Posted on 09/17/2002 4:14:33 AM PDT by TxBec
"Great spirits have always encountered violet opposition from mediocre minds"
Albert Einstein
Patricia has a public defender, Vickie Lawrence (really is her name) at lawyer@sover.net that needs to hear from us. Even she is being railroaded into not being able to defend Patricia properly. Patricia needs a REAL lawyer the same way Karen Maple did.
There is an education fund set up for Patricia and her family at A Teacher's Closet, 67 Center Street, Rutland, VT 05701. Our goal is $500. Check or money order can be made out in any amount to 'A Teacher's Closet' with a note that it is for the Patricia O'Dell Fund. Patty Ryan, owner of A Teacher's Closet will see to it that it is added to the account. Any questions you can contact me at cwade@vermontel.com or call Patty Ryan at 802-773-1377 to verify this information. Any amount will be greatly appreciated and humbly accepted.
A special thank you goes out to the two state representatives and state senator who donated very generously to this account.
A house fire destroyed Patricia's home in Fair Haven, VT, just after Christmas in 2000 but she and her husband, Ray, have been working toward getting a mobile home onto their new 1 acre property in S. Newfane, VT. Town and school officials continue to unjustly harass them and keep putting obstacles in their way.
Patricia's children, ages 15, 14, 10 and 8 need a fresh supply of homeschooling materials. A state representative very generously donated homeschooling workbooks and supplies last spring but they have used them all up. Patricia and Ray's income is being used mainly to establish their new residence, for food and to live in motels so there is little left over for new workbooks and homeschooling materials.
I am searching for someone to help the O'Dell family get established in a new home (a mobile home simply will not accommodate this family--they really need a 4 bedroom home) on their property in S. Newfane, VT. Once their home is established I will work to get them furnishings for it.
I DO NOT GET PAID TO DO WHAT I DO FOR THESE FAMILIES! Mainly I sell off my own belongings to continue to aid these families. I do this because I believe in these people and in the U.S. Constitution. I am sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of these United States. Both Karen Maple and Patricia O'Dell are being denied their constitutional and God-given rights to raise their own children and educate them. If they are denied their rights then it is only a matter of time before my rights (and yours) will be denied.
I am not a kook! I am a college graduate, married to a wonderful husband for nearly 20 years, I have two wonderful home educated children (my 15 1/2 year old took two courses at Bennington College this summer), I graduated at the top of my class at U.S. Army basic training, I own my own publishing company and I believe strongly in our U.S. Constitution. I do not hate the 'government' because I AM the government!
I am searching for a 'real' lawyer for the Patricia's family to represent them and put a stop to this abuse of their rights. On Friday, September 13, 2002 SRS and state troopers hunted Patricia's 8 year old daughter down like some animal and chased her through the woods for a great distance--THEY DID NOT HAVE A SEARCH WARRANT TO ENTER THE PROPERTY! Patricia, herself, was thrown to the ground, cuffed and dragged away in a cruiser to the local barracks. Her hair was deliberately pulled and the officer grabbed her by the face and yelled obscenities at her. Patricia was NEVER READ HER MIRANDA RIGHTS! She was told it was not an arrest. What the hell was it then?!
I will continue to 'shine a light' on the DOE and SRS rats that are tormenting the O'Dell family until these rats scatter back into the darkness from which they came. Patricia's two youngest daughters have been held at two different foster homes in two weeks. The youngest now resides where there are two teenage boys and God only knows if those boys are supervised!
God Bless you all and please keep the O'Dell family in your prayers.
I guess Patricia O'Dell's public defender (notice I didn't use the term 'lawyer') can't take the heat so she's 'getting out of the kitchen', so to speak.
On Thursday, September 26 at 11:00 am Patricia had a meeting with Vickie Lawrence at Vickie's cushy office in downtown Bennington. Vickie informed Patricia she has petitioned the court to withdraw as Patricia's public defender. Vickie informed me she likes her occupation and office and wants to keep them. This all smacks of the Karen Maple case when Richard Gadbois stepped forward to help Karen and next we knew he, himself, was being slapped with bogus charges.
If this isn't a railroad job I don't know what else to call it, folks. The more I poke around down there in Bennington the more corruption I see within the SRS, local and state police and Judge Howard's court! Don't be surprised if I end up with cement shoes at the bottom of the moose marsh in Shaftsbury!
