ACTION ALERT: Battered Woman Set to be Executed!
Please spread this far and wide!
From: Sue Osthoff [mailto:sueo@NCDBW.org]
Below please find an Action Alert from Sue Osthoff, Director of the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, and Kathy England Walsh, Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, who have been working to save Gaile Owens’ life since last summer. Gaile Owens needs more support – and needs it now. At a minimum, please sign the petition AND forward this message to all of your coworkers, colleagues, friends, and family. Time is short. We need to act NOW. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.
Abused woman set to be executed. Please act now to stop this horrific injustice.
Gaile Owens, a 54-year-old woman from Tennessee, whose life was filled with abuse, and whose legal case has been dominated by an appalling series of grave injustices, is scheduled to be executed on September 28. Please act now to stop this execution. Ms. Owens is seeking to have her death sentence commuted to a sentence of life in prison and only Governor Bredesen has the power to do this. We need your help in urging Governor Bredesen to commute Gaile Owens’ sentence from death to life in prison.
What we want you to do:
· Sign the on-line petition in support of clemency for Ms. Owens. As of May 2, the petition had almost 5,000 signatures. We want to double that amount and get over 10,000 signatures. We can only do this with your help. We need you to sign the petition now. It will take less than a minute of your time. Go to the Friends of Gaile website and sign the petition at: http://www.friendsofgaile.com/phpPETITION/index.php
· Send a letter to Governor Bredesen urging them to spare Gaile Owens’ life by commuting her sentence.
o We believe that letters sent via US mail will be the most persuasive. Please consider sending a letter to the Governor and to his legal counsel. His address is:
The Honorable Phil Bredesen
Governor’s Office
Tennessee State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243-0001
o If you can’t send a letter via US mail, please send a message to the Governor l via e-mail. His e-mail addresses are: Phil.Bredesen@tn.gov .
· Consider calling the Governor’s office, writing a letter to the editor, submitting an editorial, and/or joining as a Friend of Gaile Owens on Facebook. For more information about these ideas, see the Friends of Gaile website under the “Learn More” tab (about halfway down the page). http://www.friendsofgaile.com/about.htm
Why Gaile Owens should have her sentence commuted:
There are many compelling reasons to commute Gaile Owens’ sentence. We need your help to convince Governor Bredesen that commuting her sentence is the correct – and just – action for him to take.
· Ms. Owens is the only prisoner in Tennessee to receive a death sentence after accepting a prosecutor’s offer of a plea agreement for life in prison. In 1985, after years of sexual abuse and severe humiliation by her husband, Ms. Owens hired a man to kill him. The prosecutor’s office offered that Ms. Owens could plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. This offer was made with the approval of her husband’s family. Remorseful and concerned about putting her children through the trauma and hardship of a trial, she accepted the plea. But, when Ms. Owens’ codefendant – the man she hired to kill her husband – refused to take the plea, the prosecutors withdrew the offer. We believe Gaile Owens is the only prisoner in the entire United States in this unimaginable and untenable situation. No other prisoner has received a death sentence after accepting the offer of a guilty plea in exchange for a life sentence.
· Ms. Owens’ death sentence is clearly excessive. A recent review of 9 cases from Tennessee that involve women who have killed or hired someone to kill their partners, shows that 6 have received probation or early parole and that two received life sentences with eligibility for parole. Only Ms. Owens has received death. As you may recall, Mary Winkler, another woman from Tennessee, who shot and killed her minister husband, ended up serving a total of 7 months and subsequently was able to get full custody of her children. Ms. Owens, a remorseful woman with a stellar prison record, should not be put to death.
· Ms. Owens received a sentence of death by a jury that never heard critical information about the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse she endured throughout her life, including from her husband. Ms Owens was subjected to physical and sexual violence from a young age. Her husband was but one of the perpetrators of violence against her. His unspeakable acts of sexual violence and humiliation were part of the story of Gaile Owens’ life, the story the jury never heard. When her trial attorneys asked for funds to hire an expert witness with experience in abuse and trauma to evaluate Ms. Owens, they were denied. She was instead given a competency/insanity evaluation by a local mental health clinic. Unprepared and ill-equipped, her attorneys proceeded to try her case without the essential evidence of her history of abuse.
As if these failings weren’t damaging enough, it was discovered that the prosecutor withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense. To this date, at least one juror has come forward saying that if she had had the information about Ms. Owens’ experiences of abuse, she would not have voted in favor of execution. In other words, the proper presentation of this evidence could have saved Gaile Owens’ life.
· The legal system clearly failed Ms. Owens. At each step of the legal process, Ms. Owens’ efforts to find justice were thwarted. Gaile Owens death sentence should be commuted.
For additional information about Ms. Owens’ case, visit http://www.tennesseedeathpenalty.org/
The National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women (NCDBW) and the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (TCADSV) have been working together to support Ms. Owens for many months. Last summer, the National Clearinghouse submitted an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in support of Ms. Owens’ Petition for Certiorari (asking the Supreme Court to hear Ms. Owens’ case). The Supreme Court refused to hear her case. In January, NCDBW and TCADSV submitted an amicus to the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking a certificate of commutation, which was denied at the end of April. We turn to you now – our colleagues, coworkers, friends and family – to urge you to act to save Gaile Owens’ life.
If you have any questions or want any additional information, feel free to contact NCDBW at 215/351-0010 or TCADSV at 615/386-9406. Thank you in advance for your critical help.
