The Kansas Court of Appeals found,
"If this is a criminal contempt, then the court failed to afford V.R. sufficient due process.
Interestingly, the State now contends that the contempt proceedings are to be regarded as criminal in nature and the district court properly imposed a punitive sanction for indirect criminal contempt. This change of position by the State cannot be ignored.
Even if we view this as a criminal contempt action, we must likewise vacate the sentence because the court failed to afford V.R. due process."
"Because the court gave the contemnor no way to purge herself of contempt, we hold that sentence to be wholly punitive. The court failed to give the contemnor "the keys to the jail." The court had no authority to impose a criminal contempt sentence in a civil contempt proceeding.
Therefore, we vacate the penalty."
Who jailed this mother without due process?
Sedgwick County Juvenile Judge James Burgess
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83012727/KS-Court-of-Appeals-Vacates-the-Criminal-Contempt-Charges-by-Nola-Foulston-and-Judge-James-Burgess#fullscreen
I read that opinion. A very big problem with it is this: it was written in such a way that one almost has to be an English major in order to make sense of it. It could have been much more clearly written, so that in the future, all others in similar positions and experiencing similar temptations to abuse legal vehicles might understand the limitations of their powers. Also, since it directly involved a parent, who may or may not be a lawyer or an English major, it would be nice if that order were rewritten, so as to explain the entire situation, along with future expectations, to that parent. When is SRS going into receivership?
ReplyDeleteIt's about time these lawless Judges and District Attorneys get exposed in Sedgwick County. They believe they are the law and not responsible for interpreting and enforcing laws. They continually violate the U.S. Constituional rights of individuals in their courts and "due process" is a phrase that doesn't mean what the constitution says and doesn't apply to these Narcissists who are only interested in their "Power and Control" over other people (Judges and DA's Office). The ruling noted here is only a sample of what they get by with and exposes only one of the Criminal Acts they commit on a daily basis. Thanks goodness we have appeal courts yet and they aren't corrupted like most of our Judicial System in Kansas. This county and others in our state need to be thoroughly investigated, expose their crimes and lawlessness, prosecuted and sentenced like anyone else who breaks our laws. They are not immune or exempt from any of our laws as many of them believe and express!
ReplyDeleteHow many of these parents who get targeted in southern Kansas have graduated from high school or gone to college? What is the average income bracket among these families? Is it possible that SRS targets lower income families who cannot afford adequate representation in court? Are there any higher income or better connected families who actually do abuse their children but do not get prosecuted? It's all beginning to sound like a problem for the ACLU.............
ReplyDeleteThere are so many judges in our system that have been on the bench for so long...the begin to believe that they are above the law. It seems to me that VR was a victim of such a thing. Thank God that VR had the sense to appeal this case. What is our world coming to? Our fore fathers are turning over in their graves. Justice system...where the %*## was the justice here?
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