He has plenary guardianship, which means he has total control over her person and her estate. She does have Down syndrome, but she is not able to be independent. She just turned 20 this past September. I can't sneak out anywhere to see her, as she is not able to drive or catch a bus on her own.
I have contacted 20/20 with no response. I contacted Dateline NBC with no response. I have emailed the producers of the NBC network thinking they could help. No reply. I have contacted ABC's producers. Nothing. I even contacted (yes, I know) our local Fox station here, hoping they would pick this up. I don't know who else to contact because in my experience, no one is interested in injustice for mothers anymore.
As far as the judge goes, a bit of background: All guardianship cases are not heard in the family court, but rather through the the Orphan's court division of the court of common pleas for the county the petitioner/incapacitated person resides in, in PA. This particular judge was assigned to the Orphan's court after the sitting judge retired at the end of 2013. The new judge had sat on the bench of the criminal division of the court of common pleas for over two decades and knew nothing about how guardianship cases were to be conducted. Although I did have an attorney at the time, he was very inept.
Several things were wrong with how the hearing was held that day and those were all included in my appeals to the Superior court. Had my case gone in front of the judge who retired, we would not be having this conversation because she would not have awarded guardianship to my ex, but rather followed the law and not awarded guardianship at all. According to the Pa Consolidated Statutes, guardianship is to be considered as a last resort. It is to be considered when there are NO supports or services or friends or family who are caring for the individual. My daughter had full support, both with myself, my extended family and friends and within the community. There was no need for guardianship at all and this was a point we made in the written brief to the Superior court.
While I wanted to appear at the Appeals hearing, it was not required since there was no new testimony to be taken under the rules of the superior court. Appeals are based solely on the evidence presented at the original hearing via transcripts and either a written argument or an oral argument to be made in front of a panel of three judges. My attorney thought we had a good shot since the hearing was in front of three female judges. Two months after the hearing we got their decision upholding the lower court's ruling. It was then appealed a month later to the Supreme court. It took them 7 months to tell me they weren't hearing my case.
My fiancee's grandmother had passed away the day before the hearing and we had to drive down to Alabama for the funeral, which meant I was not able to attend the hearing. (We have one car and I own it. No money for airfare to fly my fiancee down so that I could stay up here)
I honestly have no idea of how well my attorney did at that hearing, given he was only allowed 15 minutes to make his case. Yes, that is all the allotted time they allow for appeals cases.
Anyway, I don't know what else I can do, other than to file a petition with the orphan's court division asking them to revoke my ex's guardianship based on the fact that he is not doing what is in her best interests and he has caused parental alienation, which is a form of domestic violence / abuse. That is all I can do at this point. Would I love it if a major network picked my story up? You bet. But apparently, either I have shitty writing skills, or my story just isn't interesting enough to get someone attention at a national level.
I have contacted 20/20 with no response. I contacted Dateline NBC with no response. I have emailed the producers of the NBC network thinking they could help. No reply. I have contacted ABC's producers. Nothing. I even contacted (yes, I know) our local Fox station here, hoping they would pick this up. I don't know who else to contact because in my experience, no one is interested in injustice for mothers anymore.
As far as the judge goes, a bit of background: All guardianship cases are not heard in the family court, but rather through the the Orphan's court division of the court of common pleas for the county the petitioner/incapacitated person resides in, in PA. This particular judge was assigned to the Orphan's court after the sitting judge retired at the end of 2013. The new judge had sat on the bench of the criminal division of the court of common pleas for over two decades and knew nothing about how guardianship cases were to be conducted. Although I did have an attorney at the time, he was very inept.
Several things were wrong with how the hearing was held that day and those were all included in my appeals to the Superior court. Had my case gone in front of the judge who retired, we would not be having this conversation because she would not have awarded guardianship to my ex, but rather followed the law and not awarded guardianship at all. According to the Pa Consolidated Statutes, guardianship is to be considered as a last resort. It is to be considered when there are NO supports or services or friends or family who are caring for the individual. My daughter had full support, both with myself, my extended family and friends and within the community. There was no need for guardianship at all and this was a point we made in the written brief to the Superior court.
While I wanted to appear at the Appeals hearing, it was not required since there was no new testimony to be taken under the rules of the superior court. Appeals are based solely on the evidence presented at the original hearing via transcripts and either a written argument or an oral argument to be made in front of a panel of three judges. My attorney thought we had a good shot since the hearing was in front of three female judges. Two months after the hearing we got their decision upholding the lower court's ruling. It was then appealed a month later to the Supreme court. It took them 7 months to tell me they weren't hearing my case.
My fiancee's grandmother had passed away the day before the hearing and we had to drive down to Alabama for the funeral, which meant I was not able to attend the hearing. (We have one car and I own it. No money for airfare to fly my fiancee down so that I could stay up here)
I honestly have no idea of how well my attorney did at that hearing, given he was only allowed 15 minutes to make his case. Yes, that is all the allotted time they allow for appeals cases.
Anyway, I don't know what else I can do, other than to file a petition with the orphan's court division asking them to revoke my ex's guardianship based on the fact that he is not doing what is in her best interests and he has caused parental alienation, which is a form of domestic violence / abuse. That is all I can do at this point. Would I love it if a major network picked my story up? You bet. But apparently, either I have shitty writing skills, or my story just isn't interesting enough to get someone attention at a national level.
Disclaimer: I am only responsible for what I say, not what you choose to understand.