Sincerely,
Kathy England Walsh
DirectorExecutive DirectorNational Clearinghouse for the Tennessee Coalition Against Defense of Battered Women Domestic and Sexual Violence. Nashville, TN
______________________________________
Sue Osthoff
Director
National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women 125 S. 9th Street, Suite 302Philadelphia, PA 19107
tel: 215/351-0010 or 800/903-0111, ext. 3
fax: 215/351-0779
email: sueo@ncdbw.org
website: ncdbw.org
“Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody” Documentary Special Viewing Event’s (CO)
In conjunction with The MOTHERS DAY SILENT VIGIL AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Mothers Of Lost Children To Gather For White House Vigil On Mothers Day
Technorati Tags: Violence,Abuse,Child,Custody,Premiere,Program,Audience,Discussion,Auraria,Campus,North,Classroom,Domestic,Sharon,Araji,Professor,Chair,Department,Sociology,victims,partners,cases,features,Tanya,Brown,Nicole,Simpson,Robert,Geffner,children,Lundy,Bancroft,Colorado,Documentary,Denver,Police,Unit,Randy,Royal,Benito,Trujillo,Director,Tree,Scott,Attorney,Advisor,Project,Safeguard,Chris,Radolf,Protective,area,presentation,conjunction,publication,April,Mother,nation,capital,Alpha,Kappa,Delta,International,Honor,Women,Gender,Center,School,Public,Affairs,Award,Excellence,Promotional,CLAS,Dean,Fund,Development,REFRESHMENTS,RSVP,Paid,Download,Flyer,mode,officers,Participants,ucdenver
PARENTAL ALIENTATION SYNDROME the AWP denounces PAS
PARENTAL ALIENTATION SYNDROME (PAS)
Julie R. Ancis, Ph.D.
Parental Alienation Syndrome, which is being proposed for inclusion in the DSM-V, has been generally defined as a child’s denigration of a parent without justification. The creation of “Parental Alienation Syndrome,” otherwise known as PAS, is partly the result of two major trends: 1) a backlash against sexual abuse survivors who disclosed the abuse and 2) an increase in the divorce rate in North America when both parents and child custody assessors became more likely to notice signs of child abuse (Caplan, 2004).
Statistics indicate that 1/4 of girls and 1/6 of boys are survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ace/prevalence.htm). According to the World Health Organization (2006), worldwide prevalence of sexual violence involving forced intercourse and touch in children under 18 years of age is 150 million for girls and 73 million for boys and 150 million for girls. The majority of CSA perpetrators are men (Finkelhor, 1994; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2010), and more mothers than fathers tend to report that their ex-spouses might be abusing their children (Bala & Schuman, 1999).
Richard Gardner (1985/87) argued that the majority of children in child custody litigation suffered from the so-called disorder of Parental Alienation Syndrome. His focus was almost exclusively on mothers as turning a child against the father, allegedly in order to get or retain custody of the child. He included denigration of the father via ‘‘programming (‘brainwashing’),” as well as the child’s own contributions to vilifying the target parent. Gardner claimed that many reports of CSA in the context of divorce cases were false allegations. In this connection, it is important to note that Bala and Schuman (1999) found that only 1.3% of mothers’ allegations of abuse by their children’s fathers were deemed by civil court judges to be intentionally false, in contrast to 21% of cases in which fathers had made such allegations against mothers. And Meier (2009) reports after reviewing the research that it is a mistaken belief that mothers’ allegations in child custody proceedings that fathers have sexually abused their children are usually false.
The use of the term PAS and variants such as “parental alienation” has been extended in recent years, so that it is applied even to cases in which a child refuses to visit the noncustodial parent, whether or not the child’s objections entail abuse allegations.
According to Gardner, “evidence” of PAS includes a parent who refuses to force the children to visit their father (even when an abuse allegation is still being investigated), or a mother’s and/or child’s hesitancy to be interviewed in the presence of the father, the latter being alleged to result from manipulation by the mother. Children’s inability or unwillingness to provide details of abuse is also used as evidence of PAS, even though that inability or unwillingness could actually be related to trauma reactions or fear of retaliation by the abuser, possibilities not acknowledged by Gardner.
Gardner’s (1998) questionable ethics and clinical judgment are reflected in (but are by no means limited to) the following: (1) he recommends joint interviews with an accused father and child in which the father directly confronts the child about the allegation, and (2) he interprets a child’s overt expression of fear of possible retaliation by the father as evidence of the child’s embarrassment about lying rather than as possibly a valid fear of a truth telling child whose father is abusive
The construct of PAS is unscientific, composed of a group of general symptoms with no empirical basis. (It has been said that it is nothing more than a scientific-sounding way of saying that a mother is vengeful and mendacious [Caplan, 2004]). In spite of this, PAS is often used to discount allegations of abuse, particularly in custody disputes, so that the accuser’s sanity and parenting ability are questioned, and the rights of the “alienated” parent become the focus of the case, rather than the needs of the child.
Major professional bodies, including the American Psychological Association, have discredited PAS on the grounds that it is misused in domestic violence cases and that there is no scientific evidence of such a “syndrome.” The more recent APA Online document Issues and Dilemmas in Family Violencehttp://www.apa.org/pi/essues.html), particularly Issue 5, describes the tendency of family courts to miminize a context of violence, falsely accusing the mother of alienation and granting custody to the father in spite of his history of violence.
