Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Dad Kills 2. Shoots Himself

 

FYI- in Scottsdale, AZ today- apparently CNN has said that this was custody related, I sent this to Dr. Phil producer.

They are interested in exposing Richard Gardner in the next show on family court crisis! Good stuff.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/slideshows/89605277.html

Dad kills 2 kids, shoots himself at Scottsdale home

by Jennifer Thomas

Posted on March 31, 2010 at 10:09 AM

Updated today at 5:21 PM

******

[vodpod id=Video.3346985&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Related:

Map: Scottsdale shooting

 

Map data ©2010 Google - Terms of Use

SCOTTSDALE -- A father reportedly shot his two children and then himself at a Scottsdale home Wednesday morning.

According to Scottsdale police Officer David Pubins, at approximately 8 a.m. 39-year-old Andre Leteve called 911 and said he had shot his child.

When police officers arrived at the home near Lincoln Drive and Scottsdale Road, they forced entry and found two small boys dead from apparent gunshot wounds. The kids ages are reportedly 5 years old and 15 months old.

Pubins said the father also shot himself. He was transported to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive.

3TV has learned Leteve was going through a divorce. Both he and his wife had completed parent education classes and were scheduled to appear in court on April 19.

The mother of the children reportedly had plans to take the kids out of state for a vacation and Leteve was attempting to stop those plans.

The So-Called Parental Alienation Christian View: Don't Go Trying to Get All Religious on Us Now

 

By the Brilliant Randi James

Ask yourself: Can you tell the difference between a nice wholesome Christian family and one who is not? And if so, what is/are the difference(s)? Don't fool yourself for the sake of trying to be holier than thou. We see Christian families on the news everyday for a variety of incidents that aren't so wholesome. But, someone will say they aren't Christian enough, they have backslid, they aren't really Christian, etc.

In Monika Logan's attempted appeal to the Christianity in you, she begins with this excerpt by Judith Wallerstein, a "scholar" whose works has been repeatedly misrepresented:

I discovered a well- known scholar’s excerpt, by Judith Wallerstein that reads, “We’ve seriously underestimated the long-term impact of divorce on children [and]…the numerous ways a child’s experience differ when growing up in a divorced family.”I am blessed as I do not know what it is like to be a child of divorce. I was raised in an intact home.

First off, the long-term impact isn't necessarily the divorce. This has been stated countless times in research. It is the conditions that existed prior to the actual divorce and then extend thereafter. Divorces don't happen in a vacuum.Children are often witnesses and participants of dysfunctional behaviors that pre-existed in the "intact" family. And what is an "intact" family anyway? Merely one that hasn't divorced? Divorce is only a legal procedure in which the government is involved. Intact doesn't mean better, or non-dysfunctional. As outsiders, we can only know what families choose to reveal to us. Everyone has a public and private face, even Christians.

Lastly, I am keenly aware that Churches frowns upon divorce and that Parental Alienation (PA) is misunderstand .I was taught that God hates divorce (see Malachi 2:16 NIV), but also was taught that God forgives. He is a God of grace and one that allows for second chances.

Churches frown upon divorce because of the inherently patriarchal and sexist attitudes that exist within its membership--amazingly, the same attitudes we see outside of the church. That God hates divorces but forgives is evidence of the contradictory nature of the Bible. People use whatever part of the Bible they see fit to support their opinion.

The idea of divorce does not occur to newly marrying couples.

It doesn't?

Divorce was also not Gods original intention. God allowed a clause about divorce to be included in the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 24:1). God wanted to prevent men from dumping their wives for frivolous reasons. Subsequently, I started to wonder about children who dump their parents for frivolous reasons

Did God say anything of "allowing" women to "dump" their husbands? And what exactly would be regarded as frivolous reasons? Great segue to her opinion.

In some divorces, especially vitriolic divorces, one parent attempts to turn the child against the other parent. The parent desires to wreak havoc on the other parent’s relationship with the child; a few methods include cruel words and the allure of material gifts. Messages made by parents that are perpetual and poisonous produce troubled kids. Eventually, the relentless actions and words of embittered parents pay off. These kids’ discard relationships of once-loved parents and treat their parents as their worst foe.

Are these vitriolic divorces the same as the "high-conflict" ones? If so, we cannot make any assumptions about why this level of vitriol exists in a family. Again, remember, that families choose to reveal what they want to reveal. We cannot know what the child's original feelings were about his or her parent(s) unless we were a part of that child's inner world. Troubled kids are produced by a lot more than poisonous messages--troubled kids need an environment in which there are few resources/little support. Troubled kids are not treated like people but rather objects. Troubled kids' emotions and space are not validated or respected. The truth is, we cannot know the depth of feeling any child once had for his/her parents, based off our own observation, or the word of the other parent.

Sadly, many Christian parents whose kids reject them feel alone in their shame. Many believers fall prey to the idea that good parents always have good kids. They frequently support this standard by one preferred scripture, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6, NIV). Other scriptural lessons are discarded, such as Job or Aaron’s sons as seen in Leviticus 10.

Many kids reject their parents, even non-Christian ones. This is on account of a range of behaviors of that parent. Is it so hard to understand that just because someone is the parent, blood-relative, etc, that there is no guarantee that the temperaments will match...that they will have similar interests as their children? Love is not guaranteed to be reciprocated, nor can you dictate how someone else loves you. Children are people. How should we treat children? Well, Monika cites Proverbs 22:6, but a few verses later in, 22:15, it says this: "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." She also mentions that Christians disregard Leviticus 10, where you can also find this part: “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” (20:9) Hmmm.

