NPO Blog Archive

Commerce City, CO–This sounds like an Onion satirical piece but sadly it isn’t. The story is Parents Fight Over Which Gang Toddler Should Join from ABC 7 News in Denver:

“COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father’s arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday.
“On Saturday, Joseph Manzanares stormed into the Hollywood Video store where his girlfriend worked, threatened to kill her and knocked over several video displays and even a computer, Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval said.

“After he ran out of the store, police were called and the 19-year-old was arrested at his home

“His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.

“‘They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would ‘claim,’ Sandoval said.

“Manzanares was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, and domestic violence. He was transported to the Adams County Detention Facility.

“On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to a year of probation. The misdemeanor harassment charge was dropped.”

The full piece is here–thanks to Scott, a reader, for sending it.

Los Angeles, CA–“Sholonda” searched for 3 1/2 years for the father of her daughter. She pointed the finger at every one of the 16 men pictured–that’s sixteen different men–as the possible father of her daughter.

In this video, we see what happens with the paternity test with man #17.

To watch the video, click here or see below.

As a follow up, according to Wikipedia:

“Sholonda, a recurring guest on the Maury show, has given 18 men a paternity test for her daughter. The eighteenth man, her husband, turned out to be the father. She later appeared to confess to her husband that she cheated and that she didn’t know if he was the father of another child…”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XteyzO65DQ4&feature=related]

Maryland–“The decision was closure to six years of criminal and civil court dates. Throughout, [I] have yet to be once on the ‘losing” side of any judge or jury”s outcome. Yet the changes in the state and federal law have done nothing for my family or sons. [The] only solace is they all know – or will someday know the extraordinary efforts gone to recover the boys, and that we have never stopped thinking of them.”–Michael Shannon

According to the Associated Press story Court upholds jury award in international custody battle (4/10/08):

“Maryland’s highest court has upheld a $3 million dollar jury award in favor of an Anne Arundel County man whose two sons were illegally taken out of the country by his ex-wife and mother-in-law.

“The Court of Appeals upheld Michael Shannon’s right to seek civil damages and denied claims by Nermeen Khalifa Shannon and her mother, Afaf Khalifa, that the award was excessive.

“The court opinion says the women knowingly deprived Shannon of the love and comfort of his two children. The boys were taken to Egypt nearly seven years ago, when one was 4 and the other was less than a year old. They are believed to be living in Cairo.”

This is a nice legal victory for Jeff Leving on behalf of a father whose two sons were internationally abducted. The sons are pictured above, on a poster Shannon keeps in his home.

Leving’s press release on the court decision is excerpted below:

“A Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a jury”s decision on Wednesday, granting Michael Shannon over 3 million dollars in punitive and compensatory damages. The decision is stemming from visitation interference against Shannon”s ex-wife and mother-in-law, after they abducted their two sons to Egypt. This is a groundbreaking case and is the first successful case in the US filed over an international kidnapping and is precedent setting.

“International fathers” rights attorney Jeffery M. Leving, who is coordinating all litigation in the US and Egypt for the father, said this verdict is part of his strategy to put pressure on the mother to return the children. Leving has also retained Egyptian counsel to persuade the Egyptian court in Cairo to recognize and enforce Mr. Shannon”s custody orders entered in a US court.

Los Angeles, CA–…turns it in. According to the story Man finds $140,000, then his conscience (Los Angeles Times, 4/10/08):

“Last month, Eli Estrada (pictured) found $140,000 cash in the street on his way to work. The $20 bills were unmarked, bundled into wads of $20,000 and in a bag in the middle of Gridley Road in Cerritos. The 40-year-old Highland Park man’s first thought was: ‘I’m rich.’

“But he immediately decided to turn in his find. The money would go a long way, he thought, but keeping it would be wrong.

“‘That’s just your first reaction,’ Estrada said, ‘but it’s not yours and you feel nervous and you feel like you did something wrong, even though you didn’t.’

“It’s not that he didn’t need it.

“About six months ago, Estrada opened a landscaping and artificial-grass business, Tuff Turf, and is in debt. He said his child support payments are tough to make and he supports his mother, who moved in with him last year after she lost her house to a fumbled refinancing plan and declared bankruptcy.”

An admirable gentleman. What is probably happening regarding the child support is this–Estrada’s income has dipped because he launched his new business. However, he can’t get his child support payments lowered based on the new income. He may not have even tried, since he would have to pay for legal help and might not be successful with the downward modification.

If Estrada’s business is successful and he earns more money, he’ll immediately be hit up for more child support.

Given how hard it is for child support obligors to get downward modifications when they experience a drop in income, if Estrada’s business fails, he may well become a “deadbeat dad,” with fake child support arrearages piling up. In my recent co-authored column New LA County Campaign Against ‘Deadbeat Dads” Unfairly Targets Low-Income Fathers (Los Angeles Daily News, 3/26/08) I explained:

“According to the California Department of Child Support Services, there are four primary factors creating child support arrearages in California: ‘high child support orders established for low-income obligors’; ‘a limited number of child support orders adjusted downward’; ‘establishment of retroactive child support orders’; and ‘accrual of 10 percent interest on child support debt.’ Over a quarter of these arrears is interest.

