The RAnts of RA

Child and Family Protection Association recently issued an alert on California Assembly Bill 755 (AB 755) and while I agree that this bill creates a huge problem for parents of young children. I really think they miss the point.

The alert highlights the following points of contention:

AB 755 (Assembly Member Sally Lieber) – Prohibition of Spanking Opposition Points to Share with Legislators
Position: Strongly Oppose
Status: AB 755 (introduced 2/22/07)

Assembly Member Sally Lieber’s first proposal to address all spanking of children ages three and under was never introduced as a bill, apparently due to much opposition. However, contrary to claims originating from her office:

1. She has not “fixed” her no-spank proposal; she has only adopted a different strategy;
2. AB 755 is an anti-spanking bill “in disguise” and would have the effect of abolishing most spanking without using language directly outlawing spanking.
3. Lieber believes that all “good parents” never spank their children; that only “bad parents” do, and therefore “good parents” do not need to be worried about her bill; and
4. When Lieber claims that her bill only deals with child abuse, remember that she believes that all spanking, by definition, is child abuse. Her strategy in AB 755 is to treat all spanking with an object as criminal child abuse. She has deliberately failed to make any distinction between spanking as a method of discipline and true child abuse.

AB 755 would amend Penal Code 273a, which currently makes it a crime to cause unjustifiable pain, harm, or injury to any minor child. AB 755 would create a new “rebuttable presumption” that physical pain or mental suffering inflicted upon a child is unjustifiable if it is caused by any of the seven kinds of actions, which are listed in AB 755.

The first of the seven actions listed is: “the use of an implementation, including, but not limited to, a stick, a rod, a switch, an electrical cord, an extension cord, a belt, a broom, or a shoe.” This first action includes the act of spanking with an implement (i.e. an object other than using one’s hand).

The significance of the new “rebuttable presumption” in AB 755 is that regardless of any circumstances, the police and District Attorney would have to consider all spanking with an implement to be unjustifiable. Parents would have the difficult task of proving (rebutting the charges) that the spanking was justifiable to the satisfaction of the court in a criminal trial in order to avoid being sent to jail for up to one year or receiving other penalties. The case also could be referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) and Juvenile Court, which could result in the possible temporary or permanent loss of custody of their children.

Roy M. Hanson, Jr.
Child and Family Protection Association
Alert issued April 12, 2007
PO Box 730
Lincoln, CA 95648-0730

Let’s put this all in perspective. The only way a parent would ever get caught up in this trap is by being reported by a childcare worker or medical personnel. This means that more parents will think twice before seeking medical attention.

The proposed legislation also requires; if a person is convicted of violating this section and probation is granted, the court shall require the following minimum conditions of probation:

1. A mandatory minimum period of probation of 48 months.
2. A criminal court protective order protecting the victim from further acts of violence or threats, and, if appropriate, residence exclusion or stay-away conditions.
   1. A Successful completion of either a nonviolent parental education class approved by the probation department or no less than one year of a child abuser’s treatment counseling program approved by the probation department. The defendant shall be ordered to begin participation in either the class or the program immediately upon the grant of probation.
   2. The terms of probation for offenders shall not be lifted until all reasonable fees due to the counseling program have been paid in full, but in no case shall probation be extended beyond the term provided in subdivision (a) of Section 1203.1. If the court finds that the defendant does not have the ability to pay the fees based on the defendant’s changed circumstances, the court may reduce or waive the fees.
3. If the offense was committed while the defendant was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the defendant shall abstain from the use of drugs or alcohol during the period of probation and shall be subject to random drug testing by his or her probation officer.
4. The court may waive any of the above minimum conditions of probation upon a finding that the condition would not be in the best interests of justice. The court shall state on the record its reasons for any waiver.

This bill, as it is written, will provide a huge influx of cash for those offering parental education classes, treatment counseling programs and require more probation officers to be hired and more business for drug testing facilities. All of these “services” provided at the cost of the accused.

Those who are familiar with our court system know that it is currently next to impossible to get a fair trial. This bill will increase the caseload on the court system and does nothing to provided added protections for children.

In short, this bill is a smoke screen – a band-aid that does nothing but rake good parents over the coals and empty their wallets. You’ve heard the fraise “As California goes, so goes the nation.” If this bill is passed, you can expect to see similar legislation passed in many more states.

Related Articles

• AB 755 Action Alert
• AB 755 Alert Supplement
• Read AB 755 – Corporal punishment
• CA: Spanking Ban
• California News Archive

In recent years we’ve heard a great deal about missing and exploited children. As any parent can testify our heart goes out to that family, when ever a child is missing. It’s your worst nightmare come true.

