http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2014/02/revised-never-push-someone-to-point.html (Most recent post prior to new development)
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http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/25/judge-gives-permanent-custody-of-justina-pelletier-to-state-agency/
"A Massachusetts judge ruled Tuesday that the Connecticut teen in the middle of a contentious custody battle between her parents and the state will remain in custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
The Boston Globe reported that Boston juvenile court Judge Joseph Johnson granted “permanent custody to the state DCF, leaving it up to the agency to decide if and when 15-year-old Justina Pelletier is returned to her parents’ custody. This decision was in response to a motion filed by Linda and Lou Pelletier, Justina’s parents, and her court appointed attorney for a “conditional custody” plan.
Mat Staver, attorney and founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, told TheBlaze as he understands the order that was filed with the clerk Tuesday afternoon, the DCF will retain custody of Justina until May 25 at which point another hearing will be held to determine custody going forward.
“This is just completely unacceptable. The family asked us to pursue any other opportunities and appeals,” Staver said. “The family is beyond fed up.”
In response to the Globe reporting the state will retain “permanent” custody, Staver said “there’s no way they could have done that.”
“I’ll have to look into that more but I can’t imagne this is the case in this situation,” he added and noted that the motion that he formally be admitted onto the case, at the Pelletiers request, was denied by the judge.........."
Once I was able to move past my outrage at this atrocious decision by the court, I began to wonder if this is a case of a judge - in collusion with the State Division of Children and Families (DCF), to make a final assertion of their authority in order for them to return the child back to the custody of her parents without the appearance of caving in to public pressure.
As I have previously noted, I find no reason to believe that this is anything other than an "event cascade" in which the jerk neurologist, the hospital, DCF, and the judge have painted themselves into a corner by refusing to admit that there was no legitimate reason to seize custody of the child in the first place.
Bureaucratic bodes are notorious for being staffed by narcissists who are also fully incompetent, and when a wrongful decision is made that is not immediately followed by a correction, the system bogs down. All decision-making parties tend to engage in an act of "circling the wagons" to protect - not only the first wrongful act, but all subsequent (and equally wrongful) acts. Each step features one individual or group that peddles influence to protect the most recent decision-maker, and the snowball gets harder to stop as it gains weight and mass from every failure to fix the problem. The refusal to allow Attorney Mat Staver to represent the victim only confirms my conclusion that this in fact what happened; the last thing a arrogant, bureaucrat-supporting judge would want is another lawyer convincingly arguing that all previous decision of the court were wrong.
Again, I wonder (well, maybe it's only hope) that the judge wanted to avoid the appearance or being intimidated by the fairly substantial outpouring of support for Justina and her family. He could possibly have let DCF caseworkers know (a sort of backroom talk with a proviso) that he will do what they want as long as they in turn take steps to return her to the custody of her parents. If this is what occurred, the jerk neurologist, the hospital, DCF, and the judge will be able to "save face" and the final act of restoring the child-victim to her Mom and Dad will be treated as an act of mercy rather than one of desperation by the incompetent yet thoroughly Orwellian players in this shameful saga.
Either way, a terrible precedent has again* been set that will not bode well for the rights of parents and children. Welcome to the totalitarian United States of America.
German Home-schoolers Lose Case - But Won't be Deported
In the deep south, they would say-
"On Tuesday, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) announced a drastic turnaround on the part of the federal government: The German Romeike family, which sought asylum in the United States to home-school their children, will now be allowed to stay in America.
“The Romeikes can stay!!!” the HSLDA announced on its Facebook page.
Just one day ago, the Romeikes thought they would be forced to return to Germany, where the state could take custody of their children because of their decision to home-school. At a minimum, they would face increasingly harsh fines for violating Germany’s compulsory attendance law.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike have been fighting to remain in the United States since 2008, when they fled to Tennessee, but the Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal for asylum on Monday.
post on the HSLDA’s Facebook wall signed by the organization’s chairman, Michael Farris, explains the change:
'Today, a Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security called a member of our legal team to inform us that the Romeike family has been granted “indefinite deferred status”. This means that the Romeikes can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.)
This is an incredible victory that can only be credited to our Almighty God.
We also want to thank those of who spoke up on this issue–including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made this possible while God delivered the victory'........
........ Uwe Romeike commented in a statement on the HSLDA website: “We are happy to have indefinite status even though we won’t be able to get American citizenship any time soon. As long as we can live at peace here, we are happy. We have always been ready to go wherever the Lord would lead us—and I know my citizenship isn’t really on earth.”
The family has claimed Germany’s laws violate international human rights standards, but the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded last year that U.S. law does not grant asylum to “every victim of unfair treatment.”
When the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the HSLDA said the “last judicial hope for the family” had been exhausted. The 24-hour turnaround by the U.S. legal system was highly unexpected..........."
The blind man saw this comin' a mile away.
I, however, will freely admit that I did not expect the final outcome of the Romeike family's horrific odyssey of loss of custody, flight, asylum, contesting of that asylum, and repeated losses in the US court system and possible ensuing deportation.
But I at least should have been able to suspect that it could have turned out this way
With hindsight being - as they say - 20/20, now it all makes sense.
Germany did not appear to have clamored to have these people sent back to the Fatherland. Although they well have feared the backlash from US supporters who rightly vowed to engage in civil disobedience(*at bottom) to prevent any moves to deport the Romeike's, the Obama administration may even not have had a serious problem with allowing them to remain in the US.
The main point is simple-
Obama got what he wanted. US courts effectively ruled that losing custody of one's children for defying a German law that forbids home-schooling does not amount to persecution.
The Romeike's were nothing more than a pawn in a chess game that Obama won - and decisively so.
Now that in the US there is now an implicit (if not explicit- I have not read the final ruling) legal precedent that home schooling is not a human right. Home-schooling families, and those who may be considering that option to educate their children, can expect an ever-increasing amount of rules, restrictions, and regulations to come down the pike. Parents will find it harder to keep their children away from the garbage that is force-fed to the vast majority of K-12 students in the United States.
“The Romeikes can stay!!!” the HSLDA announced on its Facebook page.
Just one day ago, the Romeikes thought they would be forced to return to Germany, where the state could take custody of their children because of their decision to home-school. At a minimum, they would face increasingly harsh fines for violating Germany’s compulsory attendance law.
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike have been fighting to remain in the United States since 2008, when they fled to Tennessee, but the Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal for asylum on Monday.
post on the HSLDA’s Facebook wall signed by the organization’s chairman, Michael Farris, explains the change:
'Today, a Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security called a member of our legal team to inform us that the Romeike family has been granted “indefinite deferred status”. This means that the Romeikes can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.)
This is an incredible victory that can only be credited to our Almighty God.
We also want to thank those of who spoke up on this issue–including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made this possible while God delivered the victory'........
........ Uwe Romeike commented in a statement on the HSLDA website: “We are happy to have indefinite status even though we won’t be able to get American citizenship any time soon. As long as we can live at peace here, we are happy. We have always been ready to go wherever the Lord would lead us—and I know my citizenship isn’t really on earth.”
The family has claimed Germany’s laws violate international human rights standards, but the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded last year that U.S. law does not grant asylum to “every victim of unfair treatment.”
When the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the HSLDA said the “last judicial hope for the family” had been exhausted. The 24-hour turnaround by the U.S. legal system was highly unexpected..........."
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