Debate Over Child Executions Roils Iran's Presidential Vote

By FARNAZ FASSIHI
TEHRAN, Iran -- The day before two of his young clients were to be hanged, lawyer Mohamad Mostafaei went to a Justice Ministry office here to request a stay of execution. Mr. Mostafaei's errand should have been routine, if solemn: He represents 30 of the 135 criminals under the age of 18 on Iran's death row. Instead, he says, he was detained and grilled for an hour and a half, part of Iran's widening crackdown on human-rights activists. "Anything can happen to you at any time," said Mr. Mostafaei, 34 years old. A Justice Ministry spokesman said the mid-May incident wasn't a detention, and that Mr. Mostafaei was merely asked the purpose of his visit... As Iranians prepare to elect their next president on June 12, a range of civil-liberties issues -- from juvenile executions to the freedom to blog -- have become hot topics. Ending a period of relative openness, the government has pursued a clampdown on dissidents, human-rights activists, journalists and students, the likes of which hasn't been seen here in decades. The crackdown is led by conservative lawmakers who rose to power in recent years. Analysts say Iran's regime tends to view dissent as a national-security risk and a departure from the ideals of Iran's Islamic revolution of the 1970s under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124355320443064445.html

Parents' Rights on Children's Medical Treatment in Hot Debate in U.S.

by George Bao
A federal warrant to arrest an American mother who ran away with her son to flee medical treatment has raised questions in the United States whether parents have the right on their children's medical treatment and to what degree the government can intervene in this aspect. Daniel Hauser, a 13-year-old boy in Minnesota , was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a kind of cancer doctors say is highly curable unless it is too late for the chemotherapy to work. But after only one treatment, his parents decided to stop chemotherapy. Then the government intervened. A judge ruled that Hauser's parents were neglecting for stopping their son's chemotherapy and ordered them to appear in court on Tuesday. However, on Tuesday, only Hauser's father Anthony showed up in court, while the boy's mother Colleen Hauser failed to report to the judge. Anthony Hauser told the judge that his wife and son disappeared, but he did not know where they were, nor did they tell him where they would go. The judge ruled that it was in the boy's best interests to resume medical treatment for fear that the boy would die without proper treatment. The judge also issued a warrant to arrest Colleen Hauser and ordered that the boy be placed in a foster home, which means the boy's parents would have no right to take care of their son.
http://english.cri.cn/6966/2009/05/24/1781s487276.htm

Termination of Parental Rights, Best Interests of the Child, “Last Minute” Efforts Distinguished Because of Length of Case.

In this termination of parental rights case, the Nebraska Court of Appeals finds that the mother’s progress over the 17 months following the filing of the termination motion has been consistent and substantial, and given the length of time elapsed, cannot be considered “last minute.” Therefore, upon their de novo review and under the circumstances presented by this case, they were not clearly convinced that termination of the mother’s parental rights was in the child’s best interests so they ruled that the juvenile court erred in finding that termination of parental rights was in the child’s best interests.
In re Interest of Dannie H. MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT ON APPEAL
Filed May 19, 2009. No. A-08-1007.

Data show minority juveniles arrested more often

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN Associated Press Writer
May 21, 2009
ALBANY, N.Y. - With data showing black and Hispanic juveniles in New York arrested, detained and confined to custody far more often than whites, state officials are looking for ways to reduce that disproportion. Data show minority children statewide are arrested almost twice as often as whites, are six times likelier to be detained awaiting trial and are five times likelier to be confined to custody afterward, according to New York's Division of Criminal Justice Services The disparity is larger in New York City, where the state Office of Children and Family Services said 6,984 black and 3,966 Hispanic youths were arrested in 2006, compared with 966 white juveniles.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--juvenilearrests0521may21,0,4527964.story

More on Irish Abuse of boys

"A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys."an Irish government commission, on abuse in residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

Commission to Inquire Into Irish Child Abuse Report

The Report of the Committee from late 2004 covered over 20 Irish industrial and reformatory schools. Further modules included the investigation of the career of one abuser, who was employed in a succession of national schools. In addition to these inquiries, other areas examined included the role of the Department of Education, and the funding of the schools.
http://www.childabusecommission.ie/rpt/