What if the state removes a child from their home without just cause? Without following proper investigative procedures? What if the state then takes further unfair advantage of a family by publicly charging a parent with kidnapping?

If you think it can’t happen. Think again.

As a previous foster child, who has witnessed first-hand the games social workers play with the emotions of children and their parents, I wish I could tell you it’s a rare occasion, but that would be a lie.

A quick glance on the Child Abduction Section of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s website will show the truth.

Child abduction is a serious and traumatic crime. While everyone has become aware of  frightening “stranger kidnappings,” abductions are most often carried out by people who  know the child. The District Attorney’s Office is committed to combating both types of  abductions and to protecting the custody rights of parents and legal guardians throughout  Los Angeles County.

While I certainly can sympathize with any parent who’s child is missing. One parents rights do not take precedence over the others’. This is why divorce is such a terrible thing. A child can not be split in half. In most cases, the non-custodial parent is not a threat to the well-being of the child.

Let’s focus on those cases where the child has been “kidnapped” from the state. The child has been ripped from their mothers arms, the only security he/she has ever known and  placed into foster care.

A reasonable person would argue, that the parents must have done something wrong. The state doesn’t just come in a steal a child for no apparent reason.

You are right, of course.

Government Supported Kidnapping

The state doesn’t just take a child for no reason, they take them for a much more sinister reason. Money! We aren’t talking just a few bucks here and there. We are talking about a billion dollar industry, compliments of our Federal Government.

Warehousing children has become big business over the past twenty years.

For fiscal year 1998,  Federal expenditures to States for major child welfare programs  exceeded $4.5 billion. This figure includes child welfare services, foster care,  adoption assistance, and family preservation and support, but excludes Medicaid dollars, an important source of treatment funding for children and families.

Parental Abduction

Every last child on display has been abducted by a parent, not a stranger.

It’s a perfect racket, really. Children are abducted by “caseworkers”  on a flimsy excuse such as having a “dirty house” or “educational  neglect,” then placed in foster care. The state receives money for each child  placed into the system, they are paid again when the child is moved and yet again, when that child is adopted.

The worst part is that low or modest income families are most often targeted, in courts  set-up to prevent justice from taking place. Parents are gag-ordered by the judge and  prevented from talking about their case — to “protect the  child’s  privacy.”

The parents are often forced to submit to psychological evaluations, at their own  expense — which they most likely can not afford, by psychologists who are on the  courts payroll and find in the courts favor every time.

If a family is provided legal council the attorney is often ill prepared at best,  in the courts debt at worst, and at times refuses to do even the least bit of  research on the families behalf.

Financial Ruin

A family who was barely making ends meet before the children were abducted, now finds themselves  in dire straights, putting everything on the line for that chance the court will find mercy  and return their children.

If the parents are lucky enough to have the children returned, the family is often totally destroyed. The children, traumatized by their ordeal, are unable to sleep, revert to bed-wetting  if they were potty trained, are terrified of being removed again. They often lash-out at anyone  and everyone.

Their trust in their parent has been destroyed. Their secure little world has been ruptured. They now know their parent is powerless to protect them. Most will require many years of therapy and life will never again be the same for them.

I have purposely avoided using specific case histories here. Not because they don’t exist, because they do, in the hundreds of thousands, each and every year. However, the individual stories are in many cases so outlandish as to be considered fantasy. I can assure you this is far from fantasy and is in fact, a parents worst nightmare.

You are probably wondering what you can do. You can start by questioning every story you see in the media. Ask yourself…What details have they left out? What aren’t they telling us? The media puts a slant on every story they report, often omitting vital facts of the case.

If you know someone who has lost their children to the state, be there for them. Lend them moral support. Offer to go to court with them, be a character witness and write letters.

Parents are not perfect and often make mistakes in their parenting. The vast majority are not monsters and want the same things you want for your children.

It is not a crime to be poor. Support parents rights.

The state’s decision to drop charges is not the end to this families long ordeal with justice. The controversy continues.

In August, the Jensen’s were accused by the state Division of Child and Family Services of kidnapping their 12-year-old son Parker to keep him from getting chemotherapy.

It’s doubtful we have heard the last word on this case, the Utah Legislature may consider taking up this issue in January, in the form of proposals restricting the state’s child protection agency. Something parental rights advocates have been demanding for several years.

