The Collin County Observer

Last Sunday, I wrote a piece about an unusual child custody case that took place in a Collin County courtroom. I wrote the article based solely on the decision handed down by Texas' 5th Court of Appeals.

The court reversed the jury verdict that had terminated the parental rights of a young immigrant mother.

Now, I want to tell you the story of that young mother. Because this case involves a minor child, I will not use real names. I'll call the mother Alandra.

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Alandra was born in a very rural, very poor part of central Mexico. She is of Indian blood, a descendant of the ancient Aztecs. She grew up speaking the old Aztec language of Nahuatl and only learned Spanish when she began going to school.

The Nahuatl people are among the poorest in Mexico, most are impoverished subsistence farmers and few can find work above the minimum wage. They are at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder in a nation where the bottom is very, very low.

When she was young, she was stricken with a bout of appendicitis - the subsequent surgery was poorly done, and since then she has complained of pain and has had irregular periods.

Escaping the crushing poverty of her home, Alandra left her family and moved north to seek work and wages in the United States. She ended up in Collin County, working on an assembly line type job, stuffing meat into boxes. She spoke no English, had no car, no driver's license and lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with at least 6 other adults - many of them complete strangers.

On March 14, 2007, at the age of 20, Alandra found herself suffering from severe abdominal pain - she was bleeding heavily, but she made her way to the Medical Center of McKinney.

She assumed that she was suffering from lingering complications from the earlier appendectomy. Instead, she was stunned to hear Dr. Cesar Reyes tell her that she was pregnant, that the child was in breech and that surgery had to be done immediately. The doctors then performed an emergency Cesarean section on the frightened girl.

Alandra's surgery was successful and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. While still in the recovery room and under the influence of pain killing drugs, she was heard to say that she didn't want to have a baby. Later, she asked for her son and stated that she wanted to keep him. But a member of the hospital's staff was concerned that Alandra did not seem to be bonding with the boy, and called the Texas Department of Family Protective Services (FPS).

FPS never gave Alandra a chance to show her ability to care for her son - the state took the boy into protective custody while mother and baby were still in the hospital. The boy was placed with Anglo foster parents who spoke no Spanish, much less Nahuatl.

Five days after the baby was born, FPS filed suit for custody and was appointed the temporary managing conservator of the baby boy. The court ordered Alandra to submit to a psychological evaluation, counseling drug/alcohol assessment, random drug testing and parenting classes.

Alandra, even though she had done nothing to harm her baby, and had done nothing wrong at all, was now subject to the will of the court and Child Protective Services (CPS). She had to submit or lose her son forever.

She tried to do what they wanted. She went to the counseling, she passed all the drug and alcohol screens, all the drug tests and the psychological evaluation showed no signs of mental illness. She kept her job, and she was never in trouble. She had to rely on friends to get her to the counseling center and to CASA, where once a week she was allowed to visit her son for two hours - under constant supervision.

During these visits Alandra cuddled and kissed her son. She changed his diaper and asked about his teething and eating habits. She asked for pictures of him and asked if she could buy him a toy. CPS still questioned whether she was sufficiently 'bonding' with her baby boy.

Alandra's largest problem, as far as CPS was concerned, was her living arrangements. Soon after the baby was born she moved out of the crowed apartment and tried to improve her situation. She moved 4 times that year. At one point, CPS was considering returning her son, but she lived with a family and one day the man hit her. Alandra quickly moved out. A CPS investigator testified that "Mom had made a good decision in getting out of a possible [sic] very violent situation."

Alandra finally moved in with a boyfriend in what became a stable relationship. She had begun to buy baby stuff. CPS reported that her home life was stable, her home was clean and there was food available.

But then in December of 2007, CPS informed the court of its desire to terminate Alandra's parental rights, and in February of 2008 it asked the court for a 3 month extension of custody.

A jury trial was held In Judge Cynthia Wheless' court at the Collin County courthouse in March of 2008 in front of an all white, all Anglo jury.

