Statement Regarding Masha Allen Litigation

Last week we inadvertently discovered that a Philadelphia law firm recently filed this lawsuit on behalf of Masha Allen. We hope that Masha may now finally begin the process of obtaining some measure of civil justice from the individuals and entities which were complicit in her ongoing sexual abuse and exploitation. We are, however, deeply disturbed that Masha still does not have the independent guardian she so desperately needs. Two years ago today we learned that Masha was being abused and neglected by her current caretaker. She eventually became involved with the child welfare and public health systems in both Georgia and Pennsylvania. After ...

Home Schooling and Child Welfare Law – CA Speaks (again)

Last Friday, the California Court of Appeals issued a decision legalizing home schooling. The case, Jonathan L. v. LA County DFCS, was reheard by the Court after an earlier panel declared home schooling illegal on February 28, 2008. The resulting outcry lead to a petition for rehearing bolstered by almost four pages of amicus curiae including the ACLU, Jewish Homeschoolers of Napa and Sonoma Counties, the American Center for Law & Justice, and Members of the United States Congress. What is mostly lost in the public debate about Jonathan L. is that it was brought as a child welfare and not a public education case. The family in this case had a history ...

Neglect Leads to Neglect – Adoption is a Privilege not a Right

These words, spoken by federal District Court (and former NY Family Court) Judge Richard M. Berman, ushered in the 11 year sentence he levied on impostor Judith Leekin for adoption fraud. You might remember Leekin from last year's news as the woman who lied to adopt 11 disabled children while raking in more than $1 million in government adoption subsidies. Berman castigated Leekin for engaging in "a heartless, dangerous money-driven scheme" when she used fake names and lies about the children to defraud social service agencies in New York City and New York state. Berman added, "One cannot be allowed to perpetrate fraud to subvert our adoption ...

How to Strip Search a Middle School Student

Once again public school administrators, in their infinite wisdom and finely honed reasoning that only a Ph.D. can provide, have decided to strip search a 13 year old girl in the timeless pursuit of prescription-strength ibuprofen. And once again, a United States court of appeals has determined that this is unconstitutional. According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Redding v. Safford Unified School Dist. #1, the strip search of honor student Savana Redding "was neither 'justified at its inception,' nor, as a grossly intrusive search of a middle school girl to locate pills with the potency of two over-the-counter Advil capsules, 'reasonably ...

Virtual Child Porn and Child Exploitation

Last month, in a widely criticized decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld criminal penalties for promoting virtual child pornography. The 7-2 decision in United States v. Williams, however, rightfully empowers law enforcement in the battle against the worldwide criminal networks where child pornography is freely produced, solicited and offered. What most people do not realize is that child pornography is per se illegal. Although some child pornography might fall under the legal definition of obscenity, it does not have to be analyzed under traditional First Amendment guidelines. The critical underpinning of contemporary child pornography ...

Who’s Your Mama? MTV’s TRUELIFE Adoption Drama

I could not let this Fourth of July holiday weekend slip by without a mention of MTV's new TRUELIFE drama entitled "I'm Placing my Baby for Adoption!" Thanks to the NCFA announcement supporting the show, I'm happy to bring this tidbit to a much wider audience. According to the NCFA email I received last month (there is no mention of the show on the NCFA website): The National Council For Adoption is lending a helping hand to the producers of an adoption documentary for the successful and popular MTV's True Life series. The adoption documentary will follow three or four young unwed birthmothers on video as they go through difficult and emotional ...

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 Convention on the Rights of the Child. Here are some excerpts: The idea that society ...

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