Legislative Proposals...the New Breed

Who knew?  The Mighty Sword now writes Legislative Proposals...but not like you politicians have been known to...not all filled with legal gobbledy-gook, boring passages and hard to read/understand language.  No, here, you'll see something that you rarely see in a congressional document...common-sense.  Will it work?  Hard to say...but I think we may see a new trend on how we, the standard sheep, deals with our government (and they with us), using good ol' fashioned street smarts and EASY TO UNDERSTAND terminology...not the other-worldly secret language Governmental Legislators use.

So...here it is, Mr. Living Man's first proposal to get rid of the law that stops us from having and taking care of our children, as God intended (TAKE THAT CRIMINALS...hehe).  Now it's time to get rid of that pesky Confidentiality dealy, and the biggy....immunity to prosecution.

Proposal for Legislation to have all Juvenile Hearings Recorded Using Modern Technology, for Accurate Records

In the current Iowa Code, Vol. III, Chapter 232, Concerning Juvenile Justice, §232.41, you’ll note that it currently states:

“232.41 Reporter required.

Stenographic notes or mechanical or electronic recordings shall be taken of all court

hearings held pursuant to this division unless waived by the parties. The child shall not be

competent to waive the reporting requirement, but waiver may be made for the child by the

child’s counsel or guardian ad litem. Matters which must be reported under the provisions

of this section shall be reported in the same manner as required in section 624.9.”

First of all, it clearly states that ALL processes are available...but in the district court (at least in MY hearings), no recordings were discussed, offered, nor mentioned. Later, when you ask for “recordings” from the clerk of court office, you’re told that recordings are NOT made in juvenile matters...only transcripts are made, and produced and entered only after the party pays the transcriber (not the court) $3.50/page.

Also provided by the Iowa Judicial Branch, there is a paper that you can fill out to get actual recordings of your hearings; including, quite obviously, juvenile, as shown below. Note that there is no misunderstanding that we are talking about actual DIGITAL RECORDINGS here:

Let it be known that, when I took this into the Polk County Clerk’s Office, Randy Osborn (The Clerk of Polk County Clerk) himself came to tell me that they don’t make recordings of juvenile hearings, only transcriptions. I then asked him to sign this paper, stating just that, and he refused to sign it, or give me the recordings...only offering the transcripts; and only if I paid $3.50 a page to the transcribers:

Mr. Osborn refused to sign this affidavit, for obvious reasons. There are most certainly recordings made of these hearings (the transcriber herself should, if nothing else, make a recording in case something happens to her machine, or there is an emergency), and shouldn’t a recording be made anyway, in case of foul play in our judiciary?

Obviously, paper transcripts of juvenile hearings (or any hearings, for that matter) are NOT an “accurate record”...of anything; for the following reasons:

1. No matter how good a court reporter may be, their training could in no way prepare them to differentiate as many as 10 different speaking voices, especially if 3 or 4 of them were talking at once. The transcriber may be familiar with the regular players of these hearings, but couldn’t possibly continually pinpoint the voices of those she does not know, such as the parents, or

others that are not regularly in attendance.

2. That there are way too many different meanings of words. How does a transcriber differentiate

between the words “There, Their and They’re” for instance, let alone its context? This is just

one of 1000’s of examples of words that could be heard incorrectly, or taken out of context.

3. I don’t care how you slice it, when given the means to do the wrong thing, some people take that road, just as sometimes when you elect an official, there is no absolute guarantee that, if given the opportunity, they won’t do wrong. If such an official (judge, county attorney, GAL, etc.) were to be involved in something untoward, and had the shroud of confidentiality (no one can look into a juvenile case until it’s over, the parental rights are ALREADY terminated, the child/children are already gone, you get the picture...isn’t more than a little convenient for those removing/adopting out the children and terminating parental rights?) to help keep the lid on things; and immunity from prosecution, isn’t it more important now than ever that ACCURATE and double assurance that the right thing is being done be in place? Let’s say this/these officials wanted to cover up what had been done in a court hearing. With no recorded version available to the public OR the parties involved, it’s not unthinkable that these officials could just toss what was transcribed into the trash and “transcribe” something more to their liking. As much as we don’t like to admit it, the law is sometimes subverted, and sometimes we put the wrong people into office.

The proposed legislation should read thusly:

“232.41 Recordings required.

Stenographic notes as well as mechanical or electronic recordings shall be taken of all court

hearings held pursuant to this division unless waived by all of the parties. The child shall not be

competent to waive the reporting requirement, but waiver may be made for the child by the

child’s counsel or guardian ad litem. Recordings of all hearings shall be made available to the involved parties for as long as 2 years, and shall cost no more than is normal for such a recording to be made.

Author’s Addendum:

I in no way intended to make this personal, (and believe me, it is NOT JUST personal...there are 1000’s of Iowa parents, over 1800 a month in Iowa, from what I gather, who go through the same thing we had to), but I will state this: If there had been recordings of what happened in our court hearings available to us, the parties, we would not only still have our child, we would have seen a judge, 1 Polk County Attorney, 2 Asst. Polk County Attorneys, some DHS employees, a CFI worker and a GAL go to jail. The things they got away with in our hearings were incorrigible, and completely covered up...by confidentiality and immunity...and by the fact that no recordings were, supposedly, made of these hearings, nor are any “available” to the parties. We, the wrongfully terminated parents, beg the house and the senate to pass this legislation as quickly as possible to protect all involved...the parents, and especially, the children.