From Glenn Sacks:

'My new co-authored column, Choosing Foster Parents over Fathers (San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/11/07), discusses perhaps the worst verified child custody/family law injustice against a father and a daughter which I have ever seen--the outrageous Melinda Smith foster care case.' Excerpt:

"In the heartbreaking Melinda Smith case, a father and daughter were needlessly separated by the foster care system for over a decade. Last week, Los Angeles County settled a lawsuit over the case for an undisclosed sum. Yet a recent Urban Institute study found that the Smith case typifies the way the foster care system harms children by disregarding the loving bonds they share with their fathers."

Story here. Excerpt:

'They were often handcuffed, tethered together with plastic ties and allowed to soil themselves, investigators say. They had scars on their wrists. Some had burns.

None appeared to have more than a fourth-grade education, not even the adults in their 20s. All were starving.

In all, nine teenagers and young adults were held like prisoners in Judith Leekin's home in what appeared to be a decades-long scheme to line her pockets with the government payments she received for adopting and raising them, police say.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A mother of four who is facing murder charges in the death of her new baby last week and is suspected in the killings of three infants whose remains were found on her property was denied bail Monday after pleading with the judge to free her on bond.
...
The bodies of four small infants were found at the home of Christy Freeman, 37, a woman who denied having been pregnant, even after she was taken to a hospital and doctors discovered a placenta and part of an umbilical cord, police said.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Even for seasoned detectives, the crime scene in an apartment last weekend was horrific: A man, gagged and handcuffed, had been killed and his penis was cut off.

Investigators believe the suspect, Brigitte Harris, "did it," said a law enforcement official. "We are trying to determine why."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Harris had not been arrested or charged, said police were checking reports that Goodridge, 55, may have abused Harris as a child. Detectives were hoping to question the 26-year-old suspect at a hospital mental ward where she was admitted after the slaying, the law enforcement official said.'

Article here.

An article in the Calgary Sun recently addressed the killing of Ephraim Brown in a unique way. Excerpt:

'A boy named Ephraim Brown was killed recently in Toronto, caught in a crossfire between the vicious thugs who populate large cities. It is a wicked and sad thing.
...
...feminist theory forbids examination of the true roots of crime because it makes them uncomfortable and violates the sacred tenet of their creed, which says men are essentially disposable.'

The author (Ian Robinson) does a really nice job of raising points that no one else is considering in all of this. The knee-jerk reaction is to blame the tool and not look at the root cause.

There is no case of prosecutorial abuse more overdue for investigation than that of Mike Nifong, the prosecutor in the Duke Case who tried to convict men he knew to be innocent. Last week, Nifong finally admitted that the men had committed no crime.

There is abundant evidence that prosecutorial abuse is not rare. There are many individuals in prison for crimes they did not commit, while those who did commit the crimes roam scot-free. The Innocence Project has freed over 200 of them. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Story here.

'A Royal Air Force typist who injured her thumb at work is to be paid almost half a million pounds by the Ministry of Defence.
...
It is eight times more than a soldier would receive for losing a leg and almost double the amount he could expect if he lost both legs.
...
The woman, believed to be in her 20s, developed a repetitive strain injury while typing computer data.

She claimed it left her unable to work and caused her to become depressed, and she started legal action against the MoD.'

Do women really want equality or it's a mask for seeking privileged treatment? A good article by Chandan Mitra - a senior Indian journalist. Excerpt:

'At the risk of inviting the wrath of vocal women's activists in the metros, I must unambiguously state that I do not think there is any concerted or deliberate discrimination against women or in-built gender bias in the professions. In fact, India's record in this regard, be it politics, business, the civil services, law, medicine, academia - the list could be hugely long - is better than that of the West. Arguably, women do face some unequal situations in the home, but Indian laws are so draconian and unthinking that they have probably worsened the position of women in recent years. The Anti-Dowry Act (Article 498a) and the recently enacted Domestic Violence Act have done great disservice to gender harmony.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Police in Washington County say a female caregiver raped a man for whom she was caring.

Alyson Bush, 41, of Washington, Pa., is charged with rape of a mentally disabled person, institutional sexual assault and related offenses.

Donegal Township police Chief Ethan Ward said the man's mother contacted them after her 32-year-old son told her that Bush had been forcing him to have sex with her.'

Story here.

More on this disturbing charge against two 13-year-old boys facing possible jail time for an innocent teenage action. The outcome could require these boys the injustice of registering as life long sex offenders. Apparently, the junior high school students would innocently "smack" other students on the backside, a ritual other girls have admitted participating in. Excerpt:

'The boys spent five days in a juvenile detention facility and were charged with several counts of felony sex abuse for what they and their parents said was merely inappropriate but not criminal behavior.

But the boys, if convicted at an Aug. 20 trial, still face the possibility of some jail time or registering for life as sex offenders.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The victim incorrectly identified Briscoe. He refused a plea deal offering 20 years in prison. And then he was convicted, sentenced in his mid-20s to 45 years behind bars.
...
By then Briscoe had done 24 years behind bars and been denied parole because he refused to express remorse for a crime he didn't commit...

Two months before the parole hearing, two DA's investigators showed up at prison and handed Briscoe an envelope. In it was a long, white swab used for DNA sampling.
...
"They said in 24 hours we'll be back with the results. And the results were beautiful," he says.

He was free the next day.'

Essay here. Excerpt:

"Great, so if big-brother is a chivalrous fellow who treats men and women differentially under the law and elsewhere, now what? This is where differences of opinion are likely to burgeon (and perhaps political affiliations as well). Are women coddled too much, or are men punished too severely (generally speaking)? In other manner of speaking, should we lock women up and throw away the key like men are often treated for certain crimes? Or, should we send more men into counseling/psychological services instead of prison in an attempt to garner more empathy/sympathy for men in a similar way that women are sometimes treated?"

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Initiative is one of President George W. Bush's efforts to shore up families through marriage and parenting programs that help parents, especially men, overcome barriers to supporting their children financially and emotionally.

An estimated 47% of U.S. children live in homes without their fathers, according to the department.

"If you look at some of the statistics -- they're earth-shattering," said Tara Wall, a spokeswoman for the office in Washington, D.C.

"In 1960, fewer than 10 million children did not live with their fathers. Today, the number is nearly 25 million. A third of these children won't see their fathers at all during the course of the year."

Children who grow up without their fathers are far more likely to fail in school, engage in criminal activity and abuse alcohol and drugs, according to human services department and numerous studies.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'"I don't think anyone will deny that girls are academically superior as a group. Girls are more academically powerful. They make the grades, they run the student activities, they are the valedictorians."

Christina Hoff Sommers, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was explaining how she came to worry deeply about boys. In the book-lined parlor of her suburban Washington home, she ticked through a familiar but disturbing indictment: More boys than girls are in special-education classes. More boys than girls are prescribed mood-managing drugs. This suggests to her (and others) that today's schools are built for girls, and boys are becoming misfits. As a result, more boys than girls drop out of high school. Boys don't read as well as girls. And America's prisons are packed with boys and former boys.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Michel Kazatchkine, the executive director of the Global fund, a leading international health agency, also called For increased funding.

"I believe that the evidence is overwhelming for the efficacy of circumcision," Kazatchkine told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the meeting. "And if countries come to us ... I see no reason at all why we wouldn't fund that."'