Thursday, March 31, 2005
WHAT NEXT FOR THE WRONGLY JAILED?
Here is another Post and Courier article about the devastating results that can occur when the Family Court fails to follow the law. In this instance, the father was jailed and the parents both spent thousands of dollars in attorneys fees to litigate a question whose answer was so obvious that the Supreme Court of South Carolina did not deem it necessary to provide a legal analysis. Yet no one has been able to explain to the father how he can obtain the expungement of his arrest record and the destruction of his arrest documents.
So riddle us this--why shouldn't the trial judge have to draft an Order rectifying the harm that her ill-considered decision caused? Why shouldn't the State have to reimburse the father for the fees and costs expended to clear his name? And why shouldn't the mother's attorney have to reimburse her for the legal fees she incurred for rendering what was obviously unsound advice?
From our prospective, and with all respect to Professor Stuckey, the only solution to the wrongful incarceration of parents does not appear to be appointing "more judges" and spending more money. Maybe it would help for the attorneys and the judges to both learn and apply the applicable law.
Or maybe Mr. Fassuliotis could have been allowed to stop by a money machine to pay his "fine" before he was hauled off to the hoosegaw.
Here is another Post and Courier article about the devastating results that can occur when the Family Court fails to follow the law. In this instance, the father was jailed and the parents both spent thousands of dollars in attorneys fees to litigate a question whose answer was so obvious that the Supreme Court of South Carolina did not deem it necessary to provide a legal analysis. Yet no one has been able to explain to the father how he can obtain the expungement of his arrest record and the destruction of his arrest documents.
So riddle us this--why shouldn't the trial judge have to draft an Order rectifying the harm that her ill-considered decision caused? Why shouldn't the State have to reimburse the father for the fees and costs expended to clear his name? And why shouldn't the mother's attorney have to reimburse her for the legal fees she incurred for rendering what was obviously unsound advice?
From our prospective, and with all respect to Professor Stuckey, the only solution to the wrongful incarceration of parents does not appear to be appointing "more judges" and spending more money. Maybe it would help for the attorneys and the judges to both learn and apply the applicable law.
Or maybe Mr. Fassuliotis could have been allowed to stop by a money machine to pay his "fine" before he was hauled off to the hoosegaw.
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"Deadbeat Dad" No More
I may be the first person in Charleston County to ever succeed in having a local Family Court judge execute an Order to have the criminal record created as a result of being wrongfully charged with civil contempt and consequently incarcerated. The Order to expunge my record came after a grueling three and a half year court battle which did not end in the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Instead when I went back to the Family Court in Charleston County and asked the Family Court judge who made the mistake and was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court, I was told I had already had all the remedies available to me under the law and she could not expungement my criminal record.
That story is a matter of record and first reported by Herb Frazier of the Post & Courier in two installments. Mr. Frazier's story ends when he personally attended the hearing where the Honorable Judge F. P. Segars-Andrews denied my request for Expungement of the criminal record created by her mistake when she wrongfully judged me in contempt of a Family Court Order on September 18, 2002.
Finally, after nearly four years of hearings, I received an Order of Expungement that was sent by the Family Court to the Charleston County Sheriff's office. But it does not stop there. I believe I still have a criminal record in the State Law Enforcemet Division (SLED) database, the FBI database and who knows where else.
This is the first installment and my personal chronicle of my efforts to have the stigma of being a "deadbeat dad" removed, my reputation regained and the ongoing effort to attempt to right a wrong that happens to entirely too many parents in this country.
From my notes of February 4, 2006:
Yesterday, I spoke to John Williams, Records Manager for the Charleston County Sheriffs Dept. He said that he believed that the local arrest record has been removed from their system. However, he had no record that the Order had been received or that any other agency had been provided a copy of the Order. However it typically took about 15 working days to get a record expunged.
He said that the normal procedure for the Sheriff's Dept. was to forward a copy of the expungement order to SLED and that it is returned in about 90 days with proof of expungement.
He referred me to Sabrina Crawford (529-7332) who is in charge of records at the Jail. I called her yesterday, but she has not returned my call.
I also called the local FBI office yesterday. They said they could not do anything unless it originated from SLED.
Today, I spoke with Susan Williams (?) Sheriff's Cannon's administrative assistant who returned my call to Sheriff Cannon from yesterday. I explained my reason for calling the Sheriff's office yesterday and that I had spoken with Mr. Williams, the results of that conversation and my call to Ms. Crawford. She explained that the Solicitors office has given her instructions in another matter regarding expungement and forwarding orders to other agencies, using SASE's and $25 checks. I explained to her my case was a bit different since it was an Order of the Family Court. I informed her I had not heard back from Ms. Crawford as yet, and would contact Sheriff Cannon again if necessary.
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I may be the first person in Charleston County to ever succeed in having a local Family Court judge execute an Order to have the criminal record created as a result of being wrongfully charged with civil contempt and consequently incarcerated. The Order to expunge my record came after a grueling three and a half year court battle which did not end in the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Instead when I went back to the Family Court in Charleston County and asked the Family Court judge who made the mistake and was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court, I was told I had already had all the remedies available to me under the law and she could not expungement my criminal record.
That story is a matter of record and first reported by Herb Frazier of the Post & Courier in two installments. Mr. Frazier's story ends when he personally attended the hearing where the Honorable Judge F. P. Segars-Andrews denied my request for Expungement of the criminal record created by her mistake when she wrongfully judged me in contempt of a Family Court Order on September 18, 2002.
Finally, after nearly four years of hearings, I received an Order of Expungement that was sent by the Family Court to the Charleston County Sheriff's office. But it does not stop there. I believe I still have a criminal record in the State Law Enforcemet Division (SLED) database, the FBI database and who knows where else.
This is the first installment and my personal chronicle of my efforts to have the stigma of being a "deadbeat dad" removed, my reputation regained and the ongoing effort to attempt to right a wrong that happens to entirely too many parents in this country.
From my notes of February 4, 2006:
Yesterday, I spoke to John Williams, Records Manager for the Charleston County Sheriffs Dept. He said that he believed that the local arrest record has been removed from their system. However, he had no record that the Order had been received or that any other agency had been provided a copy of the Order. However it typically took about 15 working days to get a record expunged.
He said that the normal procedure for the Sheriff's Dept. was to forward a copy of the expungement order to SLED and that it is returned in about 90 days with proof of expungement.
He referred me to Sabrina Crawford (529-7332) who is in charge of records at the Jail. I called her yesterday, but she has not returned my call.
I also called the local FBI office yesterday. They said they could not do anything unless it originated from SLED.
Today, I spoke with Susan Williams (?) Sheriff's Cannon's administrative assistant who returned my call to Sheriff Cannon from yesterday. I explained my reason for calling the Sheriff's office yesterday and that I had spoken with Mr. Williams, the results of that conversation and my call to Ms. Crawford. She explained that the Solicitors office has given her instructions in another matter regarding expungement and forwarding orders to other agencies, using SASE's and $25 checks. I explained to her my case was a bit different since it was an Order of the Family Court. I informed her I had not heard back from Ms. Crawford as yet, and would contact Sheriff Cannon again if necessary.
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