Divided homes breeds deception, deceit, and disparagement. Common Christian advice is that parent’s post-divorce should keep the same chores, discipline, and rules. This guidance is helpful, but is not applicable to cases of PA. Dr. Warshak points out… “your children are being manipulated to serve as vehicles to express their other parents hostility…” (p.38). Parent’s in these cases do not care about the rejected parent’s wishes or their children’s best interests. It is a form of emotional abuse.

Non-divided homes breed the same things. How do you deal with it in those cases? The emphasis shouldn't be placed on thehome though, it is the people involved in the situation. Kids thrive with consistency and thus the same schedules should continue as possible. But we don't really hear that these days. All we hear is joint-custody--a situation that breeds no kind of continuity other than being a timeshare product. Separated parents can share parenting, where parenting was once shared before. Separated parents should not split 50-50 custody, where there was no 50-50 split in the child's time previously.

Children are being manipulated by parents who come to the sudden realization that, without the other parent's assistance, he/she has no real connection to his/her child. That parent did not build, maintain, and continue to foster a relationship with his/her own child. So now, in absence of any support, that parent refuses to understand the current dynamics are based on the past. And so that parent's escape, is to blame "alienation" on the parent to whom the child is closer. The parental alienation tactic allows an otherwise physically, emotionally, or spiritually absent parent to experience the absolution that is provided in Christianity.

In the cases where that parent was the abuser in the family, often times we cannot know because it was that same nice, wholesome, upstanding Christian neighbor.Abusers do seek to undermine the child's relationship with the parent to whom he/she is closer. This phenomena is not parental alienation.Parental alienation theorists are trying to mix all the definitions up in order to obscure an agenda--that the parental alienation tactic is historically based on acover for child sexual abuse. Even in the original definition of parental alienation, if domestic abuse was present, parental alienation could not be considered as a "diagnosis." The definition continues to expand.

Alienated children often resemble children that are diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (Warshak, 2010, p. 27). These kids are angry, resentful, spiteful and vindictive . The only difference is that their unwarranted behavior is towards one parent, not both. I do not think Parental Alienation is the thorn in our flesh (see 2 Corinthians 12:17). Target parents are often humble enough. Parents and children need support, prayer, and love. Prayer is also needed for ex-spouses’ as many are un-happy and lonely after an un-wanted divorce. We should reserve judgment for God.

    In an interesting conclusion, Monika tries to merge psychology with one more Christian rambling. Kids in any type of dysfunction are angry and resentful. As they fail to see any resolution to their problems, these kids can become spiteful and vindictive. These traits are not limited to the kids. And without careful inquiry we are not in a position to know whether that behavior is warranted, or not. We are also not in a position as outsiders to force our beliefs upon these children, especially in cases where domestic abuse may be the underlying cause. We are only looking at the signs and symptoms as they are revealed to us. What we can offer is support and belief in the children's words as they choose to present it to us. They need one positive adult with whom they can bond, and that adult should be his/her preferred parent.

    As for the ex-spouse, some are un-happy, some are happier. Some are lonely, some re-partner quickly, some have no intention of partnering, some are dedicated to their child[ren], some have completely other interests. We don't need to assume. But by placing psychology into the dynamic of families, we are serving as judges. What would God think about that?Hopefully the Christian God is different from the God that Catholic priests and children are referring to. Then again, if He believes in parental alienation, maybe not.

    Related Posts :

    parental alienation fraud

  • Understand Parental Alienation. Read Between the Lines. There Are HUGE Spaces...

  • Glenn Sacks Gets Served by Domestic Violence Survivor

  • Psychology and Parental Alienation: Closer to Science?

  • Parental Alienation and Loving Relationships: Questions We Must Ask

  • Parental Alienation in "High Conflict" Divorce: Questions We Must Ask

  • Every Child Has Parental Alienation Syndrome, Even David Goldman's Son!

      whores of the court

      • Canadian Therapists and Lawyers Want to Limit Your Right to File Charges Against Assessors in Child Custody Cases

      • Amy Baker and Parental Alienation Syndrome: Is This What Scientific Research Looks Like?

      • Crooks Coming to Canada

      • Wanted: The PAS Accused

      • Reconnecting With Your Children in the Face of Danger

      • Denouncing Parental Alienation

          shared parenting

          • Same Ol Constitutional Argument for Fathers Having Child Custody

          • Gender Bias in the Florida Court Sytem: Economics of Divorce

          • The Shared Care Debate in Australia: How to Misrepresent Everything

          • Canada, Child Custody, and the Shared Parenting Fail

          • Joint Custody: Plausible, Attractive, but no Evidence Supporting It

          • Only a Minority of Families with Court-Ordered Joint Custody are Able to Coparent

              result of divorce

              • Parental Alienation and Loving Relationships: Questions We Must Ask

              • Parental Alienation in "High Conflict" Divorce: Questions We Must Ask

              • Gender Bias in Florida's Court System: Equitable Distribution and Spousal Support

              • ANYONE Can Diagnose Parental Alienation Syndrome

              • Gender Bias in Florida's Court System: Judicial Attitudes

              • Gender Bias in Florida's Court System: Access to Justice

              • Technorati Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

                Where Do All Of The Perpetrators Go?

                 

                Australian Shared Parenting Law Debate

                Just six days ago, a Laurence D'Alessandrowas found guilty ofpossessing over 16000 images of child pornography. It was deemed, "The very worst" "inhumane" and "evil".

