Good evening, fellow lemmings -
September 26, 2001. Ruth Christine gave birth to her fifth child in
Missoula, Montana the night before last. Before the mother's pain
killers had even worn off, little Abbey Rose was seized by Montana
authorities and is now being held at an undisclosed location. Ruth was
shackled and handcuffed to the bed upon which she gave birth. Hospital
attendants who witnessed the birth reportedly wept at the spectacle.
The baby girl's condition is unknown, but Ruth is mightily worried.
"Brian (Ruth's husband) has severe allergies, for which he requires
constant medication and which little Abbey Rose might inherit. Without
the colostrum that my breast milk would have provided, I worry about my
baby's health." Colostrum, the mother's milk that is usually a baby's
first few meals, provides important immune system reinforcement. No
breast feeding. No bonding. No kidding.
Ruth was denied the opportunity to call anybody, even her lawyer, as
she was taken in chains to the hospital delivery room.
Welcome to the New World Order, where it "takes a village to raise a
child" and parents are only custodians for their own children, children
"owned" by the State.
The morning following birth, after the baby had been spirited
away,
Ruth was dragged before a judge, bound and still senseless from
medication, to
be served with a warrant for her extradition back to
Oregon on charges
that she abused her other daughters and helped her
husband to "kidnap"
them from the Oregon authorities who had pledged
to adopt them out to
others. Ruth is expected to be handed over to
Oregon within a few days.
The abuse? The kids weren't fat, like
normal American kids today. Oregon
state officials claimed the girls
were malnourished, yet just two weeks
later pronounced them fit, in
good condition and normal.
The state alleges that Brian struck Lydia as a part of her
toilet
training and she had fallen down, sustaining a cut on her
forehead and a
skull fracture. The fracture was not disclosed by
initial examinations or
a CT Scan, but a State-retained doctor
eventually expressed the opinion
that Lydia had one, nonetheless.
Oregon's Services to Children and Families (SCF) has promised to
haul
little Abbey Rose back to Oregon, to be put up for adoption,
too. I and
other Christine family lawyers, serving unpaid, are
actively opposing this
and rushing to have Brian's mother, Teri
Christine, named guardian, a role
she has provided to baby Olivia,
Ruth and Brian's fourth baby girl, since
birth. Although the three
other girls, aged 3 to 6, had lived with Teri
Christine for a year
before Brian and Ruth went on the extended road trip
that ended when
Grants Pass, Oregon officials seized their daughters,
state officials
refused to allow them to return to her, instead shuttling
them from
one Oregon foster family to another over the past year.
Only after months of legal maneuvering has Oregon finally given
up
trying to get baby Olivia taken from her grandmother and returned
to be
adopted out with her sisters. All members of the family are
Indiana residents.
Allan Coon, Josephine County (Oregon) Circuit Court judge, just
this
afternoon issued his order that the three older girls are to be
adopted
out, with the formal proceeding to terminate Ruth and Brian's
parental
rights allowed to go forward. This order followed on the
heels of a
spirited hearing before Judge Coon in Grants Pass less
than one week ago,
at which a number of local residents rallied to
protest the treatment
accorded the Christine family.
The three little girls subject to today's court order: Lydia, Miriam
and Bethany Christine
Judge Coon stated in his order that the parents forfeited their
right
to be reunified with their daughters when they allegedly
"kidnapped" the
girls at gunpoint last month, after being told by SCF
that the girls were
to be adopted out regardless of what they did.
The judge noted that the
Christine parents both faced "serious Ballot
Measure 11 offenses in the
State of Oregon" (including a mandatory
minimum sentencing law that would
mete out the same punishment as if
they had kidnapped the children of
strangers and fled across state
lines). Brian and Ruth Christine were
apprehended in Montana and have
since been held in separate jails and
denied any opportunity to
communicate with one another. Brian will be
extradited to Oregon at
the same time as Ruth.
The judge's order ruled out any possibility of a guardianship in
lieu
of a permanent adoption. Ruth's parents have recently come to
Oregon from
their home in England and are attempting to be the
adoptive parents. No
reason was given for refusing to consider
Brian's mother for adopting the
girls, which would at least unite all
four (hopefully five, now ) sisters.
The potential guardianship of baby Abbey Rose by her grandmother
in
Indiana took a severe turn for the worse when Milt Datsopoulos,
the lawyer
we retained, even after I promised him the payment he
required for filing
guardianship papers, withdrew via facsimile
message literally at the last
moment, as last weekend began, thereby
all but guaranteeing that the baby
would be born without guardianship
papers being timely filed, thereby
opening the door for Oregon to
step in and attempt to seize the baby.
Though Mr. Datsopoulos, of Missoula, Montana, had promised to help
the
Christine parents and their unborn baby several weeks ago, he
offered no
reason for his withdrawal, other than that the case was
too "complex."
Datsopoulos heads what is reputed to be the largest
law firm in Missoula.
I am prevented from filing the required
paperwork myself because I am not
admitted to practice law in the
state of Montana, as I am in Oregon,
Idaho, Washington and California
(lawyers must be separately admitted to
practice in each state in
which they practice, by passing that state's bar
exam along with all
other lawyers fresh out of law school in that state).
The fund appeal for the Christine defense costs stalled when the
World
Trade Center disaster occurred. A little over $2,000 had been
collected
at that time, barely enough to pay Datsopoulos the amount
he estimated for
filing the guardianship papers.
Even if we get the guardianship papers filed and little Abbey Rose
out
of harm's way, we still have three major pieces of litigation
ahead of us:
Ruth's criminal trial, Brian's criminal trial and the
proceeding to
terminate their parental rights. Costs are anticipated
to be substantial,
particularly if we have to hire lawyers and/or
experts. I, of course, am
admitted in Oregon and am representing the
Christines pro bono (for free),
as a public service since their
plight is such an important object lesson
in governmental bureaucracy
run amuck.
Donations may be made to the Christine Defense Fund, PO Box 1255,
Sagle, Idaho 83860. Credit card donations may be made by logging on to
http://www.paypal.com/ (joining is
free) and sending funds to steele@plainlawtalk.com with "Christine
Defense Fund" noted in the distribution directions.
The Christines, both devout Christians, welcome your prayers for
their family, as well.
-ed
Forward as you wish. Cut and paste, delete...whatever. I
don't even care if you take what I write and send it to others, claiming
that you wrote it. It's all grist for something or other.
"I didn't say it would be easy. I just said it would be the truth." -
Morpheus
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