Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Straight, Inc. and Derivatives => Topic started by: Christy on July 08, 2003, 09:36:00 PM
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Christy on July 08, 2003, 09:36:00 PM
Completed today over 3 weeks long :grin: - Newton came and all groupies too... Jury found him guilty and Lu did great! Will try to get NJ Law Review article to post for details
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Antigen on July 08, 2003, 10:15:00 PM
That was quick! I understood that they only handed it over to the jury this afternoon!
And I read the article. (below) Phil's a damned genius!
Keeping 'Cult' Out of the Case Tim O'Brien New Jersey Law Journal 07-07-2003
How do you convince a jury that your client was a victim of a cult?
For Philip Elberg, you don't present expert witnesses and you don't utter the word. Through witnesses and records, you let the story tell itself.
For the past three weeks, the partner in Newark's Medvin & Elberg has been presenting evidence to a Hudson County jury about why his client should be compensated for the 13 years she spent in a rehabilitation center.
Lulu Corter of Wanaque was signed into Kids of North Jersey Inc. in Hackensack by her parents on Oct. 27, 1984, when she was a 13-year-old with learning problems. In August 1997, she bolted from what dozens of teenagers have described as a living hell.
Like many participants in the program, Corter had no drug or alcohol problem. Today, those who ran Kids of North Jersey cannot say why she was admitted because her records have disappeared. They say only that she had behavior problems, though they cannot recall the specifics.
Elberg, who won a $4.5 million settlement for another Kids of North Jersey patient in 1999, did give the jury a road map in his opening on June 12 before Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli.
"This [program] is not about tough love. It's about destroying families as they existed, and creating a new family with [V.] Miller Newton as the father and Ruth Ann Newton as the mother," Elberg told the eight-member jury hearing Corter v. Kids of North Jersey, L-3578-00.
The suit is seeking compensatory but not punitive damages because Newton is in bankruptcy in Florida. It alleges that Newton violated Corter's civil rights, provided treatment that deviated from the standard care, and caused emotional, physical and psychological damage.
Newton is the 63-year-old rehabilitation guru who ran Kids of North Jersey from 1984 to the early 1990s, then moved the operation to Secaucus after stiffing the landlord for $400,000. State authorities finally cut off his Medicaid payments in 1998 and sued him in 1999 for $1 million in Medicaid overbillings. Kids of North Jersey closed in 1999.
Newton's operation was also shut down by state officials in California, Florida and Utah, where a prosecutor called the program "a sort of private jail, using techniques such as torture and punishment."
Newton's wife, Ruth Ann, served as a clinical director and second in command. Both are defendants, along with their organization, under several names, and four psychiatrists. Elberg and his partner and co-counsel in the case, Alan Medvin, previously gained settlements from carriers on behalf of three of the psychiatrists. The fourth, now dead, was dropped as a defendant.
Though Elberg has assiduously avoided the "cult" word, three witnesses testified to being brainwashed. He says that even an expert for the defense said in a report that Lulu was brainwashed.
Testimony was elicited that Miller would routinely require patients to shun their families, or parents to shun their children who left the program before graduating. For example, Lulu Corter testified that Newton discouraged her and her mother from attending her older sister's wedding because that sister had left the program prematurely.
Last Thursday, one of the questions from a juror to another psychiatric expert for Newton asked about whether teenagers could be conditioned to think a certain way.
And there seems little doubt that the three weeks of testimony -- which includes tales of escapes, kidnappings, beatings, and physical and mental punishment -- have had an impact on Gallipoli.
Last Thursday, shortly before lunch break during Newton's cross-examination, Gallipoli began a series of sharp questions for the witness. Noting that Lulu was in Kids of North Jersey for years for an eating disorder and compulsive behavior, Gallipoli asked Newton whether such disorders and compulsive behaviors could be treated on an outpatient basis.
Newton said they could.
When the jury was ushered out, defense attorney John O'Farrell objected to the judge's queries, saying they were "too skeptical."
Gallipoli responded, "They are skeptical." When O'Farrell, of Morristown's Francis & O'Farrell, pressed his objection, the exasperated judge snapped, "We're just about walking through a fantasy land, and there comes a time when the court just can't sit there and accept this like a bump on a log."
Asked by a reporter whether he thought the judge went too far in expressing his opinion, O'Farrell said only, "What do you think?" adding that he had high regard for Gallipoli.
The exchange followed 90 minutes of cross-examination by Elberg that included a rundown of Newton's qualifications, including a Ph.D. in 1981 from The Union Institute in Cincinnati in public administration and urban anthropology. The school bills itself as an "alternative learner-directed" organization without classes or the need to show up anywhere.
Newton has described the degree on resumes as being in "medical anthropology" and then "clinical anthropology." Newton says those titles describe what he studied. He also says he is a "board certified ... medical psychotherapist." When pressed, he says it is a "peer certification."
SETTING UP THE 'DOCTOR'
Before the cross examination of Newton, with backers on one side of the courtroom and angry former patients and staffers on the other, the jury heard from five former patients who say they were victims of Kids of North Jersey. Elberg says he was able to call those witnesses by invoking a rule of evidence allowing him to rebut testimony he contends is not true.
When Ruth Ann Newton was on the stand, Elberg pressed her about comments by former patients in the past two decades in court, on television shows and to reporters.
Specifically, he asked four questions: Could patients leave when they turned 18? Did Kids of North Jersey routinely try to get parents to sign in siblings once one child was admitted? Did the program encourage kidnappings of those who escaped from the program? And was it common for patients to offer false or exaggerated confessions about how bad they use to be so they could advance through the program's phases and ultimately graduate?
Ruth Ann Newton said no to each query, at which point Elberg put on his rebuttal witnesses. "If she had admitted those things, I could not have brought those victims on," Elberg said in an interview.
