|
Citizens Join Victims' Christmas Mourning: What is Next? YOU
Decide.
(News for 12/28/03)
Summary: Dozens of
victims and other citizens fliered the neighborhoods of errant
officials in Salt Lake and Davis counties from 10:00 AM to
5:30 PM on Christmas Day. Officials visited were Sen. Patrice
Arent (D), Sen. Paula Julander (D), Rep. Scott Daniels (D),
Rep. Pat Jones (D), Rep. David Litvack (D), Rep. Roz McGee
(D), and Sen. Dan Eastman (R).
Topics:
1. Innocent Victims Wish
Neighbors a Happy Christmas
2. Which Officials Were Visited
& Why?
3. Republican Party Promotes
Event: Officials Run for Cover
4. Democrats
Flounder for Words
5. What Happens Next? It is Up
to You!
1. Innocent Victims Wish
Neighbors a Happy Christmas
Two dozen victims and other
citizens gathered at 10 AM at the Independence Square parking
lot in Murray. Others joined up with the group as it moved
along its pre-determined route.
The specialized fliers wished neighbors a happy Christmas on
behalf of families who no longer have their children. They urged
these neighbors to cherish and enjoy the day with their families and
children. They also implored them to (after their celebrations
were over) contact their official so innocent families
could enjoy Christmas 2004 with their children. Attached to
each flier was a Christmas candy starlight mint. See a
sample
flier for Sen. Patrice Arent’s neighborhood.
Fliering went well beyond the
noon ending time — with some continuing until 5:30 PM.
Participants came from diverse backgrounds: single mothers
to two-parent families, Republicans and Democrats to
Libertarians and independents. Many victims did not attend,
citing the fear of retaliation.
We want all those who
participated to know that we received many expressions of
heartfelt gratitude from victims. They appreciated your
sacrifice. One participant who had been battered by her
husband, and then again by DCFS, remarked that this was the
best Christmas she had ever had since she lost her children 14
years ago.
Top
2. Which Officials Were Visited
& Why?
The following officials were
visited and fliered: Sen. Patrice Arent (D), Rep. Pat Jones
(D), Sen. Paula Julander (D), Rep. Scott Daniels (D), Rep.
David Litvack (D), Rep. Roz McGee (D), and Sen. Dan Eastman
(R). The chart below offers a few lowlights of
these officials’ horrendous records.
Legend:
|
L=
Voted or acted against families and justice |
AWOL
= Absent without (citizens') leave |
|
4=
voted correctly |
n/a
= Not applicable
(either not yet in office or the bill did not reach that
house) |
| |
Arent |
Daniels |
Eastman |
Jones |
Julander |
Litvack |
McGee |
Voted to allow
DCFS to continue to break into homes, tear children from
their parents, and destroy families based upon
unsubstantiated allegations and without a search warrant.
(See summary of
HB 295, 2002 session) |
L |
L |
AWOL |
L |
L |
L |
n/a |
Voted to
charge parents with child abuse who swat or spank their
children.
(See summary of
HB 387, 2001 session) |
L |
L |
4 |
L |
L |
L |
n/a |
Voted to
continue to grant immunity to state child welfare
employees who commit fraud, malice, and perjury.
(See summary of
HB 28, 2002 session) |
4 |
AWOL |
AWOL |
4 |
L |
4 |
n/a |
Voted to allow
judges and unelected court commissioners to commit and
incarcerate citizens for increasingly vague and nebulous
reasons. Once committed, parental rights are almost
certainly in jeopardy.
(See summary of
SB 27, 2003 session) |
L |
L |
L |
L |
L |
L |
L |
Voted to
increase the penalty against parents who refuse to
recognize intrusive education regulations, to grant
immunity to government employees who abuse their
authority, and to harass families by establishing a Big
Brother tracking system of student truancies, citations,
and penalties.
(See summary of
HB 320 S1, 1998 session) |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
Voted to
continue to allow parents to be charged with abuse if they
refuse to administer medications — including mind-altering
drugs.
