IT'S FRIDAY
Yesterday was Christine's and my 43rd wedding anniversary and we did a staycation day, rather than vacation, staying in our bed at night but using the day to walk the shops and taste the foods of a quaint town of Fairhaven just across the border. I delighted in the day but not without the knowledge that Paul and Zabeth were going through the ordeal of a lifetime. Even on this day, table conversation sometimes moved to this case.
Zabeth takes to the stand under oath to face further cross examination from Finn Jensen.
Judge Crabtree wants to wrap this hearing up today. He will predictably discourage any attempt to prolong this hearing. Only MCFD would want it prolonged.
The court room was filled with many spectators yesterday, most of them in support of Paul and Zabeth Bayne.
I will tell you how it goes today.
Friday, August 13, 2010
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May what God puts together not separated by the errors, malice and hypocrisy of man when the judge makes his decision.
ReplyDeleteTo Ron:
When this case is closed, will you continue this blog? I want to respond to a few comments made but unable to do so now.
Some people have taken a few swipes at me lately and that is a good thing. Reminds me that those who cannot take the heat should stay out of the kitchen and teaches me lessons about better communication. Sarcasm apparently does not register well in print. Thank you for that. I can well understand that many of you may think that some ministry employees are too hopeless to be trained. My point about employees who see themselves as puppets that they must be oblivious to such things as a code of ethics. There are a lot of MCF employees reading this blog. What do you think about training? Are any of you as horrified by this case as other people.Why do we not hear from you?
ReplyDeleteRegarding Hoffman. I thought at first that it was quite cruel of Finn Jensen to put these inept witnesses on the stand, knowing that they would be laid bare to the searing cross-examination of Doug Christie. On second thoughts I realised that the director may have called them to the stand against the advice of Mr. Jensen. Likewise Humeny and Grey. If you think I am harsh in calling them inept, please read the blogs in May which covered their evidence in detail and then think again.
To be fair to Finn Jensen, disclosed documents did show that he advised against pursuing this case as soon as the police closed their file. He recommended returning the boys over two years ago. I do not say poor Finn Jensen, because he has made a ton of money on this case---your money and my money. One can say poor Doug Christie because he has acted with no guarantee of payment and he has spent a lot of money out of his own pocket. Maybe Finn Jensen will chip in a nice contribution to the Bayne defense fund?
Oh darn---there I go with the sarcasm again, maybe I just can't help it.
Ron Unruh,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you and Christine. I did my undergrad at WWSU in Bellingham and as such, I know the quaint village of Fairhaven well.
It was by living in Bellingham that this New Yorker came to know your beautiful province. I spent many a happy weekend in B.C. during those years.
And to Ron Ferris, I, for one, appreciate the insight you give to the mechanism of the MCFD (Know thy enemy).
Sadly, the mechanism is the same with the Administration for Children's Services here in NYC. I had worked on many cases here in NYC, representing parents.
As I think you had mentioned, the MCFD uses the NYC model. God help you because that model just doesn't work.
But, Mr. Ferris, I do hope that those -especially those undergoing an MCFD investigation, who read your words will learn from them.
My fingers are crossed for the Baynes and my prayers, of course, are with them as well.
Reader from NYC
Okay, Ray, I won't harp on about whether you were sarcastic. I do want to say, however, that I just can't buy the argument that training would solve the problem. I think society as a whole has experienced a huge decline in terms of how people carry out their jobs. Many people just don't care, and will only do the bare minimum. People just don't take pride in their work the way they used to. Morale is low, people feel exploited. But with MCFD it's something different. It's people who enjoy having great power over those who are most vulnerable, people who enjoy abusing that power. Again, I say that no amount of training will solve this problem. And whatever you are doing to help parents, that is good. There seems to be so few people on their side, relatively speaking.
ReplyDeleteWhat we need for parents attacked by child protective services is something similar to the Innocence Project.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/
Ray has never said "training would solve the problem" alone. He has spoken about quality leadership, monitoring, evaluation, and "meaningful" training. He has spoken of many things required. Training being one way in which he believes things can improve. He then added notes about what would be needed to be done to make the training effective.
ReplyDelete