Patricia's three girls finally blew up at SRS officials at a supervised meeting on the same day. The visit turned into a screaming match between 14 year old Samantha, 10 year old Angie and 8 year old Elizabeth (imagine an SRS worker in a yelling match with an 8 year old!). The girls told SRS workers they hated them. SRS is calling the girls 'liars' for squealing on their 'foster parents' and for revealing the horrible treatment these girls are receiving at the hands of SRS officials.
SRS has forced all three girls back into public schools (imagine that--just in time for ADM numbers) in Bennington and Pownal. Mind you, Elizabeth has NEVER been to public school. She was ripped from her mother, separated from her sisters and thrown into a completely foreign and hostile environment. Samantha has been forced back into school at Mt. Anthony Union High School--the same school that can boast some test scores that have actually gone down in the last 3 years.
Now, for punishment Samantha has been told she will not be 'allowed' to see her mother for a week! SRS fully intends to withhold the affections of Samantha's mother, Patricia, from her and all three girls have been told they won't be able to see their mother unless they behave. SRS is using the love these girls have for their mother as a weapon against them in order to get them to conform. Sounds to me like cruel and unusual punishment.
On Monday, September 23, a SRS worker told Patricia she wasn't being charged as an 'unfit' mother and that she wasn't 'unfit'. She told Patricia she knew Patricia doesn't neglect or abuse her children. Patricia is being charged with truancy and being homeless! We all know the truancy charge is bogus but since when is it against the law to be homeless?! Sounds to me SRS is throwing crap against the wall and waiting to see what sticks!
Patricia is also being slapped with a 'contempt of court' charge for not turning over her 15 year old son to SRS--sound familiar? Don't be surprised if the court throws Patricia in jail the same way they did Karen Maple. The public schools have violated Patricia's rights all over the place, especially with regards to federal statutes (504/IDEA/ADA). The schools failed to follow many of the mandated procedures required of them. Bruce Bjornlund, hearing officer, had a major formal complaint lodged against him in the early 1980's with OCR and OSEP. According to my reliable sources Bjornlund told attendees at a state sponsored special education conference that he would never rule for a parent if a residential placement was recommended or was the issue! There is documentation to substantiate this claim. Bjornlund's wife is a former esq. for the VT DOE. Bjornlund's findings in Patricia's home study hearing were not his own. Prior to the arrival of his signed copy I received Barbara Crippen's (DOE lawyer) unsigned version. When Bornlund's copy arrived a few days later his findings were nearly word for word, verbatim, as Crippen's.
Patricia is in need of a REAL lawyer--preferably one willing to file a class action suit against the VT DOE and SRS. Patricia and her family also need help getting their mobile home onto their land in S. Newfane, Vermont. The mobile home is just down the road where it has sat since last fall when local school and police (one wanted to know why Patricia's children were NOT in school IN THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST!) officials started harassing her and drove her off her property. Patricia needs someone with the equipment to pull the mobile home onto the property and set it up. She needs a plumber to connect the water and septic systems already there. She needs a utility pole installed and the electricity attached. She needs carpenters to build an addition onto the mobile home and to build a small barn for her livestock.
The time for discussion is over. It's time for ACTION!
Not 'if', but 'when' judge Howard rules against Patricia, he will open an entire 'can of worms' for Vermont home educators. His ruling will make criminals of all who choose not to use the state's home study program. You will be forced to enroll in the state's home study program or you will be charged with truancy and your children will be taken from you. If you think I'm exaggerating, think again. I've known Patricia and her family for 3 years now. I know she is being railroaded and denied her rights. She has not neglected or abused her children. I know she DOES homeschool her children and they are making noticeable progress--no thanks to public school officials. I know she has been UNJUSTLY harassed and hounded by SRS, police and school officials. I know she was driven off her property in S. Newfane while she was working hard to establish a new home for her and her family. What little she had to start with the state officials have made sure to take that from her also. THEY DID AND CONTINUE TO DO THE SAME TO KAREN MAPLE SINCE KAREN WON HER CASE IN THE VT SUPREME COURT!
SRS and school officials don't like to lose to these poor, illiterate (products of public schooling) parents but that does not give them the right to deny these families of their Constitutional rights! SRS and school officials know they have the cover of Family Court to hide their shenanigans from the public eye. WE MUST SHINE THE LIGHT ON THESE RATS AND MAKE THEM SCATTER INTO THE DARKNESS FROM WHICH THEY CAME!
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