The five told their horror tales, which included sitting in chairs, ramrod, for 12 hours of group therapy each weekday. Those in the first phase of treatment could not speak, and most could not write letters, read, make telephone calls, talk to each other or make eye contact.
There was no privacy. "Old-timers" or "peer counselors," those who had graduated but were coerced to stay on as staff, accompanied newcomers to the bathroom, where there were no doors on the stalls.
The tiniest infraction, such as eating a cookie, could send patients back to the first phase. This, the victims testified, was the ultimate hammer, causing many to lie in the hope of getting out.
Jeffrey Stallings, for years the No. 3 official at the facility, testified that he quit to avoid breaking the law. He had testified in an earlier case that Newton altered records in anticipation of visits by regulators and withheld some records.
Two weeks before Elberg filed his complaint in the current case in 1999, he filed a show cause order, ex parte, with Gallipoli, asking that Kids of North Jersey's records be seized to prevent the disappearance of more files. The judge signed the order, and the state's Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor seized the records from a warehouse in Glen Rock.
Stallings said he stayed for years and remained loyal. "Looking back, I realize I was brainwashed."
Janna Holmgren-Richards testified that she made up stories while "relating" during group therapy because when she told the truth she was told to sit down, thus harming her chances of advancing. "Lulu admitted she ate sugar, but she didn't, and I said I pushed my poop out because I was there for anorexia, but I lied." Lulu, in fact, made up stories of having sex with a dog and being molested by her uncle so she could move up, she testified.
Stallings testified that many patients had only three options: sit tight and try to go along; rebel; or lie to move through the phases.
As to why so many patients went along with such abuse, many have said that if they told their parents, their parents would go to Newton and he would convince them that their child was lying.
"I never told my dad," testified Jessica Calderone, a former patient. "He would question it, and call up the Newtons, and I'd be accused of manipulating and would be put back to phase one."
As for why so many patients would stay on as trainee staffers and later as paid peer counselors, many say Newton coerced them by telling them they had to "give back [and] carry the message" as is done in Alcoholics Anonymous.
"He guilted you," Erica Goodman, a former patient, staffer and program nurse, said in an interview at the courthouse. Just out of nursing school and lacking experience, Goodman ran the laboratory and developed the eating disorder protocol after speaking with seven patients who allegedly had eating disorders, she says.
Newton and his operation have been sued many times, and his carriers have paid out more than $5.8 million. He's been investigated criminally in Florida and New Jersey, but never prosecuted. But one by one, agencies have cut off the payment of claims, sometimes after exposes by the television shows "60 Minutes," "20/20" and "West 57th Street."
As for Lulu, the real tragedy is that she was the victim of sexual abuse by her older brother before she entered the program, and the program knew that, according to documents and testimony. Yet, she was not diagnosed as an incest victim until 1990, six years after being at Kids of North Jersey.
Newton testified it is often difficult to determine whether a young girl is just experimenting or participating in sexual play.
Throughout Kids of North Jersey's stint in New Jersey, the staff psychiatrists, according to their own depositions, rarely saw patients, let alone treated them. In his complaint, Elberg accuses Newton of "renting licenses," with the peer counselors using rubber-stamps to sign the psychiatrists' names to reports to collect private and Medicaid insurance.
"I never saw a psychiatrist once," says Christine Johnston, a former patient and staffer who traveled from San Diego to watch the trial.
Newton admitted on the stand that his program routinely does not talk to a potential patient's teachers or doctors before making a diagnosis, saying it is not that important and takes too much time.
The jury in the case has been active, taking notes and asking hundreds of questions through the judge -- dozens of Newton alone. Based on those questions, they appear skeptical.
Elberg did call Newton a cult-like leader in court papers in the case that led to the $4.5 million settlement in 1999, Ehrlich v. Kids of North Jersey, HUD-L-4592-95. And he had a cult expert ready for both cases.
"But I decided not to call him or use the term 'cult' because that could have turned the trial into one about the meaning of a cult, rather than about this girl who was yanked out of school and forced to go through what she went through."
Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? ... If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands? -- Patrick Henry
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: wesfager on July 08, 2003, 10:52:00 PM
Thank you Christie. Can you describe for us the emotion in the court room when the verdict was read. The jurors, the judge, Lulu, Phil, the Newton's, yourself and all the others.
Was the judgement figure announced and if so what is it?
What were some of the highlights of the trial? Tell us about Elberg's cross exam of Newton.
What did Newt do after the trial.
How is Lulu.
I have posted an article linking to the new jersey law article. we have had trouble accessing it. if you or Ginger put it on the web let me know so i can point to it instead of the nj site.
Thank you,
Wes Fager
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Christy on July 09, 2003, 12:55:00 AM
Wes, There is SO much and I am SOOO wiped and sick of hearing about KIDs of wherever---- I feel like I can not bear to hear one more KIDS story - I am so overloaded. The sad parents I saw who lost children b/c of them, attending the trial with fury and sadness, anger and mourning - the stories I heard of yrs after I left and the insanity that only accelerated - or "progressed" as they said our compulsions did as we sat in blue chairs... (GOD it got Soooo bad there!)Please understand - I have spent 1 month in NJ (live in CA) in this courtroom every weekday, seeing these people, hearing this story of unconscienable (no mood for spelling checks) abuse, living in a hotel with Lu, talking with her and consoling her endlessly about the ordeal and seeing the results of this 13 yr ordeal in her soul and heart and mind. I fly home tomorrow - - - I can't do all the details now. One for sure: PHIL ELBERG IS THE MOST AMAZING, COMPASSIONATE, TALENTED, ETHICAL, GENUINE MAN I have ever had the priveledge to meet. Lulu is FINE. GOOD even. :grin:
Newtons did not show for summations and verdict. So sick of their faces, I was glad. Been there rest of trial with variations of Erin H, Amy K, Tonk K, Jackie M, Drew G, Bob M, Pete D, Carolyn T. There are many dramatic details of this trial and the settlement/verdict and I almost feel unsure if it is my place to share details in this forum. Please understand and let me run it by Phil and Lu.
