2 year old children. Shots were exchanged and the 2 year old was critically injured. State child protection services have taken custody of the two children. The children's mother indicated they told her she was an unfit mother for "abandoning" her children to a dangerous man. This man was the father of the children, and according to the mother had repeatedly kept the children from her, and on the several occasions where she tried to escape his violence, he would threaten to kill them if she didn't return.

It remains to be seen if state child protection workers will take heed of the Nicholson
v. Scoppeta federal class action lawsuit brought by a group of battered women in New York for the same sort of attitudes and treatment. Federal Judge Weinstein found that New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services had been violating the constitutional rights of mothers and their children by removing children from their homes simply because their mothers are victims of domestic violence. The women prevailed.

http://www.adn.com/front/story/7496264p-7406799c.html
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7493514p-7403615c.html

I picked up the movie "North Country" over the weekend. Its based on the story of the nation's first class-action sexual-harassment suit, which settled in 1998, two decades after the abuse started. Although the courtroom dramatics at the end were a little--no strike-that-- a lot unbelievable, the overall film was well done. I related to what the women had gone through having had more than one boss over my long career in a male-dominated industry that thought it just fine to make comments about my physique, ogle, make sexual innuendo and even threaten my job at one time. I remember being told by other male co-workers to "lighten up" and "oh, that's just the way so & so is--he's harmless. Yeah, right. Funny that a management consultant did not see it that way and advised upper management to remedy at least one of those work situations pronto before I lost my entire sense of humor and slapped them with a lawsuit. They were lucky that at the time I was more forgiving and naive.

Unimaginable what these women had to endure in order to keep their jobs. I was fortunate in being able to have other employment options, one of which was starting my own business and becoming head-to-head competition for the worst of the idiots. No one should have to put up with this crap, but it still goes on today. The Clarence Thomas hearing was not that long ago. It was interesting to watch with my significant other who could empathize with the women, but had none of their experience and could subsequently easily accept the closing titles showing a settlement for the women. For me, it took quite some time to put the themes aside again. I hope that my daughter never have to encounter this in the job market and actually be considered for her accomplishments rather than her physical attributes.