The National Council on Juvenile and Family Court Judge’s 2006 manual states that “parental alienation syndrome or PAS has been discredited by the scientific community” and “should therefore be ruled inadmissible” (p. 19). A number of prominent figures, including Dr. Paul J. Fink, past president of the American Psychiatric Association and president of the Leadership Council on Mental Health, Justice, and the Media, and Professor Jon R. Conte of the University of Washington Social Welfare Doctoral Faculty have also discredited PAS and its lack of scientific basis (see Bruch, 2001).
Because of the use of PAS as a tactic by many CSA perpetrators to influence decision makers and the court system, abused children have been placed in the hands of their abusers (Childress, 2006). It is estimated that “over 58,000 children a year are ordered into unsupervised contact with physically or sexually abusive parents following divorce in the United States” (http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/1.htm) and that PAS was used in a large number of these cases.
Recent arguments to include PAS in the DSM-V as a differential diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder, or as an example of a relational disorder (e.g. Bernet, 2008), are lacking in empirical basis, provide false claims related to reliability and validity, and are potentially harmful to children and families.
References
American Psychological Association (APA). (1996). Report on Violence and the Family: Issues and Dilemmas in Family Violence. APA Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.nnflp.org/apa/intro.html.
Bala, N., & Schuman, J. (1999). Allegations of sexual abuse when parents have separated. Canadian Family Law Quarterly 17, 191–241.
Bernet, W. (2008). Parental alienation disorder and DSM-V. American Journal of Family Therapy, 36, 349-366. doi:10.1080/01926180802405513
Bruch, C. (2001). Parental Alienation Syndrome and Parental Alienation: Getting it wrong in child custody cases. Family Law Quarterly, 35(3), 527-552. Retreived from http://ezproxy.gsu.edu:3305/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/famlq35&id=1&size=2&collection=journals&index=journals/famlq
Caplan, P. (2004). What is it that’s being called “Parental Alienation Syndrome”? In Caplan, P. J., & Cosgrove, L. (Eds.) Bias in psychiatric diagnosis (pp. 61-67). Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield.
Childress, S. (2006, September 25). Fighting over the kids: Battered spouses take aim at a controversial custody strategy. Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/35157
Finkelhor, D. (1994). Current information on the scope and nature of child sexual abuse. The Future of Children, 4(2), 31-53. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/VS75.pdf.
Gardner, R. A. (1985). Recent trends in divorce and custody litigation.Academy Forum, 29 (2), 3–7.
Gardner, R. A. (1987). The Parental Alienation Syndrome and theDifferentiation Between False and Genuine Sex Abuse. Creskill, NJ: Creative Therapeutics.
Gardner, R. A. (1998). The Parental Alienation Syndrome (2nd ed.). Creskill, NewJersey: Creative Therapeutics, Inc.
Meier, J. S. (2009, January). Parental Alienation Syndrome and parentalalienation: Research reviews. National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women, 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/1.html
National Council of Family Court Judges (2006). Navigating Custody andVisitation Evaluations in Cases with Domestic Violence: A Judge’s Guide. Retrieved from http://www.ncjfcj.org/content/blogcategory/256/302/
United States Department of Veterans Affairs (2010). Child Sexual Abuse. National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Retrieved from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/child-sexual-abuse.asp.
Wallerstein, J. S., & Kelly, J. B. (1976). The effects of parental divorce: Experiences of the child in early latency. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 46(1), 20-32. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.gsu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fyh&AN=MRB-FSD0228448&site=ehost-live
World Health Organization (2006). World health organization says violence against children can and must be prevented. News release WHO/57. Retrieved from www.whqlibdoc.who.int/press_release/2006/PR_57.pdf
Other Resources
Berliner, L & Conte J. R. (1993). Sex abuse evaluations: Conceptual and empirical obstacles. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17, 111-125.Retrieved from http://www.thelizlibrary.org
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2005). Prevalence of individual adverse childhood experiences. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ace/prevalence.htm
Kelly, J. B., & Johnston, J. R. (2001). The Alienated Child: A Reformulation ofParental Alienation Syndrome, 39, Family Court Review, 249-266. Retrieved from http://sfx.galib.uga.edu/sfx_gsu1?genre=article&issn=15312445&title=Family%20Court%20Review&volume=39&issue=3&date=20010701&atitle=The%20alienated%20child%3A%20A%20reformulation%20of%20parental%20alienation%20syndrome.&spage=249&sid=EBSCO%3Apsyh&pid=Kelly%2C%20Joan%20B.%3BJohnston%2C%20Janet%20R
The Leadership Council. Abuse and custody disputes: Scientific and legal issues.Retrieved from http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/1.html
Thoennes, N., & Tjaden, P. G. (1990). The extent, nature, and validity of sexual abuse allegations in custody/visitation disputes. Child Abuse and Neglect, 14(2), 151-163. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(90)90026-P
Meir, J. S. (2009, January). Parental Alienation Syndrome and parentalalienation: Research reviews. National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women, 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/1.html
Wood, C. L. (1994). The Parental Alienation Syndrome: A Dangerous Aura of Reliability, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, 27, 1367-1415. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.gsu.edu:2650/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T8031369353&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T8031369356&cisb=22_T8031369355&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=138774&docNo=1