One thing I want you all to know...
RUTH AND MILLER EXPOSED THEMSELVES FOR EXACTLY THE FRAUDS AND FREAKS THEY ARE - YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY MADE FOOLS OF THEMSELVES AND SOUNDED LIKE CRIMINALS... AS DID TONY K, DREW G AND SOME AMY K GIRL. They were unbelievably "FOS" LIed their butts off and we got them on every lie. The judge couldn't have despised them more or been more clear in his contempt. You saw it Wes, you were there some.
Lu impressed me more and more every day I spent with her. She is strong and bright and capable and healthy. She will be fine. In the end, with all settlements, she is very wealthy now, though that is soooo not what she did this for - She did it to TELL HER STORY - and thanks to Phil IT WAS TOLD so incredibly effectively and clearly - in a way I couldn't imagine even the most atriculate of us that went THRU IT could do. He was ready for every turn. He was calm. Honest. Genuine, thorough, clear... the man ROCKS!
All I have in me to say now. I personally got to sit on a stand and tell them what they did to me - to US - how wrong they were about me - and it was gratifying. I wish we all could have that opportunity. I also got to watch him squashed and deflated - her too - it was awesome. They got a taste of 1st phase, I promise you!
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on July 09, 2003, 10:32:00 AM
thank you for letting us know that Lulu is ok. That is what's most important after all. I am so glad to read that she is doing good. She deserves it.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: John Olsakovsky on July 09, 2003, 03:27:00 PM
Quote
On 2003-07-08 21:55:00, Christy wrote:
"RUTH AND MILLER EXPOSED THEMSELVES FOR EXACTLY THE FRAUDS AND FREAKS THEY ARE - YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY MADE FOOLS OF THEMSELVES AND SOUNDED LIKE CRIMINALS... AS DID TONY K, DREW G AND SOME AMY K GIRL. "
That 'Amy K' girl would be one of the staff members from El Paso who wound up in NJ.
And the article contains one inaccuracy. Newton had a Kids operation in Texas (El Paso, to be precise), not in Florida. He was, however, involved with Straight in Florida. Didn't his son go through Straight in Florida? St. Pete, where the ratbag is from?
I don't know. But I am glad for Lulu. I know that this doesn't bring back 13 years of life that were lost, but it shows the world that we weren't just a bunch of stupid druggie kids.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on July 09, 2003, 10:32:00 PM
On behalf of Lulu and myself (phil elberg)I want to thank Kim, Todd, Kathy Martin (for the original Straight page) and of course Wes and Ginger for the invaluable assistance that the internet sites provided in working on Lulu?s case. The postings and the pain expressed by many of you were a continuing source of encouragement ( and inspiration to me). When I represented Rebecca Ehrlich I was told by many people that the most extraordinary story of abuse was Lulu Corter?s. I knew Lulu?s name. I did not know her. Lulu emerged from hiding after her grandmother read a story about the Ehrlich case and contacted me. She was not looking for money. She wanted to know where she went to tell her story. For the last three years I have worked at telling Lulu?s story, for her, and because I believed that the Newton story needed be told in New Jersey. For too long his program was described as simply controversial. Some said he went too far or that Kids was ok at the beginning and then it got out of control. I knew that was not true. The truth was that Miller Newton was a failed politician, an amateur and a con artist who shamelessly traded on his son?s use of drugs, to give himself a career and attract the followers he desperately craved. He hurt many people- some of them horribly. Even those he claimed to have helped ultimately faced the choice of bad standing or servitude.
We told the Kid?s story at Lulu?s trial. I found some of the witnesses on these sites. They included Jessica Calderon, Ellen Kaulfers (Le Blanc) Christy Johnston (who kept Lulu company for three weeks of trial), Mr. Calderon, Britta Gangemi, Jeff Zoccoli and Janne Holmgren Richards. Scores of other witnesses were on our list, ready to show up if they were needed including the Goodmans, Scott Harding, Jenny and Tricia Logan, Bob Dickstein, Danielle Glixon, Kathy Otterston, Pam traver, Laura Maso, and so many more I apologize for leaving you off the list. Jeffery Stallings testified on videotape from Detroit. Most important, the Newtons showed up and seemed surprised to discover that they did not make the rules and were not in charge. They were exposed for what and who they are. Lulu testified as well and if some of you are wondering, despite the Newtons efforts over 13 years- more than six in first phase- Lulu is a wonderful person with a life in front of her and some money to enjoy. Several writers covered the trial. I am optimistic that the story will find its way into print. I do not know if any of this does anything for Newton's victims who are precluded by statutes of limitations from pursuing their own claims. I know it does not give you back the time you lost or remove the bad memories. If knowing that Newton is now an insignificant poor old man gives you satisfaction- enjoy!
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: wesfager on July 10, 2003, 12:41:00 AM
Now there are video taped depositions of Newt and his wife Ruth Anne.
Wes Fager
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: METALGOD8 on July 10, 2003, 08:55:00 AM
It is really great to hear about this news. No matter how rough it got, you guys stuck with it and succeeded. Congratulations. Keep up the great work! :smokin:
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on July 10, 2003, 09:34:00 AM
Phil, it has made a world of difference to me. Thank you.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on July 10, 2003, 10:59:00 AM
congratulations all!
wes, can you post more footage on the website? the stuff of the newtons is great! especially the "doctor", tattered old prick! good hair do on his wife, huh! whadda we back in '87!
thanks to the avenging angel phil elberg! and god bless all the survivors!
we will stop these people at every turn! we will come after them when they least expect it! we will only use legal means and we will drive them all into the bankruptcy they deserve! the chickens will come home to roost! know this and believe it! semblers, your next! we shall not tire, we shall not rest!
god bless!