“The report was based on a study CDCSS contracted from the Urban Institute. According to the study, ‘assuming every effort was made to increase child support collections and reduce future arrears…only a quarter of the existing debt is collectible.’

“The study found that California is particularly prone to turning dads into ‘deadbeats’–California arrearages are piling up ‘much faster’ than those in the rest of the country. With only 12% of the US” population, California”s arrearages represent 20% of the nation”s whole.”

The full Los Angeles Times story is here–thanks to Kelly, a reader, for sending it.

Texas–In the highly-publicized Roman v. Roman Texas frozen embryo case, Augusta Roman and her then-husband Randy Roman had tried for several years to have a child (and had one miscarriage) before undergoing infertility treatments. The day before the embryos were to be implanted, Randy told her that he was troubled by certain aspects of their relationship and wanted to wait to implant the embryos until they had resolved their problems. They went to counseling for six months and later divorced.

Augusta, 47, still wants to have the children, and Randy has refused. While undergoing the infertility treatments they had both signed a form which clearly stated that in the event of divorce, the embryos would not be implanted.

The original trial judge in their divorce granted Augusta custody of the frozen embryos. Randy appealed the case, and in February the Texas Court of Appeal sided with him. Augusta and her attorney Rebecca Reitz appealed the case to the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Court requested briefs but declined to hear the case.

My belief is that while it is unfortunate for Augusta Roman that she will never have a biological child, two people create a child, not one. Neither should be compelled to do so against their will.

Recently I was pleased to hear that the United States Supreme Court, like the Texas Supreme Court, has refused to hear Augusta Roman’s appeal. Their decision is here. This means that Randy is finally, finally rid of this and can move on with his life.

To learn more about the case, watch my debate with Augusta Roman and her attorney on Fox’s nationally-syndicated Morning Show with Mike and Juliet (pictured) by clicking here.

Also, see my co-authored column Texas Frozen Embryo case–In Defense of a Man’s Right to Choose (Houston Chronicle, 6/14/07, Baltimore Sun, 6/17/07).

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Randy in December–he’s a nice guy, and hardly the villain Augusta makes him out to be.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
April 21, 2008
Dr. Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Executive Director,
Fathers & Families
(617) 542-9300
nedholstein@fathersandfamilies.org
 
TEXAS POLYGAMY CASE: Authorities Ignore Expelled Boys, Need to Find and Help the Lost Boys

Boston, MA–Recent news reports about the Texas Yearning for Zion Ranch polygamist group highlight the abuse of young teenage girls who are compelled to marry older men. Yet very little attention has been paid to an equally important issue–the abuse and neglect of the group”s boys.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) removed all children under age 18  — numbering 416 children  — from the compound. Of these 416, only 27 are teenage boys. Demographics indicate there should have been about 65 teenage boys. Thus there are about 38 missing teenage boys–most of them likely expelled by sect leaders prior to the DFPS raids.

Other communities of this sect have expelled boys as young as 13 from the compound, forcing them to fend for themselves without education, friends, or adult guidance. The order is usually given by the spiritual leader of the compound, and the parents of the boys are too fearful of excommunication to object.

According to one exiled boy, now in his twenties, 70 percent of the boys in his school class were expelled.  In a polygamist society in which some men have many wives, simple math tells us that many men will have no wives at all. One way to deal with this inevitable imbalance is to expel the extra men, even if they are still boys.

As indicated by our discussions with DFPS official Chris Van Duesen, Texas apparently has no plans to locate and assist these lost boys. According to Van Duesen, the lost boys problem does not exist in Texas. He offered no explanation for the preponderance of girls in state custody.

This is an unacceptable oversight on the part of public officials whose job is to ensure the safety and welfare of children. Fathers & Families calls upon Texas authorities to address the needs of expelled boys. DFPS must search for the boys, locate them, and provide them with shelter and services.

About Fathers & Families 
Based in Boston, Fathers & Families is a non-profit advocacy organization protecting children”s right to the love and care of both parents after separation or divorce. Through education and legislative outreach programs, Fathers & Families seeks to shape public policy and change well-meaning but misguided laws, judicial traditions, and government policies that drive many loving fathers out of their children’s lives after divorce. More information on Fathers & Families and its programs is available on the organization”s website at www.fathersandfamilies.org or by calling (617) 542-9300.
 
 

Below are some recent articles and items of interest from Fathers & Families’ latest News Digest.

Tennessee takes tax refunds from parents owing child support (WVLT.com, 4/14/08)

State in search of deadbeat moms (WSMV.com, 4/14/08)

Immigrant spouse must be provided for despite divorce (The Star-Ledger, 4/14/08)

Homemakers could be big losers in divorce ruling (Tennessean, 4/15/08)

Some gay couples are having trouble obtaining divorces (Associated Press, 4/15/08)

Police nab suspect who owes $80,000 in child support (Middletown Journal, 4/16/08)

Divorce, unwed parenting costing taxpayers (Associated Press, 4/16/08)

Child Support Plan to Reduce Incarcerations (Washington Post, 4/17/08)

Hasselhoff to pay $25,000 a month to ex-wife, daughters (Associated Press, 4/17/08)

Queens mom sues bakeries for failing to garnish wages for child support (New York Daily News, 4/21/08)