From: John Murtari (murtarij@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jan 08 2010 - 15:44:35 EST
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Good People & People of Faith,
This message has info on:
1. Steele - his letter from jail. Expects release Jan 12th!
2. Murtari - charges dismissed, resuming Jan 12th.
3. Science & Psych Evals - who is the better parent?
[NOTE - please send replies to this message to a monitored
address: jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org ]
1. Andrew Steele - his letter from jail. Expects release Jan 12th!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[ I recv'd a letter from Andrew Steele, the Boston area parent who has
been in jail for about a month after writing on a Courthouse wall.
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/action_boston
He did appear in Court on Jan 6th, was able to plead guilty to a
lesser charge and the Judge just wanted him to pay restitution, app
$2000 before being released (no more jail time or probation) -- that
should be next Tuesday, Jan 12th.
If you wish to communicate with Andrew you can send messages through a
friend Ms. Mandy Varona <mandyvarona@yahoo.com>. As soon as we have
his email address we will let you know. Any list FEEDBACK is also
welcome. - John]
------------------------------- December 31, 2009
"Dear John,
... It strikes me that America has become like parents who don't know
what to do with their troubled children. This in spite of the fact we
have thousands of years of accumulated knowledge and wisdom from which
to draw in our decision making. The study of society, the study of
people and conflict, and conflict resolution.
No matter if we read religious or spiritual texts, a book about the
needs of our children, an article in a magazine discussing family
conflict ... we can find this dominant message: family is the most
important building block for a healthy society; and healthy, fair
conflict resolution is paramount to maintaining a healthy family
environment, whether that family be intact or divided through divorce.
I have never read or heard anything that suggests drawing out a
conflict, as in a divorce, is healthy for anyone, least of all the
children. Yet this happens in our probate courts [The Massachusetts
name for 'family' courts] time and time again.
Our probate courts have become like ancient Roman Coliseums in which
people are all too often thrown to "fight to the death" and it that
isn't exciting enough, why, thrown in a lion or two!
Once in our probate courts the lawyers and the judges allow our
children to be thrown in, to be emotionally mauled and mutilated. Our
children become collateral damage in what is best called a "divorce
war."
A "divorce war" is any divorce, any dysfunctional divorce, overseen
and allowed to become such by a judge who, by action or inaction,
appears not to understand how to help those "troubled children"
(husbands and wives divorcing) who MUST come to the court seeking
conflict resolution.
Why does a judge, why do so many judges, seem completely unable to
effectively -- and fairly -- bring a troubled marriage to an end? Why,
frankly, do judges and lawyers botch divorces so severely by allowing
emotional states to turn poisonous, which then breeds vindictiveness
and greed?
As though they intend us, divorcing mothers and fathers, to fight to
the death. "Throw in the lions! Throw in the children!"
After two years of "divorce war," during the final hearing, Judge
Sabaitis, who presided over my divorce, seeing tears in my eyes and
hearing me plead to please allow us all to just get on with our lives
-- said, "Divorce is hard on everyone." And then, as though she had
not heard her own words, Judge Sabaitis took a bit more than thirteen
additional months to deliver a final judgment.
It is as though Judge Sabaitis is a "child god" who has no idea the
pain she was causing us all. It is as though she is a surgeon ripping
our children's souls from the fabric of their being, and mine; for me
every day is/was like this, for three years and her judgment only
continues the dysfunctional atmosphere.
A judge should be able to draw from the knowledge and wisdom earned
over the past millenniums -- for us all to use -- to know that the
fabric of our children's lives, weaved as they grow and learn (partly
be example from us) are best weaved with the guidance of both a mother
and a father (with variations in family makeup; of course); and that
weaving process should not be allowed an interruption by a court, by a
judge, or by parents who during such difficult times lose their focus
-- that the well being of their children is paramount (something a
wise judge is not meant to temper).
Yet probate judges seems to operate in their own world, and by
their own laws (as though a dictator), in contrast to the wisdom
one can find in the Bible, or in any number of writings on the
subject of healthy children, healthy families, a healthy society.
In our case, Judge Sabaitis seemed to be focused on the money (that
was the reason she gave for denying the children a garden ad litem),
rather than focusing on relationship. In a society such as we have
here in America, where money dominates our attention at the cost of
healthy children, healthy families, a healthy society, we should not
be surprised we give birth to a Judge Sabaitis.
And my sons, I, and my ex-wife, the suffer the consequences -- we all
suffer the consequences, all of society.
I wanted to spend less time making money and more time with my sons.
Judge Sabaitis has been given the "dictator-like" power by the State
of Massachusetts to order the designs of my sons' lives at the
opposite polar end of my wishes. By ordering me to make more money
that I was able, and keeping my sons and I apart. Wow! One would do
well to begin questioning, if one is not already, what this means
to the freedom America so boasts about.
Walt Whitman wrote this poem "To the States":
To the States or any one of them, or any city of the
States, Resist
much, obey little,
Once unquestioning obedience, once fully enslaved,
Once fully enslaved, no nation, state, city of this earth, ever
afterward resumes its liberty.