(See summary of
HB 170, 2001 session) |
L |
L |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
| |
Arent |
Daniels |
Eastman |
Jones |
Julander |
Litvack |
McGee |
Voted to
permit unqualified government school employees and child
welfare employees to practice psychiatry — strong-arming
parents to put their children on mind-altering drugs.
(See summary of
HB 123 S4, 2002 session) |
4 |
L |
4 |
4 |
L |
L |
4 |
Voted to force
Utah courts to limit the damages that are awarded to
innocent victims who are abused (to include death) by
government agencies or employees.
(See summary of
SB 225, 2003 session) |
L |
4 |
L |
L |
L |
4 |
L |
Voted to
attack and harass home school and private school families
by forcing them to report to, and cater to, the whims of
state bureaucrats.
(See summary of
HB 76, 2003 session) |
L |
L |
4 |
L |
L |
L |
L |
Voted to
violate children and families by administering intrusive
surveys to school children without prior, written parental
permission.
(See summary of
SB 37, 2000 session) |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
Voted to
violate children and families by administering intrusive
surveys to school children without prior, written parental
notice or permission.
(See summary of
HB 49, 1999 session) |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
4 |
n/a |
n/a |
Voted to
attack and harass home and private school families by
forcing them to report to, and cater to, the whims of
state bureaucrats.
(See summary of
HB 85, 1999 session) |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
| |
Arent |
Daniels |
Eastman |
Jones |
Julander |
Litvack |
McGee |
Voted for
unelected bureaucrats to confiscate property without a
trial by jury, a conviction of a crime, or even the review
of a judge.
(See summary of
HB 38, 1997 session) |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
Voted to
confirm radical confiscation zealot, Wasatch County
Attorney Derek Pullan, to the Utah Fourth District Court.
Pullan is a leading advocate of confiscating property
without due process.
(See summary of
Derek Pullan Confirmation, Interim Actions) |
L |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
Voted to allow
police to seize and impound the cars of citizens who fail
to immediately show valid identification.
(See summary of
HB 115, 1999 session) |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
Voted to deny
any financial reimbursement for innocent people who must
legally defend themselves in property confiscation cases.
(See summary of
HB 173, 2000 session) |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
n/a |
Voted against
reducing state funding for agencies in violation of state
law.
(See summary of
SB 147, 2002 session) |
L |
L |
4 |
L |
L |
L |
n/a |
Voted to
punish thoughts and segregate victims by creating enhanced
penalties for crimes aimed at only certain groups and
classes of people.
(See summary of
HB 85, 2003 session) |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
L |
n/a |
L |
L |
| Failed to take
meaningful action to further the cause of innocent
families and justice, while holding a position as a
partisan legislative leader, or a member of the child
welfare, health & human services, law enforcement &
criminal justice, or judiciary committees. |
L |
L |
L |
L |
L |
L |
L |
| Failed to take
meaningful action to further the cause of innocent
families and justice, while touting their
affiliation/association with one or more child welfare or
family organizations. |
L |
L |
n/a |
L |
L |
L |
L |
| |
Arent |
Daniels |
Eastman |
Jones |
Julander |
Litvack |
McGee |
See our
Elected Official Contact Information page for more
information on these officials.
Top
3. Republican Party Promotes
Event: Officials Run for Cover
Officials at the Utah State
Republican Party threw a fit when they received word of our
event. According to the Deseret News, executive
director Chris Bleak stated that,
"…he notified GOP state
senators, House members, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and
Gov. Olene Walker's office, with the hope that Shurtleff and
Walker will give those handling Division of Child and Family
Services cases ‘a warning’ that they may not want to be home
between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. — the time posted on the
Accountability Utah Web site for the home visits."
Source: "Yule
protest plan assailed," Bob Bernick Jr., Deseret News,
Dec. 24, 2003.
AU appreciates this
endorsement and trusts that most of these officials were
cognizant of the possibility of receiving a knock at their
door. Bleak went on to state:
"I'm not notifying Democratic
(legislators). My guess is this group will be visiting"
Republicans."
This public forecast was also
timely, as deserving legislators from the Democrat party were
particularly unprepared for the visits we had planned.
