TN Family Court In Need of Reform

Mother still considering deal

Woman accused of abuse, neglect may decide on plea soon

By ROBERT GAVIN, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Tuesday, July 8, 2008

TROY — A foster mother accused of grossly neglecting her malnourished 11-year-old adoptive son, slapping the boy repeatedly and forcing him to wear a diaper is still mulling a plea deal to spend 60 days behind bars.

Sharmon “Sherry” Evans, 57, will be examined for a Probation Department report before she next appears in Rensselaer Family Court on Aug. 25, Judge Linda Griffin said Monday.

Evans, of Fourth Avenue, faces up to one year in jail if convicted of child endangerment in the case, which surfaced in May. The child was removed from Evans’ care and put in a foster home, where county officials have said his condition improved.

Evans said nothing before or during her court appearance Monday. Her attorney, Joseph Ahearn, asked for the probation examination into his client. He told reporters she is still considering a plea that would include 60 days in jail, as well as three years’ probation.

She could also lose custody of the child.

At one time, Evans had as many as six foster children in the home besides the adopted boy, authorities have said. She dropped out of the foster care program after social services inspectors visited the house in December.

Ahearn pointed out that even if Evans pleads guilty to the charge, she could still get more time than recommended under the plea deal.

Her answer could be known as soon as the Aug. 25 appearance, he indicated.

“The case is open and the case remains open,” Ahearn said.

Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing grocery relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. The program began in 1994 with 34 families in Monroe, Georgia (between Atlanta and Athens), and has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of families every month across 35 states. Angel Food Ministries crosses denominational lines and has spread the good news of the gospel of Christ through salvation tracts that are placed in each food order.

Blessings by the box

Angel Food is available in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $30 per unit. Each month’s menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60. Comparison shopping has been done across the country in various communities using a wide range of retail grocery stores and has resulted in the same food items costing from between $42 and $78.

Generally, one unit of food assists in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. The food is all the same high quality one could purchase at a grocery store. There are no second-hand items, no damaged or out-dated goods, no dented cans without labels, no day-old breads and no produce that is almost too ripe.

Also offered are specialty boxes such as steaks, chicken and pork. Many participants in this bonus program appreciate the expanded choices. Additionally, there is no limit to the number of units or bonus foods an individual can receive, and there are no applications to complete or qualifications to which participants must adhere. Angel Food Ministries also participates in the U.S. Food Stamp program, using the Off-Line Food Stamp Voucher system.

It’s both a Bargain and a Blessing!

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/about/

Couple whose baby was taken by DCFS wins suit against city

By Steve Schmadeke |Chicago Tribune reporter

11:31 PM CDT, July 3, 2008

A federal jury in Chicago awarded $4.2 million Thursday to a West Side couple whose infant was taken into protective custody for more than 8 months after two Chicago detectives allegedly “lied” to state investigators, the couple’s attorney said.
The city denied that the two officers had acted improperly and argued that their actions played no role in the decision by the Department of Children and Family Services to place the 6-month-old girl in foster care, according to a Law Department spokeswoman. She said the city is disappointed with the verdict and reviewing its legal options.
On Nov. 15, 2005, the owner of an in-home day-care center called Jose L. Duran and his wife, Evelyn Torres, to report that their 6-month-old daughter was crying uncontrollably, according to the couple’s 2006 lawsuit. Hospital X-rays revealed their firstborn child had two broken arms, according to the complaint.
DCFS launched an investigation and contacted Chicago police. The suit states that the two detectives investigating the case incorrectly administered polygraph tests to the parents and then did not fully disclose the results to DCFS. Torres was given the exam in English although she requested Spanish and her attorneys argued that the police withheld other information, leading DCFS to place the child in protective custody.

Their child was returned in September 2006 after prosectors dropped their petition to declare the girl a ward of the state. Jurors deliberated for about 12 hours before returning the verdict Thursday afternoon, the couple’s attorney said. The child, now 3, was awarded $2.5 million. Her parents were awarded $850,000 as were the family’s attorneys.
sschmadeke@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-baby-lawsuit_both_04jul04,0,1155854.story

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

December 10, 1948

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).