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: ramprato on July 10, 2003, 11:18:00 AM
I just want to say that it did my heart good to see Lulu get justice from that bastard. I agree that there are others that will face their accusers some day too. Newton sure as hell looks weathered, I guess one would who has a lot to answer for.
Ken :smile:
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Diane B on July 10, 2003, 01:31:00 PM
This news has just made my day! I was not in kids I was in straight but I feel the victory as well! ::cheers::
Diane
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: ClayL on July 10, 2003, 03:02:00 PM
As a former client of Straight, Inc. Thank you, you have made my day!
CL
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Antigen on July 10, 2003, 06:45:00 PM
Quote
On 2003-07-09 19:32:00, Phil wrote:
" I do not know if any of this does anything for Newton's victims who are precluded by statutes of limitations from pursuing their own claims. "
Well let me assure you that it does! Look, nothing that you can do as a lawyer will ever change one detail of anyone's past. It's done, over with and completey indellible. That's not what it's about. It's all about the present and the future.
In purely libertarian ecconomic terms, you've taken some of the ill-gotten gains (product of the past) of some of Virgil's accomplices (i.e. insurance companies, shrinks, etc.) and handed them to a deserving victim. It may not change the past, but I'll bet her future goes a bit easier for that measure of misplaced financial security you've managed to put back in order.
As for the rest of us, well I can only speak for myself so I will. I can roll with almost anything, really. Past is past and we make what we can from here on out and thank God for what we have. The biggest problem that I still have with the Program is with the legal authority and public credibility that these sadistic lunatics still have in our society.
My oldest daughter lives in a neighborhood controled primarily by drug gangs and corrupt cops; all of which are a direct result of these people's success at forcing their Utopian Drug Free America delusions onto the rest of us. So we picked up and moved our younger kids to a part of the country that's been mostly forgotten by time and progress; where theyse crazy bastards are only getting a start at turning this place into their snitch culture, police state wet dream. And a good many of the locals are just not having any, but some are.
I cannot change the past, no one can. But the future is another story. I'll be god damned if my kids will raise my grandkids in a world where sadistic lunatics like these have significant sway in matters of importance. We could use all the help we can get in making the case against further 'progress' in this direction. My friend, I hope you'll crack a cold one and sit back and contemplate just how valuable your work is to the above stated cause.
I am deeply grateful. I can't even find it in myself to tell a lawyer joke today. :wink:
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. -- Ben Franklin At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
_________________ Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen American P.O.W. 10/80 - 10/82 Straight South (Sarasota, FL) Anonymity Anonymous
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Antigen on July 10, 2003, 07:53:00 PM
Virgil, you're closing off! WHAT ARE YOU HIDING!??!!?!?
:rofl:
Man, check out those tell-tale, physiological signs of deceit and contempt. Why, I think this man has a serious druggie attitude problem, don't you? And those bags under his eyes. What do you think; pent up feelings or the mother of all coke hangovers?
G: "If we do happen to step on a mine, Sir, what do we do?" EB: "Normal procedure, Lieutenant, is to jump 200 feet in the air and scatter oneself over a wide area." -- Somewhere in No Man's Land, BA4
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: dixie lee ann murray on July 10, 2003, 08:09:00 PM
let lulu know that i am happy for her.it's about time something good came for her.i always liked lulu.i've been in host homes with you and my dad buying the house.i'd hear her past and i got to understand and love her person.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on July 10, 2003, 09:21:00 PM
:rofl: OH, MY GOD !!! I AM CRACKING UP!!! WHAT IS HE REBELIOUS?? IF HE WAS NEXT TO ME RIGHT NOW, I WOULD DROP KICK HIS ASS!!!! LULU, GIRLFRIEND, I LOVE YOU MAN !! CONGRADULATIONS!!!! I'LL SEE YOU SOON. PHIL, IT WAS A PLEASURE . THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SPEAK MY TRUTH. TAKE CARE. JESSICA C.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on July 13, 2003, 12:06:00 PM
You are sooo funny, Thank you for the BIG laugh, your comment`s next to the f**kers pic was great! Besides being So VERY happy for Miss LuLu ,you made my day....I needed a good laugh,Thanks.
LuLu we spent 5 years together in that hell hole and I have very fond memories being with you.I feel sad thinking of some things we went through but so happy that you have the strenght you have today. I`m glad you came out on the better side of that place. We could let it take us down still today or grow and become stronger people because of our experiences.You are growing in a great direction. You are a piller of strenght for myself and others, Thank You. Katie Reid {86-91}
PS : Christy ,thank you for being there for LuLu. Your "greatness" shines through ! I`ll call you soon, I`ll be in SD in Aug. Take care Katie
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: TONYJC on July 16, 2003, 10:12:00 AM
hello yu migh remember me im kind of new here but im happy for yu lulu i always didnt know why yu were in kids. it was hard for me to why i was there lol but im glad you gruw from it n moved on like many of us have done,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on July 19, 2003, 06:54:00 AM
It looks as if he is saying, I cannot believe I am being confronted about this crap after all these years. PISSED OFF is what he is.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Tampa survivor on July 19, 2003, 12:21:00 PM
" I do not know if any of this does anything for Newton's victims who are precluded by statutes of limitations from pursuing their own claims. I know it does not give you back the time you lost or remove the bad memories. If knowing that Newton is now an insignificant poor old man gives you satisfaction- enjoy!"