In his opening statement the State's attorney noted that he was going to talk about "the differences in parenting styles and about what a child's needs are". He told the jury that he wanted them to "listen to everything she [Alandra] has to say because, honestly, I've never seen a parent work as hard as Alandra has."

The foster parents testified at that trial. The foster family was white, middle class. The father was a church director. They had given the boy a good home, in fact the only home he had known in his entire life. At that trial, the foster parents testified that they wanted to adopt Alandra's baby boy.

CPS experts questioned whether Alandra had 'bonded' with her child and if she had fully fulfilled by the court's and CPS' requirements.

Alandra's attorneys argued that she had never once done anything to harm or endanger her son, that she had done her very best, in difficult circumstances, to follow the court's demands and had in fact been tenacious in her efforts and desire to be reunited with her baby.

The jury was asked to answer questions of fact (using the standard of "clear and convincing evidence"). The jury determined that Alandra had not placed the child in danger or harm. However they also decided that Alandra had not fully complied with all the provisions of the court's orders.

The jury then determined that the termination of Alandra's parental rights was in the best interest of the child.

One year later, the 5th court of Appeals reversed the termination based only on their opinion that the 3 month extension granted by Judge Wheless was wrongly granted.

Alandra still does not have custody of her boy. In order to give the State time to prepare any further appeal, the appeals court order is not effective until July 24th.

Today, Alandra's attorneys were notified that the State of Texas would in fact appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court. The attorneys were also told that the foster parents would be suing Alandra to gain permanent custody of her baby. They still want to adopt him.

It is unknown whether Alandra will get to visit her baby boy before the Supreme Court rules - a process that could take a year or more.

Bill

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Bill comments:

In order to tell this story, I have purposefully avoided legal arguments and citations. The requirements for terminating parental rights can be found in the Texas Family Code, Section 161.001. The jury verdict was based on this section of the law.

The arguments and facts of the case can be found in the records of Collin County's 417th District Court. The case number is 417-51250-07. The 5th court of Appeals case number is 05-08-00875-CV. I wrote this based on my reading of those records and on my conversations with several people who were familiar with the details of the case and who knew Alandra.

I've been told by several family attorneys in Collin County that the situation Alandra is facing is far from unique. In fact one prominent lawyer who practices family law here told me they call these cases, "give that kid a ticket to the middle class."

I'm not smart enough to say what is in the best interests of Alandra's baby boy. Is he better off living with a loving middle class white family who can give him opportunities and an education, or is he better off living with his mother and his people - in the culture they have lived in for centuries?

I know that history is full of examples of a dominant culture removing and adopting children from a weaker or impoverished minority and raising them as their own. Here in the USA we had the "Orphan Train" of the 1800's, and the removal of thousands of American Indian children in the early part of the 20th century. Australia removed their thousands of Aborigine children during the middle part of the 20th century - almost wiping out that ancient culture.

I don't doubt the good intentions of the foster parents or the jury. I'm sure they, like Alandra, tried to do the best they could for the child. I do however wonder if a Collin County jury can truly empathize with a person like Alandra.

Like many of my neighbors, I moved to Collin County because I wanted to raise my children in a safe environment. We tend to fear those who are poor, and those who are "not like us". As an example, we fight against low income housing because we believe it will attract "drug dealers, child molesters and thieves".

I suspect we subconsciously believe that poor people are at fault for being poor. Some local attorneys told me that the jury's decision in Alandra's case would likely not be the same in a city like Dallas or in South Texas, because there the juries are more diverse, some of the jury member are poor or in a cultural minority or are related to folks who are.

But regardless of where the trial was held, Alandra did nothing wrong. She never harmed or abused her baby. She steadfastly fought to gain custody of him. While handicapped by language, culture and poverty, she still tried to obey the court. She loves her son and desperately wants her opportunity to be his mother.

The baby did nothing wrong either, and while our culture puts a high value on the parent child relationship, the law tries to protect the "best interests of the child". His entire life of 2 years has been spent with an English speaking foster family who loves and wants to keep him.

Since Solomon is no longer the man on top, we leave these questions for our courts and juries to decide. We pray for justice and we hope we elect good stewards of that justice.

Bill