Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Devlin on September 18, 2004, 05:13:00 AM
-
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state ... news-state (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-mexschools18sep18,1,2414829.story?coll=la-news-state)
CALIFORNIA
U.S. Faults Mexico Over Closure of 3 Baja Schools
By Richard Marosi, Times Staff Writer
The U.S. State Department plans to send a letter of protest to Mexican officials over the handling last week of the closure of three schools for troubled teenagers in Baja California, amid complaints from parents and school officials that Mexican authorities have yet to justify their actions.
More than 500 students and staff were forced to return to the United States and other countries after Mexican authorities closed the facilities in Ensenada and Rosarito Beach. The largest school, Casa by the Sea, housed about 550 boys and girls at a former hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean
Mexican authorities said they acted after unspecified complaints of physical and mental abuse at the schools, which tout themselves as behavior modification institutions for children involved in gangs, drugs and other dangerous activities.
But no details of the alleged abuse have been provided to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, spokeswoman Liza Davis said. She said the State Department would send a letter citing the abrupt and disorganized manner in which officials from three Mexican agencies shut down the schools.
In some cases, parents were not allowed to see their children for several hours while Mexican officials questioned them, Davis said. At one point, fights broke out among some of the students, she said.
"Our position is they have every right to ? inspect facilities just as in the U.S.," Davis said. "Our problem is largely with how it was done, because it was quite chaotic."
The other schools closed were Casa la Esperanza, with 20 students, and Genesis by the Sea, with 26 students.
Mexican officials did not return calls seeking comment. A statement released earlier this week said the schools' operations were suspended because of poor record keeping, improper licenses and poor management of prescription drugs, some of which had expired. Officials said one school had an electric perimeter fence and another had a punishment cell.
Ken Kay, a spokesman for Casa by the Sea, denied that the facility had a punishment cell or an electric fence. And he cited a Mexican media report earlier this week that said a Mexican health official had found no evidence of abuse.
"We are relieved that there is no substantiation to the abuse allegations," Kay said.
Schools for troubled teens have generated controversy in the past for their alternative teaching methods and, some say, excessive disciplinary techniques. Similar facilities have been closed in Mexico, the Czech Republic and other countries.
Several parents of children who attended Casa by the Sea said the school had no record of complaints and was straightening out teenagers' lives. They expressed concern that false accusations were marring the facility's reputation.
"I just don't want Casa to get a bad name," said Carol Rivardi, a Rancho Santa Margarita resident whose 16-year-old daughter attended the school for one year.
"My daughter had no self-esteem; now she has values and beliefs. It has totally changed her," Rivardi said.
But some applauded the closures. "I'm rejoicing," said Roderick S. Hall, a San Diego-area clinical psychologist who said several students over the years had reported psychological abuse at the school to him. "I think the [schools] play on parents' fears and then play on kids' fears to shape up, and it's not constructive in the long run."
Casa by the Sea was a last resort, according to parents who said they had run out of options.
Many parents said they selected Casa by the Sea because it was the closest facility of its kind to Southern California. They also said that the tuition ? which ranged from $2,000 to $3,500 per month ? was substantially lower than alternative schools in the United States.
Progress at the facility was based on a point system, with good behavior rewarded with privileges like movies. Misbehaving children were forced to sit alone in a room and listen to motivational tapes, parents said. One parent said the discipline went further.
Michael McNulte, a Long Beach resident, said his son told him that the most problematic children were on occasion "slammed" into a wall. McNulte said the practice didn't upset him, having been raised in strict Catholic schools in the 1960s.
"Tough love," said McNulty. "I don't think it was excessive."
Mexican officials initially said they had received complaints from four children alleging physical or mental abuse. Dozens of officials descended on the schools on the evening of Sept. 10 and interviewed students there for hours.
San Diego police officers, who interviewed 80 children after they returned to the United States, said none reported abuse.
Davis, the consulate spokeswoman, said the office regularly monitors conditions at alternative schools in Baja California. A school in Tecate was shut down two years ago, she said. Two other alternative schools are still operating in Baja California.
Casa by the Sea, she said, had generated complaints from some teenagers over the years. Children talked of pushing incidents and being forced to sit in an empty room for hours, said Davis, who added that the claims had not been substantiated.
Parents said tales of abuse were to be expected from some children who didn't want to be there in the first place and would try anything to get out.
"These charges are totally false," said Mark Wolpe, the father of a 17-year-old former student. "People must understand that some of the children going to these programs are, totally and without doubt, out of control."
-
Jesus, fucking christ. This is the worst news I have ever read.