Well Phil, I was one of those early Virgil Miller "got a piled higher and deeper and traded in the station wagon for a Benz" Newton victims. I split, spit and clawed for two years and WON my freedom, over his protests and tortures. His son worked for my dad, and I hated them all. Thank you Your efforts are exemplary and much appreciated. Newton destroyed part of my youth, or at least altered it and the fiber I am strung of today. His tactics were refined in St Pete, and I still shudder when I think of the control and power he wielded fradulently. To see him broken, once again by you, is vindicating to us who suffered, and puts a piece of my life at peace. Thank you. Bill Hadley, St Pete & Atlanta 12-80/12-82
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Tampa survivor on July 19, 2003, 12:33:00 PM
BTW... Having linked to this page from the board I usually post to (thanks Ginger)I just realized I am on the KIDS forum. So, I wish to tell you all something: I am sorry. I split 5 times, conned and worked my ass off to get out. Then, safe at home, scared it could happen again, I never said a word. For that I apologize. I was 15 when I got out. Fred Collins had not happend, Lulu was probably 6 or something, and we all let it continue. It haunts me that for all these years that I could have, I did not. I went by the old Straight building in St Pete recently at night, on my motorcycle. Quietly the ghosts in the trees were whispering. I got out in 1982 and had driven around the place ever since until that night. The worst ghosts were the spirits of those who, like you all, came after me. I lit a joint (rare for me)right there, and thought about all those kids. Bill Hadley STRAIGHT INC St Pete & Atlanta 12-80/12-82
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Leanne on July 24, 2003, 02:17:00 AM
Dear Phil, I am writing to you to ask if I have any legalities preventing me from naming Newton and the programme name KIDS or any other programmes he was involved in as I write my play about an experience my niece went through in her time there. I am aware of some of your involvement as a champion for the survivors of KIDS, so I felt able to approach you re: advice. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of these victims. You can e-mail me directly at leanne@foxglovetheatre.org if you'd like. Leanne Foxglove Theatre Calgary, Alberta, Canada
May the fleas of one thousand llamas infest your armpits --One ticked off sysadmin
[ This Message was edited by: Leanne on 2003-07-23 23:58 ]
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: a sibling on July 25, 2003, 01:16:00 PM
Mr. Elberg,
Thank you for bringing Lulu's story to light. I read your posting to my sister (currently hospitalized for cutting and severe PTSD) and the thought of Newton Miller "not in charge" brought a huge sigh of relief...her only regret was that she was not able to be there and "win some of her life back" by telling her own story.
On behalf of my sister and the hundreds of other KIDS (Bergen County, North Jersey, El Paso, etc.) who need to "tell their story" is it possible to invoke RICO as a way around the statute of limitations. I read an article on thestraights.com that indicated that RICO was now being used by several attorneys around the country in child abuse cases (the Hare Krishnas in TX, and "SAFE" in CA) with defendents that had exceeded the statute of limitations. Even though RICO was originally written for organized crime, it "includes provisions for civil cases when someone is harmed by a "pattern" of illegal activity." Please let me know your thoughts on this...and if you, or anyone you know would be willing to pursue this. There are so many others who need "their day in court." Thank you, "a sibling of KoBC"
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on August 01, 2003, 04:12:00 PM
I am soooooooooooo happy for Lulu! I was not thinking for the stuff I had said in one of my other posts a long time ago. I am soooooo happy you finally got peace from that old bastard!!!!!! I read your article and case! I was the one who spent 1 week on second phase. And then after that the other half of my two years on first. And one of your newcomers. I saw the shit he did to you and us all! I wish I could have been there! You brought Peace and Justice for us all.
GO LULU! ::bigsmilebounce::
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on February 18, 2004, 10:21:00 PM
How did you know Danielle Glixon? I am trying to find her. I am an old friend of hers from Fairfax, VA. I have been trying to find her since 1994. If you can contact her and tell her about an old friend of her Dagny Lovorn and to find her in Virginia Beach, VA under the married name Connolly and my phone # is the same. Our mutual friend Jane Louie has also ben searching for her. If you get this post please email me at dconnolly@cox.net
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: tenacious1 on February 25, 2004, 12:45:00 AM
thank you Christy, Lulu, and Phil you went through what over a hundred of us kids had endured to achieve some form of justice,,,,,,,thank you.
kb
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cleopatra2U on February 26, 2004, 12:03:00 AM
Lulu Corter's story is an amazing, ultimately uplifting story that I am glad I came across. Kudos to her, her lawyer Philip Elberg, and all the former KIDS who supported her both in and out of court. ::ribbon:: :smile:
One thing about this story that, despite its happy ending, gives me chills, is the fact that Lulu was in "treatment" for 13 years! I believe this to be an aberration, and I hope I am right, but I do recall reading about other young people being detained in KIDS for as many as 4, 5, and 6 years, too.
I know that the Newtons are sick fucks who have no problem squirrelling kids away for years for their own personal, twisted pleasure. But after more than a couple of years, wouldn't someone question what had happened/was happening to the child? Parents? Siblings? Other relatives? Family friends? The child's doctors, dentists, teachers? At least one staff member with some modicum of compassion?!
Would someone from KIDS please explain to me how children could more or less "disappear" for multiple years -- not 1, or 2, or even 3; but 4, 5, 6, even 13 years -- without someone's alarm bells going off? Someone please help me understand how this could happen.
Thanks, Mindi
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Froderik on February 26, 2004, 12:08:00 AM
Well, hell..my two cents..I wasn't in KIDS, but we know the drill, don't we? I guess if it can happen for 2-3 years, (like it did to many of us) then it could happen for longer. People just lose touch with them or whatever..and life goes on and on.. It does seem almost inconceivable in a way, too..I was :eek: when I read that 13 years thing too! Goddamn!!! That makes me want to paste in what I'm about to in my next post...
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Froderik on February 26, 2004, 12:09:00 AM
From the str8 board by anon:
Quote
I think the reason that so many kids "sat in their shit" at Straight is because Miller wanted to satisfy some kind of sick need--some kind of weird shit fetish. Wonder if Ruthie ever made him do it at home...
