| --PEERgroup --Parental Equality Enforcement Resource |
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| "All the cards were marked in advance. The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance." - Bob Dylan, Hurricane |
| Anonymous dad takes on judge Cards, e-mails, Web site attack child custody case decision. BY MARK KIESLING Times Staff Writer Lawyers throughout Lake County started getting postcards at their offices Tuesday, telling them that Juvenile Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura is an unfit jurist. The cards called attention to a Web site that offered that opinion in much more detail, backed by footnotes and references to experts in the child custody case at the heart of the matter. The postcards were followed by an e-mail campaign to local newspapers. The campaign to discredit Bonaventura was launched anonymously, with only a reference to sponsorship by the "PEER Group," an acronym for Parental Equality Enforcement Resource. It has not gone unnoticed by the judge, who has contacted both the Indiana Supreme Court and the Lake County Bar Association. She said she believes she knows the individual behind the attacks, but would not disclose his name. "He has a right to criticize what I do, no question about it," she said. "But this has become unbelievable. It's an anonymous letter, and technology has allowed him to get his message out to hundreds, maybe thousands of people -- lucky him." Lake County Bar Association President Patrick McEuen agreed with the judge that the sender has a clear First Amendment right to offer the critical but nonthreatening Web site, but said, "I'm a tad bit concerned about the anonymous nature of the site, its accountability or lack thereof." McEuen said the site has been up and running for some time, perhaps as long as two years, but was not drawing much attention until the latest round of publicity. According to the postcard, the suit began more than five years ago and is currently on appeal. The Web site calls itself www.pigcircus.com, taking a line from a Bob Dylan song about professional boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter whose conviction in a 1966 triple murder was overturned in 1985. Carter's trial, Dylan wrote, "was a pig circus. He never had a chance." Apparently the author of the postcard, e-mails and Web sites feels he was not given a chance in his child custody fight heard before Bonaventura and Lake Superior Court Magistrate Christina Miller before her. Because legal ethics codes bar judges from making comments on specific cases that could call their impartiality into question, McEuen said the Bar Association felt compelled to make a statement. "The Bar Association takes no position with regard to the merits of the case," McEuen said. He added not only are the personal attacks "inappropriate," but the Web site presents only one side of the story. "We may never know the other side of the story, given the Web site's anonymous nature," he said. "Our democratic system always allows the accused to face his accusers," McEuen said. "Judge Bonaventura and Magistrate Miller should not give up that same basic right when they put on a robe." [PEERgroup note: In fact, it's the fathers and children of Lake County who give up their rights when Miller and Bonaventura put on their robes!] While the Web site accuses Bonaventura of apathy and foot-dragging, it does not resort to name-calling or threats and is documented throughout with excerpts from the findings of legal and psychological experts appointed to examine the child and the parents. "Our Web site details the story of one Lake County child who desperately needed a judge willing to take meaningful action to protect her from abuse," read the postcard sent to Lake County lawyers. "Instead, what she received ... was a willful disregard for the evidence and a shocking refusal to heed the warnings and recommendation of nine court-appointed experts." "He's just being a little more vocal than most people," Bonaventura said. "People lose custody of their children almost every day, and they are upset but they don't do this. [PEERgroup note: Bonaventura seems to be saying that fathers who lose custody or contact with their children should just shut up and go away. They should simply tolerate the injustice dealt out by corrupt judges. Some men have had to tolerate injustice only because they have had no power or money. Judges like Bonaventura have intimidated them and the cost of a protracted "legal process" forces them into bankruptcy. These men are left penniless, powerless and without hope. Bonaventura seems surprised that anyone should stand up to her tyranny. She will soon learn that this is just the beginning.] This was a very long and complex case with a number of issues [PEERgroup note: Bonaventura is responsible for this case being "long". She refused to heed the evidence accumulated over five years because the evidence ran contrary to what SHE wanted to hear. Consequently she ordered report after report fishing for evidence to back-up the gender-bias ruling she wanted to make. Problem is, she never received any evidence to support her views. But the facts didn't stop Judge Bonaventura. She simply ignored the facts and the evidence and issued her preferred ruling anyway.] I put my heart and soul into it. But I cannot come out and defend myself on the specifics of this case. There is a child involved, and I'm not going to hurt her." [PEERgroup note: Doctors from all over Lake County clearly state that Bonaventura's mishandling of this case has assisted the mother, Kathy, in emotional and psychological abuse of a minor child. Simply put, Bonaventura's statement is outrageous and deliberately misleading.] The Web site, which has changed the name of the family involved in the fight, claims the 11-year-old girl has already been hurt by the decision, which is currently on appeal. "There is nothing I want to do about it right now," Bonaventura said. "There is nothing I really can do." She is not up for retention until 2004 and does not believe this will have much of an impact at that time. Mark Kiesling can be reached at markk@howpubs.com or (219) 662-5330. |
| The following article appeared on March 23, 2001 on the front page of The Times, Lake County's leading newspaper. The reporter, Mark Kiesling is to be congratulated for presenting a fair and compassionate assessment of our website. Please take a moment and send Mark an e-mail of thanks at markk@howpubs.com. |