I can not BELIEVE *POLITICS* is clouding their ears to the accusations, their eyes to the facts and their hearts to the suffering of the CHILDREN that are being TORTURED.
They use the same tired excuses about the accusations, NOT EVERYONE IS LYING. I know someone who went in for depression and 'being a basketcase'. That makes her some lying manipulator? The lack of medical treatment and some apathetic nurse saying to use 'soap and water' to treat serious infections is TOUGH LOVE? Restraint, being forced to lie face down on your belly with your arms behind your back for hours, or face painful 'restraint' (which is quite obviously torture) is somehow helpful?
They never got an education or were somehow taught 'morals' and 'values' and they certainly don't get some epiphany and change their ways because of how 'good this place is. They conform so they can get out, period.
I am still in total disbelief that our own goverment still thinks its okay to have kids put in secretive places with tons of accusations and stories of abuse behind them, and not 1. Check to see if ther is abuse 2. stop it if they find any 3. reform it so there won't be any in the future and 4. punish anyone who doesn't follow the guidelines or who has actually committed abuse! There have been many court cases where the plantiff WON! WWASPS just lost their stupid lawsuit against PURE. The truth is coming out, so why are they still acting this way?
Do NONE of these people actually CARE about these kids at all? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE USA?
I'd think if Mexico closed them down, they should start looking at the facilities in the USA and reforming them to stop this damn abuse. This is an OUTRAGE. :evil: What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that
they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.
--Thomas Sowell
[ This Message was edited by: Nihilanthic on 2004-09-18 02:56 ]
-
That is the same State Department that refuses to help the kids at TB, or inform them of their rights. It's no big secret that WWASPS is the biggest contributor to Bush's campaign. There is also a politician in SC who's a WWASPie. The only way to end this is to kill WWASPS.
-
You might also write the state department and explain why MX did the right thing and the only mistake they made was in waiting so long to do it.
It would be a very good idea to watch your language. Otherwise, you'll just prove the Programmed right about their detractors.
I don't at the moment have the address for the statedepartment - or the consulate in MX - but I'm sure it can be found.
-
"The only way to end this is to kill WWASPS"
Yeh, we need a big can of R.A.I.D.
-
Contact Public Affairs:
http://contact-us.state.gov (http://contact-us.state.gov)
202-647-6575
Press Office: Direct links of interest to journalists; for more information, call: 202-647-2492
http://contact-us.state.gov/ (http://contact-us.state.gov/)
TIJUANA (CG) Address: Tapachula #96, Tijuana BC Mexico; Phone: 52-664-622-7400; Fax: 52-664-622-7417; Workweek: M-F 8:00-4:45
MEXICO CITY (E) Address: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Col. Cuauhtemoc, 06500; APO/FPO: (Full Name), U.S. Embassy (office), PO Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900; Phone: 011-52-55-5080-2000; Fax: 011-52-55-5080-2005; INMARSAT Tel: 683-142-218-172; Workweek: Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Website: http://mexico.usembassy.gov/ (http://mexico.usembassy.gov/)
-
Keep in mind that not everyone understands these programs. What needs to happen is that someone needs to gather as much of the seminar/TASKS/Discovery/Resource Realizations/Premier Educational Services material possible, post it to the Web along with assessments from loads of psychologists, psychiatrists, & therapists.
The state dept gets hit by all these people, both parents & kids, who are positive about the program and a small, minority willing to speak out....what would they do?
However, if the find out the kids at these schools are taught and given therapy that consists of fear, breaking them down emotionally, destroying their self worth and then the parents seminars give them euphoric, powerful experiences that they believe their kids are getting......the govt will quickly realize it's not the Kids manipulating the "schools" and parents.....but this network of behavior modification schools totally scamming and abusing children & their parents.
-
Couldn't agree more.
The key to the whole thing is the seminars.
Thats how they get and keep the legions of faithful under the program thumb.
Once this is understood, the will to stop the abuse will quickly overpower the influence of the programmed.
-
I like this suggestion too.
I envision a website that contains testimonials from participants- with as many specific details as possible- and program specific.
Each method of treatment/therapy contained in the testimonial could then be analyzed by a professional, addressing concerns such as:
Is the 'treatment/therapy' considered ethical by the counseling community, at large?
Would this treatment/therapy be acceptable or used by those in private practice?
Is it age appropriate? Is it excessive?
Is it damaging and how?
What problems might a child incur from having been subjected to it?
-
I apologize for my language, but sometimes its hard to contain it. But at least I have the ability to express myself, unlike someone in a program.