Technorati Tags: PARENTAL,ALIENTATION,SYNDROME,Julie,Ancis,Alienation,inclusion,denigration,parent,justification,creation,result,backlash,North,America,custody,signs,Caplan,Statistics,Child,Sexual,Abuse,prevalence,World,Health,Organization,violence,intercourse,children,Finkelhor,Department,Veterans,Affairs,Bala,Schuman,Richard,Gardner,litigation,disorder,father,contributions,reports,context,cases,connection,judges,Meier,belief,proceedings,allegation,hesitancy,manipulation,trauma,retaliation,abuser,possibilities,ethics,judgment,embarrassment,truth,basis,spite,accuser,rights,needs,Major,American,Psychological,Association,Online,Issue,tendency,courts,history,National,Council,Juvenile,Court,Judge,figures,Paul,Fink,president,Psychiatric,Leadership,Mental,Justice,Professor,Conte,Washington,Social,Welfare,Doctoral,tactic,decision,system,Recent,arguments,differential,diagnosis,example,Bernet,Report,Presidential,Task,Force,Author,Canadian,Journal,Therapy,Page,size,collection,index,Cosgrove,Bias,Lanham,Roman,Littlefield,September,kids,strategy,Newsweek,Current,scope,nature,Future,Academy,Forum,False,Genuine,Creskill,Creative,Therapeutics,NewJersey,January,Research,Resource,Center,Against,Women,Domestic,Guide,Post,Traumatic,Wallerstein,Orthopsychiatry,News,press_release,Resources,Berliner,Conceptual,Neglect,Human,Services,Disease,Control,Prevention,Johnston,Reformulation,Review,genre,article,EBSCO,Scientific,Thoennes,Tjaden,extent,Meir,Wood,Dangerous,Aura,Loyola,Angeles,results,GNBFI,RELEVANCE,trends,assessors,fathers,spouses,allegations,variants,objections,reactions,symptoms,Dilemmas,makers,References,journals,Evaluations,obstacles,survivors,parents,girls,nccdphp,million,perpetrators,html,leadershipcouncil,ezproxy,parentalalienation,login,docview
Why Parents Who Batter Win Custody – Newsweek.com
Fighting Over the KidsBattered spouses take aim at a controversial custody strategy.
By Sarah Childress | Newsweek Web Exclusive
It took six years for Genia Shockome to gather the courage to leave her husband, Tim. He pushed her, kicked her and insulted her almost from the moment they married in 1994, she says. She tried to start over with their children when the family moved from Texas to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. It didn’t last long. Tim called her constantly at work and, after they split up, pounded on her door and screamed obscenities, she alleged in a complaint filed in 2001. Tim was charged with harassment. As part of a plea deal, Tim agreed to a stay-away order—but denies ever abusing her or the children. In custody hearings over the past six years, Tim has insisted that he’s been a good father, and argued that Genia’s allegations poisoned their children against him. The judge sided with Tim. This summer he was granted full custody of the kids, now 11 and 9. Genia was barred from contacting them.
Genia is one of many parents nationwide who have lost custody due to a controversial concept known as parental alienation. Under the theory, children fear or reject one parent because they have been corrupted or coached to lie by the other. Parental alienation is now the leading defense for parents accused of abuse in custody cases, according to domestic-violence advocates. And it’s working. The few current studies done on the subject consider only small samples. But according to one 2004 survey in Massachusetts by Harvard’s Jay Silverman, 54 percent of custody cases involving documented spousal abuse were decided in favor of the alleged batterers. Parental alienation was used as an argument in nearly every case.
This year the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges denounced the theory as "junk science," and at least four states have passed legislation to curtail its use in custody cases involving allegations of domestic violence. "It’s really been a cancer in the family courts," says Richard Ducote, an attorney in Pittsburgh who has represented abuse victims in custody cases for 22 years. "It’s made it really difficult for parents to protect their kids. If you ask for protection, you’re deemed a vindictive, alienating parent."
It may seem hard to fathom how a judge could award custody to a parent accused of abuse. But battered spouses often don’t file criminal charges—so no judicial finding is made against their mates—and family-court judges typically aren’t trained to referee the complexities of abusive relationships. (Although men are sometimes battered by their wives, women are the victims in the majority of abuse cases.) Judges often throw out documented evidence of spousal abuse, arguing that it is irrelevant in a custody case. And experts say that family-court judges often look favorably on the alleged abuser because he seems more willing to share custody than the accuser—who is hellbent on keeping the father away from the child. According to a survey by Geraldine Stahly, a psychology professor at California State University at San Bernardino, attorneys will caution battered spouses against reporting abuse in court so they don’t lose their children. (Stahly and other academics say the parental-alienation argument has more legitimacy in custody disputes that don’t involve charges of abuse.)
Parental-alienation syndrome was first introduced by child psychiatrist Richard Gardner in the 1980s. Fathers-rights groups picked up on the idea and began trying it out in court. These groups condemn abusers. But Dan Hogan, executive director of Fathers & Families, a nonprofit group that advocates for joint custody, argues that all too often the accusers lie in order to win custody of their kids.
There’s a small but growing movement to ban parental alienation in custody cases, sparked by embattled parents bonding online. They’ve linked with lawyers and advocates for battered spouses across the country. At least four states, including California, have laws protecting parents who make good-faith abuse allegations. Others may soon follow their lead. Greg Jacob, an attorney who takes cases for abused parents pro bono, is drafting legislation to shop to Virginia and Maryland next month. Meanwhile, parents like Genia keep fighting. "It’s so hard, having my children lost," she says, her voice breaking. "This was my life—my children."
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Fired Pittsburgh Cop Not Guilty;Says He Hurt Woman In Defense (what a crock of SHIT)
Video: 
Ex-Girlfriend Talks About Domestic Injuries At Fired Pittsburgh Cop’s Trial
BE SURE TO WATCH THE the video.
