Children in middle of peyote use case

http://www.leelanaunews.com/blog/200...yote-use-case/

Should Native American parents be allowed to give their minor children
hallucinogenic peyote as part of Indian religious ceremonies?

That may be at the heart of a case that will be heard Friday in Leelanau
County by family court Judge Joseph E. Deegan, according to county
prosecutor Joseph T. Hubbell.


“Tied into this case is a First Amendment religious freedom argument,”
Hubbell said. “Generally, the law prohibits any interference with Native
American religious practices.”

Nonetheless, Hubbell is asking Deegan to “take jurisdiction” over five
minor children who, according to court papers, “may be or are eligible
to be members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
(GTB) and/or are children of Native American parent(s).”

Hubbell said he could not explain why the GTB Tribal Court had not taken
jurisdiction in the case. Tribal Prosecutor Sara Brubaker did not return
a reporter’s phone call.

The former chief judge of the Tribal Court, Katherine Scotta, resigned
unexpectedly in January following months of bitter infighting and Tribal
Court challenges among candidates in a long-postponed Tribal Council
election. A replacement for Scotta has not yet been named.

Coincidentally, an associate judge now shouldering much of the Tribal
Court’s caseload, Wilson D. Brott, works part-time as an assistant
Leelanau County prosecutor. Brott could not be reached for comment.

According to court documents, the father of three of the children who
were allegedly given peyote in Suttons Bay Township. The mothers of the
three children are different women, two of whom the father never
married, according to court documents.

One of the father’s three children, an eight year-old boy, lives with
him. The two other children, girls aged 7 and 2, live with their mothers
in Leelanau County.

One of the father’s girls and two other girls who were allegedly given
peyote – a nine year-old and a seven year-old – reside with their mother
in Suttons Bay. According to court documents, she was never married to
any of the three men who fathered her three children.

The mother admitted to a social worker “that her children have taken the
medicine,” according to court documents.

An investigation conducted earlier this year by the Grand
Traverse/Leelanau Department of Human Services led up to the current
Family Court proceedings. A preliminary Family Court hearing in the
case was held April 25. A pretrial hearing will be held Friday.

According to court documents, one of the children – the seven-year-old
female – described a gathering attended by her father, mother and
others, during which “there is a medicine that she does not like and tea.”

The medicine “looks like mud and the tea is green,” according to a
report of the social worker’s interview with the girl. “The medicine is
in a bowl which is passed around and she had one spoonful. The tea is
contained in a bucket into which everybody scoops out with a cup. (The
girl) stated after she takes the medicine she kind of has a headache.”

A Child Protective Services worker who interviewed the girl and her half
siblings said the eight-year old boy “explained that Peyote opens our
mind to God’s ways and helps you to be brave and do a very good thing.
Peyote is in a bowl which is passed around, using a spoon.”

The boy is reported to have said that the peyote “makes him feel good.”
He said that when another child tried to spit it out, “a lot of grownups
told her to swallow it.”

Another child told the social worker that “she takes the medicine every
time at church,” according to court documents. “They meet in teepees
when the weather is warm and at people’s houses.”

A number of the children and their parents were interviewed at Suttons
Bay Elementary School in February by a Child Protective Services worker,
according to court documents.

The court documents include reports from Munson Medical Center
indicating that tests of the children’s urine were conducted – and
results were positive for mescaline, one of the active ingredients in
peyote.

Peyote is a species of cactus that is indigenous to the American
southwest. Its use is not associated with traditional practices of the
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians or other Great Lakes tribes.

Historically, the use of peyote has been more closely associated with
religious practices of tribes in Arizona and New Mexico.











CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.

BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...