Child Protective Services, known by various other names in certain states (ACS is another name), is the division that monitors the well being of children. They are supposed to intervene in cases of child neglect and abuse and if necessary act. At the same time their work is difficult work, made all the more difficult when a family is split apart.
The women whose children are taken away from them are often suffering from poverty. While of course it is good for children to have stability, the system punishes poor women by saying they aren't fit to be mothers. At the same time, insufficient efforts are made by social workers and the system itself to insure a minimal standard of living. The system is also corrupt in the sense that a number of very wealthy women have been well-known drug addicts and alcoholics. Yet one never hears of Child Protective Services taking children of Whitney Houston or Britney Spears. Both Whitney and Britney were well known for substance abuse, yet Whitney was allowed to raise her child to adulthood. Bobbi Kristina now shares her mother's drug problem and has a whole host of issues that CPS allegedly acts to prevent. Yet they had no apparent interest in intervening in the Houston case. Britney's children were placed in custody of her ex husband Kevin Federline. Still, Britney's children weren't taken into child protective services despite the period of time in which she had an apparent breakdown. Her family was allowed time to support Federline in obtaining custody. Jada Pinkett and Will Smith allowed their 13-year-old daughter to take an apparently nude picture with a man in his 20s, and yet CPS has not taken their daughter away (though they interviewed both parents). More than likely, if the parents had been poor they would have been arrested for child porn and the kids would be placed in foster care.
While Whitney, Britney, and Jada can use their money to shield them from child protective services, poor women cannot. Especially if they are activists. Look at the case of activist Heather H. She was living in a church with her children around the time of occupy as one of the protesters along with her two children. Around the time that a man arrested for rape tried to live in the church, her mother filed a complaint with ACS. Heather's children were taken away. The last I spoke to her she was still attempting to get her children back from the foster-care system. The system was quick to take her children away, but they made no attempt to speak to both Heather and the church officials to try to work out a deal securing long-term solutions for both Heather and her children. As a result, both mother and her two daughters suffered. Later on Heather dealt with other social services resources in order to restore stability to her life so she would be able to get her children back.
Next is the case of activist Brenda D. Justice. She has done activism in both Michigan and New York, and felt targeted because of advocacy. Her son, born in New York, was living with her in New York at the time. Justice says the US marshals took her and her son out of the apartment on October 15th with no warrant to enter the apartment. From there the NYPD arrested Justice while her son remained with the US marshals. Justice says the judge never saw a signed warrant from a judge and that she was held for 30 days without being read charges. Arrest ID: M12692152-R report claims that Justice was arrested in front of a courthouse at 500 Pearl Street. The report claims that she was a fugitive to be taken back to Michigan but doesn't detail why. Justice disputes the location of the arrest. She asserts she was at Brooklyn. She had a copy of a warrant that signed by Richard Kuhnopfel, a NYPD officer, that is an apparently fake warrant. Justice also had a copy of the letter from Assistant DA Suzy T. Taweel from Wayne County Michigan. Taweel had said that Justice was wanted for custodial interference-parental kidnapping. This was sent to the US Marshal Greg Holme at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan, and this is what started the entire matter. Strangely, though the Michigan authorities clearly referred to this as a parental-custodial matter, the NYPD acted as if this was just a mere custodial-interference case. The NYPD did not mention the relationship to Justice or her son or refer to her son by name in their report. Judge D. Boyar dismissed the charges against Justice in Docket Number 2012NY081267; she wasn't aware that Justice's son was taken away. According to Justice she was not allowed to go before the judge and there was no record that her son was son was taken from the way the police report was written. It would appear all care was taken so there would be no court case or trial in New York. Justice says she tried to put it on the record that the marshals took her child, but the court clerks refused to enter it on the record. She believes the clerks wanted to cover up things for the NYPD. Justice says that Judge Margo Brodie said she didn't state a claim and that there was probable cause and dismissed her case. Justice counters that her claim was unlawful search and seizure, a violation of the 4th amendment. From the documents Justice showed me there was apparently no order from a judge to remove her son and extradite her. Justice had rubber stamped order (case no. 99375729 and petition no. 11014386) that had Leslie Kim Smith's name on it. Leslie Kim Smith's name is involved in a rubber stamping scandal in Michigan. Rubber stamping is illegal under Michigan law. Justice's son was kidnapped by Michigan authorities who used deception in order unlawfully to take her child. Apparently the New York authorities and the US marshals were both used by authorities in Michigan to take Justice's son.
As shocking as Justice's story is, it's not alone. A number of families were destroyed by authorities in Michigan. Under Michigan law, judges are supposed to personally review each case. But an investigation by Heather Catallo learned that court staff had been rubber stamping removal orders from children. Justice's case wasn't unique at all in Michigan. Parents were not able to give their side of the story to judges. So anyone could make claims to CPS, and the court staff would automatically accept CPS's workers claims. This is a massive abuse of power by Michigan authorities, and no one has yet been held accountable in any of these cases, including Justice's.