                He was sentenced to 3 years jail. In 3 years time, this man will be out in our community, maybe already married with children or about to be married with children. We wont know. Some unlucky women and child may fall prey to such a predator in the future. With so many privacy laws protecting perpetrators, she may not know until its too late. If she makes the decision to protect the child and leave, he can still obtain unquestioned rights of access to the child through the family court. How that stands in legal terms of the Family court is "in the past".

                In a report from the Sentencing Advisory Council, the average rate of sentencing is an appalling figure on the value of a child's livelihood:

                Believe it or not, there is actually lesser sentence if the child is related to the abuser:

                Considering the average jail term for incest being 4 years, the crimes that warrant higher sentences must be more abhorrent or are they?

                1. A women is sentenced for 5 years over property investment.(source)
                2. A man was sentenced for 3 years for denying the holocaust(source)
                3. Copyright infringements are up to 5 years(Source)
                4. Maximum penalty for juveniles caught stealing is 7- 8 years(source)
                5. A man receives 7 years for taking bribes(Source)

                So where do the perpetrators go?

                Back into the community, into our unsuspecting lives, taking advantage of a legal system that is wholeheartedly supporting them. Again and again.

                Posted by Samantha at 10:12 PM

                Labels: Australia, Child Sexual Abuse, Custody, Family Court, Incest, Parent Alienation Disorder, Perpetrators, Rape, Sex Offender dad

                Artigos Relacionados:

                Technorati Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

                Tuesday, March 30, 2010

                UPDATE - Dr. Phil Show to Air on April 8th

                 

                CJE Web Header 600

                DR. PHIL UPDATE

                We received notice on Friday that the Dr. Phil Show on the Family Court Crisis is scheduled to air on Thursday, April 8th. Please note that this date is subject to change, so please stay tuned to your email for any last minute changes.

                Click here to find the local station and time that the Dr. Phil Show will air in your community.

                As many of you have heard, the taping of this show represents an amazing turn of events in the media's coverage of this crisis. It was an emotionally powerful morning that none of us who witnessed it will ever forget!

                One of our Protective Moms who flew to LA for the taping has approached CJE with an amazing offer!

                Amanda Hodge from Alabama has agreed to use her marketing background to help us generate additional press around the family court crisis! Amanda has offered to send a press release to local news affiliates on the networks that air the Dr. Phil Show, offering local interviews with Protective Moms who have survived the Family Court Crisis. This is a great strategy that will enable us to piggyback local stories off of the national exposure we'll be getting from the Dr. Phil Show!

                If you are a Protective Mom and are willing to share your story with local media, please email Amanda Hodge at thomaap@auburn.edu, BEFORE FRIDAY, and let her know the following information:

                1) Your Name and the City/State you live in.

                2) The call letters (i.e. WKLW), station affiliation (NBC, CBS etc.) and contact info for the local news director on the station that airs the Dr. Phil Show  (Don't worry if you can't find the news director's info, we can help with that).

                3) Contact information (Phone & Email).

                4) Please List All that you are Willing to Do:

                - Willing to use your name in the press release?

                - To be interviewed on camera by the press?

                - How about an anonymous interview (Jane Doe)?

                - Willing to name the courthouse that your case is in?

                **Amanda needs to hear from everybody willing to participate by THIS FRIDAY (April 2nd) to adapt a release for your local area. Please be aware that there is no guarantee that the local press will interview you.

                Questions about this action? Please call Amanda at 334-750-2280 (EDT). CJE will be supporting her but not fielding calls about this action.

                Thanks so much to the 100+ Protective Moms who attended last week's taping of the show. Your commitment to reforming this broken system has allowed us to achieve the unthinkable (fingers crossed)!

                Check the CJE website for more information - we'll keep you updated as we firm up the details.

                Together, we can rebuild public trust in our courts, reinforcing the judiciary as a well-managed model of integrity, justice and equality.

                QUICK LINKS

                CJE Website

                Family Court Crisis Documentary

                Family Court Crisis Photo Exhibit

                CJE Donate

                 

                 

                Technorati Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

                Monday, March 29, 2010

                Parental Alienation Syndrome-In the Best Interest of the Pedophile

                http://www.cincinnatipas.com/richardgardner-pas.html
                Unless There Are Other Interests

                Dr. Richard Gardner

                Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS)

                Debunked

                Dr. Richard Gardner, M.D.
                Born On April 28, 1931
                Committed Suicide May 25, 2003

                "CAUSE OF DEATH: Incised wounds of chest and neck."

                Allow us to disabuse the pro-abusers. Dr. Richard Gardner's son told the New York Times that his father committed suicide. Contrary to assertions made by the father's rights movement, Richard Gardner most certainly did not die "peacefully in his sleep". It was far uglier than that.

                Read now about this twistedly pathetic man, his ridiculous PAS theory, and the untold damage that he has done.

                In Gardner's Own Words

                Dr. Richard Gardner:
                "Sex Abuse Hysteria:
                Salem Witch Trials Revisited''

                ''What I am against is the excessively moralistic and punitive reaction that many members of our society have toward pedophiles ... (going) far beyond what I consider to be the gravity of the crime.''

                The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
                In his 1992 book, ''True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse,'' Gardner writes that pedophilia -- adults having sexual relations with children -- ''is a widespread and accepted practice among literally billions of people.''

                Richard Gardner says,
                ''all of us have some pedophilia within us.''

                Insight Magazine, April 1999
                "Has Psychiatry Gone Psycho?"

                By Kelly Patricia O'Meara

                According to the developer of the theory, Richard A. Gardner, a clinical professor of child psychiatry, PAS is "a disorder of children, arising almost exclusively in child-custody disputes, in which one parent (usually the mother) programs the child to hate the other parent (usually the father)."

