Some of you may recall the trials and tribulations of the Bright family of Tomball, Texas. I've written about them here before, because they are (to my knowledge) the only family EVER to win a 6-figure settlement against the so-called "Child Protective" "Services" (CPS) bureau in their locale. (FYI...in Texas, CPS is known as "DFPS" for Department of Family Services, but we will stick with the more commonly known acronym for the purposes of this article.)
(Mister Bright with little Dillon in his lap, playing with his daughter. Image courtesy of chron.com.)
Federal Judge Mike Schneider received lots of attention and kudos from family rights advocates nationwide after he levied a $127,000 fine against Harris County CPS last October. The case received some national attention due, in part, to one of their agents repeatedly stunning the court during the evidentiary hearing for removal by repeatedly "pleading the 5th" on the stand. All this came after (AGAIN) a drug salesm...uh..."doctor" decided that the little boy, Dillon, could not have fallen off a chair on to cement and hurt his head, as toddler's are wont to do, and that it had to have been abuse. There was never any evidence, and the family had never been suspected of anything even mildly approaching mistreatment or abuse of their two children, either before or since the incident.
(Judge Mike Schneider, Image courtesy of mikeschneider.org.)
Judge Schneider took the "pleading the 5th" business seriously, realized it was done to avoid perjury charges against the agency, and also ordered the agency to conduct training to include information on perjury and "family law."
Like most (if not all) sub-divisions of our modern, un-Constitutional, and all-powerful government, the local CPS bureau is not taking any of it lying down. They apparently did do some training, although we can all picture (knowing the hubris of these people) how that probably went...lol...based on their subsequent remarks. We know they don't respect the court or the people, and we can infer that, not only from the agent repeatedly refusing to testify to his own actions, but in that we are now learning that not only are they appealing the settlement, but they are refusing to admit their BLATANT and OBVIOUS wrongdoing.
(Image courtesy of dfps.state.t.us.)
Never taking public responsibility for failings, indeed, seem to be an unwritten code of all levels of corporate America. Consider this link:
Here is the key excerpt:
"Child Protective Services has filed an appeal to avoid paying a Harris County judge’s $127,000 sanction after finding that the agency wrongfully removed a Tomball couple’s children earlier this year and then allegedly lied in court...
'No matter the outcome, we want to do what it takes to improve the system, ensuring child safety while also maintaining respect for families,' said CPS spokeswoman Tiffani Butler. Since the November sanctions — which may be the largest-ever leveled against the agency — CPS has maintained its handling of the Bright family’s case was 'appropriate,' even though Schneider found that the agency 'abused the legal process' and purposely filed 'misstatements of fact.' 'It can be inferred from the context of Mr. Jones’s other testimony,' Schneider later wrote, 'that he invoked his Fifth Amendment at the adversary hearing to avoid admitting to prior perjury'."
(Tiffani Butler. Image from her twitter account.)
I just want to point out that CPS continuing to state that they "acted appropriately" after being found guilty in A REAL COURT OF LAW (not in the bogus quasi-courts they control) of abuse of the legal process, lying, and then being fined for perjury (basically), is a huge travesty that PROVES they are not contrite at all, that no real change is in the offing, and that the best thing to do is ABOLISH them...if not throughout Texas, at least in Harris County.
By far, their best move would have been to shut up, and just pay the fine, but they appear INCAPABLE of accepting criticism. But, this is Texas, where the political party that often wins major races actually has, as it's official party platform, as of last year, a STRONG CALL TO ABOLISH CPS. Tiffani Butler and her smug little minions are definitely playing with fire here, and here is ONE LOUD VOTE that they get duly BURNED... and sooner, rather than later.
A message must be sent, post haste, to all CPS jurisdictions across the nation that NO, CPS officials are not above the law, that lying and perjury are not OK, ( just because, dear liberal snowflakes, you think you've somehow been granted immunity to all charges of criminality,) and that thumbing your nose at the real courts carries a price.
The article does hint that CPS could be forced to pay even more if they lose on appeal. There is no update within the past month on the status of CPS's appeal, which is somewhat ominous. This appeal must be watched very carefully by all true Americans. If CPS wins at the next level, Trump needs to get involved (if he really cares about the worst vehicle of "human trafficking") and this would need to go to the Supreme Court.
Sadly, the fact that this is in appeal means that the family is not getting the payments that should have already begun receiving. Remember now, this case is NOT one with any of the facts being in question. It is a CLEAR and OVERWHELMING DISPLAY of CPS incompetence, arrogance, and criminal behavior, and yet they STILL are not admitting wrong, and still refuse to do the right thing for these family they so falsely and horrible accused and abused.
The Bright family is now calling for the firing of the administrators of this CPS agency due to their recalcitrance, and the Republican Party of Texas is calling for abolishing the entire horrible mess. That's a very good combination.
Let's hope this happens and that Texas leads the way back to parental rights and sanity.