U.N. treaty threatens U.S. homeschoolers

As re-posted from :  WND Education

DeMint: U.N. treaty threatens U.S. homeschoolers

Republican defends against liberals intent on imposing backdoor globalism

In the past few weeks, two proposed United Nations treaties failed to advance. The small-arms treaty failed at the U.N. while opponents of the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) amassed enough votes to block it in the U.S. Senate.
Now, Sen. Jim DeMint,R-S.C., says another U.N. treaty that threatens American sovereignty has been put back on the table by foreign diplomats and their internationalist allies in the federal government. It’s called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Disabled, which calls for government agents to supersede the authority of parents of disabled children and even covers abortion.
Proponents, including many Republicans, claim it will help to expand rights and opportunities for disabled people in all nations, but DeMint isn’t buying it.
“When you look at the language in the treaty you realize there are other things at stake here. A lot of language in there that has nothing to do with disabilities and that is likely to push the U.S. toward more international law,” DeMint told WND.
DeMint says the language of the treaty suggests it will promote abortion and chip away at parental rights — particularly the rights of homeschooling parents.
“Homeschoolers are up in arms. We already have some judges in our country that are using international law to change our laws.

“We’re afraid that if the language suggests that parental authority is not absolute, we’re going to have an international body telling our parents they can’t homeschool.”

The senator says the U.S. is by far the most accommodating nation in the world for people with disabilities and he sees no need to sign this or most other U.N.treaties because it can only erode American sovereignty.
“We’re well entangled at this point, we don’t need another treaty.”
DeMint explains what he thinks supporters of the treaty are missing and how he thinks a Senate vote on the treaty would go if it were held today.
“America needs to be the model of the world. We need to be the light rather than trying to submit ourselves to other nations.”

*The posts made in this blog are of our opinion only* Without Prejudice UCC 1-207

State can snatch kids

War on U.S. homeschoolers escalates State can snatch kids thanks to Supreme Court Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, caught up in the high-profile Obamacare arguments that started today, have refused to intervene in a case in which deputies threatened parents with the forced removal of their children unless they agreed to let social workers, who did not have a warrant or probable case, search their home. The stunning conclusion came in a lawsuit brought on behalf of John and Tiffany Loudermilk, who sued officials after a confrontation at their Maricopa County, Ariz., home in 2005. A district court judge ruled a reasonable person would believe the Loudermilks’ decision to allow social workers to search their home was coerced, in violation of the 4th Amendment. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the search was proper. The case may not be finished, as the opinion from the 9th Circuit was unpublished, which means that it is not binding on future cases. Also, when the deputies appealed to the 9th Circuit for immunity, the social workers who also were sued did not, and that part of the case remains on hold at the district court level. James Mason, chief counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association, which brought the case on behalf of the family, told WND that the group will consult with the family and soon make a determination on the next step. But he said the result is disappointing, because no matter the status of the appeal, the situation did develop, and the threats were made to give the social workers what they wanted. The HSLDA described the situation: “For 40 terrifying minutes, this homeschooling couple had asserted their Fourth Amendment right to be free from an unreasonable search of their home. The two investigative social workers were eventually joined by six uniformed sheriff’s deputies who were called because the social workers considered the Loudermilks to be ‘uncooperative.’” Then social workers played their “ace-in-the-hole” and threatened the parents that their five children would be placed in state custody immediately if they did not allow the search. The case developed after a still-anonymous tipster told authorities that there was a danger to the children in the new home. Two months later, social services arrived unannounced at the home and explained that it was an emergency because social workers decided it was an emergency at that point. “In the two months between receiving the anonymous report and arriving unannounced on the Loudermilks’ front porch, social services clearly never believed that the situation needed emergency intervention,” HSLDA asserted. “No one ever asked a judge for a court order. But when it came time for the social workers to complete their investigation, the family’s Fourth Amendment rights just got in the way.” It was social workers Rhonda Cash and Jenna Cramer who appeared at the home unannounced and threatened to take the family’s five children. “She (Cash) appeared to believe that her simple inability to determine the children’s living conditions was sufficient grounds for her to remove the children from their parents,” the petition to the high court explained. That’s even though the social workers were allowed to talk to the children to see that they were fine. The social workers called on the deputies to reinforce the threats with the force of law. “Faced with unrelenting ultimatum that the officers would physically remove the children from the home unless they were admitted, together with a significant show of force, John felt that he had no option besides allowing the search of his home. He believed that he would be arrested and the children removed if he continued to refuse… Tiffany believed her children would be immediately removed from the home if she did not allow the social workers and officers to search her home,” the appeal stated. The ultimate search took only minutes and uncovered no issues, showing that the “tip” was wrong. “In this case, the lead law enforcement officer concluded that there was no basis for suggesting that exigent circumstances existed which would support a warrantless entry,” the brief explained. Mason suggested that the outcome of the confrontation could provide a ripple effect for families confronted by authorities investigating anonymous tips in a variety of scenarios.