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/23194564/detail.html
Fired Pittsburgh Cop Not Guilty; Says He Hurt Woman In Defense
Former Sgt. Eugene Hlavac Testifies At Trial on Simple Assault Charge
Allegheny County, Pa.: PITTSBURGH –A man who lost his job as a Pittsburgh police sergeant after being accused of domestic violence against his child’s mother was found not guilty Tuesday after he testified that self-defense was the reason for the woman’s injury.
“The one thing I’m not sorry for at all is the defensive action I took,” Eugene Hlavac said on the witness stand. “I would have been justified in using more force.”
Allegheny County Judge Tom Flaherty acquitted Hlavac of a charge of simple assault after hearing testimony from both sides in a nonjury trial. Now, Hlavac wants his job back.
“I have always been an innocent man,” Hlavac told reporters outside the courtroom. “I was found guilty before I was proven innocent, is actually what happened, and I have one focus right now, and that’s to get my son back home with me.”
Hlavac was fired in January, against the wishes of the Fraternal Order of Police union leaders who wanted to wait until his case went to court. At that time, union president Dan O’Hara warned that “taxpayers will be paying for a rash decision based on women’s groups wanting swift justice.”
Joanna Doven, a spokeswoman for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, had no comment about Hlavac after Tuesday’s verdict.
“My client will be reinstated on the police force, or there will be consequences,” said Hlavac’s defense attorney, Phillip DiLucente.
Hlavac’s ex-girlfriend, Lauren Maughan, said she went to a hospital with a dislocated jaw after an argument broke out when she arrived to pick up their 3-year-old child at Hlavac’s Greenfield home in December.
Hlavac’s side of the story was that Maughan initiated the violence, not the other way around.
“My defensive action was to block the assault,” Hlavac testified. “I fell backwards toward my car. I raised my hand to push away in defensive mode.”
“With so much force you dislocated her jaw?” Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Auld asked him.
“I’m not a medical professional,” Hlavac responded.
In Maughan’s testimony on Monday, she said that Hlavac was irate when she showed up late, slamming the car door as he put their child inside, and she said he hit her with an open hand when she got out of the vehicle.
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"Time’s Up Network" Presents A Special Hour of Radio: Hosts Susan Murphy Milano and Jillian Maas-Backman May 3rd at 8:00 PM CST/ 9:00 PM Central
Many of you suffer from sorrow associated with traumatic unsolved murderous crimes and are desperate for resolution. This hour is dedicated to those of you that are ready to explore alternative, non-conventional ways of solving your personal mystery. You can become your own intuitive investigator with help from the other side. There are endless reports from those close to victims left behind of un-explained visits from their deceased loved ones through dreams, holograms or even messages. Why are they appearing back in your life and what are they attempting to share?
A riveting special hour presented by The Time’s Up Networkand hosted by Time’s Up Blog contributing authors, Susan Murphy Milano, Violent Expert, Strategist-Author, Consultant and Jillian Maas Backman, Intuitive Life Coach, Consultant- Radio Host on station Lake 96.1 will team up to share personal encounters (Susan’s murdered mother), analyze the authenticity of tapping into this natural resource, “how- tos” on pushing past heart break and harness one of the most powerful tools available to everyone. 
Wednesday, May 3, 2010
TIME: 9: 00 PM Eastern Time / 8:00 PM Central
Show Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/susanmurphymilano
To be considered as a guest on a future show or if you have a subject matter or idea you would like on a topic of interest please email us at murphymilano@gmail.com
Been there, done that…” Susan Murphy- Milano has turned a tired phrase into demonstrable realism through the gift of her newly published book, "TIME’S UP: A GUIDE ON HOW TO LEAVE AND SURVIVE ABUSIVE AND STALKING RELATIONSHIPS
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Victims of Child Abuse Rarely Lie: BELIEVE THEM.
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100502/LIFESTYLE/100430030
Victims of child abuse rarely lie
May 2, 2010
Child abuse is a difficult topic to talk. Child sexual abuse is even harder to acknowledge.
Often, adults ask me if children lie about being sexually abused. It is not easy to believe that a person could harm a child in such a way. Children do not lie about sexual abuse.
Statistics show that children are truthful 99.5 percent of the time. Because children disclose abuse in a variety of different ways, this often can be misunderstood and interpreted that the child is being untruthful.
When a child discloses sexual abuse, it can be upsetting to the caretakers and reactions vary. Reactions can include confusion, disbelief and denial. Another coping mechanism is to try and dismiss what was said as a lie or an attention-seeking story.
There are many factors to consider when supporting sexually abused children and to understand their experiences.
> The way children report sexual abuse depends on their age and developmental level.
> Children don’t automatically report the way adults do.
> There is no way a child can explicitly depict the details of sexual acts performed on them unless the child has experienced it.
> Children who have suffered multiple abuse encounters often present conflicting data, combining information from years of abuse into one or two accounts that include inconsistent details.
Sometimes these children are found less credible due to conflicting details and cannot give clear and specific facts that will stand up in court.
> Only when a child’s statements can fit criteria of reliability and consistency can they be successful in criminal court. While a child’s inconsistencies may on the surface seem like lying, they often are normal for their age and developmental stage.
> Just because charges of alleged abuse have been dropped and/or children have recanted certain statements, it does not indicate that children lie about sexual abuse.
> While controversy rages about whether to believe certain children, the children continue to feel misunderstood and mistreated, heightening their sense of being victims.
> Sexually abused children have been known to deny, minimize, “forget’’ and confuse facts of the abuse, but rarely do they lie.
> The most important thing that you can do for a child who is surviving sexual abuse is to listen and believe the child and protect the child from further acts of abuse.
