AMY JOAN SCHNEIDER DITTO LAUREY SAM..... TOO CLOSE!!

SAME JUDGE--- SAME RESULT---CHILD SOLD IN MACON COUNTY ILLINOIS---CAN YOU BUY A CHILD IN DECATUR ILLINOIS?

AMY JOAN SCHNEIDER AND LAUREY SAM, TWO FIT BLOOMINGTON ILLINOIS PARENTS TRAPPED IN THE DECATUR ILLINOIS FAMILEY COURT SYSTEM.

Judge Scott B. Diamond and Judge Albert G. Webber IV, Tag Team In-Justice $$$$$$$$$ THE ART OF CHILD TRAFFICKING FOR THE BIG BUCKS.

"MONEY TALKS, YOUR KIDS WALK, IN THE DECATUR ILLINOIS 6th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT AND FOURTH DISTRICT ILLINOIS COURTS.

PARENTS FORCED TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT TO NON-PARENTS

Grand Mother and Sister Win vs. Parent... Again, and Again.

"I to like Amy am caught up in the Macon County court system and until now I thought I was the only one there who's mom and sister used this court to kidnapp my 7 yr. old away from me. Amy and I both have Judge Diamond and Sue Myerscough at the 4th District Appellant." Laurey Sam, on the Amy Joan Schneider case, April 5, 2005.

Sunday, September 5, 2004
Cherokee Nation in custody dispute
By Steve Silverman [email protected]
Pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- As a Bloomington woman fights to regain custody of her 6-year-old daughter, the nation's second-largest Indian tribe has raised concerns about compliance with a federal law designed to preserve the child's connection with her culture.

The Cherokee Nation claims in court documents that Laurey Sam's case in Macon County has been marked by violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law that governs adoptions and foster care placements of American Indian children.

Enacted in 1978, the law established minimum burdens of proof for removing Indian children from their homes and gave tribes the right to intervene in custody disputes. Cherokees say the law is a vital tool for maintaining the identities of its members and tribal populations from generation to generation.

"The best interest of the child is taken into consideration, but keeping Indian children in Indian homes is balanced with it," said Stacy Leeds, a member of the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court and a law professor at the University of Kansas at Lawrence.

Said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad "Corntassel" Smith: "Children are not just the property of parents, they're an extended part of a family and with Indians, part of the tribe."

Sam's father was a Cherokee, and Sam and her daughter are registered members of the Cherokee Nation. Sam's mother, who is not a Cherokee, has cared for the girl since a disputed adoption in 2002. Sam's mother recently was awarded permanent custody after court rulings that Sam is an unfit parent.

Darrell Statzer of Decatur, the attorney for Sam's mother, maintained the case has been handled in accordance with the federal law and said the Cherokee Nation's input has been sporadic and untimely.

"They've never done anything besides write letters and make phone calls. ... They're a day late and a dollar short with this stuff," he said.

Meanwhile, the case is headed to the appellate court for the third time.

The current appeal includes claims that Sam's unfitness as a mother wasn't proven by the standard required by the federal law and that Sam wasn't offered rehabilitative services. The federal law requires rehabilitative services be offered and proven unsuccessful before an Indian parent loses rights to a child.

Sam has been accused of abusing her daughter and having a prescription drug problem. She denies those claims, but said she's willing to do whatever is required to get her child back. She insists the state Department of Children and Family Services didn't give her that opportunity.

A DCFS spokeswoman said Sam was given services, but she couldn't provide specific examples. A previous 4th District Appellate Court ruling found that Sam failed to follow a DCFS service plan and "repeatedly refused and was, therefore, uncooperative in receiving treatment."

Sam's attorney, James Brinkoetter of Decatur, declined comment on the case.

Likewise, Cherokee Nation spokesman Mike Miller and other officials declined comment on the tribe's current position, citing confidentiality in cases involving children.

Miller said the tribe advocates on behalf of children rather than siding with or against individual parents.

"The Cherokee Nation's role is to look after our children and make sure they're protected and a part of our society," he said.

The Indian Child Welfare Act gives tribes greater influence in such cases. The law was a response to the removal of large numbers of Indian children from their homes, a problem partially attributed to cultural biases on the part of investigators.

Cherokee Nation attorney Becky Johnson said many of the children were totally isolated from their tribe and their families, and didn't discover their Indian heritage until they were adults.

"The rate of suicide among those children was very high. It created an identity crisis," she said.

Johnson said the federal law has been effective at driving down the numbers of removals.

But she said compliance with the law is a common problem, especially in areas with few American Indians and few cases governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act.

"I think it works well but it's an ongoing problem. Every day we have new cases coming in," she said.

Principal Chief Smith echoed those sentiments, saying the law has had a "dramatic" impact and must be rigorously enforced.

"It's extremely important for the tribes and I think it provides a great lesson for the public on the kind of nurturing relationships that are important for children," Smith said.

Court records show the tribe has raised several concerns in Sam's case:

• In a May 2002 letter to Brinkoetter, Cherokee Justice Department Director A. Diane Hammons wrote the child's adoption by Sam's mother was in "total contravention" of the federal law. "The Cherokee Nation was not given notice of the adoption until after it occurred. No rehabilitative efforts were undertaken to prevent the breakup of the Indian family. It is the Nation's position that the decree of adoption was correctly set aside, and that the child should therefore be immediately returned to her mother," Hammons wrote. She invited Brinkoetter to use the letter in court, but stated time constraints prevented a Cherokee attorney from making a formal entry in the case.

• A subsequent letter to the court by a Cherokee official recommended Sam be given a treatment plan and the opportunity to be rehabilitated, and called for the case goal to be reunification with her daughter. The tribe argued Sam had the right to "active efforts" for rehabilitative services under the federal law.

• In March 2004, the tribe complained in another letter to the court that it hadn't received any documentation used by the courts to find Sam an unfit mother. The tribe asserted the right to those documents under the federal law; Miller wouldn't say if they were provided.

The custody dispute is odd and emotionally charged even by the standards of juvenile abuse and neglect court, where bizarre, fiercely contested cases are all too common.

Sam, 45, said she signed what she believed was a stand-by agreement for her mother to adopt her daughter before Sam had life-threatening surgery. She said she only wanted her mother to get custody in the event of her death.

Statzer said Sam clearly understood what she was doing, but later changed her mind.

A bitter court fight ensued. Sam succeeded in having the adoption revoked -- a ruling that also has been appealed -- but her mother retained custody after Sam was accused of abuse and neglect.

Witnesses have testified at hearings that Sam abused prescription drugs and was mentally unstable and physically and emotionally abusive to her daughter, according to court records.

Sam insists she didn't abuse drugs and never mistreated her daughter. "I adored her. From the minute I conceived her I did nothing but what was in her best interests," she said.

Sam has started a non-profit foundation to support her court battle and help other parents struggling with DCFS. She said she cherishes her heritage and is determined to raise her daughter as a Cherokee.

"Our roots are extremely deep with our culture, it's extremely important to me," she said. "It's just who I am, you can't separate yourself from it."

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