Cocaine and kids? No problem, says judge.

If you’ve never spent time in the family court system, God bless you. But those of you who have know a lot of mind-blowing cases move in and out of those hallowed halls of justice every day. One of particular interest to me comes via Jezebel, about a NC Dad who “lost his job for doing coke” and who is “currently awaiting trial for dealing.” David Edward Kennedy has been arrested and confessed to dealing drugs, and yet his lawyer – and a judge – argue that he should still have visitation with his kids.

According to NBC affiliate WCNC, Kennedy was indicted by a federal grand jury on cocaine trafficking charges, and immediately afterwards the unnamed mother in the case “went to court seeking emergency custody.” In response, “Judge Charlotte Brown said no emergency existed and declined to change the custody arrangement.” Continue reading »

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Taking a child from a parent should be considered a last resort.

Officials call his mother’s inability to reduce his weight medical neglect and placed an Ohio third grader in foster care.

As the Huffington Post reports, the boy weighs more than 200 pounds because his mom wasn’t doing enough to control his weight. However, lawyers for his mom say his medical problems do not yet pose imminent danger and taking him away from her is an overreaction.

The case is the first state officials can recall of a child being put in foster care strictly for a weight-related issue. But it’s a hot topic lately. I wrote about it a while back in a post called Kid Is Extremely Obese, Should Mom and Dad Lose Custody? Continue reading »

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Who's to blame?

I used to watch that show – what’s it called? – with the mean lady that yells a lot from The Biggest Loser? Jillian? So yeah, I’d watch the show where she goes into people’s houses and whips ‘em into shape. And y’all, some of the crap people feed their children… From the time they’re toddlers, these kids are guzzling soda and fast food at least once a day and often more than that.

Now, I’ll admit to wheeling into the drive-thru of the golden arches a time or two, because it’s cheap and easy and Violet loves french fries. Who doesn’t? Not liking french fries is un-American, I say. Which is ironic, considering the french part of the fries.

But I digress. The question is this: should parents of extremely obese children lose custody for not controlling their kids’ weight? Is letting a kid get that fat a form of neglect? Continue reading »

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What happens when a surrogate mother changes her mind about giving you the baby you planned to raise?

Imagine: you’ve had six miscarriages in an attempt to have your first child.  You find a surrogate who is willing to carry your child for £10,000 in expenses.  Then half-way through the pregnancy, the surrogate decides she’s going to keep your baby.

Shockingly awful, no?  And that’s not where it ends.  A judge supports the surrogate’s decision to keep the baby because she is the biological mother of the child, and then the court orders you and your husband to pay the woman who stole your child £500/month in child support – even though you’ll never see the baby.

So is the court wrong here?  Not necessarily.  Here’s why: Continue reading »

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Does Skype equal a real visit?

A judge in Britain just told a dad to deal with his kids moving to Australia with their mom by keeping in touch via Skype.

Having your kids move halfway around the world and being left with nothing but digital video calls to keep in touch with them seems pretty extreme. It’s easy to see why this case went through so many rounds: the mom desperately wants to move to Australia, and the dad just as desperately wants to keep his kids close.

I admit I’m surprised by the outcome. I wouldn’t have thought phone calls would be an acceptable stand-in for physical visitation time. The judge isn’t just making this up as he goes along, though. Digital visitation is becoming an increasingly common part of custody arrangements.

Continue reading »

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Charlie Sheen: Breaking Down

Brooke Mueller has plans to enter Charlie Sheen’s bizarre online rants into evidence in their custody battle for twins Bob and Max.  According to Radar Online, “Mueller does not want Sheen to see their twin boys unsupervised.”  Who can blame her?

In Sunday’s webcast of “Sheen’s Korner,” he talked about cutting the throats of children.  (Not his children, but rather the children of his imaginary detractors.  What a relief.)  A source close to Mueller says, ”She thinks Charlie is spiraling out of control, and Brooke doesn’t want the boys to see Charlie unsupervised at this point.  Brooke was disturbed at comments Charlie made about cutting the throats of children, and the group of enablers that she believes is currently supporting her soon-to-be ex-hubby.” Continue reading »

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The show doesn't always have to go on.

I married fairly young, by today’s standards, anyway.  I met my ex-husband in college.  He was my professor.  (Cue shocked gasps and knowing giggles.)  He’s 12 years older than me and because of that, for the bulk of our relationship, I tried to please him.  He was more mature and experienced than I was, so when it came to decision-making, I always took his input very seriously, even though something always felt a bit off about our partnership.  I knew he respected me (I was wrong) and I thought we were in a very progressive marriage (I was wrong), so I didn’t worry too much about what having a baby would mean for my future or my career in showbiz.  I was sure my ex would be there to support me (he did, if by support you mean pull the rug out from underneath me) and I didn’t have to feel guilty about sharing child-care duties with him 50/50 (I did feel guilty and his Daddy duty was something he tried to use against me in the end).

In the summer of 2007, my ex, our daughter and I moved from a cozy little apartment in Harlem (my heart!) to a cozy little house in Western New York (my hell).  To some, that would seem like a dream.  For me, it was a nightmare.  Everyone I knew, everything I’d built for myself was in New York City and I was not leaving there by choice.  I was leaving because my ex had just been investigated by his peers for misappropriation of funds (from their bank account into his) and I decided we should liquidate our 401K to pay the money back.  (Bernie Madoff is a lying sociopath not to be trusted, but based on personal experience, I believe him when he says his family did not know what was going on with his finances.)  I was devastated when I found out that my husband was essentially a thief, and even more so when he tried to pin the blame on me by suggesting that my desire to live in an overpriced city like New York was what drove him to steal.  (The insinuation was not, “I did this for you because I believe in us and I love you.”  The insinuation was, “If I have to take heat for this, so do you, because if it wasn’t for you and your lousy dream I wouldn’t be in this mess.”) Continue reading »

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