VAWA facilitates and funds illegal parental child abduction - part three

November 4, 5:06 AMFamily Rights ExaminerTeri Stoddard

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In Part One  Donald Tenn explained how daughter Madison Tenn was illegally removed from California by her mother Shannon Phillips.

In Part Two we learned the extent that gender bias and VAWA civil rights violations circumvent truth and justice in child custody cases.  

Part Three:  Sharon Murch knows what it's like to grieve for a missing child.  Her daughter Michaela was kidnapped by a stranger off a Hayward, CA street on November 19, 1988.  "We as women can have children with men ... we can hand them a newborn baby and say, 'Here is your child.' We allow that man to fall deeply in love with his son or daughter, and then one day we can say, '"Well, I don't want to be with you anymore.' We can not only leave them, but we can take that child with us and turn them into visitors," she said, adding that she had been guilty of this herself, not realizing the error of her ways until her son became a father.  She adds, "However you lose a child, or a spouse, or a parent, it hurts."

 When asked by phone recently why he didn't enforce Tenn's visitation or prosecute Phillips for interference in 2007, Moultrie County State's Attorney Marvin Hansen said he didn't remember the case.  Then he claimed Tenn's court order from Judge O'Brien was illegal.  Upon further questioning, he said he is following the divorce Phillips received in IL in April, 2008 which has visitation on hold. 

I had no notice of a divorce until a California family court judge told me that Shannon got one in Illinois months earlier.  It isn't valid.  I filed in a California court originally  and according to the UCCJEA (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction And Enforcement Act)  California still has jurisdiction.

 I told Madison I would always be there for her and protect her. But I've only been allowed to parent her during one 5-hour visit in the last 41 months.  Who is protecting her now?  What about her best interest?

Amy J. L. Baker, director of research at the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection in New York told U.S.News and World Report that in a study culminating in her 2007 book, Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome, she interviewed 40 "survivors" and found that many were depressed, guilt ridden, and self-loathing. She said, "The long-term implications [of alienation] are pretty severe.  Kids develop identity through relationships with both their parents.  When they are told one is no good, they believe, 'I'm half no good.'"

RADAR, (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting) reports: "The way protective orders are issued is one example of the erosion of civil rights and due process protections in cases alleging domestic violence. In no other area of the law have civil rights and due process been so weakened. Domestic violence laws lead to politically driven justice instead of the impartial rule of law guaranteed by the federal and state constitutions."  

Two recent court wins show positive reform starting to happen.  See Crespo Case Unwarranted DV Restraining Order Case – Granted Appeal and Domestic Violence Suspects Get Another Day In Court. 

Tenn, who has since become President of the gender-neutral equal parenting advocacy group Fathers 4 Justice has done a couple of high-profile peaceful civil rights protests.  On Nov. 9 Tenn will appear at 9 am at the Franklin County Courthouse, 373 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio with Paul Fisher of Ohio to face vandalism charges for their protest 175' above ground on a crane at OSU. 

When asked why they risked "life, limb and liberty" for parents' rights Tenn replied, "I have a moral conscience.  I cannot sit by and not do something when I see the devastation that is happening to parents and children all across the country." 

After climbing down from the crane Fisher said, “I made the sign saying 'STOP THE WAR ON FATHERHOOD.'  I believe there is a war in this country against fathers. In my case the judge was biased."   Fisher clarified, “What drove me to go up on a crane was the obligation as an American to defend the Constitution. The Constitution guarantees us due process.” 

Tenn says it's about the children's right to both parents. 

Even though as a law-abiding citizen I am not there with her now, I will never go away. I will always be campaigning for Madison’s right to share equally in her father's life.   Because I know what truly is in Madison’s best interest.  Both, fit and willing parents sharing equally in their child’s life.

Dedicated to Madison website

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