Hi All,
the general consensus is that the Judge in this case has to go. See the articles here: Omaha court case widens from screening test to baby’s meals and the comics here: I don’t recognize it! and How can any mother sleep?! and this comment left on my blog (thanks typogirl!)

I do know of Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich though. I had a run-in with her as a juvenile and she was indeed very mean. She has a nickname here as, well, take the last syllable of her name (which is pronounced “Sern-ko-vitch”) and rhyme it starting with a B, and… I think you get it…

…I understand both the state law’s point of view, as well as that of the parents, I ABSOLUTELY think that Judge Crnkovich’s ruling was ENTIRELY UNFAIR, and yes, even cruel. But if you ever met her yourself, this would come as no surprise (I was not at all shocked when I read that she was the one who did this), as you would know that she is a heartless, ice-cold woman. Couldn’t the parents have been just ordered to comply or be given a fine or community service or something? To take away their child, and not allowed to breastfeed, even against the recommendations of the social worker, is just ridiculous!

My Friend Genevieve asked her legal expert sister (thanks Rachel!) and was told that this is what we should do:

People should write directly to the judicial council of the state where the judge sits. That is the real problem there. And they should also write to the papers and make the issue the JUDGE. That is who made that ruling - not the law.

Write to this Council about how disappointed you are about the Judge’s actions, and how you feel they should remove her from the courts for acting outside of the law:

Nebraska Judicial Council
Administrative Office of the Courts
1445 K Street
1213 State Capitol
P. O. Box 98910
Lincoln, NE 68509-8910
Phone: 402-471-3730
Fax: 402-471-2197

and the Nebraska newspaper that carried the story:

Omaha World Herald

Public Pulse
If you have a general comment about information in a news story in The World-Herald, send it to the Public Pulse editor, e-mail pulse@owh.com or fax (402)345-4547.

Mailing address:
Omaha World-Herald
attn: Larry King
1314 Douglas, Suite 700
Omaha, NE 68102

and while you’re at it, perhaps a letter about the story to your hometown paper?

Here’s the address for the Judge (thanks Heather!) You will be writing directly to her…I would urge you to write to her superiors and then send her a copy ;o)

Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich
Suite 600
Hall of Justice
1701 Farnam Street
Omaha NE 68183

Here’s a sample letter that the mother has asked for us to use when writing to complain (thanks Sora!)

The Anaya family has been trying to get Nebraska’s law changed for years. The Nebraska Senate Health and Human Services Committee Is the place to write to make sure this doesn’t happen again (though that won’t give the anti-breastfeeding judge the comeuppance she so richly deserves.):

The Nebraska Senate Health and Human Services Committee
Main Switchboard - 402-471-3121
Physical Address
301 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, Nebraska
Mailing Address
Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services
P.O. Box 95026, Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-5026

Questions or concerns about DHHS system.information@dhhs.ne.gov
402-471-6035 OR 1-800-254-4202

Mary Anaya has provided this sample letter to the Senators, with permission to use it and pass it on. It will, of course, be more effective if it is personalized before you send it.
Here’s where you go to find the Senator’s addresses

Dear State Senator,

I am horrified at what has happened to the Anaya family as a result of the failure of the health and human services committee to move forward on LB 250 to provide a religious exemption to newborn screening. 46 other states have exemptions. There is no reason why Nebraska should waste tax payer money prosecuting loving parents who do not wish to participate in newborn screening. This family has suffered enough.

Please pass LB 250 or better yet make an exemption for people with religious or philosophical objections to newborn screening. This issue will not go away. In all the other states that offer exemptions, I have never seen it reported that a family refused testing and their child later had one of the diseases. Do not let this family or others suffer needlessly. The freedom to exercise religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment and in Nebraska people are supposed to have the right to conscience. The current screening laws are unconstitutional on both the federal and state level.

People will not want to live in Nebraska with all the bad publicity it receives for laws that are out of step with the nation.

I hope that helps!