                . . . . If a child demonstrates negative feelings toward the father, Gardner's PAS puts the blame on the mother and explains that the confusion is best remedied by increasing the child's time with the father.

                When a child has been sexually abused and feels guilt about it, Gardner suggests, the child may be helped to appreciate that "sexual encounters between an adult and a child are not universally considered to be reprehensible acts.

                The child might be told about other societies in which such behavior was and is considered normal."

                If sexual urges continue after the abuse ends, Gardner suggests such children be encouraged to masturbate.

                Gardner suggests that the molesting-father's behavior should be understood. The father "has to be helped to appreciate that, even today, [pedophilia] is a widespread and accepted practice among literally billions of people" and "he [the father] has had a certain amount of bad luck with regard to the place and time he was born with regard to social attitudes toward pedophilia."

                Gardner, Richard A.,

                Child Custody Litigation (1986) p.93

                "At the present time, the sexually abused child is generally considered to be the victim," though the child may initiate sexual encounters by 'seducing' the adult."

                Gardner, Richard A.,

                True and False Accusations of Child Sex Abuse (1992)

                "It is of interest that of all the ancient peoples it may very well be that the Jews were the only ones who were punitive toward pedophiles."
                Ibid. pp.46-47

                Many child advocates are "charlatans, and/or psychopaths, and/or incompetents."
                Ibid. p.526

                "It is _extremely_ important for therapists to appreciate that the child who has been genuinely abused may _not_ need psychotherapeutic intervention."
                Ibid. p.535

                "If the mother has reacted to the abuse in a hysterical fashion, or used it as an excuse for a campaign of denigration of the father, then the therapist does well to try and 'sober her up'... Her hysterics... will contribute to the child's feeling that a heinous crime has been committed and will thereby lessen the likelihood of any kind of rapproachment with the father.

                One has to do everything possible to help her put the 'crime' in proper perspective. She has to be helped to appreciate that in most societies in the history of the world, such behavior was ubiquitous, and this is still the case."
                Ibid. p.584-585

                "Of relevance here is the belief by many of these therapists that a sexual encounter between an adult and a child -- no matter how short, no matter how tender, loving, and non-painful -- automatically and predictably _must_ be psychologically traumatic to the child... The determinant as to whether the experience will be traumatic is the social attitude toward these encounters."
                Ibid. pp.670-71

                "I believe it is reasonable to say that at this time there are millions of people in the United States who are either directly accusing or supporting false sex-abuse accusations and/or are reacting in an extremely exaggerated fashion to situations in which _bona fide_ sex abuse has occurred."
                Ibid. p.688

                Richard Gardner in

                ''Sex Abuse Hysteria''

                Judges ''may have repressed pedophilic impulses over which there is suppression, repression, and guilt. Inquiry into the details of the case provides voyeuristic and vicarious gratifications."

                ¬Ý

                Unscientific Garbage¬Ý

                University of Washington Professor
                John Conte has described Gardner's "Sex Abuse Legitimacy Scale" as

                "probably the most unscientific piece of garbage I've seen in the field in all my time. To base social policy on something as flimsy as this is exceedingly dangerous."

                According to "Violence In The Family," a 1996 report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence And the Family:

                The task force found that court decisions awarding an allegedly abusive father custody of his children "... may improperly rely on inaccurate and unsupported theories such as The Parental Alienation Syndrome."

                Margaret Hagen, a Boston University professor of psychology and author of Whores of the Court, says

                "parental alienation is just another bogus psychological theory infecting the nation's legal system."

                Carol S. Bruch, Professor of Law and Chair,
                Doctoral Programme in Human Developement,
                University of California, Davis
                Parental Alienation Syndrome:
                Junk Science in Child Custody Determinations

                "Possibly as a consequence of these errors and his 'tail-of-the-elephant' view, Gardner vastly overstates the frequency of cases in which children and custodial parents manufacture false allegations or collude to destroy the parent-child relationship.

                Taken together, these assertions have the practical effect of impugning all abuse allegations, allegations that Gardner asserts are usually false in the divorce context.

                Here, too, Gardner cites no evidence in support of his personal view, and the relevant literature reports the contrary, that such allegations are usually well-founded."

                According to John E. B. Myers in his article,
                "What Is Parental Alienation Syndrome
                And Why Is It So Often Used Against Mothers?"

                "Dr. Gardner's Parental Alienation Syndrome has not, to my knowledge, been subjected to empirical study, research, or testing. Nor to my knowledge has the syndrome been published in peer reviewed medical or scientific journals."

                The American Prosecutors Research Institute in Virginia

                "that Gardner's research, including PAS, has not been peer-reviewed or officially recognized by the AMA and the APA. Gardner has been able to get around the peer review process by publishing his own works. Creative Therapeutics, which published "Parental Alienation Syndrome", is Gardner's own publishing company."

                ¬Ý

                Moneymaker

                "When a fellow says it hain't the money but the principle o' the thing, it's th' money."
                Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

                from New Times LA Edition
                Thursday March 4, 1999
                The Scarlet Letter

                Since coming up with his theory, Gardner has begun self-publishing his work in a series of books, training family court evaluators and judges around the country, and testifying as an expert witness in custody cases for $500 an hour, almost exclusively for fathers.

                The color of Parental Alienation Syndrome is green.

                PAS is a huge moneymaker for the unethical psychologists and evaluators who diagnose it. Word travels fast among lawyers. If you are the local PASguy, every jackass attorney will know it. You will be invited into every abuse case within 100 miles. Do not wreck your reputation - never disappoint - keep those PAS reports coming and the money will follow.

                cha-ching

                Remember - all that a psychologist need do, is make recommendations that ensure his continued involvement.