This is going to be a big problem. This campaign contribution fiasco will be one tough nut to crack. Fortunately, our system is a two party one, each opposed to the other.
Leak enough dirt to their political enemies and watch the media frenzy. Its underhanded, but its all I can think of. Does anyone here expect someone is gonna feel guilty for taking money thats a politician? Hah!
Another thing I could think of is try to go to the cable news. I want to confront Fox News about pulling down their article thats archived at http://www.webdiva.org/fox (http://www.webdiva.org/fox) , and I'd LOVE to see Bill O'Reilly say "SHUT UP SHUT UP" at someone on the air about it.
I'd want to be non partisan about this, but all the links these businesses have with the GOP makes that very hard to me. Does anyone here think there is a way to do that?
There's so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the streets?
-- Dick Cavett
-
On 2004-09-18 18:01:00, Nihilanthic wrote:
I'd want to be non partisan about this, but all the links these businesses have with the GOP makes that very hard to me. Does anyone here think there is a way to do that?
Sure, just look into the history and consequences of Janet Rambo's darling, drug courts.
Here's some of the latest on how that's going:
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/sum ... %2C00.html (http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0%2C1854%2C574453%2C00.html)
Texas Merges Drug Treatment, Mental Health Services
9/2/2004
Saying their goal is improving public health, Texas government officials are dissolving the state Department of Health, the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to create two new agencies: the Department of State Health Services and the Department of Aging and Disability Services, the Houston Chronicle reported Sept. 1.
The Department of State Health Services will oversee mental and medical health services for clients, including addiction treatment. The Department of Aging and Disability Services will oversee services for the mentally retarded, the disabled, and the elderly.
Health Commissioner Eduardo Sanchez said the new configuration should allow the state to treat the health needs of residents holistically.
"As a family physician in the past, I didn't take care of a person's pancreas or a person's heart. I took care of the whole person," Sanchez said. "We will have the tools to do it now."
Suzy
"The political phrase 'tough on crime' should not be a substitute for thoughtful reflection or lead us into moral blindness,"
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, June 23, 2004.
"Who would believe that a democratic government would pursue for eight decades a failed policy that produced tens of millions of victims and trillions of dollars of illicit profits for drug dealers, cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, increased crime and destroyed inner cities, fostered widespread corruption and violations of human rights - and all with no success in achieving the stated and unattainable objective of a drug free America?"
Milton Friedman, winner of 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economic science
"You can get over an addiction but you can never get over a conviction."
Jack Cole, Retired undercover police officer
http://www.dpft.org (http://www.dpft.org)
Get busted breaking the drug laws, get treated for mental illness. Anyone see any essential difference between that and Stalin's policy of treating dissenters as lunatics for not being happy in his workers' paradise?
I bet if we look into the much talked abut Büsh initiative to screen the entire population for (some definition of) mental illness, we'll find it rooted firmly in Left wing social programs.
We did not inherit this land from our ancestors, we borrow it form our children.
Haida
-
Gee thats just terrific Ginger.
So now both parties are going to be hard to try to get through to because of idealogical reasons.
*sigh* how on earth can we get through to everyone about this? Why does everyone just turn a blind eye and not see it for what it is?
Some investigative reporting would if it got enough press, but the problem is getting it out to everyone's eyes and making them know this is a problem that includes them, too. But naturally, its all about Bush, terrorism, vietnam or the war right now, isntead of any actual domestic issues! Lets go invade iraq and polarize everyone behind some stupid gay marriage bans so nobody even looks at anything else!
Those hurricanes sure helped to further obscure anything but these few big stories... *sigh* Busy, curious, thirsty fly, Drink with me, and drink as I.
-- William Oldys (1696-1761): On a Fly drinking out of a Cup of Ale.
-
On 2004-09-18 19:26:00, Nihilanthic wrote:
*sigh* how on earth can we get through to everyone about this? Why does everyone just turn a blind eye and not see it for what it is?
Because the myth that just voting for the other branch of the Party will solve the problem is pervasive. That won't do it. I think we really have to get people to understand that, as much fun as the industrial revolution was, the party's over. Now it's time to think about how to evict the drunks lying all over the floor and clean up w/ the least possible damage to what of it is really worth keeping.
Those hurricanes sure helped to further obscure anything but these few big stories... *sigh*
Yeah, but nothing brings a local community together like having the lights and TVs off for a few days.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-- Robert Heinlein
_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Seed sibling `71 - `80
Straight South (Sarasota, FL)
10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.
-
Here is a sampling of the massive political contributions by the owner of WWASP and his family. He uses everyone in his family to give the ultimate maximum.....