During a rally on behalf of the Jensen family, Representative’s LaVar Christensen (R-Sandy) and Michael J.S. Thompson (R-Orem), urged those attending to get involved and help change the child welfare system when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Spreading their message of parents’ rights and responsibilities, Daren and Barbara Jensen spoke at the Dixie Republican Forum on Tuesday at the Fairway Grill in St. George.

The Jensens have received hundreds of calls and e-mails from people with similar stories. Cases like theirs occur every day but many people don’t have the resources to fight the various state agencies involved.

Mr. & Mrs. Jensen’s best advice for those fighting similar battles: “don’t get an attorney who lives or works in the district where you’re going to court” and “get a woman.”

Citation issued

Once again the Jensen’s are being targeted by the State of Utah. This time by the Division of Consumer Protection, they have cited the Parker Jensen’s family members for setting up a medical-care donation fund but failing to file proper paperwork making it legal, in violation of the state’s Charitable Solicitations Act.

The citation was issued Monday after several attempts to reach Tracy Jensen, the family member in charge of the account, were unsuccessful, division director Francine Giani said. If the matter is not settled in the next 10 days, the citation could result in fines of between $500 and $10,000 for the Jensen’s who spent the summer locked in a custody battle for their son with the state.

On Wednesday, Parker’s family members called her office to say the fund, which they said contained some $6,400, had been closed. Giani said she had not verified the amount with Zions Bank as of Wednesday afternoon.

More details on the Jensen’s can be located in the sidebar of this article. It’s apparent, at least to this author that officials in the State of Utah, have too much time on their hands. Hasn’t this family been through enough?

Please take a few moments to contact Utah Legislators and request an investigation and that parental rights protections be made part of the legislative agenda.

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Jensen Family Under Attack

Updated: September 27, 2003
By Annette M. Hall

©2003 ReliableAnswers.com

The Jensen’s find themselves back in court October 2, for a status hearing in the 3rd District Court in answer to kidnapping charges filed by the state Utah.

The family remains steadfast in their fight for their son despite being threatened with a lengthy jail sentence.

In a recent statement Mollie McDonald, Guardian Ad Litem said, “If you believed that someone else’s child was going to die without your intervention, how many of you would feel okay about walking away and doing nothing?”

Doctors continue to push for chemotherapy despite the fact that 12-year-old Parker shows no signs of cancer and his parents have chosen other, less invasive, treatment for their weary son.

In defense of her position that chemo is required for Parker, the Guardian Ad Litem, who’s job it is to advocate in the child’s best interest, has reduced the child to a statistic in which she states, “Prior to the time that chemotherapy was used to treat Ewing sarcoma and the tumor was just surgically removed 90 percent of those children died within five years.”

These parents have a child whom they love and has been terribly ill. Any parent who has ever spent a single night caring for a sick child knows the heart break and pain that comes with administrating treatment. It can be torture for the parent and the child.

Chemotherapy Controversy

According to A Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, “All chemotherapy drugs are potent. Their side effects are numerous. All drugs, poisons, radiation and trauma (such as surgery) inevitably damage and debilitate too many normal cells and organs. They undermine and destroy our immunity and our abilities to resist disease, our health and natural healing abilities.” It’s certain that the Jensen family understands this and has chosen other less controversial treatment for their beloved son.

This case could have far reaching impact on families nationwide. Now is the time for parents to speak out against overzealous state workers bent on destroying parental authority.

The sacred trust between a parent and child must not be broken, it is a vital component in any loving family.

The state of Utah would have us believe that they, and a handful of well-meaning doctors, know best; That they have the right and the power to decide this child, in fact, every child’s fate. We must take this opportunity to send a clear message that parents have the God given authority and responsibility for the care and control of our children.

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Utah Family on the Run

Updated: September 6, 2003
By Annette M. Hall

©2003 ReliableAnswers.com

Daren and Barbara Jensen agreed Friday to get treatment for Parker if a new physician assigned to diagnose their son recommends it.

The agreement was reached during a juvenile court hearing, offering only partial resolution of Daren and Barbara Jensen’s fierce custody battle with Utah child-welfare authorities regarding their 12-year-old son, Parker.

The parents still face kidnapping charges for attempting to obtain alternative treatment for their son in defiance of a Utah court order demanding the start of controversial chemotherapy sessions on Aug. 8.

Hundreds of supporters rallied Thursday at the Utah Capitol for the family fighting the state over chemotherapy for a 12-year-old boy as negotiations resumed to bring the family out of exile in Idaho.