                A $5,000 case can easily become a $10,000 case - or more!

                Diagnose a case of PAS just once a month and presto! - that's annually an extra $60,000 - or more!

                The Oscar for the best moneymaker theory in child custody evaluations goes to ...

                Parental Alienation
                Syndrome

                Attack The Mother

                ¬Ý

                According to John E. B. Myers in his article,
                "What Is Parental Alienation Syndrome And Why Is It So Often Used Against Mothers?"

                "If you are a woman and you allege child sexual abuse, expect to be attacked with Richard Gardner's Parental Alienation Syndrome. Gardner's writing is popular among attorney's who represent men accused of abuse, and among some mental health professionals."

                Trish Wilson
                How "Parental Alienation Syndrome" is Used Against Mothers And Children Who Allege Child Sexual Abuse

                PAS is very popular amongst members of the father's rights movement as well as men who have been charged with both child abuse and domestic violence.

                Fathers' rights groups equate "lack of substantiation" with "lying."

                If she alleged abuse, she could be slapped with "Parental Alienation Syndrome" and lose custody of her children -- which ultimately was the final outcome. If she ignored the abuse, she was told by a crisis intervention counselor that she could be prosecuted for failure to protect.
                Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.

                Judith Reisman, president of the Institute for Media Education and author of Kinsey, Crimes and Consequences, has another view.

                "Anyone who thinks and says that incest can be avoided if the mother has better sex with the father may clinically be defined as a psychopath and needs help." She adds that "buying a vibrator is not going to make a happy home. Obviously he has his own demons to deal with."

                Robin Yeamans, California attorney

                "Once a mother is called an alienator, police are informed, social workers are informed, and everything she says from then on counts for nothing."Yeamans, who knows dozens of women who have lost their children in alienation cases, adds, "This is the new scarlet letter."

                PAS Made Him Do It

                ¬Ýfrom New Times LA Edition
                Thursday March 4, 1999
                The Scarlet Letter
                In a 1988 custody case in Maryland, Gardner testified that physicist Marc Friedlander should receive temporary custody of his two sons because his wife, Zitta, also a physicist, was aparental alienator who had interfered with her husband's visitation rights. While the custody battle was unfolding, Friedlander shot his wife 13 times as she walked to her car after work. During Friedlander's murder trial, Gardner testified that Zitta Friedlander's alienating behavior had made her husband psychotic. The jury didn't buy Gardner's temporary insanity argument, though, and Friedlander was found guilty of first-degree murder.

                Dr. Richard Gardner in New Jersey

                Dr. Richard Gardner, seen here in February 1999 at age 67, authored the money making PAS theory that made him a very rich man. Gardner committed suicide on May 25, 2003, plunging a seven inch butcher knife into his neck and heart. Gardner testified mostly for men, charging $500 per hour, routinely recommending custody to abusers, deprogramming children and threat therapy for mothers. Gardner was against "the excessively moralistic and punitive reaction that many members of our society have toward pedophiles".

                "Parental Alienation Syndrome
                and Parental Alienation:

                Getting it Wrong
                in Child Custody Cases"

                by Carol S. Bruch
                Professor of Law and Chair,
                Doctoral Programme in Human Developement,
                University of California, Davis

                ¬Ý

                "Although Dr. Gardner sometimes states that his analysis does not apply to cases of actual abuse, the focus of his attention is directed at discerning whether the beloved parent and child are lying, not whether the target parent is untruthful or has behaved in a way that might explain the child's aversion."
                Bruch (p. 528-529)

                "Two examples are his efforts to distinguish true from false allegations and his blanket advice to judges that they should refrain from taking abuse allegations seriously, even when supported by a therapist who has seen the child."
                Bruch (p. 529, footnote 6)

                "First, Gardner confounds a child's developmentally related reaction to divorce and high parental conflict (including violence) with psychosis."
                Bruch (page 530)

                "Worse yet, if therapists agree that danger exists, Gardner asserts that they are almost always man-hating women who have entered into a folie-ˆÝ-trois with the complaining child and concerned parent."
                Bruch (p. 532)

                "In sum, children's reluctance or refusal to visit noncustodial parents can probably be better explained without resorting to Gardner's theory. Studies that followed families over several years, for example, report that visits may cease or be resisted when a variety of reasons cause custodial parents and children to be angry or uncomfortable with the other parent."
                Bruch (p. 534)

                "First, Gardner is broadly (but mistakenly) believed to be a full professor at a prestigious university."
                Bruch (p. 534-535)

                "Because this aura of expertise accompanies his work, few suspect that it is mostly self-published."
                Bruch (page 535)

                ". . . receives referrals from the websites of fathers' organizations, and provides packaged continuing education courses for professionals."
                Bruch (p. 535-536)

                "Finally, he often inaccurately represents or suggests that PAS is consistent with or endorsed by the accepted work of others."
                Bruch (p. 536)

                "...whenever child sexual abuse allegations or disrupted visitation patterns arise in the United States, one must now be prepared to confront a claim asserting that PAS is at work, not abuse or other difficulties."
                Bruch (page 537)

                "Following considerable scientific criticism, Gardner withdrew the test he had constructed to determine whether sexual abuse had taken place."
                Bruch (p. 539)

                Richard Gardner's Favorite

                JUDGES

                Richard Gardner penned a response to Carol S. Bruch's study of him and his ridiculous, debunked PAS theory. Gardner claimed that there are 66 PAS judges in the United States. This is hard to verify because Gardner does not name the moron 66.

