Child removed from family because she was loved too much

WTSP Channel 10, Tampa ^ | 12-05-02 | WTSP

[RGSpincich]

Here is a link to the latest video. Be patient, it sputtered some for me.

http://www.wtsp.com/video/player.aspx?aid=847

[Nuke'm Glowing]

I'm not sure as they didn't say in the video..it looked like Tallahassee, but I'm not going to swear to it.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Thanks for the link. Please let us know if there are any updates on the news tonight, okay?

[RGSpincich]

Latest Update

Mother caused death of this child's twin sister and is probably crazy. All bets are off for reunification in my book.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I couldn't get the video link to work, but I get the picture. Remind me again why this poor kid mustn't be allowed to bond with anyone besides her mother . . . Sounds like that judge has got some serious 'splaining to do.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I really do pity poor Jeb with this massive DCF mess he inherited. He really does care, and I'm sure he's doing everything he possibly can under our socialist legal system, but nothing seems to get better.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

This is just unbelievable, and simply deplorable what this judge has done!

I've written down quite a bit of the video (thank for linking the update!) statements for you all:

Judge Gomez: "And your love keeps growing and growing and growing, only to have that door slammed in your face somewhere down the road. As far as I'm concerned, that is not a good situation."

DCF Worker: ...The mother is far away from reunification with the daughter b/c she has to undergo longterm psychotherapy and psychiatric care *before* she can get into a program that gives her a chance to get the girl back.

Responding to the DCF worker's concern that he is not considering the needs of this child, who "loves the people very much":

Judge Gomez: "...a two year old child?...I'm sure she does; there's no doubt in my mind she could love anyone she's around. I'm not going to ask a two year old what she wants."

In court, the DCF case worker stated the opinion that in this case, foster care will be detrimental, especially since family placement is available.

According to the news station, the guardian ad-litum, who is pushing for reunification of the child with the mom in this case, has been certified for 8 months, and has handled two cases, including this one.

According to a sheriff's dept. investigation, when this little girl and her twin sibling were infants, the mom was ordered by two separate physicians to keep the babies on monitors. After about 7 days, the mother decided they were not needed. She was advised against removing the monitors; that the infants were in severe need of them. As a result of her actions, one child died.

FReepers, *we* need to make this thread active again, and contact the Governor, the media, and especially Rush, O', & Hannity in round two. Thoughts?

How does a FReeper get this story noticed via the ping lists out here?

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Did you all see the other link with the reaction from Richard Wexler...the Head of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform in D.C.?

A few of his statements:

Richard Wexler: The judge's actions regarding this little girl are "child abuse by the system."

"I think that the ruling the judge made in this case is obscene." He says that removing the child, is likely to starve the child emotionally for a long, long time, the longer this goes on.

"She has experienced something that is akin to a kidnapping."

Removing her from her home (with her aunt and uncle), does nothing to help the little girl, Wexler states, and is likely to result in a child that grows up unable to love anyone.

In Wexler's opinion, Judge Gomez is unqualified to handle abuse and neglect cases, because he is "utterly unfamiliar" with child development.

[RGSpincich]

The child will rebound if she either gets back with the relatives or stays with a wonderful family and gets adopted. She absolutely should not be "reserved" any longer for return to her mother. Parental rights should be terminated.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

I've emailed all of them to no avail. It is typical. Unless they found it or have a passing fancy, they will not touch it. I thought O'Reilly would have been all over it but I guess not. This just goes to show we need a seperate court for judges trained in this area of expertise. But that would be too logical then, wouldn't it?

[Nuke'm Glowing]

I agree with you 1000%. I doubt there will ever be a reunifitcation so the aunt and uncle should be awarded custody immediately. It just shows that our society has been screwed up more by judges and social engineers than anything. Which means that "us", the voting public, shoulders 100% of the blame in all of these stories. Until politicians fear losing their jobs, they will continue to be lazy and appoint their cronies who hire the lowest qualified individuals (in most cases) for these jobs.

[GovernmentShrinker]

This thread has already been pinged to the *CPSWatch list, but an update ping might help. You also might want to post a message on the Florida freepers page -- it will appear at the top of the Latest Posts page for all Florida freepers who log in, for as long as it's the most recent message to Florida.

[GovernmentShrinker]

What amazes me about the nationwide CPS problem is that most states seem to screw up on both ends of the spectrum -- they often take children inappropriately from parents who are either completely innocent or nowhere near as bad as the foster care the kids are sent to, but they also manage to ruin the lives of kids whose parents are obviously criminally neglectful and/or abusive by stubbornly insisting that reunification must be pursued.

