OPEN LETTER TO ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL LOCKYER FROM CINDY ROSS
AG Bill Lockyer
1300 I. St. Suite 1150
Sac, Ca. 95814
April 20, 2001
Dear Attorney General Lockyer:
The Novato Advance printed a letter from you (April 18-24, 2001) in which you
state, "The truth is I oppose the recall and support [Marin County DA]
Paula Kamena". You also admit that in February you told the Marin
Independent Journal that the recall proponents' concerns about the family courts
do
constitute a "legitimate beef".
When I have requested assistance from you in the past, I received the following
letter from your public inquiry unit (12-9-99):
"Dear Ms. Ross:
This is in response to your letter to Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
Enforcement of state law is the primary duty of local law enforcement agencies. The Attorney General's role is to ensure that laws are uniformly enforced statewide. Local police authorities are designated the responsibility for investigating violation of law within their jurisdiction.
For assistance in reporting an incident such as you describe, we recommend that you contact the authorities in the city or county where the incident occurred.
The decision whether or not to file criminal charges in any given case is committed to the discretion of local law enforcement authorities. This decision rests with the local authorities and the Attorney General is not prepared to supersede the local agency.
Thank you for writing. We regret that we could not provide more assistance to you in this matter."
I attempted contacting DA Paula Kamena in October
1999. Several months later, when I wrote again, requesting that she investigate
the matters brought forth in the Karen Winner report, "Findings on Judge
Michael Dufficy, Commissioner Sylvia Shapiro and Court Appointees in Marin
County Superior Court in
California", I received a letter (5-23-00) in which she apologized,
informing me that she had been out of the country and that her "assumption
is that the letter was misdirected". She went on to say: "The Attorney
General has agreed to review the materials in our office's stead. The reason for
this is that there exists a potential conflict of interest because our deputy
district attorneys appear regularly before the judges."
The "matters" contained in the Winner report include cases in which
attorneys and custody evaluators had suppressed evidence, falsified court orders
and diverted child support funds to themselves.
As a member of the Marin County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, I
contacted Paula Kamena again, about the use of "parental alienation
syndrome" (PAS) custody switching methodology--devised as a defense for
child molesters-- in Marin County Superior Court. I received a letter from DA
Kamena dated 7-18-00, in which she stated in part:
"...recall efforts have been either a direct or indirect result of the
[Winner] report. Because of this, the Attorney General has determined that this
office's involvement in the various requests for criminal investigations
stemming from this situation would bear the appearance of a conflict of
interest.
Therefore, I will not be available to discuss your concerns with you, nor will
any other staff members in this office.
All of the matters have been referred to the Attorney General and the Judicial
Council..."
I have also written letters to you, personally and to the attention of Nina
Salerno and Bill Canepa, in which I asked your office to address these same
concerns, especially the use of PAS to the detriment of women and children. You
never responded to any of my letters, nor to my recent request to meet
with you.
My letter to you in March was faxed at least twice (to both Vicki Sawyer and
Marilee) and stated in part:
"I understand that you have expressed that family law IS a “legitimate beef”, and I ask to be able to meet with you as soon as possible, so that we may properly investigate and put an end to the victimization of domestic violence and child sexual abuse victims in the guise of custody proceedings. As a member of the Marin County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, and as a litigant whose case was documented in the Marin Winner report (re: diversion of child support funds to court appointed attorney, Mary Halbert), I have previously requested the assistance of DA Paula Kamena. Ms. Kamena has not only been unwilling to investigate, she appears to be collaborating with corrupt court officials in suppressing evidence of abuse. As the court problems involve issues that have an impact on Federal and State levels, I have also been in contact with and providing documentation to Senators Feinstein and Boxer, and Assemblyman Joe Nation. I am forwarding you a letter I sent to Assemblyman Nation dated 3-13-01."
I have several questions for you Mr. Lockyer:
1. Whose jurisdiction is it to investigate crimes that involve suppression of evidence
of evidence of domestic violence and child molestation in family court,
especially when these cases are being used as the means to divert funds by
both court officials and the DA's office?
2. Did Paula Kamena really refer these matters to you and if so, why haven't you done anything to address these "legitimate beefs"?
