My letter to Melissa Oomer FSG, JJPF Steering Committee Nov. 24, 2014 Ms. Melissa Oomer FSG 500 Boylston Street, Suite 600 Boston, MA 02116 Dear Ms. Oomer: Thank you kindly for your response to my letter dated November 13, 2014 to Mr. Bloomingdale and Ms. Peterson. I appreciate that you believe Judge Crnkovich may actually help rather than hinder progress of your effort. I can only agree to disagree on this point. In my opinion, Judge Crnkovich acted incompetently, with bias and dishonesty in her actions with me and my family involving an (unwarranted) truancy charge against one of our children in early 2011. I do not trust her and I believe she should not be on the Steering Committee. Judge Crnkovich showed gross incompetence when she ordered my wife and me to be held in jail until we complied with the order of the court to advise her of our son’s whereabouts. As noted in her written order dated May 5, 2011 before we were sent to jail, we had already informed the Court that our son was told to stay home. Judge Crnkovich writes; “father of said child, stated he ordered his son to remain home” Judge Crnkovich sent us to jail anyway and then wrote in the same order; “IT IS THERFORE ORDERED that the Douglas County Sheriff take Vaughn and Teri Crowell into custody until such time as they comply with the Order of the Court to advise of their son’s whereabouts”. Home is a whereabouts. What could we have said that we had not already said to secure our release from jail? Judge Crnkovich showed bias when she stated “I can only guess that the County Attorney believed that they had sufficient evidence that your son is not attending school in violation of the law and that they could prove it to the Court beyond a reasonable doubt” (court transcript page 7, lines 17 – 21). What happened to our right to an impartial court? Why didn’t Judge Crnkovich also “guess” that I had sufficient evidence that my son was not Truant from school and that Nebraska Statute 79-201, (3) allows absences from school related to illness. This was an extremely bias statement by Judge Crnkovich particularly given the fact that she did not allow us to be heard. She would not hear our side but agreed only that the County Attorney believed they had sufficient evidence of guilt. Judge Crnkovich showed dishonesty when she issued a transcript of the oral proceedings held on May 5, 2011 which was incomplete and incorrect. In my complaint to the Nebraska Judicial Qualifications Commission I allege that at some time and/or multiple times between May 5, 2011and June 27, 2011, Judge Elizabeth G. Crnkovich did act in bad faith when (I allege) she conspired with her court reporter to falsify an official report of the court with the intent to interfere with or obstruct lawful functions of the Judiciary as well as impede the honest function, intent and purpose of judicial procedure in providing a complete, correct and verbatim transcript of oral court proceedings. The official report of the Court is further described as the bill of exceptions (transcript) of the oral proceedings held on May 5, 2011. My complaint (4th complaint filed since 2011) is still under review by the Commission. Judge Crnkovich is one of the lowest rated Judges in the State (see Nebraska State Bar judicial evaluations). Unfortunately, she sits on the bench in the Douglas County juvenile courts. My complaints of incompetency, bias and dishonesty regarding Judge Crnkovich’s actions shouldn’t surprise anyone in Douglas County. However, her actions should disgust everyone. Judge Crnkovich is not the only problem with the Douglas County juvenile justice system albeit in my opinion she is a large part of the problem. There have been several issues some of which have been addressed over the years largely through the effort of a few grass root organizations founded and lead by some very courageous dedicated individuals. These people have contributed personal resources and countless hours committed to keeping kids out of the system consistent with the statement form Judge Steven C. Teske and Judge J. Brian Huff of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) who stated: “The juvenile court should be reserved for children who scare us, not those who make us mad.” Many of the issues addressed with our Legislators here in Nebraska are the same issues the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit against the State of Rhode Island’s truancy courts. The ACLU alleged “many of the children forced to appear before truancy courts have not, in fact, been willfully or habitually absent from school. Instead they include children unable to attend school regularly due to severe or chronic medical conditions and children whose serious emotional conditions prevent full-time attendance’. The ACLU also alleged the truancy courts failed to adequately inform children of charges that are filed against them, failed to conduct preliminary investigations into the charges and failed to inform children of a number of their constitutional rights. The ACLU went on to state; We are very concerned that so many children are being labeled truant at hearings that deprive them and their parents of the most basic constitutional rights to a fair hearing, said Amy R. Tabor, ACLU cooperating attorney with the firm of Hardy Tabor & Chudacoff. It violates the most fundamental