I seriously hope this judge doesn't have children of his own. And as for the clueless guardian ad litem, I know from my law school years (in Florida) that these positions are generally filled by law students and assorted clueless leftist activists. Among law students, the program draws mainly the loopy idealists and the students who have been unable to secure part-time employment at a law firm. Precious few of the guardian ad litems have any parenting experience. The system should be scrapped. Though "trained" social workers leave a lot to be desired, they'd be better equipped for the job, and the children are certainly important enough to society to pay a few bucks so that somebody other than a self-appointed volunteer is responsible for looking out for the children's interests during court proceedings. Retired attorneys (especially women who "retired" early to stay home with their children) would be an even better group to recruit for these very part-time roles.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Memo to self: Duh.
Memo ping'd to FL Freeper list. Thanks for flipping the switch on that one :)

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

When I ping'd the FL Freepers, I asked them for help in finding out more about Judge Frank Gomez. I stole a minute to run a quick internet search, and came upon this...

http://www.sptimes.com/News/062201/Hillsborough/Judge_picked_for_Alva.shtml

Judge picked for Alvarez vacancy

Judge Frank A. Gomez, elected to the county bench in 1994, will fill the opening left by Judge Dennis Alvarez.
By LINDA GIBSON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 22, 2001

TAMPA -- Hillsborough County Court Judge Frank A. Gomez has been chosen to fill the Circuit Court vacancy that will occur July 1 when Judge Dennis Alvarez steps down.

Gomez, 60, practiced law for 20 years before being elected to the county bench in 1994. He has presided over a domestic violence division, and worked in the criminal division, traffic court and most recently in the civil division.

Gomez was born in Tampa and served in the Navy and worked as a firefighter for 10 years before going into law. He received an undergraduate degree in 1972 from the University of South Florida and a law degree in 1974 from Florida State University.

"This is a lifelong dream," he said Thursday. "It's the greatest feeling in the world."

He said he expects he'll be assigned to preside over juvenile dependency cases. He would decide whether to remove children from their parents and put them into foster care. In some cases, he would decide whether to terminate parental rights.

Gomez will be one of 49 circuit judges in Hillsborough. They are paid $130,000 a year. They handle felony cases such as murder and robbery, as well as divorces, juvenile cases, probate and guardianship and lawsuits for more than $15,000 in damages. Each serves a term of six years.

Gomez said he was asked before his interview with Gov. Jeb Bush whether he had any skeletons in his closet. He answered that he drives his wife, who also works in the courthouse, to work every morning and drives home with her each night.

"There's not a chance in hell that I'm going to get in trouble," he said.

-- Linda Gibson can be reached at (813) 226-3382 or at lgibson@sptimes.com.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Lovely.

I sure as heck hope that JEB's silence in recent days isn't due to the fact that he appointed Judge Gomez. (sigh)


http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/eog_new/eog/library/releases/2001/june/13th_circuit-06-21-01.html
For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 21, 2001

Contact:
Elizabeth Hirst
(850) 488-5394

TALLAHASSEE - Governor Jeb Bush today announced the appointment of Judge Frank A. Gomez to the 13th Judicial Circuit Court, which serves Hillsborough County. Gomez will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge F. Dennis Alvarez.

“Judge Gomez has an excellent record of service on the bench and has worked hard throughout his distinguished career to uphold justice,” Governor Bush said. “Judge Gomez’s broad experience and dedication to his community will serve him well as he assumes this important position.”

Gomez, 60, of Tampa, is currently a Hillsborough County Court Judge, a position he has held since 1995. He is a member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, the Florida Bar and the Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Association.

Gomez received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida in 1972, and his Juris Doctorate from the Florida State University College of Law in 1974.

[Amore]

If no one's yet mentioned it here, I will point out that all new judges traditionally start out hearing juvenile cases. I cannot tell you the number of bad/idiot decisions I have seen from these newbie judges.

From what I've seen, Jeb's appointees have been a mixed bag. I think his two Fla. S. Ct. appointments are excellent, I'm less sure about the lesser courts.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

A System Out of Control, 1994

Very informative article documenting the rise of the state and federal bureaucracy that resulted in today's national mess, good intentions by Walter Mondale and others that should have been forseen. Matching funds for claims of child abuse....and threats of punishment for those who do not report any perceived abuse. Asking everyone from reporters, Doctors and teachers and child care workers to be like God, capable of reading the human heart....

*****
Before 1973, child abuse--particularly sexual abuse--was rarely reported to authorities and frequently covered up. But that year, then-Senator Mondale sponsored legislation that took a new approach. Federal matching funds became available to states that set up child abuse detection, prosecution, and prevention programs. The results were startling. From 1976 to 1993, the total yearly number of child abuse reports grew from 669,000 to over 2.9 million. During the same period, the annual number of reports of sexual abuse grew from just 21,000 to over 319,000.

 

Undoubtedly, the increasing number of reports has saved thousands of children from harm. However, there have been some rather disturbing side-effects. In 1975, 35 percent of all child abuse reports were unsubstantiated--a percentage that, although high, was perhaps understandable given the Mondale Act's emphasis on bringing even suspicions of abuse into the open. But by 1993, the percentage of unsubstantiated reports had reached 66%. And in divorce cases, many experts estimate that between 75 and 80 percent of allegations of child abuse are completely false.

The problems in California, NY and other states are worse than Florida's - though Florida has its own special problems with runaways coming for Disney and the beaches. Jeb Bush tried to bring local neighborhoods into it - private community involvement - churches, YMCA, police, etc. ( the way we USED to be) to break up the bloated and failing gov. bureaucracy and the left saw this as a threat to their system and went into full attack mode...attacking Jeb, exploiting isolated and horrendous cases and laying the break up of our families, the corruption of our culture, the out-of-control leftist gov. intrusion into our family lives and the media and emotional public that runs with each tragic story smack in the lap of Jeb Bush. Bunk. Read about Janet Reno and the lefts' exploitation of our children for their own political purposes. Mao would be pleased.