It was secrecy that helped keep Christine and Jeremy Longs' abysmally neglected 10 underage children hostage in an inhuman pit of despair in Burke County lo these many years.
How will secrecy now help them?
Answer: It won't.
Yet, the judge assigned to their parental rights case, Thomas B. Hammond of Toombs County, is keeping the watchful eyes of the public and press out and the records sealed. To what end?
We submit that secret proceedings will only protect the judge, the case workers, the lawyers and the Longs. It will do nothing to help the children. Secrecy can only hurt them, as it always has.
Then again, the children were only denied food, running water, electricity, heat, education, medical care, bedding and decent clothing and shoes. No worries.
Both parents, by the way, are getting much better accommodations in jail (him for three years, her every other weekend for now) than the treatment they subjected their children to.
None of the public's business? Guess again. Since the children were placed in protective state custody after their discovery July 31, 2008, their situation has doggone well been our business. The public is footing the bill for their care, and society has more than a rooting interest in their welfare. And nothing is more central to their future well-being than the question of whether either of these parents is allowed to regain custody and control of the children they so unforgivably neglected for so long.
Doing that would be like giving a bank robber a job as a teller. We not only would love to hear the arguments for doing it, we deserve to hear them.
Those kids were kept in darkness for too long. Open up the case and let the sunshine in, judge -- or step aside and let someone else do it.
We need to control the way all parents raise their children, not just the extreme cases. In fact, I think all parents need to check with me personally to assure they are raising their children in a manner I approve of. You can reach me at ... Oh, excuse me. For a minute there I thought I was the only one who knew all of the correct things to do in child raising. Can anyone tell me what the rules are to child rearing? Are these rules listed on the internet? Do all of the government supported parents follow these rules? Who checks on those who are checking on the parents who don't follow all of the rules properly?
I disagree with the editors. It protects the privacy of the children to keep the proceedings closed.
When and why was this case moved to a different circuit?
I agree with the editor. I don't feel that the privacy of the children is really at stake now. The children are in foster care under their foster last names. The issue is: will we as a society know what is being done with these poor parents to keep them from ever doing this again and paying for their crimes? And Johnston, your satire of trying to make it appear that the courts are overstepping these bounds is not only "not funny" but absurd. There is a big difference between how a parent may choose to raise a child verses depriving those children of the basic needs of life!
Raising children with morals, ethics, honesty and integrity are not what is being discussed. The basic human needs to provide for children is the law; those needs include water, food, electricity and a sanitary home. We are not talking filet mignon, bottled water and a Good Housekeeping Seal of approval- we are talking basics. If this parent or any other parent feels they cannot provide these basics, need to drop their children off at the nearest hospital or police station.
I agreewith the judge for the childrens sake. I don't care what kind of condition they were in, unless they were physically abused by the parents, they will always love their mother and father no matter wht a judge says. I just hope they are being better taken care of and someday maybe they can look back at this as a bad start to a good life.
brimisjoshan, I find very little funny with your post either. Your apparent attempt at humor escapes me. How far should a court intervene and who sets the standards for child raising. Do all of the parents on the government dole pass the standards test? How do you know? Who is watching the watchers? Before you comment on my humor, answer some of these questions...or just continue with your form of humor. We all have the choice here.
Children in foster care don't use the last names of the foster parents. Foster homes often also have other children. There's no need to once again publicly tell what happened to these kids. It's already been in the news enough.
Johnston, I wasn't attempting any humor. Maybe you ought to slow down and read my post again. all parents should give their children the basic nessities of life. If you can't understand that then basic common sense probably escapes you and thus concerning a batttle of wits there is no need to debate with an unarmed person.
I hear there was a nice Haitian couple who wanted to adopt these kids, but their paperwork wasn't in order...
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