Author: Super User

“The capacity to love is a vital, rich and all-consuming function…you can find nobility and sacrifice and love wherever you may seek it out…”–Rod Serling

Hero father Manuel Jesus Cordova Soberanes gave up his attempt to come to the United States and instead turned himself over to the Border Patrol, all to save the life of a injured nine-year-old American boy. Cordova found the boy wandering in the Arizona desert after the boy’s mother was killed in a car crash on Thanksgiving Day. Cordova, who was promptly deported, said:

“I am a father of four children. For that, I stayed. I never could have left him. Never.”

Cordova and the boy are pictured. According to the Associated Press:

“The 26-year-old bricklayer was two days into his walk and about 50 miles from Tucson when he saw the boy, who had walked away from the crash…Christopher had scrapes on his leg and was dressed in shorts despite the desert cold. The boy had his dog with him and was holding a side mirror from the wrecked van.

“Neither Cordova nor Christopher spoke the other’s language, but the boy took the migrant to the edge of a canyon and showed him the accident site…

“‘I felt frustrated and sad because I couldn’t do anything for the mother,’ Cordova said. ‘And I didn’t know how to console the boy, so I just sat next to him.'”

“Cordova gave the boy the sweater he was wearing, climbed down to the van, and found chocolate and cookies to feed him.

“He then built a bonfire, and the two hunkered down. The boy slept most of the night; Cordova kept watch and tended the fire [which he hoped the Border Patrol would see]. Fourteen hours later, a group of hunters found the pair and called for help. U.S. Border Patrol agents took Cordova into custody, and Christopher was flown to a hospital in Tucson.”

The story is Illegal immigrant ‘never” thought to leave boy: Man comforted child after mom died in Arizona desert crash, officials say (Associated Press, 11/28/07), and be sure to watch the MSNBC video on the same page.

According to the story, the Mexican consulate in Nogales is “working to obtain a short-term visa for Cordova so he can come to Arizona and be recognized for his actions.” I think instead the US government should send him a legal permanent Visa and invite this hero to come to the US. I have a nine-year-old child and am grateful that, were she ever in a desperate strait, there are men like Cordova out there who are willing to make sacrifices like this in order to help a child.

The drawing above was taken from Kara Bishop’s www.postcardsfromsplitsville.com. Bishop works with Children of Divorce, a class run by Tucson, Arizona-based Divorce Recovery. The class did an art project that included “sending away” the frustrations of divorce. The website is a place where Kara says “children can share their divorce-related feelings anonymously and parents can get a new perspective on how this life-changing experience impacts their children”s lives.”

To learn more, click here. Kara can be reached at Kara@PostcardsfromSplitsville.com.

A letter from Felicia, a reader, about the domestic violence system:

Dear Glenn:

I was reading an article you wrote about Restraining Orders/Protective orders being overused in our judicial system. I wanted to share a story with you that has me really upset and I thought you might be interested.

My husband drank too much one night and we got into a nasty physical confrontation, ultimately resulting in a call to the police. He was taken to jail and charged with domestic violence. I teach Cardio kickboxing classes and when I mean we got into a fight, both of us were involved. I wasn’t a so-called “victim” and protected myself fairly well. As it turned out, my husband had more visible wounds than I did. When he was booked, the officer asked if his wife was arrested too based on his injuries.

He served four days in jail prior to me bailing him out. Since his release, he has gone to AA meetings and is seeing a counselor as well as a couples counselor with me. We are on the right track to making things better and our relationship has taken a positive turn. All this work has been done without any court orders, as my husband decided to do them on his own.

I attended his arraignment with the intention of fighting a restraining order. (I just want to note that I get nervous in court even for a traffic ticket). The commissioner asked me to step up to speak (standing about 10 ft away from my husband and near the sheriff). He said he was required to give me 2 options: file a no contact order or a peaceful contact order. Based on those 2 options, I chose the lesser of the two. I wasn’t given the option of not filing an order at all.

