Parent Group Seeks Help Expanding Civic Engagement Role

As Governor Patrick so eloquently stated in his January 24th State of the Commonwealth address …

“There is a whole generation watching and waiting -- some tonight perhaps -- to see whether we see our stake in their future – and act like it. And I say let them look to us – to you and to me – and let us affirm their hope for tomorrow in the actions we take today. “

Jane Smith Org strives to represent hope that the actions we are taking today will make a positive difference for tomorrow. Today, we seek funding support in expanding our already successful effort to bring awareness to Family Court injustices impact on each and every one of us. Our ultimate goal is to foster public support for positive change in our legal process, the way it is monitored, measured, reported to the public and acted upon.

Less than a month in operation, this small group has a promising track record – detailed below. We have heard from so many, have received the support of public figures, press and private citizens. We are confident the need for our services is so great, we have an obligation to formally organize a non-profit organization. To do this we need seed money, therefore we need your help.

We are hoping to raise between $2,000 - $5,000 in startup funding. These funds will be used to retain legal services necessary for processing articles of incorporation and other matters essential to the establishment of a non profit organization including domain name registrations and initial costs of establishing a virtual/home-based business. Our overhead will be low as we operate largely over the internet, from home or wherever we are on the road. Postage and office supplies will be our biggest out of pocket expense as we’d like to reimburse people for the cost of sending their data to us.

If you would like to contribute, please contact Janesmithorg@aol.com

Of course, we can significantly reduce the need for start up funding if an attorney will step forward to assist us pro-bono - any takers? Please?

Please bear in mind, donations at this stage may not be tax deductible. Check with your financial advisor; some say donations may become deductible if the group is approved as a non profit within a year… others say no way it’s deductible until we are formally recognized by the Commonwealth. So, please contribute, but only if you are comfortable with our emerging status.

To help you decide, here is what we are doing, why and what the results are to date:

WHAT
The goals are:

1. Prevent future loses to our communities and the next generations through public education and civic engagement addressing family court injustices, lifting the veil of silence shrouding a legal system in need of repair while fostering public support for implementing change.

2. Create public awareness about specific misconduct and injustice in our family courts and how these impact each and every one of us.

3. Increase public knowledge and understanding of how our system does and does not operate in the best interest of it’s citizens.

4. Suggest plans and ideas for improvements in our system with realistic, achievable, measurable, privately funded results.

Much of our initial effort revolves around one particular Justice who’s misconduct charges pending against him are just the tip of the iceberg. Families impacted by his TV like Judge Judy antics on the bench simply want to see him come to an awareness within himself to resign. To, at the very least see that he must change his ways. He is a ready example of what can go wrong in our courts and how our system protects his behavior by keeping the public ignorant of their rights, the legal process in general, the attorney’s role in how your day in court will be impacted, your ability to file complaints.

Long range we see an opportunity to prevent this type of injustice from recurring. We can do this by supporting our attorney’s in their efforts to truly seek compromise with the best interest of tomorrow’s generation in mind. We do this, in part by providing them new tools including a simple “bill of clients rights and expectations” available to every parent in divorce. We provide client’s and attorney’s too with the tools for filing complaints against attorney’s or Justices who engage in fraud, perjury, abandon their client’s mid process, or engage in any violation of the code of conduct.

Can you imagine a day when we have good attorney jokes? Imagine attorney’s truly working together towards fairness and equitable care of our children gaining greater respect in our communities and becoming the Justices of tomorrow. This is a reversal of the current system that pits attorney vs. attorney in a win/lose situation. By the time you get to court, the day has little to do with what makes sense for you, your family and especially the children. It too often becomes all about how the attorney is going to look in front of the Judge and in front of their peers and how strongly one advocates for financial success of one party over the financial ruin of the other with no true regard for the generation of tomorrow.

WHY
We strive to represent and demonstrate hope that the actions we are taking today will make a positive difference for tomorrow, by actually making an impact today.

RESULTS TO DATE
Public awareness campaign is working! In just 28 days we have heard from people in Plymouth, Norfolk and Bristol Counties, Florida, New Hampshire, and Australia. All with cases involving allegedly unjust decisions and/or barbaric TV court judicial behavior in the courtroom, or at the hand of Judge Michael J. Livingstone.

In 28 days we have:
1. Successfully initiated a public awareness effort via the internet. 8 People willing to share their court humiliation and the impact on their families publicly have come forward complete with docket and other verifiable information.

- Three of these cases have been interviewed on tape by a local reporter who is building a compelling story for release – we hope soon.

- Three of these cases have filed charges with the CJC. Two filed last October coincidentally received acknowledgement of their complaints shortly after we began blogging. The third complaintant filed in December and has been advised it will take at least 8 weeks to get to her complaint.

- One case is now aware that complaints can be filed up to a year after the fact and is in process of completing her filing.

- One case was unnecessarily sent to jail where he interviewed jail staff and court officers who had quite a bit to say about their experiences with Judge Livingstone. We look for credible verification of these facts, hoping that one or more of these folks will come forward publicly – without fearing loss of job or other repercussions.

- One case met with State Representative Frank Hynes to inform him of our group, and to provide her personal story to him.

2. Interviewed on tape Judge Livingstone’s business partner and former best friend of 25 years, Raymond Hotte. Mr. Hotte’s charges represent the first two charges of 6 pending CJC ruling. Mr. Hotte provided additional information sent to the CJC and shares a compelling, well documented story of cover up and manipulation of our system far beyond the current charges before the CJC.

3. Published 6 blog postings addressing:
- Family Court Injustice’s impact on community

- Misconduct charges pending CJC public hearing against Family Court Justice Michael J. Livingstone,

- Review and analysis of the first 2 chargespending against Judge Livingstone including his own admissions of some level of misconduct

4. Met with parents of families not going through divorce, hopefully never going through divorce, to discuss their concerns about the far reaching impact of decisions made in court on our communities as a whole.

5. Three of us met with a nationally known marketing guru who was kind enough to offer candid insight and suggestions for improving our visibility. Still working on some of the suggestions – including we need a more compelling name.

Please send suggestions to: JanesSmitOrg@aol.com

6. Collaborated with another blogger at http://windowpainclarity.wordpress.com/ on a mutual press release he plans to publish this week.

7. Met with local press 3 times assisting with leads, verification of their validity, and credibility with emphasis on fairness to the Judge with pending charges, and public need for assurance, that we are not out to simply bash a particular Jurist.

Coincidentally WATD, 95.9, Marshfield ran a story with 6 South Shore attorneys one Saturday morning discussing traditional vs. non traditional divorces. Rumor has it that after the show, when questioned off air about their experiences with Judge Livingstone, they were equally divided on support for or against him.

- If any of these attorney’s will agree to be interviewed on record – we’d love to hear from you!


More quotes from Governor Patrick’s speech:

“Now is not the time for us to lose our focus or our nerve. Government cannot solve every problem in everybody’s life. But government -- as an expression of the common interest and the common good -- has a role to play in helping people help themselves. “

“Everyone must do his or her part -- because everyone has a stake. “

“A poor child in high-quality early ed is 40% less likely to need special ed or to be held back a grade, 30% more likely to graduate from high school, and twice as likely to go to college. The cost of inaction is too high.”

“The people don’t expect us to agree on everything. But they do expect us to engage. They expect us to work together toward the best solution. They expect action. And they deserve it. “

Well, we are not losing focus, not losing nerve. We plan to do our part – will you help? Please contact JaneSmithOrg@aol.com…. better name coming soon!!

Thank you.