Capitol lobbyist Gayle Ruzicka, the head of Utah’s Eagle Forum, had this to say, “Real child abuse is when the state takes children away from loving mothers and fathers.”

State Rep. LaVar Christensen, has pledged to reassess Utah child-welfare laws and assailed the power of government and “state-endorsed science.”

Rep. Mike Thompson, has also pledged his support for much needed legal reform in the area of child-welfare laws.

Two legislators will not turn the tidal wave that has swept across this nation, destroying families in it’s wake.

As parental rights organizations are gearing up for conflict across the country, it’s anyone’s guess what the outcome will be. One thing is for certain parents have had enough of our “nanny government” and are fighting back. From Maine to Oregon the battle rages on.

Those who have been harmed by overzealous “Child Protection” workers and governmental interference are urged to speak up.

Write a letter or send a fax

State groups are being formed and united in this fight against intrusive state policies, with billions of federal dollars on the line. You are urged to join forces with your state organization, then contact your representatives and demand that these illegal and immoral practices end.

While the Jensen’s case is played out in the media, hundreds of thousands of families are waging similar battles against an entrenched system bent on destruction of the family unit. Children are being harmed in record numbers as parents are financially ruined, in a seemingly endless battle to save their children.

Annette M. Hall

Where does the state end and the family begin?

Posted: August 25, 2003
By Annette M. Hall

©2003 ReliableAnswers.com

In yet another case recently reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, parents are pitted against the state.

A manhunt is underway for the parents of a 12-year-old diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a potentially fatal form of bone cancer. Authorities are following up leads in Utah, Idaho and Texas.

The crime, “Refusal of treatment.”

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the prosecutors claim the Jensen’s had refused to have their son undergo chemotherapy because it can cause growth problems and infertility.

Judge Robert S. Yeates issued a gag order in the case preventing the truth from being reported, while authorities pursue the parents who could be spending this time caring for their ill child.

The Jensen’s and their five children first sought refuge at the home of Barbara Jensen’s father, Henry West, in Pocatello, Idaho, in violation of an August 8th court order giving the state custody of the child. Dr. West is a chiropractor and alternative medicine practitioner.

The Jensens had planned to take the boy to Houston for a clinical trial for antineoplaston therapy, an alternative cancer treatment.

Utah authorities filed one count of child kidnapping on August 15th against both parents, Daren and Barbara Jensen. The charge is a first-degree felony, punishable by up to life in prison.

James Hollingsworth, a chiropractor from Boise, Idaho, described Henry West as “an expert in alternative medicine.”

“He knows a lot about homeopathy,” he said. “And he probably is one of the most brilliant chiropractors in the Western United States.”

Parents Targeted

Parents are increasingly being targeted by overzealous prosecutors and those who claim to know best how to raise and care for children.

The problem with them is their focus and outright pandering to government services and businesses at the expense of the parents themselves, which effectively prevents a parent from doing what they feel is best for their child.

Until you are a parent, it’s impossible to know how it feels to be rendered helpless. To watch your child suffer in pain and not be able to “fix it”.

Given the choice shouldn’t parents give priority to making a child’s last days happy and comfortable, instead of enduring more tests, and painful “therapies” in a cold uncaring environment of a hospital?

Does the state have to face that child who asks why? Does the state walk the floors at night in anguish? Does the state have a compelling interest in these cases?

More and more parents today don’t think so.

This is not an isolated case by far. Families are under attack and had better wake up and soon.

In everything from education to medicine, citizens are waking up to realize that they are being sold a bill a goods. Just as public education has been found wanting in quality and substance, leading many families to choose homeschooling alternatives.

Most families now realize that practicing physicians are doing just that “practicing” medicine. Alternative medical treatment is once again mainstream, to all but the most religious supporters of allopathic medicine. Alternative treatments are recognized as being simple, inexpensive, therapies.

Prominent Dr. Seeks Alternative

Dr. Lorraine Day rejected standard therapies of her breast cancer because of their destructive side effects and because those therapies often lead to death. She chose instead to rebuild her immune system using the natural, simple inexpensive therapies designed by God and available to everyone, so her body could heal itself.

Do judges have the right to play God?

The judge in this case, Robert S. Yeates, has a master’s degree in social work and a law degree from the University of Utah College of Law. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Yeates worked as a prosecutor with the Salt Lake County Attorney’s Office and served as a Division Chief with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. Judge Yeates presently serves as a member of the Utah State Sentencing Commission.

We have to ask ourselves why a judge with his background would sit on a Juvenile Court bench?

Judge Robert S. Yeates can be reached at (801) 238-7755