Irish school victims angry that abusers not named

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK – 1 hour ago
DUBLIN (AP) — The thousands of victims of Ireland's child-abuse homes spent decades just trying to get the public to believe them — but even after a mammoth investigation proved the horrors of their youth, many say they are no nearer to real justice. A nine-year probe into child abuse by Ireland's Catholic religious orders painted a damning portrait Wednesday of a system that protected child-molesting church officials while consigning generations of Ireland's poorest children to misery from the 1930s to the 1990s. The victims, now mostly in their 50s to 80s, said for all its incredible detail, the 2,600-page report didn't make public what really matters — the names of their abusers. That's because a religious order at the heart of the abuse charges — the Christian Brothers — successfully sued the investigators to keep the identities of all their abusive members secret. "I do genuinely believe that it would have been a further step towards our healing if our abusers had been named and shamed," said Christine Buckley, 62, who spent her first 18 years in a Dublin orphanage run by Sisters of Mercy nuns.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hG7UpOwvc_tTJz3KkFUHO9AUBnBAD98AI1BG1

Report reveals decades of child abuse in Irish institutions

(CNN) -- Thousands of children suffered sexual abuse, beatings, malnutrition and emotional abuse for decades in the Irish institutions where they were raised, an Irish government commission said Wednesday. Sean Ryan, chairman of the commission appointed by the Irish government, announces his findings Wednesday. Catholic clergy ran the vast majority of the reformatories and orphanages where the abuse allegedly took place, it said. There were institutions where sexual abuse was a "chronic problem" and where "floggings" that "should not have been tolerated in any institution" were "inflicted for even minor transgressions," the commission's wide-ranging report says. The report details the case of one "serial sexual and physical abuser" who "physically terrorized and sexually abused children in his classroom" in six schools over a period of 40 years -- and was "persistently protected" by church and educational authorities. The man, identified only by a pseudonym, was finally convicted of sexual abuse in the 1980s, the report says. Adults were not the only ones inflicting abuse, the report charges -- in some schools older boys harmed younger ones. Children with special needs were among the victims, the report says. Boys were far more likely to be sexually abused than girls, the report says. About half of all witnesses who testified to the commission's confidential committee said they were sexually abused. More than nine out of 10 said they were physically abused.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/20/ireland.catholic.report.abuse/index.html

Permanency applies to Foster-care children who are delinquent, too.

The Nebraska Supreme Court held that § 43-1312(3) requires a permanency hearing for every child in foster care, including delinquent children in foster care. The Nebraska Supreme Court concludes here that a permanency hearing under § 43-1312(3) applies to juveniles who are in foster care because of their delinquent behavior.
In re Interest of Spencer O., 277 Neb. 776 (2009)
Filed May 15, 2009. Nos. S-08-583, S-08-584.

Shenandoah teen admits in juvenile court his role in fatal beating of an illegal immigrant

The Associated Press
POTTSVILLE - A Shenandoah teenager admitted in Schuylkill County Juvenile Court here today that he took part in the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant last summer. Eighteen-year-old Brian Scully apologized for the July 12 fight that pitted several white Shenandoah teens against 25-year-old Luis Ramirez, who also was living the borough.President Judge William E. Baldwin found Scully delinquent and ordered him to spend 90 days in a treatment center.After that, the court will determine if Scully should spend additional time in detention. He could be kept in a detention center until he is 21. Scully was one of four charged in Ramirez's death in Shenandoah.Scully earlier had testified that he struck Ramirez and yelled racial slurs at him.Earlier this month, a jury convicted Brandon J. Piekarsky, 17, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, of simple assault. Piekarsky was acquitted of third-degree murder, and Donchak was acquitted of aggravated assault. Both also were acquitted of ethnic intimidation. They await sentencing.Colin Walsh, 17, has pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Ramirez's civil rights and is awaiting sentencing. As a result, prosecutors dropped state charges including third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/health/19well.html?_r=1&hp

Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for 13-year-old son

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minnesota judge ruled Friday that a 13-year-old cancer patient must be evaluated by a doctor to determine if the boy would benefit from restarting chemotherapy over his parents' objections.In a 58-page ruling, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been "medically neglected" by his parents, Colleen and Anthony Hauser, and was in need of child protection services.While he allowed Daniel to stay with his parents, the judge gave the Hausers until Tuesday to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist.If the evaluation shows the cancer had advanced to a point where chemotherapy and radiation would no longer help, the judge said, he would not order the boy to undergo treatment.However, he said, if chemotherapy is ordered and the family still refuses, Daniel will be placed in temporary custody.
http://www.newsrunner.com/display-article/?eUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theworldlink.com%2Farticles%2F2009%2F05%2F17%2Fnews%2Fdoc4a0e5f2a0d0db915232931.txt&eSrc=The+World+Link+-+Coos+Bay%2C+OR&eTitle=Judge+rules+family+can%27t+refuse+chemo+for+13-year-old+son

Newly signed bills boost foster parent rights

Washington State--Some foster parent organizations hope that new laws and recent controversies will bring attention to their effort to secure more rights. The measure, House Bill 1782, allows courts to consider long absences by parents when deciding whether to end their visitation rights. Foster children removed from their parents’ home for a second time should be placed with foster parents they know, according to Senate Bill 5431, signed Thursday. “You need to look at homes where the child has spent the most time, and has affection. Attachment matters,” said Malkasian, president of the Foster Care Justice Alliance. Gregoire has ordered a review of the case after a judge questioned why the state would take the girl from the only home she has known. “I’m not here to find out what’s right for the department, what’s right for the court, or what’s right for foster parents,” she said. “It’s what’s right for the child that to me is paramount.”
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/851483.html

Egg Throwing Teens Face Felony Charges

SHAWNEE, Oklahoma -- Four Shawnee teens are facing serious charges for what they thought was a harmless prank.The teens, between 18 and 19-years-old, were taken to the Pottowatomie County jail after they were caught throwing eggs at cars and they now face felony charges. They think throwing eggs is a prank, but if you damage the paint on a car how many people in this day and age can afford a paint job?" said Shawnee Police Chief Russell Frantz. It's certainly not the first time, or last Shawnee police will deal with teenage pranks. But in Oklahoma, throwing or dropping an object, even an egg, at or from a moving vehicle is against the law and punishable. "They need to be held responsible for their actions," said Chief Frantz. The four teens now each face two felony charges. Robert Butler is representing the teens and thinks the charges are excessive.
http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=10349873

Celebrity Adoptions and the Real World

Madonna’s quest to adopt a second child — a 3-year-old girl — from Malawi has once again put the celebrity in the spotlight and stirred debate about international adoptions. Save the Children (U.K.) has said that the girl Madonna wants to adopt and children like her would be better off in their home countries, and that most children in orphanages have extended family. (A man claiming to be the father of the girl, Chifundo James known as Mercy, has come forward demanding custody.) This view of international adoption is also held by Unicef. http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/celebrity-adoptions-and-the-real-world/?ref=world

Lost boys of Swat flee for their lives as fighting rages

Twenty well-behaved boys sit on the floor in two rows, quietly eating a humble lunch of flat bread, water and beans. A moment of prayer and reflection for the orphans and one of their teachers. Their hair is neatly combed and they are dressed in spotless Pakistani shalwar kamiz long shirts and baggy trousers. These boys are orphans, and they are lucky to be alive.
"Sir, it was very dangerous," explained 15-year-old Mohammad Nawaz. Last Friday, Nawaz and his friends escaped from Pakistan's Swat Valley after their orphanage ended up on the front-line of the government's war with the Taliban.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/11/orphans.swat.taliban.pakistan/index.html

Iran moves to reduces number of executions

Iran wants to reduce the number of "unnecessary executions" it carries out, a spokesman for the Islamic republic's judiciary said. "Certain measures have been sent to parliament for approval. In particular, regarding cases involving unnecessary executions. We hope to see a reduction of such sentences," IRNA quoted him as saying. Iran has executed at least 140 people this year, according to Amnesty International. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch have been especially critical of Iran's execution of minors."Iran leads all countries of the world in executing juvenile offenders," the group said in a statement last week. "Figures available from human-rights lawyers in Iran indicate that at least 130 juvenile offenders are on death row in Iran. Two juvenile offenders have already been executed this year." http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/05/10/iran.executions.death.penalty/

Minority youngsters dying weekly on Chicago's streets....WHY R WE NOT OUTRAGED?

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The Rev. Michael Pfleger has ordered the American flag at St. Sabina Church hung upside-down -- a historic sign of distress -- to symbolize the growing death toll among the city's youngsters. Alex Arellano was beaten, burned and shot in the head last week. He was 15. So far this school year, 36 children and teens have been murdered -- more than one a week -- and Pfleger is among a chorus of weary Chicagoans who say the slayings aren't getting the attention they deserve. Had 36 kids died of swine flu this year, "there would be this great influx of resources that say, 'Let's stop this, lets deal with this,' " Pfleger said. Instead, because violence is driving the epidemic, "We're hiding it. We're ignoring it. We're denying the problems," he said. Pfleger is not the first Chicagoan to express the sentiment. In 2007, after the city recorded 31 murdered children during the school year, Arne Duncan, then-CEO of public schools, expressed similar disappointment.
http://bit.ly/URTjv

Trying young teens as adults in Missouri?

Mike Hendricks’ column “Nobody’s an adult at the age of 13 or 14” (5/1, Local/National), hits the right chord in questioning the absurdity of legislative actions for immediate political necessity on juvenile justice. All around the globe, children are brutalized by poverty, abuse and war and are on death row for crimes they committed before the age of 18. There is a binding universal definition of the child, agreed by the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most comprehensive piece of legislation for the betterment of children. CRC defines “child” as anyone under the age of 18. Since 2000, the Global and Multicultural Education Center in Kansas City has focused on making the Kansas City community a place fit for children with biennial educational conferences that advance the awareness of children’s rights. The culture of violence is so embedded in our daily life that society needs to accept a share of the blame. Children learn from violent video games, movies and television programs that sex, guns and violence have the societal seal of approval.
http://blogs.kansascity.com/unfettered_letters/2009/05/trying-young-teens-as-adults.html

New fight brews over UN treaty on children's rights

NEW YORK -- A global children's rights treaty, ratified by every United Nations member except the United States and Somalia, has so alarmed its American critics, led by a Michigan congressman, that some are now pushing to add a parental rights amendment to the Constitution as a buffer against it. The result is a feisty new twist to a long-running saga over the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The nearly 20-year-old treaty has ardent supporters and opponents in the United States, and both sides agree that its chances of ratification -- while still uncertain -- are better under the Obama administration than at any point in the past.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090430/NEWS07/904300565

High Court to Look at Life Sentences for Juveniles

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will decide whether a 13-year-old convicted of rape must spend the rest of his life in prison, a new front in the court's examination of whether sentences suitable for adults may be applied to teenagers. The justices took two cases from Florida, one involving the 13-year-old and another involving a 17-year-old convicted in a home invasion, to decide whether the penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole violates the Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments. The cases, which will be argued separately, are Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/05/04/AR2009050403607.html

White teens aquitted of murder of Mexican man---WTF

Teens acquitted of murder, aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation. Many advocacy groups say that the Verdict sends "extremely dangerous" precedent. Schuylkill County prosecutors alleged the beating was racially motivated but all white PA jury thought otherwise.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/02/pa.immigrant.beating/index.html

DC Lawyer’s Remark About Wanting a Girl Spurs Parental Fitness Probe

A Washington, D.C., lawyer remarked to her doctor soon after the birth of her son that she had been hoping for a girl. Karen Piper, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of the Interior, would soon regret the words, columnist Marc Fisher writes for the Washington Post. Piper was not allowed to bring her son, Luke, home, supposedly because she had failed to bond with the boy.
“Like too many parents before her, Piper had fallen into the rigid, overlawyered maw of a child protection system that substitutes mandatory reporting for the judgment and human sensitivity medical professionals should exercise,” Fisher writes. For three days, Piper, a single mother, had to contend with lawyers, investigators and hospital workers. One social worker wanted to know the details of Luke’s conception. A psychiatric intern wanted Piper to spell "world" backward. After the probe, Piper was allowed to keep her child. Child welfare officials said they got involved after hospital officials reported concern.
http://www.abajournal.com/news/dc_lawyers_remark_about_wanting_a_boy_spurs_fitness_probe/