Update on AB 390 and SB 309

Just checked my e-mail. I think I need to take a break now. Because I'm just that disgusted and annoyed. If you need me, I may be in a church somewhere. Or playing games. It's a toss-up.

"Proposal: AB390 (-3042) View Bill History
relating to: parental notification for questioning pupils about criminal activity.

4/8/2014: Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Proposal: SB309 (-04...13) View Bill History
relating to: parental notification for questioning pupils about criminal activity.

4/8/2014: Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1"

I know you were swamped in the Education committee and in the legislature in general, Mr. Leibham and Mr. Kestell, but this needs to be taken care of. The Wisconsin State Constitution demands it of you - to wit:

 "Remedy for wrongs. SECTION 9. Every person is entitled
to a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries, or wrongs which
he may receive in his person, property, or character; he ought to
obtain justice freely, and without being obliged to purchase it,
completely and without denial, promptly and without delay,
conformably to the laws."

Where is my remedy and that of all the parents and children of this state who have been injured by the current status quo? Parents opt to utilize the schooling option provided by the state of WI on the basis that the personnel provided by the state of WI can be trusted not to harm our children. They are doing harm. Fix it.

 

"Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide."~ Psalm 26:1

 

 

Update on LRB-0413/1 to protect our kids

Update 2: The legislation never got referred to the committee and as a result must be re-introduced next session. Unfortunately, Rep Kestell is retiring and Sen Leibham is running for Congress, so both of my legislators, who acted as sponsors for this legislation are likely to be gone(although I will grant that Mr. Leibham will have stiff competition for Rep Petri's seat in Sen Grothman.)  I own to some disappointment. You may see the latest update here. 

UPDATE: This has now been released as AB 390 in the Assembly and SB 309 in the Senate and referred to the Education committee. I will update again as I receive word.

Sen Leibham's aide, Lucas, has informed me that there are 11 legislators who have signed on as co-sponsors. He says the next step is for the bill to be formally introduced, receive a bill number, and be referred to a committee for consideration yet this week. 
 The 11 co-sponsors are:

From the Senate

Leibham
Taylor
Gudex
Vukmir

And from the Assembly:
Kestell
Bies
Born
Johnson
Larson
Pridemore
Ripp

For those in their districts, please call them and thank them for co-sponsoring. If your State Senator/Representatives are not on this list, please call them and let them know you support this legislation and think they should too.

 The grant of in loco parentis authority used by educators and admin is based upon the assurances of the government that those who we hire to administer and teach in our public school system are worthy of being trusted with our children. The bottom line is that putting my child in danger without notifying me says they are NOT worthy of that trust. It is a shame that this should be so, but the failure to recognize the dividing line between acting in the best interests of the child and acting as an agent of law enforcement means we need to show them where it is.

" If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction."
~Psalm 73:15-18

Calling All Wisconsin Parents and Patriots

Update 2: The legislation never got referred to the committee and as a result must be re-introduced next session. Unfortunately, Rep Kestell is retiring and Sen Leibham is running for Congress, so both of my legislators, who acted as sponsors for this legislation are likely to be gone(although I will grant that Mr. Leibham will have stiff competition for Rep Petri's seat in Sen Grothman.)  I own to some disappointment. You may see the latest update here. 

 

Update: The legislation is currently known as LRB-0413/1 An Act relating to parental notification for questioning pupils about criminal activity. Please reference that number when you call your legislators. This piece of legislation needs co-sponsors before it is given a number as a bill. There is one week left for your Senator/Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor.

 

For whatever reason, this refuses to display legibly. The text reads as follows:

 

"AN ACT to create 118.315 of the statutes; relating to: parental notification for

questioning pupils about criminal activity.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

 

This bill prohibits an official, employee, or agent of a public, private, or charter

school from questioning a pupil attending the school about criminal activity without

notifying the pupil’s parent unless the official, employee, or agent suspects that the

pupil is being abused or is the victim of certain specified crimes and the questioning

relates to the suspected abuse or crime.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do

enact as follows.

 

SECTION 1. 118.315 of the statutes is created to read:

118.315 Questioning pupils about criminal activity. (1) Except as

provided in sub. (2), an official, employee, or agent of a public, private, or charter

school may not question a pupil attending the school about a suspected or alleged

violation of any state or federal criminal law without first notifying the pupil’s parent or guardian."