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cleopatra2U on February 26, 2004, 12:28:00 AM
Quote
On 2004-02-25 21:08:00, Froderik13 wrote:
"if it can happen for 2-3 years, (like it did to many of us) then it could happen for longer."
Point well made, Froderik. I'd still like to hear from some people who went to KIDS, though... Hopefully just to tell me that 4-year, 5-year, 6-year, and longer programs were all aberrations; that only a handful of people were unfortunate enough to be abused for that long.
Of all the similar evils I've read about here and elsewhere, KIDS takes the cake. I surely hope there aren't any other programs out there that could steal so much of a person's life away.
~ M
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 26, 2004, 12:53:00 AM
Cleo, I read your post a couple of times and I tried to come up with some kind of devil's advocate answer and I could come up with nothing. It really made me feel sad. I had no answer as to how a child could virtually disappear for 13 years. Frod made a gallant attempt...I tossed the beaurocracy idea around for a few, but...it's all shit excuses. This is the cult taken to it's 'enth' degree. That's the only thing I can come up with and it's not much of an explanation. The Newtons were sadistic, narcissistic, ego-maniacal guru wannabes who would stop at nothing, including exploiting their own childrens' problems, for their own glory and gratification...PERIOD. I can still see that fucker in open meetings feeling so smug and sanctimonious and self-righteous, basking in the unconditional devotion his flock (parents) so willingly gave him. ::puke::
I don't think people will ever understand how many lives he utterly and completely destroyed. My family will never be the same. My father ended up being one of Newtons pets. He was and is so much like Newton it is frightening. He even looks like him, just different color hair. I married another grad and we had two kids. The entirety of my immediate family (step mom, sister and brother too, dad married another program parent) was in or from Straight. I was talking tonight aobut how I feel like I've been surrounded by Straight STILL up until the last 3 or 4 years when my dad quit talking to me. Every fucking move or mistake I made was announced to everyone, judged, ideas about what to do with MY KIDS passed around, even had them taken away. If it just had gone through HRS, it wouldn't have been done that way, but because they got Straight lawyers and Straight connected judges, they got the kids for a while. Then when I DID get them back, the threat of having them taken was always over my head. I don't deny that I've had my share of problems with drugs since getting out of Straight (mostly prescriptions that I got hooked on while taking for legit reasons) but it continued to be dealt with like Straight until dad and I quit talking. Amazing how this intense anger seems to have surfaced in me at just about the same time as I was finally able to tell them all to fuck off.
Didn't mean to ramble on there...I guess I found sort of an answer in all that. Even though my family didn't see or speak to Newton or anyone else from Straight after I got out, the effects lingered on for 20 years.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 26, 2004, 12:54:00 AM
Damn, I am REALLY tired...I'm not sure if that post made sense or not. I feel like I've got so much shit running around in my head and when I get tired like this, it comes out all jumbled together and sometimes makes sense to no one but me.
In order to live free and happily you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice. -- Richard Bach
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Froderik on February 26, 2004, 09:26:00 AM
It made sense..one question though: What were you referring to with the "beaurocracy idea" thing? I'm not sure what you meant..
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 26, 2004, 10:17:00 AM
just trying to find an answer to why no one would notice that this kid was just gone for 13 years...maybe she got lost in all the 'red tape'.
Babylon in all its desolation is a sight not so awful as that of the human mind in ruins. -- Scrope Davies: Letter to Thomas Raikes, May 25, 1835.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cleopatra2U on February 27, 2004, 09:39:00 PM
Cayo,
Yes, your post made sense. It illustrates how much control Miller Newton has had over people.
I did some further reading about Lulu's case, in particular the Preliminary Statement (http://http://www.thestraights.com/the-straights/kids-nj/lulu-opposition-2dismiss.doc) requesting the denial of the Newtons' motion to dismiss the case because it was filed after the statute of limitations. According to this document, "After so many years in a program of isolation, control and brainwashing, (Lulu) felt uncertain whether she was wrong or right in her wishes to leave. She felt incompetent to make it in the outside world. She was aware that some members had run away but some had been forcefully returned. The reach of Miller Newton seemed wide and strong and she feared him."
Damn the Newtons for, to use your terms, sadistically, narcissistically, ego-maniacally manipulating this susceptible young girl... A girl barely in her teens... A girl who was, according to the document linked to, "reading on a fourth grade level" when she was first admitted into KIDS... A girl who, by the program's design, was denied her right to be educated any further. This makes my blood boil and my heart bleed. :flame: I'm so glad that Lulu is doing okay today, and that she got a tidy settlement out of all of this, although all the money in the world can't buy her all that time of her life back. :cry: I sincerely hope that a criminal trial comes about as a result of Lulu's and others' civil cases, and that the Newtons be sentenced to spend the rest of their days in the darkest and filthiest of cells our prison system has to offer... Although prison would likely be more pleasant than KIDS or Straight or The Seed ever was.
As far as the rambling, Cayo, no worries from me. The therapists I've seen over the years have on several occasions suggested that I start a journal, but I can't bring myself to write in a book with any regularity (it reminds me too much of writing those damned M.I.'s)... But I've found from making and responding to the posts on these forums -- more often than not, typing much more than I intend to -- that writing is immensely helpful to me in remembering and coming to terms with things that have been buried somewhere inside for so long.
Writing too much once again, Mindi
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 27, 2004, 10:36:00 PM
It's driving me nuts!!! I've feel like I've got too much running through my head. I can't type fast enough to get it out thoroughly and completely...it's all over the place and I'm sure hard for you guys to understand. Sorry about that, can't help it at the moment.
