I have enjoyed your posts for a long time and learned a lot from you. Nice to meet you.
From the Concord Monitor (slanted leftist media!), the affidavit served on John Irish said a JUDGE determined that Irish abused Taylor’s two other children and her. A HEARING to end her parental rights to the two older children has been held and the decision in pending. A JUDGE ordered Irish to meet all conditions after his domestic-violence incident(s). He didn’t. Her divorce has been delayed because he won’t sign the papers. I haven’t had this much legal trouble (no arrests) in 60 years than this kid has had in his 22 years.
I know that family-court is its own hell but look at the evidence, numerous hearings, judge-ordered findings, and ask is he a martyr or a dirtbag?
I’ve never seen the inside of a jail in 50 years. I hadn’t seen or maybe skipped over the judge thing, so I apologize.
Not sure how it works in NH, but what I know of these hearings is that they are commonly rubber-stamp affairs which accept the allegations of the CPS as gospel and require the (for want of a better term) defendant to prove their innocence.
The burden of proof is on the accused, and proving you didn't do something is not only darned difficult as a practical matter, but the presumption of guilt is unconstitutional.
Often these proceedings are initiated on the word of the estranged spouse (often the opening gambit in a custody battle), and any investigation assumes the worst. Keep in mind "abuse" need not involve physical contact, "neglect" might only involve going to the bathroom while a child is playing. It depends on how the vague criteria are applied, but even innocuous events which virtually any parent could be 'guilty' of can be parsed to seem heinous.
So an active child who gets a bruise, bumps their head, or scrapes their knee can readily be portrayed as a victim of abuse or neglect, and seeking medical services for a more serious injury received at play can open the door to allegations as well, even though there was no neglect or abuse involved.
The rules are written such that unless the person is aware of all the criteria there is virtually no way to avoid being accused once you are under scrutiny. That is no accident.
Often parents who are careful with and not abusive to their children respond with a 'deer in the headlights' reaction to being portrayed as monsters, and often, they are shunned by the community as if they were guilty of heinous acts despite their innocence.
The whole 'anger management', parenting classes bit not only increases the budget of the local CPS office and the relative status of the employees there, it also increases the amount of control which can be exercised by LSWs who commonly have never had children of their own and are going only on theory they learned in college.
I'm not saying there are no nasty bastards out there who abuse their children, there are, but the really nasty ones are also far more intimidating to the average social worker than law abiding parents who have no idea how to game the system or what they are up against.
That friends support these people indicates to me that this is likely the result of overzealous action on the part of CPS, possibly fueled by a coming custody dispute.
I may be wrong, granted, but unless you or someone you know has dealt with such things, you have no clue how the system can work against even the best of parents, and how it can be manipulated by the unscrupulous for their own ends.
Note that there is no need to mention Oath Keepers if the CPS has a valid case. The case would stand on its own merits, regardless of the political affiliations of the defendents. Dogpiling 'reasons' does not constitute evidence, and in this case, the bias against an organization and its misrepresentation as a "Militia" in the allegations (as if being part of a Militia would make someone abusive toward their children--a clear leftist bias) indicates a statist bias against the parents, not as abusers, but for political reasons.
That said, the time to really lawyer up and fight the allegations was when the first allegations were made, and not having done so will be used against these people as best the CPS can do so. Not jumping through the hoops (complying with the order to take the 'class') will not help, either, and will be used to portray these people as scofflaws, regardless of the reason(s) the class was not taken.
Anyone who ends up in this situation who is not guilty had best better get a good lawyer, quick, and indicate they will fight as long and hard as it takes to clear their name.
I'll leave you with this thought: Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." CS Lewis