Love,
Heather

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Dear Mama,

I haven’t read the book yet, just a bit about it in the author’s own words (an article sent to me from mamiecaisse, thanks!). And it’s given me a LOT of food for thought. Provocative. As she intended it to be. My friend Mara’s philosopy whenever she comes across this sort of child-bashing stuff is always, “YAY! Another jerk not raising children!” Yet, this jerk IS raising children. And Mara is out of town, so I’ve been trying to think what kind of silver-lining she could find…I’m just not very good at silver-lining. Not about this… this… this kind of insidious ‘ism’.

A recent commenter (Suzanne) on this blog wrote a while back:

“One last thing: I think the current “Mommy wars” are symptomatic of a very anti-child culture that segregates generations in ways that are really unhealthy.”

and it had the element of truth to it, and really got me to thinking about age-segregation and age-ism. Because that’s what this is, one big giant ‘ism’. I think, because age-ism is so often targeted at older humans, we should begin to call this ‘child-ism’ the hating of children. And wow, isn’t child-ism becoming so prevalent?

It seems that everywhere I turn someone is spewing anti-child thoughts, every comedian has to have a joke about the baby on the airplane. Everyone laughs and laughs, because “it’s so true! Don’t you hate it when a baby comes down the aisle on a plane?!” And most adults have a story about a child that ruined a perfectly good meal at a restaurant, or their peace of mind at a concert, or even had the audacity to be born and ruined their friendships-because who wants to hang out with people who can only talk about their kids?

And for that matter why should any grown adult have to put up with this child nonsense? They throw temper tantrums, they’re messy, loud, obnoxious, often stinky, and more often than not, they could use a good spanking. Why do they have to even be around? And with that being said, aren’t there places for kids? Away from here, away from adults, away from decent, quiet, grown-up society where they can go, and leave us in peace?

Listen, really listen to the discussions, the jokes, the media reports, and you’ll begin to notice that these thoughts are the underlying current, “why should I-a grown-up, civilized, responsible only to myself- be bothered by the young of this world?”

And here it is again, this book No Kids: 40 reasons not to have them by Corrine Maier which continues and perpetuates these arguments and this time the author is a MOTHER. yep. Because here we come to the most insidious part of ‘child-ism’, the grown-ups who choose to spend their time with children are vilified as well. Especially if you do it for no pay. ‘Child-ism’ is rampant, and if you don’t want to be the butt end of the joke, “get ye to a career, QUICK!” Nevermind staying with your kids and fighting for their rights (and your own) to be seen and heard, drop them off with the babysitter and go have a nice night out. You deserve it, you’re a grown-up, right?

Most of Ms. Maiers reasons to not have kids, all come from ‘child-ism’, Disneyland and Child-friendly restaurants are all symptoms of a culture that thinks kids have to be pandered to, and kept separate from the world of intellegent, civilized adults. It’s segregation, pure and simple, and the world doesn’t HAVE to be that way.

There are places in this world believe it or not, where children are welcomed, tantrums and all, into the welcoming arms of the culture. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. So it’s become apparent that we need to fight back against the spread of this ‘ism’. Stop laughing at the jokes, stop making excuses for our lives and the lives of our children. They’re kids, and they have a right to be here, plain and simple. You and I are their mothers, we should stop distancing ourselves from them and start demanding their entrance to the world. I plan on pointing out ‘child-ism’ whenever it’s spoken, or written- and I hope you will join me in calling it out and stopping its spread.

Love,
Heather

so, my dearest husband went to bed and forgot to hand me the remote control, and I was working on a comic and the ad for the supernanny -coming up next!- included a baby that was still ‘gasp’ breastfeeding and sleeping with its mother. At 14 months. Seriously. So I had to watch, it was like a train wreck. The family was completely out of control, screaming, hitting, just really really miserable. But weaning from the breast to a bottle, and making the baby cry it out to sleep in its own bed, were top of the agenda.

Granted the mother was trapped sitting down and breastfeeding a LOT during the day (been there, huh?) and was having trouble sleeping. But it wasn’t anything that a sling and a bigger bed would have solved! I mean really, the family was packed onto a little bed.

Why can’t supernanny see that the helpful help that she gives these tormented families would be so much better if it included helping them attach to each other more, instead of promoting detachment? Oh, that’s right, because she’s a NANNY. Nannies aren’t supposed to attach to their charges, silly me. It’s a sad day that the culture is taking parenting advice from nannies, and really sad that the mothers are listening.

Love,
Heather