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December 12, 2002
Thank God for Appellate Courts
Thank God for Appellate Courts
I'm sitting here reading the local newspaper online while I'm waiting for the vet's office to open, and see this. (This newspaper doesn't archive its online articles very well so the link won't be good for very long.) I'm so outraged that I'm speechless, so I'll just let the thing speak for itself.In a hearing before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown, the state Department of Human Services argued that Mark Eric Jorden’s documented abuse of his 7-year-old son was cause to find his 8-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son "dependent-neglected."
Under Arkansas Code Annotated 9-27-325, children are considered to be dependentneglected if as a result of abuse or parental unfitness they are "at substantial risk of serious harm."
All three of Jorden’s children testified at the hearing. The 7-year-old testified that his father spanked him about five times with a wooden spoon, causing sores and then added salt to the wounds.
The 8-year-old girl and the 9-year-old boy testified that they witnessed the beating and pouring of salt on the wounds.
The nurse at the 7-year-old’s elementary school testified that an examination showed that the boy’s underwear was stuck to his buttocks because of bloody drainage and it took about 15 to 20 minutes to remove the underwear because the boy was in so much pain.
A doctor who examined the boy found that he also had what appeared to be a burn over his right eyebrow and swelling of his right arm and hand.
Of the open wounds on the boy’s buttocks, the doctor said that the wounds had the appearance of burns and that salt applied to open wounds would cause such burns.
Pretty open and shut case, wouldn't you think? Well, here's what the trial judge ruled:
Brown found that Jorden’s abuse of his 7-year-old son constituted "incomprehensible cruelty."
But, Brown added, this abuse "does not mean that he is an unfit parent.
This does not mean that the other children are substantially at risk of serious harm. Further proof is required other than one act of abuse."
W.T.F? For those of you not familar with the child welfare system, this ruling meant that, after these kids testified against their father about what he'd done to their sibling, he would be allowed to have unsupervised visitation or that they would be returned to his custody. Now there's a good idea, isn't it? (Heavy sarcasm intended) Enter the appellate court.
"While [the 8-year old] and [the 9-year-old] have not been directly injured by Mr. Jorden, Mr. Jorden’s abuse of [the 7-year old] demonstrated parental unfitness that puts [his siblings] at substantial risk of serious harm," [Judge] Robbins wrote.
Robbins also noted that in connection with the wounds inflicted on his 7-year-old son, Jorden pleaded guilty to second degree felony battery and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
One of the conditions of Jorden’s probation is that he can have no unsupervised contact with minors, according to the appeals court opinion. "The trial court correctly characterized the pouring of salt into the wounds as ‘an act of incomprehensible cruelty,’ and Mr. Jorden’s actions were tantamount to torture," Robbins concluded. "The battery committed against [the 7-year-old] was so severe that it is a violation of Mr. Jorden’s probation to have unsupervised contact with any minors, which includes his own children."
Judges Wendell Griffen and Terry Crabtree agreed with Robbins.
Well, freaking DUH! At least the appellate court got it right. You know, in Oklahoma where I work, this monster's parental rights would have been terminated immediately on the grounds of heinous & shocking abuse of a child. Stupidity like this is one of the reasons I don't take child welfare cases in Arkansas. The entire system is in desperate need of reform. It will be a Herculean task, but the stables are in need of a good cleaning.
Posted by Rita at December 12, 2002 08:11 AM