                Here are the final 2 paragraphs of
                Gardner's response to Bruch from:

                Family Law Quarterly 35(3):527-552, 2001

                Comments on Carol S. Bruch's Article
                "Parental Alienation Syndrome and Parental Alienation:
                Getting it Wrong in Child Custody Cases"

                Richard A. Gardner, M.D.:

                ¬Ý"There are many other criticisms I have of the Bruch article, which is not the disinterested, comprehensive survey of the material available onPAS that it represents itself to be. My final conclusion is that it is not I who am biased and misrepresenting the material; it is clearly Bruck herself.

                Last, I believe that all of Bruck's attempts to discredit and deny PAS will prove futile, her obvious great labors toward that goal notwithstanding.PAS exists, and corroboration of that is the 66 judges who have cited it, and the over 150 authors who have written about it."

                Geographic PAS Warning

                If you are a protective parent or abused child living in any of the following American states, Canadian provinces or five other countries, you may have to contend with a twisted legal system infected with the debunked PAS theory. Over the past two decades, Parental Alienation Syndrome has had legal success to varying degrees in the following regions:

                Known PAS States in the USA - 23

                ¬ÝAlabama
                ¬ÝFlorida
                ¬ÝNevada
                ¬ÝTexas

                ¬ÝAlaska
                ¬ÝIllinois
                ¬ÝNew Hampshire
                ¬ÝVirginia

                ¬ÝArkansas
                ¬ÝIndiana
                ¬ÝNew Jersey
                ¬ÝWashington

                ¬ÝCalifornia
                ¬ÝIowa
                ¬ÝNew York
                ¬ÝWisconsin

                ¬ÝColorado
                ¬ÝLouisiana
                ¬ÝOhio
                ¬ÝWyoming

                ¬ÝConnecticut
                ¬ÝMichigan
                ¬ÝPennsylvania
                ¬Ý

                Known PAS Provinces
                in Canada - 7

                Known PAS Countries Elsewhere - 5

                ¬Ý
                ¬Ý

                ¬ÝAlberta
                ¬ÝAustralia

                ¬ÝBritish Columbia
                ¬ÝGermany

                ¬ÝNew Brunswick
                ¬ÝGreat Britain

                ¬ÝNew Foundland
                ¬ÝIsrael

                ¬ÝNova Scotia
                ¬ÝSwitzerland

                ¬ÝOntario
                ¬Ý

                ¬ÝQuebec
                ¬Ý

                Lawyers everywhere know of the debunked PAS theory and many attempt to use it in defense of accused clients. Some lawyers shamelessly operate under a "whatever it takes" motto. And of course all it takes is one whacked judge for your region to make the list.

                If you are one of the judges who has accepted PAS into your courtroom, then you have allowed a theory concocted by a man so mentally unbalanced that he would later commit suicide by thrusting a butcher's knife into his heart and who once also wrote,

                ''What I am against is the excessively moralistic and punitive reaction that many members of our society have toward pedophiles ... (going) far beyond what I consider to be the gravity of the crime.''

                A PAS Game

                Sweet Letters & Sour Motives

                Imagine that someone steals your car?

                And then the thief writes you a very nice letter offering to give you a lift in your stolen car?

                The thief just wants to be friends. That would be incredible, right?

                When you decline and say you just want your goddamn car back, the thief criticizes you for not being very nice and calls you rude.

                Indeed, the thief shows others copies of his letters to prove how nice he has been to you. And perhaps your impolite responses.

                This is like a PAS game.

                Abusers play this game very well.

                Instead of a car, the Abuser steals a child's innocence and scars him for life. And then expects the accusing parent to be a nice, civil and cooperative co-parent.

                Any accusing parent stung by PAS theory can tell you all about "the abuser's letters".

                So many Abusers do this, that it is hard to imagine that they have not been advised to do so. The purpose of the letters are to make the accusing parent appear uncooperative - and in Dr. Richard Gardner's PAS world, the uncooperative parent is to be punished.

                The Abuser is not really writing to the accusing parent, but rather, for the benefit of a PAS Judge or evaluator.

                The Abuser has almost no expectation that the accusing parent will receive the letters well. The Abuser knows that the accusing parent regards him as sick and wrong.

                The Abuser hopes to create a mistake in the accusing parent's response, or non-response, or to simply show the letters one day to a PAS Judge or evaluator. The Abuser hopes with the letters to box in the accusing parent.

                If the accusing parent accidentally extends to the Abuser a courtesy that is too generous, then it undermines the allegations of abuse. If the accusing parent isn't cooperative at all, then according to Gardner, that parent cannot be a reliable co-parent and custody therefore should go to the Abuser.

                It's so very easy to prove that the accusing parent, angry about the abuse of their child, isn't particularly fond of the parent they believe to have committed that abuse. While right thinking people (and right thinking judges) can easily understand that and believe it to be only natural, PAS Judges and evaluators welcome the abuser's letters. In their PAS eyes, it is proof of recalcitrance.

                Welcome to the PAS letters game.Can I give you a lift?

                Richard Overdoses

                While The Evil Dr. Gardner ...

                Uses A Butcher's Knife

                CincinnatiPAS.com was the first website to report the suicide of the pro-pedophillic Dr. Richard Gardner, reporting the event seven days before the NY Times.

                The father's rights movement, true to their disinformation habit, comicly ignore the facts regarding their hero's gory death for the simple reason that it makes Richard Gardner appear mentally unbalanced, which of course he was.

                Gardner's misguided supporters are also loathe to explain his many pro-pedophillic opinions (see above), glossing over them. The parental alienationists pretend Gardner simply died in his sleep just as they pretend he was not pro-pedophillic.

