Are judges required to understand the Constitution?
I was shocked when I read this at Beth's Ramblings:
My friend, Roger Cherry, went to court today for a custody issue. It was brought to Roger's attention by our local Plumas County family court investigator, Adele Myers, that I had called Trina Cunningham (Roger's former girlfriend) a psycho bitch on my blog way back in June of last year. Boo freaking hoo, huh? Well, Ms. Myers asked the court to have Roger tell me to remove the "offending" comment from my blog. The judge agreed.
WHAT? Beth continues:
Okaaay. Ummmm... hey? Are we now a part of China, or something? Last I knew, we here in the U.S. were entitled to a little something called FREE SPEECH. I believe that there just may be something mentioned about that in our BILL OF RIGHTS. Uhhh... yeah... check Amendment Number One, huh?
I encourage you to read the rest of Beth's post here. Here's how she concludes it:
I have done nothing wrong by publishing my personal opinion about Trina Cunningham. I will NOT retract, edit, or remove any comment that I have made about Trina Cunningham without a LEGAL COURT ORDER to do so. So, Trina (psycho bitch)... until you get that, you can kiss my lily-white ass.
And, if you're interested (and in line with the stereotypical reaction of the average blogger when encountering a free speech issue), here's the text of the offending post, which I am reprinting in full (including edits as of May 17, 2006).
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Ty
May 17, 2006: COMING BACK TO SEE IF THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED YET? PLEASE SEE TODAY'S POST HERE.
I just got to thinking about something else that I'd like to look back and reflect on, perhaps.
My friend, Roger, has a 6-year-old son named Ty. I have faithfully cared for Ty for about 2 years now... free of charge, I might add. Why free? Well, I have always been aware of Roger's and Trina's financial struggles. That, and I am, afterall, a friend. Plus, I love Ty to pieces. Trina had always been willing to take advantage of the free daycare that I provided, and even unloaded her 13-year-old daughter on me for all of last summer. No problem. But, at least Roger will do favors for me when I need them... pick up items at the grocery store; give me some money now and then; etc. All Trina has ever given me was a plate of cookies (once) and a bowl of grapes (once). During the school year, I have collected Ty from the bus stop here in town and watched him until 4 p.m. or 5 p.m... depending on which parent would be arriving to retrieve him. During the summer (and other school vacation weeks), I would watch Ty from about 8 a.m. until the usual pickup time (again, depending on which parent was coming for him).
In late 2004 or early 2005, Trina got herself a boyfriend... Louis. Okay. No big deal. Then, in May 2005, Trina decided that she was moving to a new home two towns away from me. That's not a big distance, believe me... about 10-15 miles from my home. Then, Trina decided that she was going to remove Ty from my care and place him in a daycare facility with lots of other children. Of course, she did this without first discussing the issue with Roger. When Roger found out, he, naturally, had a fit and insisted that Ty would stay with me on Roger's custody days (Roger and Trina split custody 50/50, which works well because they both live in the same general area).
When Roger decided to fight Trina about removing Ty from my care, Trina came up with all kinds of arguments. First, it simply wasn't convenient for her to have Ty in one town while she was in another. That argument didn't hold any water, because Ty would only be in my care on Roger's days... and Roger lives closer to my house than to Trina's house (he also lives closer to my house than Trina's daycare facility). Then, Trina decided that it was unhealthy for Ty to have his time split between two daycare providers. Trina has consistently argued, by the way, that it is unhealthy for Ty to switch back and forth between her and Roger... unstable... that's the way she put it. Of course, that argument didn't hold water, either. Any reasonable person can see that it is perfectly healthy for a child to spend equal time with both parents when both parents can provide safe, healthy, loving environments for the child. Thus, it is also healthy for Ty to be spending some time in an environment where he can interact with other children, as well as spending time in an environment where he receives a lot of one-on-one interaction.
When those two arguments failed for Trina, she resorted to lies (as is typical of Trina, by the way). She informed Roger that I provide an unsafe and unhealthy environment for Ty. This, she said, was evidenced by the fact that she once (in December 2004) smelled marijuana in my home and that she once witnessed one of my friends entering my home with an open container of beer, thereby we [my friend and I] consumed alcohol around Ty. When I became outraged after hearing these accusations, I confronted Trina. She admitted that she does not believe that Tom or I smoke marijuana or that we consume alcohol while Ty is in my care. Though, she did insist that she smelled marijuana in my front yard once... or near my front porch area... and she blamed it on Chris. In fact, neither Tom nor I smoke marijuana around Ty, and Chris never did, either. Truth be told, I've never smoked marijuana. Okay... well, I tried it twice... two individual puffs... once when I was 17-years-old and once when I was about 20-years-old... hated it both times, and never even so much as tried it again. Regardless, I have never been a marijuana smoker. And, Tom did his "thing" as a teenager, just as many people have... he'd never do anything that could even be conceived as wrong around Ty... period. Furthermore, neither Tom nor I have ever consumed a drop of alcohol while Ty was in my care. Period. Back to Trina... so, I confronted her. And, I told her that she should be careful about making such accusations when certain members of her family are known marijuana users and alcohol abusers. Boy! That flustered her. She said, "I don't appreciate you dragging my family into this." My reply? "Well, I don't appreciate you making false accusations against me in the first place." She just couldn't get her mind wrapped around that one, I guess. You see, it's entirely okay for her to make false accusations about other people... but, don't you dare speak the truth about her or her family. God forbid! Needless to say, Trina and I have not spoken to one another since the date I confronted her with her lies.