 

 

 

 

It has taken 7 years since my child was subjected to this sort of interrogation. It is an inherently harmful thing. The "story" from the school was that they wanted to get him to confess to making a false bomb threat because of some graffiti someone made in a bathroom near his locker. (Graffiti, I can say with confidence, that he never even saw.) Making a false bomb threat is a felony. It is punishable by up to ten years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. There is a zero tolerance policy in place for this crime and there is no leniency for minors.

 

 It is my opinion that the school did this because I refused to sign the paper saying they could contact his former teachers. ( I had been homeschooling for the last 5 years- they had MY number.) They said they had no way to assess his character. This in spite of the fact that he had, less than six months prior to his enrollment, organized, emceed and performed in a benefit concert for his Scoutmaster who had lost an arm, among other things. He raised over $11,000 and the concert was covered not only by the local paper but also by a satellite radio program that had a national audience. They said they didn't read the local paper.

 

His grades dropped from A's and B's to D's and F's for that semester. He brought them back up by the end of the year and his grades in the charter school we sent him to after that year were A's and B's. He earned his Eagle award in Scouting, but the damage had been done. His grade point average for high school was .1 below the required GPA for many of the scholarships for which he could otherwise have applied.

 

He is an exemplary young man who is currently supporting himself and getting through college without taking on debt. The psychological damage to our family is high. I am still angry and it has been seven years. I refuse to volunteer any more as I don't care to help anyone in the local community that treated us this way and left their own children so vulnerable. Prior to this, I had donated thousands of hours of my time as a volunteer. I did serve on the Governing board of the charter school until it became apparent that, contrary to the wishes and expressed opinion of the now deceased founder of the school, this sort of thing would be the rule there too. I resigned.

 

When I first contacted Sen. Leibham, he said legislation was under discussion for this issue already because it had been happening to many families around the state. In the end, the law enforcement unions and teachers unions opposed it so strongly that they dropped it. Not me. It wasn't until the protests at the capital showed those unions for the real human beings they are-rather than the saints they are so often portrayed as being - that Sen Leibham consented to try again.

 

There were many hurdles along the way. The DOJ's office required nearly daily phone calls for a month when weekly and monthly calls were not working to produce the necessary answers.

 

 Finally there was a draft. A few revisions later, (Thank you Alex Hansen and good luck in grad school.) we had something ready for the drafting attorneys. A few more back and forths and here we are, with a brand spanking new bill, desperately seeking co-sponsors.

 

A bill that recognizes the current reality that our public and private school teachers and administrative personnel cannot be trusted to call us before they engage on a potentially life changing course of action with regard to our children's future. One that is traumatic to both child and family, if my own experience is any guide.

 

Our children have the same rights as any other American. What they do not have, is the knowledge of how to properly exercise those rights and, in the case of younger children, the ability to stand up to an adult to do so. This bill does nothing more than remind our educators and law enforcement personnel that our children have unalienable rights too. That we, as parents, do NOT include the right to question our child about anything for which criminal charges may be filed against them without notifying us FIRST. 

 

When school personnel engage in such questioning, they have left the position of acting in the best interests of the child and turned to acting in the best interests of the school(or so they say) and that leaves our child with no one to act in their best interests, (as a parent would), in a very perilous situation indeed.

 

Please call your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor this bill within the next two weeks. Your children deserve it and require it. They need your protection in this matter.

 

The line for the capital switchboard is:1-800-362-9472 (266-9960 in Madison)

The website to find your Senator is here: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/pages/waml.aspx

or here: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/Pages/leg-list.aspx?h=s

 

Other posts referencing this issue are:

 

http://americanfederalist.blogspot.com/2007/01/in-loco-parentis.html

 

http://iratetirelessminority.blogspot.com/2009/04/wake-up-call-to-parents.html

 

 

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. "~ Psalm 127:3-4

"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Luke 18:16

 

 

Plymouth 2/20/10 Leibham listening session

Just a quick update-My apologies to Mr. Leibham for misspelling his name. I hope that my readers will be good enough to correct me if I do so again. It was entirely unintentional.

I went to another listening session for Mr. Leibham. There are 9 short videos taken before my batteries ran out.