If you suspect abuse offer, your child support and contact your local child protection services or law enforcement. In Larimer County call the HUB at (970) 498-6990. If you are interested in attending a child abuse prevention class to better protect your children, contact Ana Pasini-Sluss at (970) 407-9739 or ana@larimercac.org
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SUSAN MURPHY-MILANO JOINS ELITE SPEAKERS BUREAU
The Elite Speaker’s Bureau, Inc. was founded by Denise Brown, sister of Nicole Brown Simpson and advocate against domestic violence. Nicole was a victim of domestic violence and was brutally murdered in 1994. Denise has traveled the world speaking out about the issue of domestic violence for over 15 years, which also exposed her to the harsh reality that many forms of violence occur in our neighborhoods, communities and society. Denise realized that more needs to be done, and more people need to know that issues of violence affect everyone.
Her vision has now become a reality, as she has brought together an elite group of speakers to spread the word and educate others.
Susan Murphy-Milano
As an expert in the area of intimate partner violence and the prevention ofhomicide, Susan Murphy-Milano has created specific tools and procedures which the abused need to safely leave a violent relationship.
In her new book “Time’s Up A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive Stalking Relationship ” Susan gives abuse victims a useful set of important instructions, their personal road map to safety.
Susan uses humor, passion, and all her years of experience to motivate her audience to become more effective first responders, advocates and professionals in their work to stop family violence.
Susan is proud to be represented by such a distinguished group and in the company of her peers and professionals working to end family violence.
To say that Susan Murphy Milano has hit the nail on the head (again) is a total understatement! Murphy Milano’s book is well crafted and timely. She not only discusses the “problem” but takes it one step further in this soup-to-nuts handbook……..Robin Sax, Legal Analyst
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Mother Looses Custody For Reporting Child Sexual Abuse
Linda Marie Sacks January 2010 Article
Custody Crisis: Why Moms Are Punished in Court
Talk to mothers, divorce lawyers, and child advocates and you’ll hear tales of a family court system that’s badly broken.
Gina Kaysen Fernandes: To an outsider, Linda Marie Sacks had the perfect life. Her husband was rich, and they lived in a huge home in Daytona Beach, FL, where she spent her days shuttling her girls to school and various activities. Linda Marie describes herself as a “squeaky clean soccer mom” who “lived my life for my children.” Behind that façade, Linda Marie says she married a monster — a man who verbally and emotionally attacked her for years and sexually abused their two young daughters.
When she finally left him and tried to take her girls with her, she encountered a new monster — family court. Rather than protecting Linda Marie and her two young daughters from a sexual predator, a family court judge denied Linda Marie custody and put her daughters into the hands of their sexually abusive father.
Talk to mothers, divorce lawyers, and child advocates and you’ll hear tales of a family court system that’s badly broken. It’s one that routinely punishes women for coming forward with allegations of abuse by denying them custody of their children. Instead of protecting children from abusers and predators, the court often gives sole custody to the abusive parent, say child advocates. Mothers who tell judges their children are being molested or beaten are accused of lying and are punished for trying to intervene. Some are thrown in jail for trying to keep their kids from seeing an abusive parent. Women, many of whom have few financial resources at their disposal, are often at the mercy of a court system that is not designed to handle domestic violence.
Linda Marie first suspected something was wrong in 2002 when she received a shocking phone call from a school administrator. Her 7-year-old daughter was acting out sexually, with knowledge beyond her years. A short time later, the Sunday school teacher reported overhearing Linda Marie’s daughter saying, “I suck my dad’s penis.” She received more phone calls from school about her little girl using Barbie dolls to simulate oral sex with a boy in her class. “I was very concerned, these are alarming red flags,” said Linda Marie.
She consulted family therapists who also expressed alarm and concern, but failed to report these claims to an abuse hotline. In one of the therapy sessions, the oldest daughter drew a picture that depicted her father as an erect penis on legs. Linda Marie says she once walked in on her husband wiping her daughters’ vaginas in the bathroom before school, “because he told me he wanted them to be fresh.” When Linda Marie confronted her husband, he ignored and dismissed the allegations.
After 11 years of marriage, Linda Marie filed for divorce in 2004. Armed with detailed documentation, she believed the judge would grant her sole custody of her two daughters for their protection. “I was sheltered. I didn’t know I had stepped into a national crisis in the courts,” said Linda Marie, who spent tens of thousands of dollars in a legal battle that ended in the loss of her parental rights. Linda Marie has only seen her children during supervised visits for a total of 54 hours over the past two and a half years. “I’m one of the lucky moms,” she said, choking back tears. “Some bonds are severed forever. I’m thankful for my two hours a month.”
Some mothers like Lorraine Tipton of Oconto Falls, WI, have served jail time as the result of contentious custody arraignments. In November, a judge sentenced Lorraine to 30 days behind bars because she didn’t force her 11-year-old daughter to follow the court’s order to live every other week with her abusive father. “She’s terrified of going; she has night terrors and severe anxiety,” said Lorraine.
Her ex, Craig Hensberger, was arrested three times for domestic violence and once for child abuse. His criminal record also includes two DUI arrests, one of which happened while driving with his daughter. The court ordered Hensberger into rehab and demanded “absolute sobriety,” but his daughter claims he still drinks excessively when she visits.
Hensberger admitted in court that he still continues to drink, but the judge punished Lorraine instead for trying to protect her child. “My abuser is continuing his abuse of me and my daughter with the help of the court,” said Lorraine, who spent three days locked up until her daughter made the heart-wrenching decision to return to her father’s home so her mother could be released from jail. “He can’t get to me physically. The only way he knows how to hurt me is to take my child away.”