Once we left the courtroom, I felt coerced into filing a no contact order, whether that be a no contact or peaceful. Shouldn’t I have a right to not file one at all? Apparently, an automatic protective order/restraining order is placed regardless of the individual situation. As the “victim” in this case, why are my options limited? I spoke with the DA’s office and they backtracked and talked in circles avoiding my questions.

The state of California doesn’t give the “victim” an option of pressing charges or filing a protection order – the state will do so regardless of what the “victim” wants. Shouldn’t I have a say as to what happens?

As a result, my husband and I cannot have an argument or disagree about anything in public, and if he accidentally breaks something he will go to jail (per the protection order). This protection order makes me feel just as uncomfortable as it does for him. Each DV case is different and protection orders are not always required – but in Ca. there is no choice.

So the victim’s have rights – the right to shut up and let the court system decide what’s best for ALL women involved in domestic violence. As a woman involved in a one-time domestic violence incident, I become a victim (true sense of the word) to the court system.

I am an intelligent, educated, strong-minded woman who knows what’s best for me. As it stands, all DV cases are handled the same way, regardless of the circumstances of the incident or the background of each person involved. It seems the approach is this: women are timid, naive, helpless and don’t know any better. I consider that an insult! This may be true for some women, but not for all women and a cookie cutter approach to every DV case is not the solution. The court system is imposing its authority and taking away my rights as a woman (aka the “victim”).

Background: I’ve criticized Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (pictured) on numerous occasions, including my co-authored column When Beating up on ‘Deadbeat Dads’ is Unfair (Houston Chronicle, 1/7/07). Abbott often beats his chest during his frequent crackdowns on low-income fathers he labels “deadbeat dads.”

I get as many complaints about Abbott and the Texas Attorney General’s Office as I do about Child Support Enforcement in all other 49 states combined. To learn more about Abbott and his abuses, click here.

Apparently some custodial mothers aren’t very happy with Greg Abbott, either. The letter below from Mary is an example:

Dr. Mr. Sacks,

I found your website and was very interested in the materials posted about the Texas Attorney General’s Office. I am the custodial parent. The noncustodial parent filed for divorce 12 years ago. I am now owed approximately $27,000. On January 2, 2008, I am heading back to court (this will be the 5th time) regarding: lack of health care coverage on his part, as well as only occasionally sending in his monetary obligation (he has never showed up to any court dates).

The OAG has lost my request so many times I can”t even begin to tell you. I have heard every excuse in the book, including to go ahead and apply for welfare benefits, because they could never serve him. I paid to have him located for them and even found the job that his father found for him…

I am continuously being pushed off and cannot afford legal counsel of my own. Texas OAG is a joke……they post people on their website owing 1/3 of what I am owed…

I just want you to know that I feel bad for the dads that pay and get nothing but heartache, but as a mom, my daughter is finishing her senior year in high school and we are struggling to just get her in college. It is not fair….and Texas OAG keeps it that way…

Mary

Background: Mary Winkler–who shot her husband in the back and then refused to aid him or call 911 as he slowly bled to death for 20 minutes–walked away a free woman last summer after serving a farcically brief “sentence” for her crimes. She is currently in a custody battle with Matthew Winkler’s parents, who have been raising their three daughters for the last 20 months.

The Winklers seek to terminate Mary Winkler’s parental rights and adopt the girls. I support their position. In September Mary Winkler was granted supervised visits with her daughters–an important step towards getting custody of them. Shortly afterwards an appeals court blocked the visit after a last-minute application from the children’s paternal grandparents.

To learn more about this horrendous injustice, see my co-authored column No child custody for husband-killer Mary Winkler (World Net Daily, 9/14/07), or click here.

Court clears way for Winkler visits with children
Associated Press
11/27/07

JACKSON, Tenn. — An appeals court has removed a barrier to supervised visits between convicted killer Mary Winkler and her children.

A Carroll County judge ruled in September that Winkler could begin visits with her three young daughters, but the children”s paternal grandparents appealed that order.

The Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the visits while considering the grandparents” request.

But the appeals court ruled in Jackson on Tuesday that the lower court can go ahead with allowing Winkler”s visits while she tries to regain custody of her children.

Winkler was convicted this year of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her husband, Matthew Winkler, a minister in Selmer.