That argument of Trina's put to rest, she came up with still another argument. Mind you, I'd been watching her son (and daughter) for FREE for about 2 YEARS. Her final argument was that I was not a licensed daycare provider and, thus, should not be caring for Ty. Okay. Yeah. So, what? In the State of California, a person doesn't have to be a licensed daycare provider in order to care for a single child, or even two children. And, you know what, you stupid cunt? I've been doing you a significant favor for TWO FUCKING YEARS and made no complaints about it. I have lovingly cared for Ty and consistently engaged him in healthy activities for a long time now. He has a significant attachment to me and to Tom. He LIKES it in my home, you bitch! Now, you want to tear him away from a place where he is comfortable? So that he can "interact" in a place where there are mostly crying babies? Give me a fucking break.
Yesterday, Ty confided in me that he prefers my house. I did not prompt this comment, and I go out of my way when conversing with him not to prompt answers of any kind. He does not like the screaming kids and babies at his other daycare facility. He also confided that he feels very uncomfortable with his mom's boyfriend, Louis. Ty told me that Louis was now living with them, and that he hates it. Most of Ty's complaints were, actually, minor. Louis makes him go to bed at 7:00 p.m... soon after dinner, and no television beforehand. Louis spends so much time with Mom that Ty doesn't get any of her time. Louis never allows Ty to sit next to Mom at the dinner table. Louis now makes all of the decisions, and Mom doesn't say anything about it. But, in a 6-year-old's mind, those are significant issues. When I commented that Dad spends a lot of time with Ty at Dad's girlfriend's house, Ty's response was, "Yeah. But, Lynn is nice. I feel comfortable around Lynn."
It sounds to me as if this child... Ty... is really stressed. And, he shouldn't be. He's only 6-years-old, for God's sake. This stress, in my opinion, does not come from his parents' separation. Nor do I believe that the stress has anything to do with spending 50/50 time with his parents, nor splitting his time between two daycare providers. I place the blame for Ty's stress squarely with his mother. She is going out of her way to make life difficult for her ex, Roger. And, Ty has picked up on this, no matter what Trina claims to believe.
There is also the issue of Trina's lies. Significant lies, I mean. For example, Ty recently said something that he shouldn't have while he was on the morning bus. The bus driver, Misty, distinctly heard what was said. Ty said (to another little boy), "Get 'er done! Get 'er done, you pussy!" Misty says that she promptly pulled the bus over and scolded Ty for his use of naughty languange. She claims that she'd never had a problem with Ty before then, and has never had a problem with him since then. This corresponds with what I know about Ty. One good scolding, and he'll not make the same mistake twice. Hey... he's a good kid. He really is. Anyway, Trina somehow found out that Ty had said something bad while on the bus. Trina went to Misty's house to learn about what was said. Misty told her, and also told Trina that she felt that the issue had been resolved. What does Trina do then? She marches over to Ty's school and files a formal report with the school's principal. According to the report, Trina claimed that her son said (to a little girl), "I'll rub your pussy 'til you like it." Now... let's take a good look at this. According to Misty, Ty used a naughty word, as lots of little boys and girls sometimes do. According to Trina, Ty made a sexually explicit threat. Hmmm.... naughty word.... sexually explicit threat. Jesus! There was a huge uproar at the school, of course. Roger was called in to the principal's office, as was Misty. Misty simply told the truth... that Trina was a God-damned liar, and that Ty had never made any threats... sexually explicit, or otherwise. The principal ended up writing a letter for Roger in which he explained how Trina had lied. Thing is, no one can figure out WHY she would do such a thing to HER OWN SON! According to Trina, it was "just a big misunderstanding." Yeah... uh huh. You fucking lying bitch. I actually have a theory, you see. I think that Trina was trying, in her twisted way, to prove that Roger is an unfit father. In fact, she's been petitioning people to write statements that say that Roger regularly has Ty around people (his friends) who act and speak inappropriately around Ty. Fortunately, not a soul has signed anything of the kind. But, anyway, Trina seemingly can't understand that it is SHE that potentially has done some serious damage to her son. She confronted Ty (along with the principal) about a statement, the meaning of which Ty had NO IDEA. Ty has NEVER been exposed to such language, and would have NO idea what it even means to "rub a pussy 'til it felt good." But, now what? Hmmm... maybe NOW he's a little curious about what got everyone so upset. Ya' think?
Trina is a psycho bitch... a lying, thieving one, at that.
And, that's my rant for today. Thank you. Thank you very much.
posted by watbull @ 2:07 PM
You know, this would make a really great meme. As would this:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Yes, I know this is a stereotypical blogger "free speech, d00d!" response, but it feels good at the time.
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