“What we are seeing amounts to a civil rights crisis,” says attorney and legal writer Michael Lesher, who co-authored the book From Madness To Mutiny: Why Mothers Are Running from the Family Courts — and What Can Be Done about It. Many judges and court-appointed guardians act above the law with apparent impunity, he argues.
“There’s no hearing, no evidence, no notice — they can take your child away from you,” Lesher tells momlogic. If a mother raises concerns or openly discusses child abuse in court, she typically ends up being the one under investigation. “Mom is guilty until proven innocent,” he says.
A family court judge with the Los Angeles Superior Court refused momlogic’s request for an interview to respond to these allegations.
Unlike criminal court, family court does not rely on criminal investigators to gather evidence in an alleged child abuse case. Instead, the court appoints family advocates known as “guardian ad litem,” or GAL, who are expected to investigate the abuse allegations and make their recommendation in the best interest of the child. GALs are sometimes licensed psychologists, social workers, or attorneys who are not necessarily trained in evaluating sexual abuse or domestic violence. They have the judge’s ear, and their opinions can alter a child’s future. There are no juries and there’s no mandate for legal representation. In fact, most women end up representing themselves because they can’t afford the attorney fees.
Most moms don’t want to take the case to criminal court because they prefer to keep the matter private. Legal experts contend the evidence in sexual abuse cases isn’t typically strong enough to hold up in criminal court to overcome the threshold of “beyond a reasonable doubt.” While the bar is set much lower for proving evidence in family court, advocates argue Child Protective Services frequently doesn’t want to get involved. “If there’s a custody battle going on, CPS won’t touch it,” says Irene Weiser of the advocacy group StopFamilyViolence.org.
There’s no doubt fathers play a critical role in a child’s life, and in most cases, are equally loving and capable parents who deserve custody. However, studies find when a wife accuses her husband of abuse, more than half the time, she faces a counter-accusation of “parental alienation syndrome,” or PAS. Although PAS is not a medically recognized disorder, divorce attorneys often successfully argue that it emerges when a parent brainwashes a child into thinking the other parent is the enemy.
The psychiatrist Richard Gardner, who first coined the phrase “parental alienation syndrome” in 1987, has written more than one hundred articles on the subject, but has offered no scientific data to support his theory. While it’s not considered a certifiable medical condition, PAS is widely accepted in the legal community.
“Parental Alienation unequivocally, categorically exists, and it’s a form of child abuse,” says author and forensic consultant Dean Tong. While he believes more studies need to be done to validate PAS, “it does exist, anecdotally speaking,” he says. As an expert witness, Tong has been called a “fathers’ rights prostitute” for his work in court clashes. But he also testifies for mothers who are fighting to appeal unfavorable rulings. For Tong, it’s about using forensics to find the truth. “I’m not here to protect guys who are guilty,” he says.
In years past, mothers were typically considered the “protective parent” in custody decisions when courts relied on the “Tender Years Doctrine,” which states that children under the age of 13 should live with their mothers. Recently, several courts have ruled that doctrine violated the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th amendment, and replaced it with the “Best Interests of the Children” doctrine. It’s a huge victory for the increasingly powerful Fatherhood Movement that contends dads are systematically alienated from their children after a divorce.
Tong argues the current legal climate continues to put fathers on the receiving end of false allegations. “It’s handcuffs first, speak later,” said Tong, who experienced that firsthand. In 1985, Tong’s ex-wife falsely accused him of sexually abusing his 3-year-old daughter. He spent time in jail and went through “a year of hell” trying to prove his innocence. While Tong was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, he never regained custody of his kids, and remained under supervised visitation for years. Tong became a self-taught expert on the subject of family rights and abuse accusations. He has written three books, including Elusive Innocence: Survival Guide for the Falsely Accused.
“There’s an assumption that maintaining a child’s relationship with the father is a good idea — even if the father is abusive,” says Stop Family Violence’s Weiser, who believes when the overburdened court system is unable to sort out a custody conflict, it relies on misogyny. She argues there are many judges, GALs, and evaluators who believe that women are inherently vindictive and will lie to get a leg up in a custody battle. “We see it over and over again in family court, where judges or professionals don’t believe the violence is occurring,” Weiser says.
“All we have is ‘he said, she said.’ Who’s telling the truth? That’s up to the judge,” says Tong, who believes the justice system isn’t working for either side. “The system is not doing a good job interviewing kids, we’re still in the dark ages there,” says Tong, who thinks there needs to be more formal education and training for the professionals, including judges who are hearing child custody cases.
According to the American Bar Association, child abuse allegations in custody disputes are rare — occurring in only six percent of cases. The majority of those accusations are substantiated. In terms of false allegations, fathers are more likely than mothers to intentionally lie (21 percent, compared to 1.3 percent). In fact, abusive parents are more likely to seek sole custody than nonviolent ones, and are successful about 70 percent of the time.
After three years of litigation, Linda Marie Sacks says she was no match for her ex-husband’s financial resources and powerful connections. “He was buying his way through the courtroom.” Despite 10 calls into the abuse hotline by licensed professionals, Linda Marie’s ex-husband still claimed she was making false allegations of abuse to alienate his children, and the judge believed him. Linda Marie was kicked out of her home and put on supervised visitation with her two daughters, who are now ages 10 and 12. “The judge legally kidnapped my daughters and won’t give them back,” she said.