http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/war-on-u-s-homeschoolers-escalates/

 *The posts made in this blog are of our opinion only* Without Prejudice UCC 1-207

School paperwork failure costs mom custody of son

Moved into social services agency over 'unexcused' absences

The fact that a New York school district simply delayed processing the paperwork for a mother who decided to homeschool her son cost the mother custody – at least temporarily – of her son, according to a new report.
The Home School Legal Defense Association reports that what should have been no more than a simple misunderstanding or paperwork mixup resulted in the child being taken into custody by social services agencies.
The organization which works worldwide to promote the rights of parents and students and to advocate for homeschooling said it was using pseudonyms, Sherry and Carson Fleming, to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

The report posted online said the conflict developed in the Albany school district and escalated unchecked until the New York Department of Children, Youth, and Families removed the child, Carson, from the family home.

Find out why classes seem so different these days, in “The Harsh Truth About Public Schools”

“One of the problems that homeschoolers face in New York is that school districts are very quick to involve DCYF when there is even a minor dispute over paperwork,” said Darren Jones, a litigation attorney for the HSLDA who worked on the case.

The case developed after Fleming submitted to the district her notice of intent and began homeschooling Carson at the start of the 2011-2012 year. As it’s normal for school districts to allow weeks to pass before they process such paperwork, it’s not unusual for schools to total up weeks’ worth of unexcused absences, the HSLDA said.

“While Ms. Fleming waited for the school to review her information, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) received an anonymous accusation, presumably from a schoolteacher, that Carson had unexcused absences from school. Blaming Ms. Fleming for refusing to cooperate with school officials, DCYF charged her with educational neglect. At her hearing, the judge, unfamiliar with New York’s homeschooling laws, refused to recognize that Ms. Fleming was in compliance with the law and ordered that Carson attend public school. But after Ms. Fleming visited the school officials the next day, they approved her homeschool and informed the court,” the organization reported.

simply refused and ordered that because Carson was not enrolled in the public However, the trials were just beginning, because while Fleming believed the neglect charges would be dropped with the approval of her actions, the judge school he must be removed from his mother and put into a foster home.

The HSLDA said it was able to sort out the information and obtain from the DCYF a dismissal of the charges, allowing Carson to return home.

It was just days ago when WND reported that position was exactly what a politician has begun advocating.
The issue arose after Lotta Edholm, a prominent leader of Sweden’s liberal party, opined in an article in Aftonbladet, a Swedish newspaper, that the nation’s social service laws should be changed to encourage social workers to take children away from homeschooling families.
“That the deputy minister of social affairs, Maria Larsson … should take an initiative to change the social services act so that the social authorities can intervene when children are kept away from school by their parents,” she wrote on her blog.
“A country that does not permit home education is not really a free country,” noted Michael Donnelly, director of international affairs for the HSLDA.
Donnelly, who has worked closely in support of homeschooling families in a number of nations where they are being persecuted, said the change in Sweden is a turn for the worse.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/school-paperwork-failure-costs-mom-custody-of-son/



*The posts made in this blog are of our opinion only* Without Prejudice UCC 1-207