This is a question about SB460. SB460 is a bill that would allow an individual to get a prescription for drugs to treat certain STD's for their partner without requiring a physician to examine that partner. There are so many reasons that this is wrong that I am a bit baffled as to how such a proposal would make it to bill form.


This segment is a follow up question about the rules as to how long our legislators may have to examine a bill before being required to vote on it.


This is a question about Mr. Doyle's unconscionable Global Warming bill which is currently before the legislature. Did you hear that, my fellow Wisconsinites? A 30-50% increase in your energy bills. Can you afford that? We'll be taking the lead in personal bankruptcy filings if this goes through. We haven't felt the entire economic impact of the last budget yet. My pockets are pretty well empty at this point. There were two local mayors at this session and both said their cities can no longer come up with the money to remain in compliance with the state's unfunded mandates.

Here's the message, Mr. Doyle and WI legislature- "THERE IS NO MORE MONEY, STOP SPENDING."


The question was where are we now as regards the legislature's/governor's continuing attempt to change joint and several liability to make it impossible to afford auto insurance in WI.


This was a question regarding legislation, AB 751, introduced by some folks who are pushing the National Popular Vote movement. This would disenfranchise WI voters by giving WI electoral college votes to the winner of the popular vote in a presidential election regardless of how the people of WI vote. The next two videos are a continuation of this question.






Mr. Leibham is answering a question regarding the influence of lobbyists on his opinion. There was a follow up question as to whether or not a constituent could visit Mr. Leibham's office and get the same access as a lobbyist. The answer is YES. Please visit your legislators and let them know what you are thinking.


This was a question about illegal aliens and how we can control our costs with regard to the drain they cause on social services.

This is where I ran out of battery power. One of Mr. Leibham's better statements was that his colleagues didn't understand why he was printing up Legislative Update fliers to let his constituents know what the legislature is doing. Another constituent quipped that "Madison is where logic goes to die".

There were also questions about:

• WI healthcare amendment - This would not go into effect until after Obamacare is passed, if it passes.
• There was a question on the proposed radio tax. As that is a national rather than state issue, Mr. Leibham has no control over the vote on that.
• Mayor Meyer(sp?) from Sheboygan Falls asked why the state of Wisconsin continues to engage in structural deficits.
• There was a question about the UW Hospital's decision to perform late term abortions. (In my opinion, an abominable practice which has yet to have been shown to have any significant medical benefits to the mother.)
• There was a question about SB 439. This legislation is referring to the ability to convert a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.
• AB 458. This was recently signed into law by Mr. Doyle. In essence, this disenfranchises WI parents from making decisions about the proper curriculum for sex education classes for the children in their school districts. This is a continuation of a disturbing and dangerous trend to inflict government upon our children under the misguided and arrogant opinion that declares that parents are too stupid to know what is best for their children and therefore government must step in and make our parenting decisions for us. Luckily, we may still opt to not provide a sex education(or reproductive health or whatever your district calls it)class in our districts. On the up side, eliminating that class should save us some money.
• There were questions brought up about why the entire state should bear the cost of Mr. Doyle's wish -a high speed train from Madison to Milwaukee. Now, aside from the obvious concern, that this would lose money like a dog sheds hair, I have to ask myself, why do we need such a thing? There is already a bus route between Milwaukee and Madison that is cheaper than the estimated $20.00 - $33.00 per trip cost of this train and that would be just as fast. Because the estimated trip time for this high speed rail line is -brace yourselves-about an hour and a half. That's right, this wonderful high speed rail line that will cost more than a bus ticket (Bus ticket is $19.00 with multiple pick-up and drop-off sites in both cities, unlike the train.)will get you there at the same speed as driving. So the governor and our legislature want to spend nearly a billion dollars to create a money pit that services only Dane and Milwaukee Counties, while taking business from the bus companies who currently provide perfectly adequate service, and they think the rest of the state should be on the hook for the continuing costs. May I refer them back to the message under the global warming bill video? It's equally applicable here.
• Mr. Leibham encouraged citizens to oppose the .5% sales tax increase being requested by the County of Sheboygan. The belief expressed throughout the room was that Sheboygan County needs to reduce spending rather than increasing taxes.