I say a judge is a human being, no more, dressed in a black robe and
titled judges all too easily and too often acting like a dictator
playing the part of God. If people are suffering, and my sons and I
are, the government is failing us, in this case by denying my sons
their right to have me, and my right to have them, to share our lives
with each other, which many would say if a God-given right, and not
for a judge, a human, to deny.
And I say this: If the laws do not change, if we do not solve conflict
from a place of empathy, compassion, love, and now LAW, for our
children's sake, then my sons, four of them, and your sons, all of
them -- in a fate of irony of this society we've created. All of our
sons may someday stand before Judge Sabaitis, and as grown men be
ordered to make more money than they can, or want to, and worse yet,
they my be kept from having their sons in their lives, their children
in their lives. My grandchildren, your grandchildren, separated from
fathers!
During which generation will we stop the judges from defining our
lives, and those of our children?
For this I rebel. For my sons, who someday will be men, I reject the
premise that the government has the right to father my sons. That the
government has the right to father my grandchildren. I am my son's
father, not the President, not the House or the Senate, not the
Governor of this State, nor the lawmakers of this State, and
absolutely not Judge Catherine Sabaitis
This will be my one and only protest, the only time I will push at the
limits of the law, but I will never, never, stop fighting for my son's
rights, now as children, and in the future when they are men. God
willing.
Sincerely,
Mr. Andrew Steele
Plymouth County Correctional Facility
Plymouth, Massachusetts
-----------------------------------------------
2. John Murtari - charges dismissed, resuming Jan 12th.
------------------------------------------------------
During a court appearance on January 6th, my assigned counsel,
Ms. Denise Munson, did an excellent job in advocating for my rights as
a defendant. She submitted a very effective motion:
http://www.akidsright.org/parental_notification/motion1_affidav.pdf
quoting good case law and asking for dismissal of the four pending
charges based on the idea that "chalk can't damage" and there was no
"intent to damage". The DAs office concurred with the motion and also
agreed with dismissal.
I was very happy with the result. I had been ready to resume my
activities next week (Jan 12th) and having this decided first should
make things 'simpler'.
I'll be back at the Courthouse, chalk in hand, on Jan 12th. Your
support is welcome, for more details see:
http://www.akidsright.org/parental_notification
If you have time, please checkout the "Declaration of Family Rights"
-- the site allows you to sign and also leave a public comment.
http://www.ThePetitionSite.com/3/the-declaration-of-family-rights
3. Science & Psych Evals
------------------------
As part of what I can only call 'harassment/intimidation' the DA's
office had earlier requested a psychological examination over my
competency to stand trial. This was completed in early December and
you are welcome to read two reports by both a Psychologist and
Psychiatrist.
http://www.AKidsRight.org/parental_notification/psychologist.pdf
http://www.AKidsRight.org/parental_notification/psychiatrist.pdf
They were both nice people and there were no problems during the
interviews. I do, however; encourage you to read the final paragraph
in the Psychiatrist's report above.
The new 'modern' trend is to have a psychological custody evaluation
and let 'science' decide what is best for children. I could just
imagine a similar paragraph in a report to a Family Court Judge and
the Judge ordering 'counseling' because a parent had fond memories and
a good relationship with their parent? This could be suspect?
I always find it counter-productive when I see 'science' used to
justify family law reform because WE ARE NOT EQUAL when measured by
microscope and caliper. The Declaration of Independence:
"We find these truths to be self evident, that all men are created
equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness..."
Scientific Studies
------------------
I recently saw a scientific 'study' that said in the clear majority
of cases children do better with a "single father" vs. "single
mother" -- regardless of if it's even good science, is that
really suppose to matter? Are we suppose to start awarding custody
to fathers in preference to mothers?
I just finished a wonderful Christmas vacation with my son, Domenic
(I'm still coming off the 'high'). I'm a bald-headed-bearded-italian,
if science said that 75% of bald-headed-bearded-italians make bad
parents -- should I be cutoff from Domenic as too big a risk?
This question may sound bizarre, but it is one we ALL have a lot of
trouble with -- because we ALL want to do the right thing. I believe
the answer is 'no' -- and again, it's something we all can relate to
in our present criminal system.
I have spent a fair amount of time in Jail, and in holding cells with
people accused of crimes. Now I can tell you that about 90% of those
people were guilty -- do we dispense with the need for a trial, jury,
and presumption of innocence?
If 9 out of 10 black teenagers we pick up on the streets of New York
are guilty as charged -- do we skip the other protections as a matter
of GOOD PUBLIC POLICY?
No we do not. Your right to "liberty" is yours -- and the state cannot
take it away as a matter of policy (since it did not give it to you).
Your right to "family" is also yours.
Does it mean we occasionally let murderers go and that they may kill
again -- yes we do and they do! But we accept that risk and
consequence as part of the protection of our freedoms.
---------
John Murtari
_______________________________________________________
Coordinator AKidsRight.Org
jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org A Kid's Right to BOTH parents"
(315) 944-0999(x-211) http://www.AKidsRight.Org/
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