3. Why hasn't YOUR office investigated the DA or
court officials who are endangering children and mothers, covering up child
abuse and pedophile rings and engaging in fund diversion scams and other
criminal activity?
4. How can you "support" Paula Kamena knowing that she and her family
support division are participating in PAS custody switching/child support
abatement and phony "Fatherhood" programs which benefit abusive,
deadbeat and otherwise unfit fathers?
For your information, I am forwarding my summary of family court corruption,
including why the DA should be recalled. My letter, originally written as a
response to the Recorder article "Kamena Recall Effort Has Weird Mix of
Bedfellows", appears at several websites on the Internet: Click.
See also index at http://cbcmarin.com
I ask that you publicly provide information as to the welfare of the children of
the following CA women:
1. Paula Oldham
2. Karen Anderson
3. Idelle Clarke
4. Carol Mardeusz.
I ask that there be immediate investigation of these cases, with
the goal of restoring these children to the custody of their mothers who have
been maliciously jailed and/or placed on supervision and/or denied meaningful
contact with them.
I also ask that you contact me immediately to schedule the meeting I requested
with you as the CA director of the National Alliance for Family Court Justice.
Recall of elected officials IS a waste of money. However, when
nobody is willing to properly investigate and prosecute crimes being perpetrated
on innocent citizens, and crooked officials engaged in corrupt activity refuse
to resign from their positions, the citizens of CA are left
with no other choice.
Sincerely,
Cindy Ross FxCAR18@aol.com © 2001
THE WOMAN IN THE FRONT ROW by Cindy Ross © 2001
Editor,
I am the CA director of the National Alliance for Family Court Justice, a
support and advocacy group working with Congressional leaders, to expose,
de-fund and end the misused federal grant programs which are the basis for the
custody switching/fund diversion scheme underlying family court corruption.
NAFCJ has identified that the scheme depends on collaboration between District
Attorney offices and Family Courts in suppressing evidence of family violence
and child sexual abuse, and in turning child support enforcement programs into
child support abatement programs in the guise of "Responsible
Fatherhood".
I am also a member of the Marin County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC)
and approached Paula Kamena on several occasions for assistance in addressing
the routine mishandling of domestic violence and child molest cases in the guise
of custody proceedings. I participate in DVCC meetings with members of the DA's
office and was not originally associated with the recall. In fact, I was quoted
in a local newspaper last year as saying that the recall against the DA was a
really bad idea.
However, tonight (4-18), when I attended the debate between DA Kamena and Tom
Van Zandt, Ms. Kamena singled me out as the "woman in the first row"
who has misrepresented her. She accused me of disseminating misleading
information at a meeting I attended of the Marin County Board of Supervisors.
It was chilling that Paula Kamena had sent me a letter stating "...I will
not be available to discuss your concerns with you, nor will any other staff
members in this office", in light of the fact that I am on the subcommittee
of the DVCC entitled "Domestic Violence and the Courts". One of the
issues we are SUPPOSED to be addressing is the victimization of mothers who
report abuse and find themselves prosecuted instead, in a bizarre legal strategy
called "parental alienation" (PAS).
PAS was developed as a defense for child
molesters. The strategy calls for transferring blame to mothers by dismissing
their reports of abuse as attempts to "alienate" children from their
fathers. The strategy calls for
"court sanctions" and "threats", including jail for
mothers-- which is exactly what happened to Carol Mardeusz.
NAFCJ is currently following dozens of other similar cases, that have
criminalized mothers and institutionalized children. Investigating and
prosecuting these crimes should not be a "conflict of interest" for a
DA who is doing her job properly. However, in the case of Paula Kamena, it IS a
conflict of interest--because by "investigating" the corruption, she
would be exposing her own complicity. Instead of "flinging mud", Paula
Kamena should address her own role in the family court debacle.
I urge Marin County voters to vote YES on the recall of DA Kamena and YES to Tom
Van Zandt for DA. Tom Van Zandt: A better alternative, a positive choice.
Cindy Ross
CA Director
National Alliance for Family Court Justice
PO Box 744
Fairfax, CA 94978-0744