"Whatever you do in the dark, will come to light!"
My grandmother always used to say that when somebody had done something wrong and thought they'd gotten away with it. When I clicked over to Indian Country Today Media Network this morning, I knew she was right.
(Photo courtesy of Facebook/Standing Our Ground for Veronica Brown)
I don't know who contacted whom and it really doesn't matter. It's been two years since Jan Hunt wrote the requested letter and since she said it was all handled anonymously, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt. She didn't have to say anything, ever. She couldv'e kept her mouth shut and kept on doing what she does in Oregon -- but she didn't, she told the whole, ugly truth:
“He was a loser and a terrible person to the birth mother, that's how she presented it. [Prowell] told me [Dusten Brown's] family was out of their minds and that this poor adoptive couple [the Capobiancos] were being treated terribly,” says Hunt. “But she wouldn't give me any of the names, or the name of the attorney she was working with or even the name of the baby. And as I was working on my letter [regarding attachment], whenever I asked about the father, she said that he 'was out of the picture,' and that the only reason he was contesting the adoption was because his tribe had put him up to it. She said that his mother would probably be the one raising the child because he didn't really want her.”...
...“Jo Prowell said it was about money,” says Hunt. “And everything she said about the tribe was very negative. She said that the only motivation [the Cherokee Nation] had toward the child was money—that 'they get money for every tribal member they have.'”...(all emphasis mine)
The usual pattern of degradation exercised by white supremacists toward us, "Others" is very apparent in those emphasized parts above. One can easily substitute Blacks or Latinos for the Native Americans about whom Prowell spoke and see that, not only do they use those exact same "conventional" beliefs that they've created about all of us, they continue to pass them down from generation to generation. I mean it's 2013 and they're still singing that "same old song" because it suits their purposes.
...“She kept asking me to reorganize my paragraphs in a very specific way and was very persistent and demanding,” says Hunt. “I've written lots of letters to judges, but I was just so motivated to help this baby. My son and I were on vacation scanning and faxing the letter and she just kept changing it to the point where I thought it was really strange. No one had ever done that before.”...
...“I was duped and lied to,” says Hunt. “And I am shocked and angry to have learned the truth about this case. [Dusten Brown] had been lied to and tried since the child was born to reclaim her—not two years afterward, which is what I was told. And he's not some terrible ogre or deadbeat, as I had been led to believe, but a father sincerely trying to be with his daughter.”
Several weeks after Hunt had sent the final version of the letter to Prowell, she received an odd phone call. “As soon as I picked up, she said, 'Don't say anything. You are not to talk to anybody but me. You cannot talk to anyone about this letter,'” says Hunt. “It was all very mysterious and very strange.”...
...“I literally felt ill when I realized who this letter was for,” says Hunt. “I never had any idea that Veronica was the child in the letter, I just knew it was a child in South Carolina. I have felt angry with myself for not pushing and asking more questions, but [Prowell] kept it from me for a reason. How could anybody think that taking this child from her biological father who obviously loves her very much is a good idea?”
Now this is -- or should be -- the most damning evidence against the Capobiancos, their lawyers, the adoption agency and the U.S. judicial system. They are all complicit. The "odd phone call" Ms. Hunt received was a veiled attempt at intimidation and I'm certain there are ways a good private investigator could track down its source. Pity she didn't have it on tape.
As I've said several times, I'm no lawyer, but it seems Ms. Hunt's recantation alone should be grounds enough to halt any and all attempts to take this man's child away and nullify any agreement he might have signed during that private mediation. The Capobiancos are not fit to be in this child's life -- at all. Additionally, it should pave the way for a Department of Justice investigation into the entire case for civil rights violations at the very least and at most, prosecution and jail time.
I know we're all living in Bizarro World here in this country, but this case is an opportunity for all of us, "Others" in particular (our combined numbers are staggering!), in alliance with those alabaster brethren who've stood for what was right from the beginning -- to force the DOJ to do their damned job. If we don't, it will continue, as it currently is, to yet another Native American child, taken from Oklahoma. And wonder of wonders! The Palmetto State, as well as the original adoption attorney for Matt and Melanie Capobianco are involved once again! Come on Family, these people cannot continue to operate with impunity -- this child trafficking has got to end.
With the backing and support from a host of supporters, Mr. Brown dug in his heels, trying to fight off the jackboots trying to take his daughter away from him. Together with the Native American Fund, he immediatelyfiled a request to the U.S. Supreme Court for a postponement of the S.C. Supreme Court ruling -- at least until a "best interests of the child" hearing, covering the time Veronica has lived with him, could be held.