Preamble

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly,

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11

1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/60372.htm

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/meetings/CIPLawCommitteeJun20-24.htm 

June 20 and 24
Law Committee Meeting

The Law Committee of the Court Improvement Program Work Group will meet on June 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and June 24 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (central time) at the Administrative Office of the Courts, 511 Union Street, Suite 600, Nashville TN. The Committee will review the permanent guardianship statute, statutes relating to preliminary and detention hearings in delinquency, unruly and dependency and neglect proceedings, incorporation of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the definitions of dependency and neglect.

If you would like to attend, have any questions, require an accommodation and/or have special needs because of a qualified

disability please contact Leslie Barrett Kinkead, Court Improvement Program Coordinator, at (615) 741-2687 or via email:

Leslie.Kinkead@tncourts.gov.

Deep-brain stimulation began as a treatment for movement disorders in the mid-1990s, and since then some 40,000 patients have had the physician-controlled electrodes implanted deep in their brains. But only recently have scientists begun to explore its potential as a mood-regulating treatment. Clinical trials have taken place at Emory University, the University of Toronto and the Cleveland Clinic. Perhaps 50 patients have undergone the procedure as a treatment for clinical depression. The results have been overwhelmingly positive.
Currently the trials are in their second stage, and the FDA is already reviewing the case. Because the devices themselves have been approved for years, the investigation only concerns the switch in diseases treated. “Right now it’s really at the behest of the Food and Drug Administration,” says Charles Steiner, a biomedical engineer working on the Cleveland Clinic trials. “It could be as early as the middle of next year or as late as three years from now.” Will the FDA move quickly on this?
This proposition will pay out at POP$100 per share if the FDA clears deep-brain stimulation as a treatment for clinical depression by September 30, 2008.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Monterey woman is going to prison for 12 years for abusing her 9-month-old son.

Evone Corriea Blaylock, 32, pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated child abuse in exchange for a 12-year sentence in state prison.

Investigators said the baby suffered seizures, retinal hemorrhages, subdural acute and chronic hematomas, fractured ribs and a fractured arm.

Blaylock’s six children were all removed from her home at the time of her arrest in May 2007. Five of the six were all under age 7.

——

Information from: Cookeville Herald-Citizen, http://www.herald-citizen.com/

How Sad.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/in-support-of-lisa-and-bella-smith-2

This petition is in support of returning Bella Smith, to her mother, Lisa Smith. Where she legally belongs. Children can not be stolen from their homes with out trials and proof of real harm.
Bella was removed from her home without probable cause or a warrant. There were no reports of harm against the mother. Bella was taken by a Knox County Juvenile Case Manager, Stacey Turpin. Ms. Turpin said she had a warrant and did not. She removed the child out of anger. Once the child was removed, she was given to an abusive, violent father, who had been out of Bella’s life, by his choice for more than a year. The father has committed several violent acts against the mother and other women, this is all documented in police records. The Juvenile Court has failed to provide the child with a safe environment. She has not had proper, continued medical attention or insurance. The father has testified in 3 Courts, under oath, that he does not give the child medicines prescribed by her Doctor. Yet, the Juvenile Court refuses to acknowledge this medical neglect. The guardian ad litem, Joseph Della-Rodolfa, never met or attempted to meet with Bella & Lisa. Yet he met with the father several times, he recommended to the court, Bella stay with him, based on absolutely nothing. GAL’s are to ensure what’s in the child’s best interest. Not there own or what is most convenient for them. He has failed to protect Bella also, both physically and medically.
There must be due process, fair and equal treatment, and protection of Constitutional Rights, in children’s cases. No one has attempted to reunite Bella with her Mother.
It sends a negative message to society and battered women, when the State chooses to prosecute women for rightfully protecting their children.
This child has been to Dr. and ER more than 42 in a year and a half, her bruises, marks, and scratches have all been documented and photographed. The child her self has stated several times, her “daddy whipped her butt, with the switch”. No one has done anything to protect this child, and they have allowed the father to make continuous accusations and harass Ms. Smith’s family. There has not even been an attempt to re unite Bella with her Mother.
We ask you, Judge Swann, the State of TN, the prosecutor, Leland Price, who seeks to punish Ms. Smith, to look at the facts and the law, to see the fraud that has been committed and correct it. TN has had a long, negative history in The Children’s Services area, we ask that you not allow Bella to become another statistic.
Do not continue with this case, allow Ms. Smith to regain the rightful custody of Bella, and return her home, where she can be safe and loved, and most important, where she wants to be. Little girls need their Mothers.

