REVIEWING THE RECORD ON RIFQA BARY
Rifqa's lawyers were repeatedly and viciously attacked in the past year by well-meaning Net kibbitzers who should have known better and should have acted like responsible adults. I firmly and patiently advised those parties that their hysterics were in no way helpful to Rifqa, but could only encourage her enemies. At the end of the day, we see that was exactly the case, as recounted by Mr. Gatterdam.
At 1:40 of the 2d part of the interview, Mr. G. gives the BOTTOM bottom-line, as yours truly wrote in almost the exact same words six months ago:
I could have presented six days of apostasy and shariah law, but if on the 7th day the judge said “Rifqa, you lose,” then how have I helped Rifqa? My goal was to get the result for her, however we need to do it, within the bounds of the law.”
Amen to that, Brother Gatterdam!
5 comments:
Yes, agreed!
Unless you've worked in foster care or the Juvenile "justice" system the word "dependency" doesn't have much meaning.
And unless you've been involved in either of those, you wouldn't know that federal funding for states (and trickle down) for county agencies require that family "reunion" or "reconciliation" be the goal of all these cases. No exceptions that I'm aware of.
I participated in that farce for years while working on getting girls enough life skills training, therapeutic foster family placements, etc. IOW, getting her ready for her 18th b'day.
The only thing the judge wanted to see in my case files was documentation that I was a bizzy bee working "with the parents" to bring about their reunion with the child they'd so badly abused.
So what do you think? I haven't seen the second video (on the way to the doctor so it'll have to wait). However, do you think they'll present at least a civil case against the parents for abuse and/or medical neglect?
I never understood why FL didn't get her medical records (fomr NY, iirc) re any treatment of her eye... or lack thereof. In a "normal" foster care arrangement, if I truly believed the child/young woman was in danger, I'd have pursued that avenue in a heartbeat. It's as plain as the damage written right on her face.
VA code is clear about medical neglect in child abuse cases and this seemed (to an outsider) to be an obvious example.
Thanks for your interesting comments on other sites about her case.
Wish I werent' headed to the doctor. I want to see how much of their hand they're wiling to reveal at this point.
A commentator at Pamela Geller's site has just posted that Rifqa has been _granted_ the SJIS status. Where is this coming from? I can find no confirmation of it on-line. Can anyone research this and find out if it's true?
Gatterdam sounds _worried_ about getting the SJIS status in these videos. That doesn't necessarily mean he did anything wrong. After all, contrary to what Geller implies, he was prepared to litigate abuse here in August to get the "magic words" from the judge, but apparently the judge would not allow it.
If she has the status, that would be wonderful, but who knows if this is just a rumor or a confused misinterpretation of some other piece of news.
Lydia, let us all pray that "rumor" is FOUNDED!
To repeat myself: the BIG ISSUE with Rifqa has been WON, preventing her parents from getting their hands on her. The immigration issue is large, but far less critical. Even if Rifqa were not granted asylum, and subject to deportation (recall that it is Holder and Obama who wd be making the decision), it is difficult to imagine that not a single "safe" country in the wide world wd be willing to offer her a visa.
I may be naive, but I take Mr. Gatterdam at his word that he and co-counsel has been working diligently and zealously on Rifqa's behalf. They may not be the best on earth, they may have made some errors, but there has never been a legal team that didn't. And you know what? Somehow they WON.
I have been disappointed with the ease that the kibbitzers have resorted to claims of perfidy, malfeasance, and nonfeasance on the part of her legal team. I take such accusations very gravely, but I have seen absolutely no evidence of such.
These kind of wild accusations are not responsible adult behavior, and I don't see how they help our anti-jihadi cause in general, or Rifqa Bary in particular.
But that's just me.
Pamela Geller gets so angry and then finds herself unable to get un-angry. Or such has been my perception through this case.
I've e-mailed and commented everywhere I could think of to try to check out that rumor but haven't been able to confirm it. One person said he was sure we would have heard if it were true, and that's what I think as well.
By the way, I apologize for not publishing the comment for so long on my blog. I'm new to moderation and thought I would be receiving e-mail notifications.
"Pamela Geller gets so angry and then finds herself unable to get un-angry."
That is a very insightful description! Once I had a bit of an email back-and-forth with her, I finally wrote: "Why do you keep arguing with me when I am agreeing with you?!"
She is a brilliant and courageous woman, but sometimes your most valuable victories are those you don't waste time (or credibility) fighting.
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