But after learning two disturbing pieces of information from Suzette Brewer's afore-linked piece (Suzette, thanks so much for your in-depth reporting on his case -- without your tenacity, the "other side of this story" would have never seen the light of day!), I could see the under-belly of power and privilege beginning to rear its corruptible head. I learned that:
1) Chief Justice John Roberts, an adoptive parent himself who sided with the majority against Brown, oversees emergency petitions for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes South Carolina.
2) Sources in Washington have pointed out that Alvino McGill's role in Adoptive Couple is more than that of a spokesperson for Christy Maldonado. As it turns out, Chief Justice Roberts and former solicitor general Ted Olson, both of whom sided with the Capobiancos, attended Ms. Alvino McGill's 2006 wedding to Matthew McGill who, coincidentally, was a clerk for John Roberts in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Therefore, given the cozy nature and small world influence in the Capitol's legal circles, observers say it was no surprise when Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl was granted petition of certiorari in January. (emphasis mine)
“Dusten Brown never had a chance,” said the source. “His biggest sin was that he got on the wrong side of the billion dollar U.S. adoption industry and he was winning. [The Supreme Court] knew this when they took cert on this case, otherwise, why would they bother with a custody dispute that should have been nipped in the bud four years ago?... But it is a system that was stacked against him from the beginning.
Come on people, there are obviously no coincidences here. And while the first is not a good sign for Mr. Brown (Roberts wouldn't be the only "Supreme" making the final decision) -- the second is quite simply foreboding. I don't know about you, but it's clear as day to me -- that plenty in this milk ain't clean (pun intended)! If you don't see it, it's because you don't want to. But let me help you. No sooner had the Capobiancos filed their answer to Mr. Brown's request, did this happen: Challenge to child’s adoption fails. Yep, in no time flat, the Roberts-led court, in their hubris, issued this 3-sentence decision:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2013
ORDER IN PENDING CASE
13A115 BIRTH FATHER, ET AL. V. ADOPTIVE COUPLE, ET AL.
The application for stay of judgment presented to The Chief
Justice and by him referred to the Court is denied. The motion of the Guardian ad Litem for leave to file a response with exhibits under seal with redacted copies for the public record is granted.
Justice Ginsburg and Justice Sotomayor would grant the application for stay.
As I told you in Pt. 1b, Mr. Brown is again deployed for 30 days of National Guard training as of July 23. However, on Sunday, August 4, the Capobiancos were supposed to have had a court-ordered visit with Mr. Brown and his child (apparently scheduled before the final ruling came down). Understandably, because he was working out of town in Iowa, he didn't show up.
In preparation for his training duty, Mr. Brown had signed over his rights to his wife and parents, anticipating, I'm certain, either the Oklahoma courts would block the physical transfer of the child to South Carolina (he and his family have until August 23 to request a hearing which is two days after his training is over) or, that their already scheduled hearing in tribal court on September 3 would result in a successful challenge to South Carolina's jurisdiction over a case involving a Cherokee child.
Well, according to this piece in the Charleston CityPaper -- by Monday morning, the "mob" had begun circling their wagons in earnest around theirwhite woman's tears:
A Charleston judge on Monday ordered the immediate transfer of 3-year-old Veronica to her adoptive parents and called for action from state and federal authorities after the girl’s birth father failed to appear for a court-ordered visit the day before.
The decree by Family Court Judge Daniel Martin suspended a transition plan intended to gradually re-introduce the toddler to Matt and Melanie Capobianco of James Island. It also requests assistance from Dusten Brown’s commanding officer as he finishes a 30-day training mission with the Army National Guard ... (emphasis mine)
Though I'm hearing faint strains of "urging for calm" in his last sentence below, on the first, I wholeheartedly agree:
As much as we here in Charleston fail to recognize it, for the Cherokee Nation this is a racial issue and the recent court orders bring up memories of decades upon decades of mistreatment at the hands of the white man. Here's hoping that outrage doesn't manifest in some truly horrible manner. (emphasis mine)
Before a South Carolina judge demanded that she be returned "immediately," Baby Veronica's biological father, Dusten Brown, offered to share custody with her adoptive parents...Brown said the offer would have let Veronica spend summers and holidays in Charleston, where she lived with Matt and Melanie Capobianco for the first two years of her life. The rest of the time, she would have stayed with her biological family in Nowata, an hour north of Tulsa. (emphasis mine)
Smelling blood in the water, the sharks Capobiancos bare their very well-funded, politically connected teeth and declined, saying:
"After all this time, the begging and the pleading we did, we never got to see her," Melanie Capobianco said Wednesday in an interview with Charleston's Post and Courier.
