FREMONT

FREMONT, as you go to the polls today remember this--
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other." ~~~~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Removal of a child from a country without the noncustodial parent's consent is enforceable under an international child abduction treaty

"In Abbott v. Abbott, a dispute between the American mother and British father of a 15-year-old boy that has been closely watched by family and international law practitioners, the justices, voting 6-3, resolved a split among the federal circuits over the meaning of so-called ne exeat clauses in child custody orders.

"The Convention defines 'rights of custody' to include rights relating to the care of the person of the child and, in particular, the right to determine the child's place of residence," wrote Kennedy. "Mr. Abbott's joint right to decide A.J.A.'s country of residence allows him to 'determine the child's place of residence.'"

A sidenote: "This decision is a victory for Sotomayor. "Justice Kennedy's opinion covers much the same ground as her earlier dissent [in the 2nd Circuit case, Croll v. Croll]," International law scholar Duncan Hollis of Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law stated: "It's my sense that the majority here adopts her analysis step-by-step, in terms of looking at the treaty's text, its object and purpose, the negotiating history and other foreign law decisions.""

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202458314102&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=Law.com&pt=LAWCOM%20Newswire&cn=NW_20100518&kw=International%20Abduction%20Treaty%20Trumps%20Parental%20Rights%2C%20Says%20U.S.%20Supreme%20Court#

Supreme Court Bar Life Terms for Youths Who Haven't Killed

In a 5-4 decision, the U. S. Supreme Court held that sentences of life without possibility of parole for crimes other than homicide that were committed when the offender was under the age of 18 are unconstitutional. The decision, in a Florida case involving an armed burglary conviction, stated such life sentences violated the 8th Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

For a full discussion of the case see http://topics.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/08-7412

Young Latina's arrest for doodling raises concerns about zero tolerance

Girl's arrest for doodling raises concerns about school's zero tolerance policy. Clearly, the school officials over reacted to this young girl's behavior. Her crime was just the words, ["I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)"] written on the classroom desk with a green marker. For her doodling her love for her friends, Lex was handcuffed, arrested and transported to the police precinct. The principal of the Junior High School in Forest Hills, New York, was the dunce that called the police.

HELLO, school officials PLEASE use sound judgement before acting reckless with our children!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/18/new.york.doodle.arrest/index.html?hpt=C1

Survey: More than 1 in 10 youth inmates say they were sexually abused

"More than one in 10 juvenile detainees in major U.S. facilities say they experienced some form of sexual abuse or sexual victimization while in detention, according to a report Thursday by the Department of Justice. The report's major finding is only an estimate, due to the inability to verify the information collected through questionnaires. Still, the estimated 12 percent of more than 26,000 detained juveniles reporting sexual victimization by other detainees or staff members brought a pledge of steps to address the issue."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/07/detained.youth/index.html

NE 14 yr old juvenile tried as an adult and get 60 to 60 years

"After [Goodwin] giving a statement to police ... admitted firing shots which killed a 6-year-old girl, Goodwin was charged with first degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Goodwin was 14 years 3 months of age at the time of the shooting and the district court denied his motion to transfer his case to juvenile court and his motion to suppress the statement. Goodwin was tried before a jury where his defense was that he fired the fatal shots, but that he did so without the intent to kill and was therefore guilty only of manslaughter. After the jury received a step instruction he was found guilty of second degree murder and a related weapons charge. Goodwin appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court challenging the denial of the district court of his motion to transfer, his motion to suppress, and the step instructions given to the jury. The Court affirmed his conviction and sentence of 50 to 50 years’ imprisonment on the second degree murder conviction and to a consecutive term of 10 to 10 years’ imprisonment on the weapons charge, with credit given for time served ." at 947.

State v. Goodwin, 278 Neb. 945 (2009)

Imprisoning a Child for Life for a non-homicide crime?

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Oral Agruments about the consititutionality of imprisoning juveniles for life for non-homicide crimes. An excellent editoral by the N.Y. Times questions this of U.S. Courts' practice of sentencing juveniles to life for crimes that DO NOT include murder, i.e., taking someone's life. A practice that almost all civilized nations have abandoned but yet United States has NOT. This article is a must read! What do you think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/opinion/09mon1.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Most States Fail to Protect Children's Rights in juvenile court proceedings

A report released today says that most U.S. states do not adequately protect the rights of abused and neglected children, specifically by failing to provide these children with appointed counsel to represent and protect the children's interests in juvenile court proceedings. This is truly a sad commentary on the status of chlidren's rights in America.

Twenty-nine states were given grades of C or lower. These states are:

Grade of C: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

Grade of D: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Washington.

Grade of F: Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maine and North Dakota.

As you can see, Nebraska was given a grade of C.

http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/10/most-states-fail-to-protect-childrens-rights.html

Special Needs Student beaten by Illinois police

Dolton, -- 15-year-old Marshawn Pitts was brutally beaten by a Dolton police officer, because his shirt wasnt tucked in. Pitts was a student at the Academy for Learning High School in Dolton, which claims to be a school for children with learning disabilities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGoF3h9iQ5Y

Promising Practices to Improve Latinas' Graduation Rates, a free conference call, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

Promising Practices to Improve Latinas' Graduation Rates, a free conference call, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
http://action.nwlc.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=7840&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS