justice’s posterous

Note to the media pundits: do you have any more speculations to make about the economy? The lawyer for the ex-wife called James Kraig Kahler (city official J. Kraig Kahler), who nevertheless was being given custody and visitation rights, an "absolute monster" who was "rigid and controlling" and "emotionally abused the girls". Bail has been set at $10 million. Too late. http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-kahler-murders-lawyer-120109,0,7315787.story

Paul Martikainen aka Kristian Turunen had a history of being abusive. Nevertheless, he was given court-ordered visitation with a toddler. Why. Why why why why why why why. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091128/BREAKINGNEWS/91128014/1006/news01/Police+looking+for+dad+in+abduction Read more at http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/ Read more about fatherhood and child custody issues at the liz library

UPDATE: and, apparently, a criminal record, including aliases:  http://www.wftv.com/news/21764062/detail.html What in heck were you thinking, Judge Charles J. Roberts, giving this man visitation with a toddler? Any visitation at all. Even supervised.  Why? He's a role model?  Nurturing?  Do you think the kid needs to spend time with him?  It's doubtful.  For whose benefit was this? We've got to get off this fatherhood exaltation nonsense already. The man's got a long rap sheet.  Drugs. Dangerous. A liar. An abuser. He's got one fit parent; that ought to be enough for the State. The mother expresses her fear and concern (albeit mothers with concern about fathers generally are accorded the credibility of dried worm meal in family courts).  DCF confirms the abuse of the child. What more is there? What more could you possibly need? What could this man possibly have to offer of benefit that a 3-year-old has to have? Why can't we err (IF it's an "err") your Honor, on the side of children? If you make a mistake and deny a good man his visitation rights, really, it still won't hurt the kid.  We've got exemplary men and women who are parents fighting in the Middle East, separated for months or years from their children. Come ON, already!  Time to quit catering to the "parenting" rights of these men. http://www.wftv.com/video/21763914/index.html

UPDATE: SAFE!  Thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard. (Now, Judge, will you terminate the guy's parental rights, please?) http://www.news-press.com/article/20091201/NEWS01/91201013/1075/Missing-Cocoa-boy-found-safe-off-Sanibel-coast

"Robert J. Beiser's threats against his estranged wife started long before he assembled the weapons to kill her, according to a man who became romantically involved with Teresa Beiser as her marriage disintegrated..." http://www.oregonlive.com/tualatin/index.ssf/2009/11/post.html

"Aaron Bowman, 28, of New Roads, was booked into the Pointe Coupee Parish Prison on one count of first-degree murder, said New Roads Police Capt. Mark Munson on Saturday... An autopsy showed that one of the baby's legs was broken and he had been hit with the palm of a fist on his head, his stomach and his back... The child also had liver damage... died from internal bleeding... Bowman first told police that the child was injured while Bowman was playing with him. Bowman said he was throwing the child in the air when the child 'slipped' and fell." What nincompoop gave this man custody of a baby and a 2-year-old toddler? http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/police/70731097.html

Paternate "Curtis Lee Morris Jr., 27, remains in jail on $300,000 bond... Barry Mitchell of Shelby County Juvenile Court said Morris gained custody of the child in September from the baby's mother, Erica B. Snipes, also 27, of Memphis. Police have not been able to locate the mother... Mitchell said he could not go into detail about why Morris was given custody." http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/nov/19/dad-accused-beating-his-son-had-just-gotten-custod/  Commentary at http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/11/dad-gests-custody-this-fall-then-beats.html

"The unidentified man surrendered to Palm Bay SWAT team members at about 6 a.m. and was taken to the Palm Bay Community Hospital after appearing under the influence of an unknown substance... The woman and the children, a 14-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, managed to escape the home during the overnight hours, police said." http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091117/BREAKINGNEWS/91117002/1006/news01/Dad+arrested+after+hostage+situation+ends+in+Palm+Bay
          Lucky them that they are still alive. Note to defense-minded apologists: neither the woman nor the children were able under these circumstances to make the 911 call. Had this "event" somehow been managed, and then reported after the fact, perhaps in a family law case or in connection with the seeking of a restraining order, how seriously would you have taken it?
          And get this idiotic media statment: "Investigators said it began as a fight between Christopher Lynch and his estranged wife. They said Lynch had two guns on him at the time of the standoff." http://www.wesh.com/news/21636380/detail.html  (First the media unidentifies him -- in case it's yet again just some "dad" -- see the floridatoday.com URL -- accused wrongly of domestic violence. And then another news source describes barging into someone else's home armed with two guns as a "fight".)

"Teresa Beiser was asking for joint custody of her two children with Robert Beiser in what appeared from court documents to be an amicable dissolution of their marriage." Excellent commentary and links to the news stories at http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2009/11/mom-files-for-joint-custody-but-gets.html

"Domingo Ferreira, 53, was discovered hanging in his cell at the Curran-Frumhold Correctional Facility around 3:10 a.m.... Ferreira and his wife, Margarita Garabito, 43, both were charged this week after the death on Wednesday of Ferreira's 10-year-old daughter, Charleeni Ferreira... Charleeni had numerous old and fresh wounds and she had been sexually assaulted. She died from an infection stemming from untreated broken ribs. She also had a fractured hip that caused the fifth grader to limp. Police described her life at her Feltonville home as an "ongoing torture" at the hands of her father and stepmother..." http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20091025_Father_charged_in_death_of_abused_girl_found_dead_in_jail.html

Melissa Charbonneau had returned with her father to the marital home to collect some of her belongings, thinking Jonathan Charbonneau would be at work. http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=At+least+two+shot+on+Jewett+Street&articleId=e7be83fe-a2d6-486a-b4d9-a120cbf7dacd
http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/10/23/Mother-shot-in-murdersuicide/1256333747.html
                     An issue unaddressed by the news media is why this abusive and violent man, who also had a 7-year-old with his current wife, had "two children by a former relationship" living with him.
                     Also unaddressed is why he was not arrested and jailed based on the incident that prompted the restraining order, and why he wasn't ordered out of the marital home. Choking, drug-taking, and depression are warning signs of possible lethality. See http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/will-he-kill.html

"Two weeks before she was killed, Dawn Axsom pleaded with Judge Jose Padilla of Maricopa County Superior Court to let her leave Arizona with her son because she feared Gabriel Schwartz, the toddler's father, would harm her or their boy... Padilla denied the 26-year-old's request and ordered the pair to attend parental counseling together.   Axsom's body was found in her Peoria residence Friday. Police also found the bodies of Schwartz, 28, and Lisa Braden, 56, Axsom's mother." http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/10/19/20091019peomurder1020.html This judge should be removed from the bench.  Also see liznotes at thelizlibrary.org on these misguided fatherhood exaltation, joint custody and anti-relocation laws.