It was a well-attended meeting and Mr. Leibham remarked that the Sheboygan session had also been well attended.

After seeing what sorts of legislation our legislators have been considering, both in Mr. Leibham's pamphlet and on the WI legislature site (Proclaiming that the ancient Macedonians were Hellenes? Really? This requires legislation?) maybe I ought to be submitting my own legislative proposal for the protection of our children's Constitutional rights to someone other than Mr. Leibham. At least mine has the virtue of asking for the restoration of a right that has been defacto and unjustly removed by the courts. I will share it here. If any of you wish to submit this language to your own legislators, be my guest. Here's the text:

Whereas, the State of Wisconsin recognizes that minor children have the same rights to due process and protection under the law as every American citizen; and

Whereas, it is unreasonable to expect a minor child to understand their rights and be able to properly exercise his or her Constitutional rights in his or her own protection in the face of authority, and under the coercion that can, currently, or at any time hereafter be applied to said child; and

Whereas, the right of school officials, administrators and police school liaison officers to exercise the privileges of "in loco parentis" have been unaddressed, leading to the violation of our children's civil and 5th amendment rights;
Therefore, be it resolved that the right of school officials, administrators, and police school liaison officers, or any of their designees to exercise the powers of "in loco parentis" shall not extend to questioning a student about any issue that could result in the filing of a criminal complaint without having a parent, legal guardian or legal representation, chosen by the parent or legal guardian, who shall act in the best interests of the child, present during questioning.

Be it also resolved that school officials shall not be held criminally liable for acting to protect the students, the school and it's environs in the case of an immediate threat.

Or maybe I ought to just be grateful for what we still have. Get involved folks, it's your state.

"Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? "~Luke 18:2-7

So much to post about, So little time.

Here we are, at the beginning of a new year and the challenges before us are myriad and mounting. I'd like to take a moment raise awareness of this issue.
UNICEF has announced that Somalia plans to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child treaty, leaving the US as the only UN member state still holding out. This Treaty is appalling in it's generality and scope. In my opinion, the US should not sign on to this treaty for a number of reasons.

• This sentence, in the preamble to this treaty takes a definitive stand on when life begins:
  "Bearing in mind that, as indicated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth" (emphasis mine) Combined with Article 6 section 1( "1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.") I think this effectively outlaws abortions-all abortions. I, personally, am in favor of outlawing abortion, even in the case of rape or incest, because in my view that child did not commit the crime. I do, however, strongly object to a lack of consideration for the life of the mother. A couple who must choose between the mother's life and that of her unborn baby for health reasons has enough stress without the government sticking their two cents worth into that decision.
• This treaty would create an unconscionable financial burden upon the nation as Article 6 states:"2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child." This is further strengthened by Article 7, sections 1 and 2, which state:"1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. 2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless."
• Article 7, sections 1 and 2 also leave a whole lot of leeway for government interference with the raising of our children. Article 7 section one could be read as saying the child has the right to be cared for by his/her biological parents. Then section 2 says the State must make this possible. Article 7 , section 1 may outlaw adoption as well as egg and sperm donation. Because the state would be required to ensure the child "the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents".

Now this may all sound fairly innocuous, until you factor in the idea that the state must make possible a parent's ability to raise their child. This opens the door not only to abuse on the part of the state, but abuse of the state on the part of the citizenry. I have heard teen aged girls plotting to get pregnant so that they can go on welfare and get out of their parent's houses under the current welfare system of the state of WI. How much worse would this become under this treaty? Can't find a job-or just don't want to? Don't worry, the government is bound by international treaty to make you able to care for your children. Isn't the character of young girls like the ones I overheard degraded enough without adding this sort of temptation? This treaty says parents(plural) That means all those young men getting their machismo on by fathering children they don't care for could also demand benefits from the government, does it not?

This treaty, in mandating that the government provide for such things, also creates a mandate for in-home checks by government officials. In home checks on every child, not just those who have been reported as at-risk for one reason or another. In home checks with government criteria to be met whether the government's criteria for a healthy home matches your own or not.

I think we are better than that. If you don't like the possibilities for government meddling in our private lives and the lives of our children contained within this treaty, I would strongly suggest you check out Parental Rights.org. Sign the petition and join the fight.

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."~ Psalm 127:3-5