The International Best Interests of the Child and US Child Welfare Industry Hypocrisy
The phrase "best interests of the child" is a cornerstone of American legal jurisprudence concerning children and children's rights. Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, this fundamental concept is not limited to the United States or other common law countries.
A recent lecture by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, entitled The Best Interests of the Child - what it means and what it demands from adults, discusses this idea from a European and international human rights perspective as established in the United Nations Convent...
Pedophile Rapists win big at the Supreme Court
Today the United States Supreme Court issued the long awaited decision in the Kennedy v. Louisiana death penalty case discussed earlier this year. The Court held that the Eighth Amendment bars Louisiana from imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victim's death.
In a 5-4 decision written by Justice Kennedy, the Court found that there is a "national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape" and that "the small number of States that have enacted the death penalty for ...
One Child’s Unending Abuse – From Disney World Girl to Drifter
Relates to: Masha Allen (Mariya Nikolaevna Yashenkova)
Date: 2008-03-19
Source: wikileaks.org
Lawyer: Young Internet child porn victim should be paid up to $100 million in damages for alleged mistreatment by Pa. child services and adoption system
CHRISTOPHER WITKOWSKY and JULIAN ASSANGE (editor)
Wednesday March 19, 2008
A lawyer who represented a young girl who was adopted from Russia by a Pennsylvania man and sexually abused and exploited for five years claims the girl's new adoptive mother has physically abused and neglected her, including withholding important ...
Who MEPA?
Kudos to the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute for stepping into the minefield which is race and adoption. Their recently released report, Finding Families for African American Children: The Role of Race & Law in Adoption from Foster Care was widely reported in today's New York Times and on public radio.
The Donaldson report focuses on domestic transracial adoption and assesses its use as a policy and practice approach in meeting the needs of African American children in foster care. The findings and recommendations are endorsed by the North American Council on ...
FTIA-ROTIA-AAA and the Axis of Evil
On September 27, 2006, Families Thru International Adoption potentate Keith Wallace repeatedly testified, under oath, before the United States Congress that he "didn't have much information" about Masha Allen's adoption even though he had been "invited here today to provide the committee with all the information I have about the adoption of Mr. Mancuso."
A close comparison of Wallace's spoken and written testimony, however, reveals that he left out a lot of unqualified praise for Jeannene Smith. Here's what Wallace says in his written testimony:
FTIA's working relation...
Girl’s Little Daddy
In an apparently lighthearted attempt to bring some perspective to the multi-national adoption biz, the Indian Association for Promotion of Adoption and Child Welfare, with a little help from Ogilvy & Mather, created a series of freaky ads with blissful children cuddling needy parents. Finally, truth in advertising! Here's my favorite:
After all, why should the daddy's do all the choosing? And it certainly beats the Adoption.com special edition print, From God's Hands, To My Hands, To Yours, which I blogged about in 2004:
Madison Avenue is finally in da house. I can ...
Governing the Flesh Trade
By now almost everyone has heard about NY Governor Elliot Spitzer's participation in a high-end prostitution ring. The criminal enterprise responsible for the Emperors Club VIP was indicted in federal court under the same law which prohibits human trafficking. The Governor himself engaged in such trafficking when he ordered up a $2000/hour seven diamond rated prostitute, Kristen, from NYC for delivery to his hotel room in Washington in violation of the Mann Act.
According to the New York Times:
The official said the discussions were likely to focus not on prostitution, ...