"REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN" REPORTS ON COUPLE'S DCF BATTLE!

 LARAINE WESCHLER reports as follows:

"Connecticut parents whose children were removed from their care at birth by the Department of Children and Families will have a chance to argue that their rights were violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

DCF took custody of the children of Karin Hasemann of Watertown and Joseph Watley of Thomaston under what the agency calls predictive neglect. In this case, DCF assumed the parents' mental health would negatively affect their ability to care for their children. .."

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http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/936468.txt

JOEY AND KARIN WIN THEIR APPEAL IN FEDERAL COURT! HIP HIP HURRAY!

Josh Kovner of The Hartford Courant reports as follows:

"A federal appeals court has given two Connecticut residents a chance to prove the state child protection agency trampled on their rights by removing two children at birth based on "perceptions and stereotypes" of the parents' mental health.

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling Friday, sending the case of Joseph Watley, 61, and Karin Hasemann, 47, back to the U.S. District Court.

The pair claim that their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act were violated when the state Department of Children and Families terminated their parental rights.

U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny dismissed the couple's case.

The appeals court, in part, said the district court erred when it ruled it lacked jurisdiction and then denied the couple's motion for appointment of a lawyer. The parents had been representing themselves.

"District courts should not dismiss a pro se complaint without giving the plaintiff an opportunity to be heard "[u]nless it is unmistakably clear that the court lacks jurisdiction, or that the complaint lacks merit or is otherwise defective," the appeals court ruled..."

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http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-dcf-predictive-neglect-ruling-20160122-story.html

HARTFORD COURANT REPORTS CT COUPLE CHALLENGES DCF DECISION TO REMOVE THEIR CHILDREN AT BIRTH!

According to Josh Kovner, reporter at The Hartford Courant:

"NEW YORK — The state child protection agency trampled on the rights of a Connecticut couple by removing two children at birth based on "perceptions and stereotypes" of the parents' mental health, a lawyer told a federal appeals court Thursday.

Lawyer Andrew O'Toole of Hartford was arguing on behalf of Joseph Watley, 61, and Karin Hasemann, 47, who claim that their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act were violated when the state Department of Children and Families terminated their parental rights.

O'Toole and the couple, along with several supporters, were at the U.S. 2nd Circut Court of Appeals to challenge a dismissal of the couple's case by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny..."

For more on this article, see below:

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-dcf-predictive-neglect-appeal-0115-20160114-story.html

THE HARTFORD COURANT REPORTS ON THE WATLEY/HASEMAN CASE WHERE PARENTS WERE FALSELY ACCUSED OF PREDICTIVE NEGLECT AND LOST CUSTODY OF THEIR TWO CHILDREN AT BIRTH!

Josh Kovner of The Hartford Courant reports as follows:

"A Connecticut couple whose children were taken from them at birth after the parents were deemed mentally unsound by child-protection officials have filed a federal appeal, claiming that they were denied rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

It has been a grueling struggle for Joseph Watley, 61, who is staying with his ailing mother in Thomaston, and Karin Hasemann, 47, who lives with her mother and father in Watertown.

They lost the boys — Joe Jr. was born in July 2005, and Danny came along in July 2006 — under the doctrine of "predictive neglect." The Department of Children and Families argued that it was more likely than not that Hasemann and Watley would neglect the children if they remained with their parents. So the state took them away.

"How do you defend against that?" said Watley. He's worked a number of factory and machine-shop jobs and now receives disability payments for a back injury suffered in a car accident..."

READ MORE:

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-children-taken-from-couple-under-predictive-neglect-20151005-story.html