American notions of fairness and due process to allow the state to conduct what are essentially secret hearings with no stenographic or other record, especially when these are hearings at which children are ordered into state custody, and at which parents and children are placed in fear by repeated threats of fines and imprisonment for even minor infractions such as skipping detention, not completing homework, acting disrespectfully, or failing to provide a doctors note for every sickness-related absence. (ACLU, Boyer v. Jeremiah, March 29, 2010). Although I have personally contacted the Nebraska ACLU on several occasions regarding similar concerns, we as a community were able to work with some of our Legislators and other county officials to reverse the most egregious injustices against youth and their families without having to resort to a class action lawsuit. This is not to say we are finished. There is still much that needs to be addressed and I do understand that it is your intent to look at solutions. I will tell you that in my opinion before we can find any common ground on this, there is a list of demands that must be met, a list of demands that we will not negotiate or compromise on. This list can be found in the US Constitution, Nebraska Constitution and Nebraska revised statutes. The demands most applicable to the Douglas County Juvenile Justice System are those that guarantee a fair and impartial judiciary, a presumption of innocence, a right to be heard in a court of law, a right to be secure in our person, home, papers and effects, a right to remain silent, the free exercise of religion (to include excluding our children from State mandated blood test that violate our religious practice, see Anaya, Omaha World Herald Oct. 13, 2007). We demand that we aren’t deprived of liberty or property without due process of law, have a speedy resolution to our case, are protected from cruel and unusual punishment, have competency and honesty in the judiciary and are protected from the abuse of the sovereign immunity doctrine by State Agency employees (NDHHS, Deputy County Attorneys, GALs, etc.). We demand public service officials adhere to their oath of office and perform their duties to the best of their ability. When these demands have been met, we will at least be on common ground. What Judge Crnkovich did to me and my family was unforgivable and unforgettable. Watching an armed sheriff escort my son from my home was the most gut wrenching experience I have ever had. Particularly knowing the State was doing it only because they could, not because they needed to. As I stated to Senator Pahls in 2011; Senator Pahls, this, in my opinion, was not a lawful removal based on Due Process of Law. This, in my opinion, was a sanctioned kidnapping orchestrated by a vengeful Judge that I infuriated by standing up for my rights and the rights of my family in her court room. This is not the way Nebraska families should be treated and I implore you to right this injustice. My statement to Senator Pahls seems to be supported in two letters from the Nebraska State Ombudsman. One addressed to Mr. Thomas Pristow, Director, Division of Children & Family Services, NDHHS dated June 4, 2013 in which the State Ombudsman writes that the NDHHS employee that completed an affidavit used by a Deputy County Attorney to petition the Courts to remove my son from my home was only a “worker bee in a situation where other, far more powerful, players were giving directions.” He went on to write; “I am very concerned that some people might look at this situation and conclude that [the NDHHS employee] was simply running an errand for other entities in the system that needed something done in a certain way, and within a given period of time.” In the second letter addressed to me dated July 11, 2013 the State Ombudsman writes; “In my opinion, however, the real problem with [NDHHS employee] Affidavit is not its factual representation, but instead is in the more fundamental fact that it was ever drafted, signed, and submitted at all.” He goes on to write; “Fundamentally, it is my view that it is wrong for a teenager to be placed into temporary foster care, as ‘a matter of immediate and urgent necessity’ when the only significant issue known about at the time is a matter of truancy.” Equally troubling is the response I got from the several attorneys I spoke with telling me there was nothing I can do largely because of the immunity doctrine and the Nebraska law that holds all Judicial Qualification Commission investigations confidential. To me, this law promotes ineptness and does nothing to protect the citizen. If you are looking for a starting point to make a meaningful improvement in serving the youth of our community, you will need to start with removing Judge Crnkovich from the Steering Committee. In due course, the people of the great state of Nebraska, citizens of Douglas County, will preserve a fair and impartial judiciary and validate not the laws and language of the Constitution, not even the preponderance of evidence against Judge Crnkovich but rather our inheritance; “that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, PA Nov. 19, 1863. Best regards, Vaughn Crowell
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 01:47:25 +0000
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