…or was she just appallingly ignorant herself?
That’s the question raised by the
latest outstanding investigative report from WXYZ-TV in Detroit. In a series of reports dating back to last
August, the station exposed the fact that probation officers were – literally –
rubber
stamping court orders to tear children from their families; orders that are
supposed to be approved only by a real live judge. The issue first came to light as a result of Maryanne
Godboldo’s fight to rescue her daughter from needless institutionalization
by the Michigan Department of Human Services.
Not surprisingly, that happens to be illegal. But the practice was stopped only after WXYZ
exposed it.
But the Wayne County Juvenile Court refuses to release any
information about how many children were removed illegally or what has happened
to them. Neither will the Michigan
Department of Human Services – unless the television station pays more than
$32,000. In effect, DHS is holding what
should be public information for ransom.
If anyone should be scrupulous about adhering to the law it
is the Director of Michigan DHS, Maura Corrigan. After all, she is a former justice of the
Michigan Supreme Court.
But, as WXYZ reported:
Following one of our first stories a year ago about child
removals, DHS Director Maura Corrigan refused to speak to us on camera. The day after our investigation aired,
Corrigan wrote an opinion piece in the Detroit
Free Press. The headline: “Removing
children from families always follows legal procedures.”
Now that that’s been
proven to be false – we asked a DHS spokesman if they have been trying to determine
how many children may have been wrongly taken from homes with invalid court
orders. [Emphasis added.]
This raises an obvious
question: Did Corrigan know full well that the process of removing children
from their homes in Detroit was rife with illegality when she claimed otherwise
– or was she appallingly ignorant herself?
If it’s the latter, it
appears Corrigan has been doing nothing to educate herself. Because in answer to WXYZ’s question, the
agency said it is not lifting a finger to find out how many other children were
affected by illegal rubber-stamp removals.
And if you’re wondering
what the group that so arrogantly calls itself “Children’s Rights” – the group
that has a consent decree with Michigan DHS – is doing about all this, the
answer is: absolutely nothing. More than
nine months after the illegal rubber-stamp removals were revaled, CR hasn’t
said a word about them.
But at least one member
of Congress isn’t settling for silence and stonewalling. In
a follow up story, WXYZ reports that Representative
Hansen Clarke (D – Detroit) is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate Corrigan’s agency.
