While some might not call it "scathing", one has to remember that writing to a senior Family Court Judge must be done delicately. My daughters were still minors and custody could have been ripped away from me. There's a fine line between "scathing" and "contempt of court". Well, decide for yourself (particularly the last line...tee hee).
Personal names have been removed, but I'm not afraid to tell the world who the judge is.
June 5, 2005
Providence Family Court
Attn: Judge Stephen Capineri
1 Dorrance Plaza
Providence, RI 02903
Dear Judge Capineri,
Exactly two years ago today, I received a telephone call that changed my life and that of my daughters, forever for the better. It was a call from the Rhode Island State Police telling me that the girls had been found, and that they were safe.
On June 10th 2003, a hearing concluded in Wisconsin where custody was turned over to me per Judge Mutter’s Order. Since that day, the girls have been doing absolutely fantastic. They have been doing very well in school (Honor Rolls), have established friends and acquaintances around town, and have reunited with their oldest brother. Counseling is going so well, the counselor has determined that there is no further need for therapy after our next session.
With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, the primary reason for writing is to clarify how wrong I think you were with the decision you rendered, and contrary to the inherit obligations your stature holds, you placed my children in harms way.
I have the court transcripts in my possession, and they are quite amazing to read. One particularly profound part is the recommendation of the counselor, where she clearly recommends a transfer of custody from the girls’ mother to me. However, you chose to ignore your own expert and instead listened to the desires of the admittedly brainwashed children. “Pettinato v. Pettinato” worked perfectly as the excuse you needed to not to do the right thing.
What did you do to these girls? You left them with a psychotic mother who ran through the night with them in tow, hiding in shadows and living out of their car. You placed them in vulnerable situations where they were forced to move out of state, leave all of their belongings behind, and lie to strangers so they wouldn’t be found. They were living in Salvation Army shelters, with drug users, alcoholics, and other derelicts. Finally, when recovered, they were handcuffed and brought to the Wausau police station where they had to see their mother handcuffed and in leg-irons, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.
While I’ll concede that my ex-wife is responsible for her actions, you are responsible for giving her the opportunity to do these things, causing significant trauma and psychological damage to my children. Is it not your job to prevent these things?
People often ask me why I think you made the decision you did, and I personally believe it was my questionable past, in that it wouldn’t have been politically correct for you to award custody to a person with such a past. I pray that isn’t the truth, because it would mean that you placed your own political correctness over my children’s safety.
One could argue that my feelings are too one-sided, blinded by the care and concern for my children. However, I don’t think expecting a Judge to make the right decision that is in the best interest of the children is expecting too much. In fact, I think that this is exactly what one expects from a judge; to use his education, experience, common sense, and his own experts to guide him into making the best possible decision. Clearly, one or more of these failed, because as I stated earlier, 20-20 hindsight has proven that your decision was wrong.
Some day, you should review the transcript of the Restraining Order hearing held before Magistrate Sheppard, rendered on December 5th, 2002. Quoting Magistrate Sheppard: “To my observation the mother appears hyper vigilant, extremely suspicious bordering on paranoid”, and “Even before I heard any other testimony I had my doubt about the validity of their {the children’s} testimony.” “It seemed to me that they planned their testimony together”.
It’s my layperson’s opinion Magistrate Sheppard is extremely intelligent; able to see through the games my ex-wife was playing in both manipulating the system and controlling the girls. Moreover, there was no apparent weight given by Magistrate Sheppard to my past, only to the facts of the case. The fact that I’ve had happy and successful custody for two years now (and my ex-wife has made no attempt to see the girls), tends to indicate that at least Magistrate Sheppard knew the score. I have tremendous respect for her.
Lastly, I’d like to address the time when you called me into the courtroom the day I came to sit in on your usual cases. You told me then that it was a “very difficult” case, and I agreed with you. In all honesty, I agreed that it was a difficult case only because to do the right thing (what was best for the girls), would have taken tremendous strength and courage. Had you done the right thing and transferred custody to me in the first place, the girls would be doing as well as they are today, and you could have taken credit for such a wise decision.
Please think of my daughters this Friday, June 10th, because it will be exactly two years since their Dad obtained custody. Despite your court ordered judgment, I write this letter with two years of successful parenting under my belt, with greater success in all of our lives than we could have ever imagined.
For that you do not get any credit, I do.
Respectfully,
Signed}