I've got shit right now that I'm dealing with that is STILL being effected by Straight. It's, yet again, putting up with shit from the ex that I am afraid to speak up about because he and his parents have taken, or threatened to take me to court (custody )more times than I can count. Every fucking time I do something he or they dont' like, it's court time. He has been in AA for the last 10 years or so and has a bad anger problem and his parents are true AA/Straight believers who have always hated me and always bailed their 'little boy' out of any trouble he has EVER gotten into. Including DUI manslaughter. He's in prison now and I STILL am afraid to deal with this problem because if I do, mommy and daddy will run to an atty and haul my ass back into court. I don't have the money, time, and most importantly energy to fight with ANYONE anymore. I just can't fucking take it. I'm serious. I've fought these people AND my dad for the last 20 fucking years. I've had it...I don't have anything left to fight with. I keep my mouth shut so that my youngest daughter won't be put through custody shit.
I got hooked on pills for legit back and jaw surgeries and got taken to court and the kids temporarily taken because he was in AA and I was just a fucking drug addict(been off methadone for a year last week). They crucified me! Now the tables are turned and HE got hooked, forged a script, got caught, and is in jail. He is pissed at our oldest b/c she didn't get a letter of support for his release to his atty on time(well, not on time according to him, she can send it for the parole hearing in a few weeks, but anyway). He's trying to say to her (through his parents, she just moved out on her own and doesn't have her phone yet) 'how are you gonna feel if I get sent back to prison for 10 years'. AAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! :flame: :flame: :flame: :flame: I wanted to blast him the next time he called to talk to the youngest and tell him "how DARE you try and lay that kind of guilt on her" and much, much more...but I didn't cause if I do, he'll run to mommy and daddy, tell them I hit a spliff every now and again and I just don't have the fucking energy to deal with ANOTHER court battle. I can't fucking WAIT til my youngest turns 18 and I can ONCE AND FOR ALL tell everyone to FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!!!! THAT pisses me off....I should be enjoying these last years with my last kid in the house but instead, I'm wanting them to rush by.
If it weren't for the fact that my kids have been through enough with all the court shit I would NEVER put up with this kind of crap. It's not like I'm even really worried that I would lose, it's just that I CAN'T FUCKING FIGHT THESE PEOPLE ANYMORE. My oldest is almost 19 and on her own doing well, youngest is with me and is scared that we'll have to go back to court, so I shut up. It just infuriates me that the REASON that the court continues to even HEAR this shit is because the ex and his parents play the Straight/AA card, and it's like automatically, I'm an idiot b/c I don't buy into AA and I HATE Straight. If it weren't for Straights influence over my ex inlaws and the court/attys, all this custody shit would NEVER have gone as far as it did. I've had two HRS officials tell me, off the record of course, that they didn't have a problem with anything I did but b/c they made such a stink about it, it went to court. HRS finally backed out of it altogether.
I feel like I'm hanging onto my sanity by the skin of my teeth. :silly:
Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself --Jimmy Carter
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 27, 2004, 10:38:00 PM
one more thing...I think I'm so much on edge about this because I know the bomb is going to drop soon. He's going to talk to her and say that to her and she's going to hit the roof and then all hell will break loose because I raised a horrible, backtalking child. :roll: :roll: I know I CAN deal with this and get through it....again.......I'm just tired, I don't want to be angry anymore, I don't want to fight with them or my dad anymore...I'm done.
Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose, and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after having given him so much as you propose. If today he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him,--"I see no probability of the British invading us"; but he will say to you, "Be silent: I see it, if you don't." --Abraham Lincoln
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Froderik on February 27, 2004, 11:58:00 PM
Man, that sounds fucked up. You live in FL, don't you? Maybe that's the problem..maybe you all should just fucking move! I'll help you find a place in Balto, just let me know...FUCK THOSE FUCKING ASSHOLES!!
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 28, 2004, 10:10:00 AM
That's the first thing I thought about when this shit started.....I WANNA RUN AWAY!!!!!!!! I do NOT want to deal with this shit. :scared:
I've calmed down a little now, but I still feel like I'm waiting for the bomb to drop. Thanks for the PMs guys...you helped!! :wave:
They used to burn witches. Today we laugh at them. Today we jail people for marijuana. Tomorrow they'll laugh at us.
--Robert "Rosie" Rowbotham
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Dr Fucktard on February 28, 2004, 12:55:00 PM
Ain't that just like a druggie? Always trying to run away from their problems...
I'm sorry CH, but I *have* to say things like that, for I AM Dr. Fucktard Newton! Love ya...
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 28, 2004, 01:06:00 PM
fire away....doesn't really effect me. Besides, I think I know who you are. :wink:
The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. O'Brien, the apparatchik
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Dr Fucktard on February 28, 2004, 01:08:00 PM
Please PM me with that information.
Thank you, Dr. Miller Fuckstick
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 28, 2004, 01:19:00 PM
nah, haven't made up my mind yet....think you're one of two people.
If I am of the opinion that it is inexpedient to assign to the government the task of operating railroads, hotels, or mines, I am not an "enemy of the state" any more than I can be called an enemy of sulfuric acid because I am of the opinion that, useful though it may be for many purposes, it is not suitable either for drinking, or for washing one's hands. Ludwig Von Mises
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Dr Fucktard on February 28, 2004, 01:21:00 PM
Ok, I'll be waiting.. :em:
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Antigen on February 28, 2004, 06:45:00 PM
Man! I don't know how you manage to stay sane at all, Cayohueso. I suppose I got lucky when my whole family bailed out of So. Florida and I had my home town all to myself. I can't imagine living under the thumb like you have for all of your adult life. Fuck those assholes! You know your kids know the score and they'll be alright and that, one day pretty soon, they won't be able to threaten your children to fuck w/ you. This too will pass. Just know that.
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.
--Thomas Jefferson
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cleopatra2U on February 29, 2004, 03:58:00 AM
(((((((((((Cayouhueso))))))))))
I'm sorry I don't know what to say...
I thought I had assholes in my life......