In some extreme cases, a custody decision will be reversed, which is what happened to Joyce Murphy. The San Diego mother was charged with kidnapping after she took her daughter out of state, away from the girl’s father, because she believed he was a child molester. The father, Henry Parson, accused Joyce of parental alienation and she lost custody. “Despite my pleas for protection to the police and the DA and the family court representatives, and even psychologists, Mr. Parson was able to convince them and the community at large that he was the victim, and I was just an angry, embittered, divorced woman,” explained Joyce.
Six years later, Parson was caught in the act and pleaded guilty to six counts of child abuse, which included oral sex with a child, molestation, possessing child porn, and using a child to make porn. After Parson received a six-year prison sentence, Joyce told reporters that family court’s only good decision in her case was granting her full permanent custody of her daughter after her ex-husband was jailed.
Lorraine, the Wisconsin mom who was jailed for protecting her daughter, knows her daughter’s nightmare will continue for the rest of her childhood. “He’s never going to stop, it’s never going to end until she’s 18.” Linda Marie says she’s putting every penny towards her legal efforts to win back custody of her daughters. “I will never stop fighting for my girls. I know one day justice will prevail.”
Critics argue that not only is the family court system broken, it was never designed to deal with issues like child custody. The goal is to develop solutions that are in the best interest of the child. “Unfortunately when judges and guardians start thinking of themselves as super government, all sorts of abuses will occur,” says attorney and author Lesher.
Activists are working towards making reforms through legislation. “The heartbreaking challenge is that there’s not one quick fix,” says Stop Family Violence’s Weiser. “This is a war — it’s very ugly, it’s bloody, and very bitter,” concludes Tong.
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(FL) Custody Feud: Fair Hearing Denied for Linda Marie Sacks
From MomLogic
Gina Kaysen Fernandes: A Daytona Beach, Florida mother who lost custody of her two girls whom she believes are being sexually abused by their father was dealt a crushing legal blow in her the latest courtroom clash. Linda Marie Sacks recently shared her heartbreaking story with momlogic, describing how a judge punished her in family court for raising concerns about her children’s documented abuse.
After going public with her story, Linda Marie filed an appeal with Florida‘s Fifth District Court of Appeals in her third attempt to regain custody of her kids. The self-described "squeaky clean" mom has only been allowed to see her teen-aged daughters two hours a month during supervised visits. "After 3 years with only 64 hours of contact with my children… enough is enough, " said Linda Marie.
This week Volusia County Judge Shawn L. Briese canceled a scheduled hearing and refused to allow the testimony of a clinical psychologist who believes Linda Marie‘s two daughters are victims of child sexual abuse. Dr. Kathy Pearce intended to testify about case notes she recently reviewed from the children’s therapist’s file. "I had seen the summary of her [the therapist’s] files but I had never seen her actual notes," Pearce said. "There was much more there than I ever knew."
Linda Marie faced an uphill legal battle from the get-go. Her wealthy ex-husband hired aggressive attorneys to maneuver his way through the courts. He also paid out of pocket for his own psychologists who are essentially hired guns intended to repeat the father’s version of events on the stand. The evaluator claimed the father’s sexual behavior was within "normal limits". The teens’ father has admitted to inappropriate behavior such as wiping down the vaginas of his school-aged daughters.
Cashing in on child custody fights
Legal watchdog groups say the family courts are ripe for corruption. "The whole system is set up to churn fees," says Kathleen Russell of the Center for Judicial Excellence. In high conflict custody cases, a family court judge typically assigns "court appointees" to provide counseling and evaluations of the parents and their children. The cost of these sessions, which are paid by the parents, can add up quickly. "It’s a very lucrative industry," says Russell "these mental health professionals are making a handsome living."
What concerns Russell most is that there’s no regulation or oversight of this cottage industry. Many of the accused abusers will pay the evaluator directly which can lead to collusion. The court appointees also have legal immunity that prevents them from being sued for unethical behavior. "There’s no checks and balances and no questioning of authority," said Russell. The court-hired professionals have significant power when it comes to determining a child’s future. Judges generally defer to the appointee’s recommendations before making a custody ruling.
Linda Marie says the custody evaluator ordered to examine her case in 2004 never called the abuse hotline, despite having a legal obligation under the mandatory reporting laws.
The psychologist dismissed the girls’ abuse history and their father’s inappropriate behavior. However the therapist determined Linda Marie had a better psychological bond with the children and recommended the mother should be the primary parent.
Two years later, that same therapist reversed her decision and decided that Linda Marie‘s ex-husband should have sole custody of their kids. This change of heart happened coincidentally while an associate in her office was hired to evaluate the father. "Money can buy the outcome you want, with total disregard to the children’s welfare or safety," said Linda Marie.
While the family courts may initially have had good intentions by relying on mental health professionals, critics argue it’s only making the situation worse. "These are criminal matters," says Russell "They need to be investigated as crimes." She advises parents to avoid family court at all cost and try to mediate your divorce instead. If you end up in family court, Russell recommends you collect as much evidence as possible, report abusive behavior when it happens and document it with photos.
There’s no turning back for Linda Marie Sacks who intends to keep fighting as long as it takes to get her girls back. "I have my sights on the US Supreme Court if they do not give me my children back and a new judge." While Linda Marie‘s case may seem extreme, it’s not unique. "It’s happening to thousands of mothers stuck in family court trying to protect their children," says Russell. "It’s a bottomless pit."
Read more: http://www.momlogic.com/2010/04/child_custody_feud_fair_hearing_denied_linda_marie.php#ixzz0mbWsLbmI
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Crisis In The Family Courts 
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