Here is the story, with photos. How many of these attorneys, and their ground breaking, law making cases had you heard of?
http://www.masslawyersweekly.c…
I am most familiar with Claudia Bolgen and Margaret Winchester’s case, In Re Hilary, which is analyzed here: http://www.spfj.org/hilary.pdf
And the full case is here: http://www.google.com/search?h…
This is the first case to expand the right to counsel of indigent parents deprived of their children in a long time; in these cases if your child is a truant and your child is placed in state custody as a result, until this case, you either came up with legal fees or you were on your own.
These “CHINS” cases arise under the “Child in Need of Services” statute, and do not involve abuse or neglect. For example, parents were often pressured to give the state custody in order to get mental health services or respite care for a seriously mentally ill child.
I know this to be true because our family was pressured in this way – and fought back and found our own services. And I began to wonder if WE were pressured that way, what happened to parents without the kind of skills I posessess?
Each one of these attorneys “won against all odds”. Read on.