Perhaps the party holding over 2/3 of the seats in the
legislature is beginning to recognize its responsibility and
failure to perform on this issue?
Finally, Bleak offered up
this Flounders Quote:
"This is an asinine move.
We ask enough of our public officials. They should get a day,
like Christmas Day, off... I'm sure our legislators will be
glad to make an appointment to meet with Accountability Utah
on Dec. 26 or some other appropriate day. Maybe DCFS makes
some mistakes. But there are certainly times where it is
appropriate for the state to step in — and the Legislature has
to draw up those guidelines."
Hundreds of requests for
appointments and action have been ignored by Gov. Walker, AG
Shurtleff and legislators, and officials have had ample time
to pass utter nonsense during "emergency" special sessions but
no time for innocent families. Prior to our Christmas
Day event, it was unlikely that any of them would have been
extremely anxious to meet with those victims, or give them
anything other than empty promises. But, of all of the
mumbo jumbo, Bleak did make one accurate point: The
legislature has to draw up those guidelines. And that is
precisely why they will get no mercy until they restore
justice.
Top
4. Democrats Flounder for Words
The Flounder Quotes
were bursting our nets. Here are a few examples:
"I have been helping. I don’t
know why you are picking on me." — Sen. Patrice Arent,
in response to the citizens who handed her a flier. Of
all the officials fliered on Christmas Day, Arent has, by far,
the worst record against families and due process.
See her record above.
"I've always tried to balance
rights of parents and rights of children." — Sen. Patrice Arent to the
Salt Lake Tribune.
Oh, but it gets better. As evidence, Arent cited
her monumental bill to allow asthmatic children to carry
inhalers with parental and physician consent. Hmmm.
Which would a child prefer more on Christmas Day: his/her
innocent family or his/her inhaler?
"Today’s a special day for
everybody, and I think it’s unfortunate that they would use
Christmas morning to make a political statement that doesn’t
make any sense to me." — Rep. Pat Jones to KSL Channel
5. Of course she does not understand. Her family
has not been wrongfully terminated by the state. There
is a difference between her Christmas morning and the
Christmas mourning of the victims standing 3-feet away from
her.
"If I hadn't seen TV cameras,
I'd have thought it was a neighbor coming to give me a
Christmas gift." — Rep. Roz McGee to the
Salt Lake Tribune. Oh, but it was.
In the coming weeks, we will
also highlight a very revealing discussion several
participants had with Republican Senator Dan Eastman.
Note on the Press:
The Tribune article cited above contained many factual
inaccuracies. The picture caption, for instance, listed
the wrong individuals and inaccurately reported that AU is a
new parental rights organization. As other examples,
several times 20 fliers were distributed in Arent's district,
and much more than a "dozen or so" citizens participated.
Also, the Jensen's are not AU's "cause celebre," but one of
many examples of the lack of due process for families.
In addition, the press failed to report about the fact that
press people were the most intrusive element of the day,
and after swarming a house and some neighbors we were about to
visit, they were told to leave. The
Deseret News article was, while not without problems, more
reliable in this instance.
Top
5. What Happens Next? It is Up
to You!
Some citizens have suggested
that, if our Christmas Day event does not result in the return
of these children to their families and the restoration of due
process protections for innocent citizens, we should consider
other activities on different holidays.
Though we can appreciate
their excitement for these activities, we would prefer to see
the citizenry step up the pace between now and April 11, 2004.
It is not enough that legislators supposedly file 50 bills on
this subject. Each of those bills will require citizen
man-hours to ensure that they do not pass unless they are true
advances.
In the end, it is not good
enough to apply due process protections to future child
welfare cases. Those innocent families who have also been violated
in the past must have redress. Until their situations are
resolved, there will be no end to the effort.
Therefore, Accountability Utah
issues the challenge that citizens press their officials to
give these families their day in an open court, tried by a
jury of their own peers, and judged according to just, humane
standards. Let’s see if we can get these children back in time
to enjoy some chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts.
For more information, see the
Parental
& Family Rights (Due Process) section of our Issues &
Ideas page.
Top
If you have comments or
suggestions, please email us at
info@accountabilityutah.org.
|
.jpg)