(((((((((((Cayouhueso))))))))))
::heart:: Mindi
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 29, 2004, 07:36:00 AM
Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I'm a little better now. My ex mother-in-law said some pretty foul stuff about me to my youngest yesterday. Her son is sitting in prison and she's worried about the environment she's in over here?????????? This is a kid who, while she WAS living with him ended up in juvenile assessment for being drunk at Homecoming and had a few other incidents with drinking. It happened ONCE since she's been back home with me. Her grades are back up to honor roll (they were SHIT when she lived with him)even better, she's got her schedule set up to take dual-enrollment classes so that she can get a year of college done before she graduates.....but they're worried about the environment she's in over here :roll: :roll: . Well, I finally decided FUCK THEM ALL. If they want to take me to court....bring it on. My youngest is 16 1/2 so by the time anything would be decided, she'd be 18 or almost by then. I still won't fight them....I'll go into court and explain to the judge WHY I won't fight and WHY I think they're certifiable and then they can talk to BOTH the kids.....they're PISSED now.
My oldest found out what her dad said (how are you gonna feel if I'm sent back to prison for 10 years b/c you didn't write a letter on time for me). She's handled it much better than I would. She's hurt and upset, but if it were me at that age, I would have fallen for it and felt guilty that I was 'irresponsible'. she wrote him a letter and basically just told him that he got himself where he is and he's got a whole lot of fucking nerve trying to put that kind of shit off on her. She's (they both are) so much stronger than I ever hoped of being. Guess I did SOMETHING right.
This may end up being a very 'empowering' (I can't believe I actually just used that word)experience for me. For the first time in my life, I finally feel like I don't HAVE to put up with their shit anymore. They have no more power over me anymore so they can't hurt me anymore. I appreciate the support, it's helped. I've kinda felt like I've been in a tornado the last few days.
Government can do something for the people only in proportion as it can do something to the people Thomas Jefferson.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Anonymous on February 29, 2004, 09:00:00 AM
I don't know who you are, but I just want you to know that I think you have done a great job with handling everything that has been thrown at you. Most people would have crumbled long before now. I wish you had someone close by to give you some support. If you come thru all this and are still sane and sober, then you are one hell of a good person. Don't count on a judge understanding though...I have seen it happen before. A person is in the right, but still gets the shaft from the judge. Let's just hope that if it comes to that, you will get one of the good guys. Lots of luck ..... :wave:
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Cayo Hueso on February 29, 2004, 09:19:00 AM
Thanks. I don't put a lot of faith in any judge or lawyer (except Phil). I'm just over it. I'll get through it, I think it's pretty tense right now b/c this is all coming to a boil. I've kept my mouth shut all these years and now the kids are old enough to where I really don't have to anymore and nobody likes that. I can be pretty vicious when I feel like I'm backed up against a wall and that's where I'm at right now.
Save our planet; it's the only one with chocolate!
--Andi, domestic goddess
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: iain39 on March 09, 2004, 06:51:00 AM
Hi, I just started reading about STRAIGHT and this terrible treatment of young people; I don't have a login for this site but wanted to say good luck and share a similar experience I had in Canada.
In 1976 I joined a group which originally seemed to have the well meaning aim of spreading information about the mind and a biological basis for religion. These are valid aims, but what happened within the group quickly turned everything sour.
What actually happened over time was that the young impresisonable people who joined up (I was 18) started to become valuable assets.. we had jobs, we signed up other people and so on. The group started to take on a personality which excluded the outside world, and got to the point where we were told that 4 hours sleep per night was enough, so we could carry out our work for the organisation as well as our daily jobs. Outsiders were negative and to be avoided, and that included family, old friends, and so on.
In the end there was an atmosphere of violent emotions and confrontations, and times when a person would be torn to pieces verbally to ram a point home. The fear in some of the group meetings was tangible, and the relief when the leaders declared something ok, was part of the typical "good cop, bad cop" routine. Believe me, this sort of thing over a long period of time has a caustic effect on your self-esteem. It doesn't have to be brutal, just constant.
The group disintegrated in 1981 and I was immensely relieved, though it took 2 years before I stopped feeling twinges of guilt every wednesday (wednesday was introductory seminar day, and you'd have to have a bloody good reason for not supporting it or being there).
The brain takes 2 years to recover from physical trauma (head injuries) and, interestingly, also from emotional trauma, such as infidelity, psychological abuse and so on. The connections and neurons have to recover and revive their original state, in both instances, and there is usually an impairment of function in the recovering period.
I sympathise greatly with people who have been through the STRAIGHT experience which I'm sure, was far worse than anything I saw. What I experienced was bad enough to separate me from my family for 5 years, and to this day, we don't talk about it.
I hope for the day when uncritical acceptance of anyone with "authority" is over and done with. nobody has the authority to tell you how to live your life, under any circumstances, and all the medals, badges, hats, qualifications, support by the masses, imposing buildings, long lived institutions, government support, or wealth do not alter this fact.
Title: Lulu's Trial
Post by: Antigen on March 09, 2004, 10:02:00 AM
Greetings Ian. Thanks for that. Thought you might appreciate this:
Click Here for full screen (http://jonathangullible.com/mmedia/PhilosophyOfLiberty-english_music.swf)
It continues to amaze me to talk to law students -- college graduates all and smarter than the average bear -- who will seriously tell me about how dangerous mj is and how it destroys the lives of those who use it and who, in the very next sentence, will tell me how they and their friends -- now CPAs, engineers, med students -- used pot regularly through high school and college. And they don't see the contradiction between these statements.
We're not just talking ignorance here -- we are talking deep down, serious, religious indoctrination.
--Buford C. Terrell, Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law
_________________ Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen American drug war P.O.W. Seed sibling `71 - `80 Straight South (Sarasota, FL) 10/80 - 10/82 Anonymity Anonymous
[ This Message was edited by: Antigen on 2004-03-09 07:26 ]