                Like Gardner's debunked PAS theory, these people are out to lunch. Their sappy tributes to a fallen pro-pedophillic comrade would be funny were it not that some folks actually take these people seriously.

                ¬Ý

                County Of Bergen
                Department of Public Safety
                Medical Examiner

                Autopsy Report

                May 27, 2003
                02030860.aut
                GARDNER, Richard A.
                "This is to certify that I, Laura S. Carbone, M.D., Bergen County Medical Examiner, have conducted a postmortem examination and autopsy on the unembalmed and refrigerated body of Richard A. Gardner at the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office on May 27, 2003, between 1030 and 1235 hours with the assistance of Ms. Coleen McVeigh."
                IDENTIFICATION:
                The decedent is identified visually at the scene by his girlfriend, Natalie Weiss.
                CLOTHING/PERSONAL EFFECTS:
                The decedent is received clad in a white with black print ("carpe diem") sweatshirt, white undershirt, navy blue trousers and white boxer shorts. The garments are all intact showing no discrete perforations or tears. The sweatshirt and undershirt show patchy blood stains which are most concentrated on the right shoulder and the back areas of the garments. A white handkerchief is recovered from the right front pocket of the trousers; a similar handkerchief and 2 1/2 light orange oval tablets are within the left front pocket. A yellow, metal, nugget-type ring is worn on the right middle finger.
                All of the above-described items with the exception of the tablets recovered from a pant pocket (retained) are released to the funeral home (Wien and Wien).
                OTHER ITEMS:
                Various items are recovered from the scene and are received within labeled paper envelopes as follows:
                Several bottles of prescription medications are recovered, some of which are empty. For specific medications, dosages, quantities, etc. please see the report prepared by the Medical Examiner Investigator.
                A bloodied steak knife is recovered from the scene. The knife has a wooden handle measuring 3 3/4 x 1/2 x 1/4 inches with a yellow metal serrated blade measuring 5 inches in length and up to 5/8 inch wide and 1/16 inch in maximum thickness; dried blood is visible smeared on the blade surface and smudged on the handle. The knife is photographed.
                All of the above-described items are retained by the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office.
                MARKS OF TREATMENT:
                There is no evidence of terminal medical attention.
                RADIOLOGY:
                No postmortem x-ray studies are performed.
                INJURIES, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL:
                There are incised wounds (sharp-force injuries) to the chest and neck. The injuries are listed below for descriptive purposes only. No sequence is implied.
                I. CHEST:
                There are at least four stab wounds clustered within a 6 x 3 inch area on the anterior left chest. The wounds will be described from inferior to superior designated A-D as follows:
                A:
                There is a nearly horizontally-oriented elliptical stab wound centered ... (redacted)
                B and C:
                Wound B is a nearly horizontally-oriented elliptical stab wound ... (redacted)
                Wound C is an irregularly shaped stab wound ... (redacted)
                D:
                The body is received with a knife plunged into wound D. The knife is angled upward and inward with the sharp and dull edges of the blade within the lateral and medial edges of the wound, respectively. ... (redacted)
                Once the knife is removed, wound D consists of an elliptical-shaped stab wound ... (redacted) The medial edge is blunt and the lateral edge is sharp. After penetration through the full thickness of the skin and soft tissue of the left anterior chest wall, the knife extended through the intercostal muscle between the left second and third ribs creating a 2" linear incision. The knife then perforated the superior aspect of the pericardial sac ... (redacted) The knife then penetrated the heart; ... (redacted) The knife then terminated in the lumen of the aorta ... (redacted)
                The direction of the wound's track is upward and inward, from left to right. The maximum depth of penetration is approximately 5".
                II. NECK:
                There are three parallel obliquely-oriented incised wounds on the right lateral aspect of the neck situated approximately 1/2" apart and each at angles along the same line as the angle of the jaw. ... (redacted)
                KNIFE:
                The knife which is recovered from the subject's chest is a butcher knife having a black and gray metal handle and a gray metal blade measuring 7 3/4" length, 1 3/4" maximum width and up to 1/8" maximum thickness. The sharp edge of the blade shows a pattern of tiny serrations. Much of the blade is bloodied.
                The knife is photographed and retained by the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office.
                ... (redacted)
                ¬Ý
                FINDINGS/FINAL DIAGNOSIS:

                I. Incised wounds of chest and neck.

                A. Stab wounds (4) of left chest with:
                (a) Incisions of heart, aorta and pericardial sac.
                (b) Hemothoraz (1200ml), left.
                (c) Soft tissue hemorrhages.
                B. Incised wounds (3) of right neck with:
                (a) Transection of right jugular vein.
                (b) Incision of right thyroid cartilage lamina.
                (c) Soft tissue hemorrhages.
                ... (redacted)
                ¬Ý
                CAUSE OF DEATH:
                Incised wounds of chest and neck.
                MANNER OF DEATH:
                Suicide.
                ¬Ý
                Laura S. Carbone, M.D.
                Assistant Medical Examiner

                Date Dictated: 05-27-03
                Date Transcribed: 06-23-03
                Date Finalized: 07-02-03
                End of Excerpt of Medical Examiner's Autopsy

                What a scene that must have been?


                Three stabs to the neck.
                - That's gotta hurt!


                Four stabs to the heart & chest.
                - Ouch!

                Can you imagine Richard Gardner stabbing himself in such a horrific way? Blood all over the place? It would be like Norman Bates slashing himself. You can hear the Psycho music too.