"Now that we were at the point where they knew the adoption would go through, they offered this as if they've been thoughtful and considerate to us all along."
"Pssst, Hey Melanie -- they had no reason,whatsoever to be "thoughtful and considerate to you all along." First, you conspired with the birth mother and The Christian NightLife Adoption agency to BUY his child; then, you hired a PR firm, to make him look like an unfit parent when you couldn't keep her, even though he's been fighting for her since she was four months-old; then, you called inyour white-privileged favors to doggedly pursue him in the courts (and either arranged for, if not paid for, Ms. Maldonado to do the same)-- all over a child that carries his DNA, not yours! Do you see where I'm going here?
No? Well let me help you. That you are barren is most regrettable -- but that does not give you a right to this man's flesh and blood, particularly since he wants, and is taking care of his child. Your fight is with Ms. Maldonado. Sue her for lying misrepresentation! Oh, I forgot. Aside from the fact you've spent all this money to facilitate this "sale" -- you were in on the lie too! Kinda bars you from any recovery on that end, I would think. But who knows? You do, after all, have quite the cadre of judicial and legislative henchmen in your pocket on your side! Stranger things have happened!"
So, in order to not look unreasonable (though they've been nothing but unreasonable over this man's child from day one) here's their counter-offer:
"But the Capobiancos said they' re still committed to allowing the Browns to play a role in the girl's life - if they honor the adoption order."
The Browns are skeptical, saying the adoptive parents have never offered joint custody or visitation rights in a way that would be legally binding, the Browns said.
The arrogance of these people just "makes me wanna holler, throw up both my hands!" Interesting to watch the flexing though, now that the ball's mainly in their court, no? If I were the Browns, I'd be skeptical too.
Below, Mr. Brown's parents and wife explain their skepticism with emotions that run the gamut (and no, before anybody throws up the "she's white too" strawman -- she is not counted as one of "their" white women because first of all, she's a "race traitor" who stooped to marry "one of them." Secondly, she's speaking up against them, for "the enemy" (You can pretend these dynamics aren't in play here, but I won't):
"Civility, in the face of such intellectual dishonesty, is counterproductive in the defense of liberty ... for it grants the dishonesty the false appearance of legitimacy"
I cannot, for the life of me, remember to whom that quote should be attributed, but I've never forgotten it. But t's so apropos for this situation though, because I am just undone, and so tired of the way this society talks out of both sides of its mouth, with both conversations painting the "hunter" as some, "White Knight," riding in to save the day -- theyarenot. They are opportunists -- always coveting what is not theirs and alwaysmisappropriating what they cannot create (and yes, Mrs. Capobianco, I'm talking about you there).
On the one hand, in 1978, the ubiquitous "they," in a weak defense of their barbaric inhumanity said:
We know that your children have been disproportionately taken from you (with the willing assistance of Christian, church folk) -- not only because, as Bill Means of AIM stated, "because there was a very, shall we say, stereotypical image that Indian children were neither black nor white, therefore, they were most desirable," but because the Missus couldn't create an heir for the Mister" -- but it got out of hand. So, after all we've taken from you, and all you've given us, theleast we can do, is leave you your children."
Now, post-1978, they say:
"Yeah, we know we initially said you have a right to your children (as if they, according to the laws of the universe, have a right to grant such a thing in the first place. Oops! Forgot their made-up, white supremacist, "Manifest Destiny" madness!) -- but what we meant was -- only when and how we say so.
"And since you chose not to follow those parameters, Mr. Brown, we intend to put the full weight and force of our state and federal, politically connected, well-funded power on your neck to make you remember who's actually running things -- even though you're a member of a "sovereign" Nation. I'm tellin' you folks, you just can't make this stuff up! -- Baby Veronica's biological father faces arrest after failing to return her to South Carolina 'immediately':
Nearly 500 miles from his daughter, Baby Veronica's biological father could be arrested Sunday morning when he reports back to duty at a military base in Johnston, Iowa.
The warrant came from even farther away - 1,100 miles east in Charleston, S.C., where a Family Court judge is trying to force Veronica's return to her adoptive parents.
Officials issued an arrest warrant Friday after Dusten Brown failed to meet the judge's order to bring his 3-year-old daughter to South Carolina "immediately."
He lives in Nowata, an hour north of Tulsa, but was in Johnston, Iowa, for a month of training with his Oklahoma National Guard unit.
He was off duty Saturday, spending the day at a hotel with his wife, Robin Brown. But commanders told him they can't prevent local authorities from taking him into custody when he returns to the base, she said.
A South Carolina official described the warrant as "checkmate," likely to end an epic custody battle that started when Veronica was 4 months old.
