On
May 2, three members of the NFF met with Douglas County Attorney Don
Kleine and Douglas County Commissioner Mary Ann Borgeson. We shared our concerns about the way Mr. Kleine's deputy county attorneys are
treating families in diversion court (see link to May 9 blog
post, which describes the Garrity family's observations in truancy diversion: http://www.nebraskafamilyforum.org/2013/05/prosecutors-or-parents-one-familys.html
).
Mr.
Kleine appeared to be very concerned that his staff has been giving orders that
they do not have the authority to give.
Specifically, Mr. Kleine agreed that deputy county attorneys do not have
the authority to order families to put their children into summer activities,
to cancel their vacations, or to put their children into summer school. I asked him if bad grades are against the
law. Mr. Kleine stated that no, bad
grades are not against the law, and his deputy county attorneys should not be
using a child’s academic performance to determine whether or not they should be in
truancy diversion.
We also discussed the logistics of the diversion courtroom, and the lack of privacy it affords to families. Mr. Kleine agreed to discuss these concerns with his staff.
In addition, we brought two specific cases to Mr. Kleine's attention: One child with charges filed against her and one child in diversion. Neither of these children are truant and we asked Mr. Kleine to investigate why his deputy county attorneys are pursuing them.
Mr.
Kleine promised to follow up with his staff on our concerns and put a stop to
any inappropriate directives being given to families. He asked that we meet again within a few
weeks to follow up on our conversation.
This
follow-up meeting took place on June 26. Mr. Kleine’s chief deputy county attorney,
Brenda Beadle, was also present at this meeting.
Mr.
Kleine reported that his staff denies ever giving orders to families that
compel them to cancel vacations, enroll in summer school or summer activities,
or get their grades up. Mr. Kleine
stated that perhaps there was some kind of misunderstanding; his deputy county
attorneys claim they are simply giving parents helpful suggestions and parents may think
those suggestions are orders enforceable by the court. This explanation was followed by extensive
discussion regarding the power the deputy county attorneys have over
families. Indeed, they have the power to
refer these families to the juvenile court judge at any time and the judge has
the power to take the children away from their parents. No wonder families are scared of the county
attorneys. No wonder they don’t regard
them as helpful problem solvers or their suggestions as optional. These young, relatively inexperienced attorneys are in positions of enormous power
over families. They have the ability for
any reason, or no reason at all, to strike at the very heart of a parent’s
deepest fear—losing their children.
Regardless of intent, families take their "suggestions" very seriously.
I asked
Mr. Kleine if any of his staff went back to the family that was ordered to
cancel their trip to Mexico and tell them they were free to go. He reiterated that this order was never given
and that the deputy county attorney, Cara Stirts, has no memory of this
family. I asked Mr. Kleine to go back to
Ms. Stirts and refresh her memory: The
mother was dressed in traditional Mexican dress, brought her own
interpreter, and was ordered to return in June. In my opinion, this would
be a pretty easy person to remember and a pretty easy error to correct.
Mr.
Kleine also stated at both meetings that sick children are not being
pursued by his county attorneys. He said that he is embarrassed by letters that have been sent over his
name to families of sick children and children traveling with their parents. He assured us that the two specific cases we brought to his attention on May 2 had both been dismissed.
In response to the NFF's concerns about the way diversion court is conducted, changes have been made to the procedures with the intent to provide more privacy for the families.
Following
the meeting on June 26, I contacted Michelle Garrity and discussed
the denials by the deputy county attorneys regarding their behavior in truancy
diversion. Michelle was astounded that
Deputy County Attorney Cara Stirts denied telling a family to cancel their trip
to Mexico. Michelle said that not only
did Ms. Stirts make that order in front of everyone in the room, she also
ordered the child to attend summer school and return to diversion court in June to show proof that she was doing so. This
did not sound like a suggestion to Michelle or her husband, who also witnessed
it, as did the Region VI worker who was accompanying the Garritys that
day. Mr. and Mrs. Garrity are
unequivocal in their assertion that this was not a helpful suggestion, it was
an order.
There is a significant discrepancy between the Garritys' account of diversion court and the deputy county attorney's account. Perhaps the Garritys are mistaken. Perhaps
Ms. Stirts has a short memory. Maybe the deputy county attorneys need some coaching from a more experienced employee on communicating
orders vs. communicating helpful suggestions.
Or perhaps there’s another reason altogether.
I
intend to continue communicating with Mr. Kleine regarding the discrepancies
between what families are witnessing in diversion court and what his staff is
reporting. Something is wrong here, and
I am committed to getting to the bottom of it.
Thank you for what you're doing, Brenda. It takes hours of your time every week to do this, and you don't get a dime for any of it. Heck! With gas money figured in, you lose money, all to help families you've just met. Thank you for your dedication.
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