Apparently, the brownshirts who masquerade as government officials in Maryland believe doing something utterly outrageous once is worth doing it twice. For the second time in five months, two children, ages 10 and 6, were picked up by police for the “crime” of walking home unsupervised within a mile of their home.
The first incident occurred Dec. 20, when the children attempted to make the trek home from Silver Spring park. Police picked them up and brought them home to parents Danielle and Alexander Meitiv, from whom they demanded identification and warned about the dangers of the world. Montgomery County Child Protective Services (CPS) showed up two hours later and demanded that Alexander sign a safety plan promising he would not leave his children unsupervised until the following Monday, when CPS would follow up. He initially refused, saying he wanted to talk to a lawyer, but ultimately complied — because CPS threatened to remove his children from the home.
After the holidays, CPS called and said they needed to come to the home and make further inquiries. Danielle resisted, but a worker showed up anyway. She refused to let him in. Later she was stunned when told by her children’s principal that CPS had interviewed her children at school.
Ultimately, the Meitivs were found responsible for “unsubstantiated child neglect,” meaning CPS would maintain a file on the family for at least five years, leaving open the question of what would occur if the children were allowed to walk home alone again. “We don’t feel it was appropriate for an investigation to start, much less conclude that we are responsible for some form of child neglect,” said Danielle Meitiv after the first incident, even as she wondered if her family would get caught in a “Kafkaesque loop” if her children were stopped walking by themselves again.
Flash forward to Sunday, April 12. Once again, the kids were on their way home from Ellsworth Park at 5 p.m. when they were stopped by officers — in three separate squad cars — three blocks from their house.
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Dear Readers - from the posted article....
ReplyDeleteMeyer v. Nebraska and Pierce v. Society of Sisters were two landmark cases from the 1920s in which the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause allows parents and guardians “to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.” In Troxel v. Granville, a case adjudicated in 2000, the Court reaffirmed the “fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children,” further characterizing those decisions as “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.” None of these rulings mean parental rights are absolute. The state can intervene to protect children from health and safety hazards and to ensure they receive an education. But they must have compelling evidence to do so.
Regards,
Paladin
Well, if the State wants to raise your kids, at least make it hard.
ReplyDeleteShoot the first 30 people that show up to do that. Then reload for the second wave of "it takes a village", we know what's best for you liberal ninnies.
Stop being afraid of everything they say could hurt you. That's their job --- keep you afraid and each day, come up with more whack reason why you should let them run your life.
Aim for the head.
The world here in 2015 is full of evil people.These parents are neglectful douches who think they are still in "hippie paradise".
ReplyDeleteImclain,I am concerned that you may need therapy.Are you so paranoid that you feel it is appropriate to say you will shoot anyone representing any government agency in the head,when they come to your home?
Any idiot who lets their kids roam in this day and time deserves to be beaten about the head with a sack of nickels.