TX Repub To Take Child From Mother Due to Lack of Insurance!

more info
For more on the topic, here is some I have been posting also.

I couldn't find anything on it here at A2K. Thanks for the link.

I want to follow the politics of it, so this will take a different direction than just the legal standing.

Here's something interesting. A Texas Constitutional Amendment to RECOGNIZE THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS to direct the upbringing and education of their children... WRITTEN BY HEFLIN!!!

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/76R/billtext/HJ00091I.HTM

But, ya can't accuse him of being racist... I bet the Czechs all keep their kids out of jail.


http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/76R/billtext/HC00308F.HTM

Heflin da man, for sure.

Texas in general has never been kind to the poor. If you are in need here you are also unworthy.

I think Im beginning to understand Molly Ivans stand on Texas politicians.

I'm feeling physically ill after reading that. There's a special place in hell reserved for those people.

Freeduck
I wish I could be sure that there was a heaven and hell but many of the people who claim such are absolute liers. I think they use religion to make themselves rich and powerful. Juat think trickle down economy. Have you got any of the wealth that was supposed to trickle down, neither have I.

Oh bejesus - only in Amerika....

Now I am truly depresssed.

Cheer up Revel.

Justice does prevail.

I wonder how this might have turned out had it not been publicized. I'm sure this judge was inundated with e-mails and phone calls from around the country - or at least I hope! Thank goodness for internet news!

What makes me wonder if the news, phone calls and e-mails made a difference is that the judge GAVE temporary custody to the Heflins without standing or cause earlier in the case. If there was a question of standing (legal right to bring the case to begin with) the judge never should have awarded temporary custody to the non parents when physical harm to the child was not supported. Makes me think she may have leaned towards Heflin if not for the publicity.

Anyway, Edgar posted this elswhere. We can all breath easy.

Judge dismisses case of lawmaker seeking to adopt immigrants' son
By ROMA KHANNA
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

A judge today dismissed the case in which state Rep. Talmadge Heflin and his wife were seeking custody of the 20-month-old son of African illegal immigrants.


Family District Judge Linda Motheral ordered the boy returned to his mother this afternoon, bringing an end to the high-profile custody battle that appeared as if it could take months to resolve.

"The law is very clear that the best interest of the child will be served if the biological parents bring him up in their own culture, in their own way," said Mathew Nwogu, one of the lawyers who represented the parents. "The mother and the father are very excited and at least they can say there is justice in the U.S. of A."

Heflin, a Houston Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, and his wife, Janice, were seeking permanent custody of Fidel Odimara Jr., the son of a woman who had lived in their house for more than a year. The Heflins claimed that the mother took little interest in the child and essentially had left him in their care while she lived with them.

But Mariam Katamba, who says she was the Heflins' maid, said the lawmaker and his wife were nothing more than helpers or baby-sitters who watched her son when she found a job outside their home.

Motheral sided with Katamba.

"The court, having heard all testimony and relevant issues, finds that (the Heflins) do not have standing, and the court on its own motion, dismisses the case," Motheral wrote.

Establishing standing is the first legal hurdle that must be cleared by someone seeking custody of a child.

In Texas, those who could have a valid claim to a child include the parents, the child himself and, in some cases, a step-parent.

Even grandparents do not automatically have standing under the law.

The Heflins argued that they had a valid claim to the boy under a provision of the law that allows attempts at custody by someone who has care, control and possession of a child for more than six months.

As I said on the other thread, I have lived in Texas half my life and still don't understand such thinking.

I hope this doesn't conclude your investigation of Heflin and Texas' laws.