                Internally conflicted and mentally unstable to the last, this web site wonders whether Richard took the overdose - while the evil Dr. Gardner preferred a butcher's knife?

                Richard had the right idea, a painless forever snooze.

                But what drove the evil Dr. Gardner to choose for himself such a gory, bloody and violent death?

                Isn't that kind of ... crazy?

                ¬Ý

                New York Times

                June 9, 2003, Monday

                METROPOLITAN DESK

                Richard Gardner, 72, Dies;
                Cast Doubt on Abuse Claims

                By STUART LAVIETES
                "Dr. Richard A. Gardner, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who developed a theory about parental alienation syndrome, which he said could lead children in high-conflict custody cases to falsely accuse a parent of abuse, died on May 25 at his home in Tenafly, N.J. He was 72.
                The cause was suicide, said Dr. Gardner's son, Andrew, who said his father had been distraught over the advancing symptoms of reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a painful neurological syndrome.
                Dr. Gardner, who testified in more than 400 child custody cases, maintained that children who suffered from parental alienation syndrome had been indoctrinated by a vindictive parent and obsessively denigrated the other parent without cause.
                In severe cases, he recommended that courts remove children from the homes of the alienating parents and place them in the custody of the parents accused of abuse.
                His theory has provoked vehement opposition from some mental health professionals, child abuse experts and lawyers. Critics argue that it lacks a scientific basis, noting that the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association have not recognized it as a syndrome.
                They also say that the theory is biased against women, as allegations of abuse are usually directed at fathers, and that it is used as a weapon by lawyers seeking to undermine a mother's credibility in court." ...
                ... "His marriage to Lee Gardner ended in divorce. In addition to his son, of Cherry Hill, N.J., he is survived by two daughters, Nancy Gardner Rubin of Potomac, Md., and Julie Gardner Mandelcorn, of Newton, Mass.; his mother, Amelia Gardner of Manhattan; eight grandchildren; and his partner, Natalie Weiss.
                Correction: June 14, 2003, Saturday An obituary on Monday about Dr. Richard A. Gardner, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, misstated his position at Columbia University. He was a clinical professor of psychiatry in the division of child and adolescent psychiatry -- an unpaid volunteer -- not a professor of child psychiatry."
                End of Obituary Excerpt

                ¬Ý

                ¬Ý¬Ý

                A comment about Dr. Richard Gardner's suicide released by the last man to cross examine him, attorney Richard Ducote:

                ¬Ý¬ÝJune 1, 2003

                "Parental Alienation Syndrome is a bogus, pro-pedophillic fraud concocted by Richard Gardner. I was the last attorney to cross examine Gardner. In Paterson, NJ, he admitted that he has not spoken to the Dean of Columbia's medical school for over 15 years, and has not had hospital admitting privileges for over 25 years.

                He has not been court appointed to do anything for decades.

                The only two appellate courts in the country who have considered the question of whether PAS meets the Frye test, i.e., whether it is generally accepted in the scientific community, said it does not. As Dr. Paul Fink, former president of the American Psychiatric Association has stated, Dr. Gardner and PAS should be only a "pathetic footnote" in psychiatric history. Gardner and his bogus theory have done untold damage to sexually and physically abused children and their protective parents. PAS has been rejected by every reputable organization considering it.

                In a Florida case in which I was recently involved, when the judge insisted on a Frye hearing, Gardner simply did not show up. Perhaps because he finally realized that the entire nation was on to his scam, he committed suicide on May 25. Let's pray that his ridiculous, dangerous PAS foolishness died with him."

                Richard Ducote
                attorney at law
                New Orleans, LA

                Internally conflicted and mentally unstable to the last, this website wonders whether Richard took the overdose -

                while the evil Dr. Gardner preferred a butcher's knife?

                Did Richard Gardner Also Cause 16 year old Nathan Grieco's Suicide?

                The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in performing their civic duty to inform and enlighten, ran a two part investigative story on a tragic custody war in their city in which Dr. Richard Gardner became personally involved as an expert witness.

                Dr. Gardner interviewed the allegedly abusive father but did not interview the mother nor the three boys at the center of the custody dispute. Nevertheless, Gardner diagnosed "a classical case of PAS" based upon his conversations with his paying client. He called the mother and her three sons "sadistic" and recommended that they be "coerced" (he actually used that word) into making the boys visit their father.

                Gardner recommended to the Pittsburgh judge something he called "Threat Therapy", in which the mother should be jailed if the boys did not visit their physically and mentally abusive father. In regard to accusing mothers, Gardner believed that therapists do well to "sober" them up. Otherwise, the children might think that a "heinous crime" has been committed.

                Despite its' questionable constitutionality, the Pittsburgh judge went along with Gardner's forced visit "threat therapy" recommendation and what's more, the mother was ordered to deliver the boys in a positive frame of mind or be held for sanctions. The oldest boy, 16 year old Nathan Grieco soon after suffered a nervous breakdown, was hospitalized and eventually committed suicide.

                Nathan's mother went public 2 weeks after his death, blaming Dr. Richard Gardner and Pittsburgh Judge John J. Driscoll. Her story created a national outcry.

                Click below to read this Pittsburgh family's heart wrenching story and see why it is that so many right thinking mental health and legal professionals regard Dr. Richard Gardner as having been nothing more than a dangerous con man.

                Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Casualties of a Custody War - What's best for the child? (Part One)

                Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Casualties of a Custody War - The courtroom as battleground (Part two)

                Click Here For

                The Bergen County- New Jersey Medical Examiner:
                Complete Dr. Richard Gardner Autopsy Report

                "I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion."
                Thomas Jefferson, 1820