And wasting no time at all -- the jackboots landed. Now, they knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. So aside from flexing, their obvious intent is to not only humiliate him (even as he's serving this damned country on duty!), but to put his income in jeopardy. It appears too, that Judge Martin's request for "assistance from Dusten Brown’s commanding officer"was heard loud and clear and, given the snide "checkmate" comment, I think we can all agree with Robin Brown -- for the Capobiancos, it's all about winning." I don't know about you, but I sure feel that heel grinding deeper into his neck.
~#~#~#~
A brief aside:
Commenter D. Hammond - Phoenix, AR posted this comment on the above-linked piece:
The presiding SC judge who issued this order is Daniel Martin. He is a reputable higher court judge who specializes in family law. If you remember, the Native American Rights Fund filed a civil suit last week naming Judge Martin as defendant. The suit says that Martin denied Veronica a "best interest" hearing. I wonder if Martin is strong arming because he is angry with NARF and the Cherokee Nation for challenging his power.
And Sandy Macauley - Tahlequah responded:
He should remove himself from this case since he is a named defendant in the NARF case
A weekend of high tension surrounding the custody fight over Baby Veronica culminated in a Monday press conference called by Matt and Melanie Capobianco, vowing that without action from state and federal law enforcement, Matt would board a plane and pick up the three-year old that a Charleston County court has said belongs with his family...
...In front of a neighborhood gazebo near the Capobiancos house this morning, Matt and Melanie issued a plea to law enforcement involved in the case, asking "Where are you?" wiping away tears as they explained their anxiety over the girl's safety, saying their daughter "has been kidnapped." In an interview with the South Carolina Radio Network, Melanie said, "We've tried to work so hard to make this a smooth transition," saying that she thought the Browns were "using our kindness against us." Via an emailed statement this morning, the Capobiancos' spokesperson Jessica Munday called it "outrageous that nothing is being done to bring this child home to her legal parents" after two and a half days, "Where's the Amber Alert?" she said. Though the Capobiancos say they are reluctant to take matters into their own hands, Matt Capobianco said today that he would fly to Oklahoma himself, lamenting efforts to abide by legal channels throughout the process over the past two years, telling his daughter, "Veronica, little stinker, daddy's coming."
People, please go to that link and watch that video -- it is quite the performance. It turned my stomach so badly, I just couldn't post it.
I won't editorialize on it too much, but I just have to point to a few things that stick out for me. Replete with the obligatory crocodile tears, and melodramatic flourish, they turn this latest development into a "kidnapping" (classic, "paint the Other" as dangerous brute behavior -- the child's with her family!); then they start with finger-shaking at the "authorities" for waiting so long to bring the child back (it'd been two days); then, rolling out the, "we fear for her safety" apparition again, they throw out the veiled threat that, "if anything happens to her there will be enough responsibility to go around"; then they trot out their PR person who keeps the false, "he abandoned her" meme going strong while she calls for, of all things, an Amber Alert! Family, this absolutely reeks of white privilege run amok.
The father of a Cherokee Indian girl at the center of an adoption dispute turned
Mugshot from Sequoyah Sheriff's Office
himself in to authorities Monday but refused extradition to South Carolina, further complicating a case that raises questions about jurisdictions and a federal law meant to keep members of Native American tribes together.
Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation, was charged over the weekend with custodial interference after failing to appear at a court-ordered meeting in South Carolina, where the adoptive parents live. He turned himself in about 10 a.m. Monday in Sequoyah County in far eastern Oklahoma and paid bond, Sheriff Ron Lockhart said.
But Brown refused extradition without a governor's warrant from South Carolina.
This is "in the best interests of the child?" This is the country for which Mr. Brown dons that uniform he's wearing. {smdh}. Check out the video below and see these two families side-by-side. Listen to the very Deep South narrative floating on the surface of it all ("a little-known Federal law??" -- Please).
Mr. Brown, hold fast young man. I salute you for your fight and I stand in solidarity with you and your family. That little "mirror" named Veronica that you hold in your arms is yours, no matter the "things" they can give her. When all is said and done and your daughter revisits her life, laid bare on the internet -- she'll swell with pride knowing her Daddy did everything he knew how to do to keep her in his life. And the Capobiancos won't be able to dispute any of it. And since he refused extradition without a governor's warrant, according to this, Governor Nikki Haley (she, the child of Sikh immigrants born in Bamberg, SC) immediately drew one up and overnighted it to Oklahoma!
This man is battling so many of their "friends in high places" -- I don't know how he's not buckled under the pressure. {smdh} Stay tuned folks -- the wheels are spinning fast and furiously on this case and I want to make sure as many "voices" as possible are heard as it develops.
