Saturday, January 16, 2010

Government...Using its Power...To Push Aside The Poor

You will remember Barbara Mowery of near Colville, WA. Small town...not a lot of money...easy harvesting. The department lied about her and brought up her former husband's "possible use" of marijuana against her. (She divorced the guy 30 years ago and he has been dead 20 years.) The department said it saw the light and then argued to the judge that the 3 year-old-blond-non drug affected-girl be returned to her grandmother. The CASA disagreed. The uneducated cowboy CASA won out in court. Mowery had been threatened by the department that if she did not give up the baby they would also take her 10 year-old granddaughter. I received this from Barbara today:

As you know, the Nov 2, 2009 hearing did not succeed. The state lost to CASA in bringing back my granddaughter to me and her sister who has suffered without her. We, parents, and I, called the parents attorneys over and over again to do the appeal. They agreed to file it. The order of denial was entered on December 14, 2009. I just learned that both attorneys "joined" in the appeal and did not file it on time.

Now, I am told, the father's attorney is filing for an extension. Will the extension be approved? ...or not?

This is justice in Stevens County. A child is at stake and a one-page motion for an appeal cannot be done in a 30-day time span. The attorneys stated the appeal would be filed in time and was not.

Once again, our system is failing in Stevens County and the welfare of the child is not important. When will justice prevail? I pray the legislative bills that are going to be proposed on January 21, 2010 at 3:30 PM will be important enough to place as a priority in this state.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sue the attorneys. Not that this would bring the child back. Let me do some brainstorming on this one. Exactly what is the CASA argument that so swayed the judge?
Jan Smith

Anonymous said...

Actually, doing some homework might be appropriate. If the judge and the CASA are on committees together, this violates the judges oath of office. Something sounds fishy here.
Jan Smith

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this story; don't forget, the state never asked me to testify to defend myself, never objected to the "hearsay" by CASA and their own social worker, and never at any time questioned me before the hearing to obtain "proof" of CASAs lies. My daughter, mom, later filed the "proof" of CASA's lies which could have been used to bring our granddaughter home. And don't forget that CASA hired my prior divorce attorney to represent them. I have since filed a grievance against him. We objected to the representation, but he and the judge agreed that my name could be spelled different ways and allowed the order to continue instead of dismissing the hearing. My name was spelled correctly regarding the "issue" at hand and on 75% of the petitions. Who knew about this? I had personally called the state over and over to find out if "they" would appeal. No answer.

No one will talk to me or allow visitation. The parents are very upset that their own attorneys would not file the appeal. The father's attorney told him, " The only way to get an extention approved would be under extraordinary circumstances. Would "forgetting to file" qualify? No. We had called them every week, sometimes daily, to file the appeal. I was told by the father's secretary that the appeal was in process. Not now. It's over. When will someone stop the corruption in this county? On the stand, CPS said they didn't know how I was given custody of my oldest granddaughter. CASA's attorney stating that I could have adopted her and did not, instead did a 3rd party custody. Well, that is what CPS wanted. I didn't know that at that time. I took a lot of blame that CPS should have taken. CPS gave me custody, ten years ago, and they forgot about that too? I have the paperwork. What is going on in this county? I have the disc and can prove it. We are victims in this county, plain and simple. Families are abused; post tramatic stress syndrome; the children are damaged with conditions such as "hording food," and other disorders that need not happen. Look at all of the homeless children in New York, and the orphans in Haiti. If they want children, take the ones who need homes and leave the good and decent famiies alone.

Anonymous said...

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), Letter from Birmingham City Jail