Victories for 2 Mothers in 1 Week!
Other News; Lawsuit Update
Two victories in the U.S. this week!
Women united to express outrage over Elizabeth’s and Crysta’s cases and it made a huge difference!
ELIZABETH
A victory in Elizabeth’s case followed calls and emails to San Diego DA Summer Stephan. Coalitionists asked her to dismiss the five bogus felony charges her “Family Protection” unit had charged her with.
Elizabeth has accepted a plea deal of the dismissal of four of the five felonies she was charged with. Only one count of abduction/custodial interference charge remains and will be reduced to a misdemeanor after Elizabeth attends “rehab” for 4 months and completes probation of three years.
This is a victory, but not a total success. DA Stephan should have dismissed all of the unwarranted felony charges.
Elizabeth will be on probation for many years with a felony for abduction on her record. This will impact her ability to find employment and make it look like she committed a terrible crime.
Also, it is unclear why the “rehab” condition was imposed. The father had alleged drug abuse by Elizabeth in Family Court to portray her as a danger to her kids in order to get custody. For the DA to use an unproven allegation made in Family Court by a man who has been recently arrested for domestic violence perpetrated on her is further evidence of collusion between DA’s and judges in oppressing women.
Worse, these conditions will likely be used by the Family Court judge, Judge Jose Castillo, to justify keeping custody with the father and Elizabeth on supervised visits—which was the goal of this entire FRA-concocted scheme in the first place.
The fact is, Elizabeth should never have been arrested, jailed or charged with any felonies. She had been wrongly deprived of custody and should have been able to see her kids, which a minimal investigation by law enforcement or the DA would have confirmed.
This case fits with the gendered pattern and practice of systematic oppression of women in their role as mothers. There isn’t a snowball’s chance police would have arrested a father for having taken his children from what used to be his home for a few hours, much less of a DA prosecuting and jailing him without bail. Even when fathers have documented histories of DV or child abuse, police just tell mothers they don’t get involved in custody cases and to go back to Family Court.
Elizabeth will be sentenced on July 22nd and released from prison. She will only be able to see her children supervised.
CRYSTA
After international publicity about Crysta’s case and the Coalition’s campaign to contact Family Court Judge Jefferey Cashe, the father’s sole custody was revoked.
However, this is also only a partial victory. Cashe gave temporary custody to guardians, with the rapist father and Crysta getting alternating weekends until a custody hearing on July 15th.
Incredibly, Cashe is still forcing the now 16 year-old to visit unsupervised weekends with the man she has reported raped her and for which there is medical evidence.
There is no legal or moral rationale which supports Judge Cashe’s decision. He should should immediately return custody to Crysta and protect the girl.
There does not need to be yet another custody hearing. The fact that the father raped Crysta when she was 16 makes him automatically unqualified for custody or visitation; and the strong evidence he raped his daughter should be enough to give custody to Crysta.
Why won’t judges to do the obvious and allow a teenager live with her mother where she feels safe and wants? Because it goes against the Old Boy Network [OBN] agenda to keep men entitled and empowered in the family. In practice, men still own children until they are 18.
GOING FORWARD
In Elizabeth’s San Diego case, there may still be a protest due to the fact she is still a felon and does not have her kids back. There are other mothers who have had their children given to abusive fathers who want to rally to raise awareness about the systemic sexism in Family Court.
If you’d like to join a protest in San Diego or L.A., email womenscoalitionintl@gmail.com. We will be doing protests in other places soon too.
In Crysta’s Louisiana case, you can still contact Judge Cashe if you want to give him a piece of your mind for continuing to endanger Crysta’s daughter by making her visit the rapist. He should immediately grant sole custody to Crysta and prohibit contact with the rapist until she is 18.
Barring that unlikely reversal, the custody hearing will be held on July 15th at the Tangipahoa Parrish Family Court. [If anyone knows the exact time, address, courtroom and whether zoom is available, please put in the comments.]
Big thanks to everyone who’s participated in our campaigns!
IN OTHER NEWS
POLICE CHIEF JAILED FOR DEPRIVING MOM OF RIGHTS
As the Women’s Coalition has been exposing, law enforcement often colludes in the empowering of fathers to take and abuse children (not mothers).
In Missouri, a former Police Chief was sentenced this month in Federal Court to nine months in jail for using excessive force and “deprivation of rights under the color of law (by a government official)”.
Chief Tragesser had gone to the mother’s house with the father’s mother and said there was a court order saying the children must go with the grandmother. When he didn’t produce the court order, the mother refused. He knocked her around, handcuffed her, put her in the police car and told her she couldn’t get out until she made her kids go with the paternal grandmother.
After 90 minutes in the back of the police car, the mother relented. She did not see her children at all for over four months.
The media does not go into the Family Court case, but Trassager likely did not act of his own accord. Regardless, the judge allowed the father to keep the kids away from the mother after that.
You may be thinking, “I was deprived of my civil rights under color of law (by a judge); maybe the Feds will help me?” But Feds never get involved in custody cases and rarely hold judges accountable. This was just a small-town police officer abusing his power.
LAWSUIT UPDATE
Women are being deprived of their civil and human rights under the color of law every day in family courts around the country and world. The Women’s Coalition will be filing a Federal lawsuit on behalf of mothers who’ve had their rights violated by judges unjustly giving custody to abusive ex-husbands and partners.
We have over 200 mothers in California so far, over 400 in other states and over 100 international. Presently, cases are being incorporated into the lawsuit, a big job.
If you are a mother who has lost custody or parenting time to an abusive ex and would like to join in the lawsuit, please fill out the relevant form.
CALIFORNIA
Class members: If you are a mother who lost custody or visitation in a California Family Court, please fill out this brief form. It asks just for your name, email address and location of case.
Class representatives: If you are interested in being a class representative, which requires documentation of your case, please fill out this longer form. [Note: if you fill this one out, don’t fill out the Class Member form.]
OTHER U.S. STATES
If you have a Family Court case in another state in the U.S. and are interested in participating, please fill out this brief form. It asks just for your name, email address and location of case.
OTHER COUNTRIES
If you have a Family Court case in another country and are interested in participating, please fill out this brief form. It asks just for your name, email address and location of case.
Join The Women’s Coalition.
Donations are also much appreciated.
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This post is taking away MY breath.
I canNOT even finish ... ... its reading through ONE time.
WHAT THE FUCK CENTURY ... ... IS THIS ONE ANYHOW ?
The GILEAD - NESS and the PATRIARCHY and the BLATANT SEXISM
by 21st Century American men and their sycophantic " jurists "
JUST N E A R L Y BREAKS me.
" Society, including judges, civil court judges, quickly and slickly conclude that there’re only three reasons a mother loses her kids: she’s a whore or she’s crazy --or she’s both. Ever."
p5, Mother - Fucking: the Saga of One Fucked Mother
"If you are a mother who has lost custody or parenting time to an abusive ex ...."
Please read the Istanbul convention of the European Council of Human Rights esspecially Art.31. According to GREVIO, European Council of Human Rights and UN (in CEDAW) it is a form of female discrimination.