Regards,

Department of Justice           

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND TENNESSEE COMPANY INDICTED FOR ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT VIOLATIONS

KNOXVILLE, TN — A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee returned an 18-count indictment today charging J. Reece Roth, a Professor Emeritus at The University of Tennessee, and Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. (AGT), a Knoxville-based technology company, with conspiring to defraud the U.S. Air Force and disclose restricted U.S. military data about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or “drones,” to foreign nationals without first obtaining the required U.S. government license or approval.
The indictment was announced today by James R. Dedrick, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Patrick Rowan, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. Roth, age 70, currently resides in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is anticipated to make his initial court appearance next week before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
        Roth is charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Air Force and violate the Arms Export Control Act; 15 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act, and one count of wire fraud for defrauding the University of Tennessee. AGT is charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Air Force and violate the Arms Export Control Act and 10 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act.
        According to the indictment, between January 2004 and May 2006, Roth and AGT engaged in a conspiracy to transmit export-controlled technical data related to a restricted U.S. Air Force contract to develop plasma actuators for a munitions-type UAV, or “drone,” to one of more foreign nationals, including a citizen from the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese national was a graduate research assistant at the University of Tennessee.  The University of Tennessee was victimized by the conspirators and cooperated throughout with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led federal investigation.
          Further, according to the indictment, Roth departed for the People’s Republic of China in May 2006 and carried multiple documents, which were subject to export controls, containing technical data controlled by the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations and related to the above U.S. Air Force contract. 
The indictment also alleges that, in May 2006, Roth directed the wire transmission to an individual in China of a document containing restricted technical data controlled by the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations and related to the above contract.    
Violations of the Arms Export Control Act carry a maximum possible penalty of ten years imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine. Wire fraud carries a maximum possible penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, while conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a 250,000 fine.
        United States Attorney Russ Dedrick said, “The protection of United States technology is a continuing priority of the Department of Justice and this District.”
“Whenever restricted U.S. military data is illegally disclosed to foreign nationals, America’s security is put at risk. Today’s indictment demonstrates just how seriously we view such violations,” said Assistant Attorney General Rowan
These investigations were jointly conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Theodore and Will Mackie of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
        For additional information, please contact United States Attorney James R. Dedrick, 865-545-4167, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey E. Theodore, 865-545-4167, Assistant U.S. Attorney A. William Mackie, 865-545-4167, or Public Information Officer Sharry Dedman-Beard, 865-545-4167.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jun/11/ex-clarksville-teacher-sentenced-statutory-rape/

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — A former high school teacher has been sentenced to 120 days in jail and two years’ probation for statutory rape involving a 16-year-old student.

Judge John H. Gasaway III sentenced 32-year-old Bryan Dale Farmer on Tuesday and also fined him $1,500 for each of three counts.

Farmer is a former teacher at Northeast High School in Clarksville. He pleaded no contest in November in a deal in which the state dropped six counts of sexual battery by an authority figure in the same case and one count of the same offense in another case.

His attorney, Michael Flanagan, said at the time that Farmer did not admit to the allegations but that they felt it was the best resolution.

Last year, Farmer was sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years of probation for sexual battery by an authority figure for fondling a student at Northeast High School.

More details as they develop online and in Thursday’s News Sentinel.