LICHFIELD, ROBBIE
,
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBBIE
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
SELF/CONSULTANT
6/22/2004
$2,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBBIE
,
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
HATFIELD AND LICHFIELD
1/27/2004
$4,000
Burr, Richard
LICHFIELD, ROBERT
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
HATFIELD AND LICHFIELD
2/26/2004
$2,000
Burr, Richard
LICHFIELD, ROBERT
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
4/8/2004
$2,000
Bishop, Rob
LICHFIELD, ROBERT
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
HATFIELD AND LICHFIELD
2/10/2004
($2,000)
Burr, Richard
LICHFIELD, ROBERT
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
4/8/2004
$2,000
Bishop, Rob
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
ADOLESCENT PROGRAM CONSULTANT
4/25/2003
$2,000
Bennett, Robert F
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
ADOLESCENT PROGRAM CONSULTANT
8/6/2003
$2,000
Bennett, Robert F
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
12/31/2003
$2,000
Davis, Geoff
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF/CONSULTANT
6/30/2003
($2,000)
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF/CONSULTANT
6/30/2003
$4,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF/CONSULTANT
3/31/2004
$2,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LAVERKIN,UT 84745
10/26/2001
$25,000
RNC/Repub National State Elections Cmte
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
ADOLESCENT PROGRAM CONSULTANT
8/6/2003
($2,000)
Bennett, Robert F
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
ADOLESCENT PROGRAM CONSULTANT
8/6/2003
$2,000
Bennett, Robert F
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
12/31/2003
$2,000
Davis, Geoff
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF/CONSULTANT
6/30/2003
$2,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF/CONSULTANT
3/31/2004
($2,000)
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF/CONSULTANT
3/31/2004
$2,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
6/5/2001
$100,000
2001 President's Dinner/Non-Fed Indiv
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B MR
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
SELF-EMPLOYED/CONSULTANT
8/7/2003
$2,000
Bush, George W
LICHFIELD, ROBERT B MR
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
9/29/2003
$2,000
National Republican Congressional Cmte
LICHFIELD, ROBERTB MR
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
9/6/2002
$25,000
RNC/Repub National State Elections Cmte
LICHFIELD, ROBERTB MRS
LA VERKIN,UT 84745
9/6/2002
$25,000
RNC/Repub National State Elections Cmte
LICHFIELD, ROGER
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROGER
WASHINGTON,UT 84780
TEEN HELP/WEB MASTER
6/22/2004
$2,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROGER
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROGER
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
SELF/CONSULTANT
1/23/2002
$1,000
Swallow, John
LICHFIELD, ROGER A
WASHINGTON,UT 84780
TEEN HELP
8/6/2003
$2,000
Bennett, Robert F
LICHFIELD, ROGER A
WASHINGTON,UT 84780
TEEN HELP
8/6/2003
$2,000
Bennett, Robert F
LICHFIELD, ROGER A MR
TOQUERVILLE,UT 84774
WEB MASTER/HELPER
8/7/2003
$2,000
Bush, George W
There's mush more than this - find all at opensecrets.org (individual campaign donors)Homeschool is self regulating. The school board is not going to have illiterate useless people living in their homes forever if they don't have a working education policy.
--Sisterbluerose
-
Okay, the families get closer when the power is out for a week. The rest of the nation just stares at it on TV for about a month... :razz:
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
-
Article Last Updated: 09/19/2004 05:35:15 AM
Teen-help operators have clout
Family behind schools with checkered record calls in political favors, critics say
By Dan Harrie
and Robert Gehrke
2004, The Salt Lake Tribune
A bill permitting state regulation of boarding schools for troubled teens was quietly smothered in the Utah Capitol this year after the founder of a chain of controversial schools, who is a major Republican donor, lobbied key lawmakers.
Powerful legislators, including House Speaker Marty Stephens, held back the measure until the Legislature's clock ran out at midnight on March 3 - the final day of the session.
Six days later, the bill's biggest opponent, World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools founder Robert Lichfield, presented a $30,000 check to Stephens' campaign for governor.
Since then, one of the handful of Utah boarding schools, which would have been regulated under the bill, Majestic Ranch, near Randolph, Utah, has been investigated three separate times for alleged abuse, according to state Human Service officials. Only one ended in a criminal charge and conviction when a staffer - no longer employed there - pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault.
Majestic Ranch is owned by Lichfield's brother-in-law, Dan Peart, who donated $500 to Stephens. The ranch is among seven troubled-teen schools affiliated with World Wide in four states and two foreign countries.
Several others have been shut down amid allegations of abuse or squalid living conditions, including the Casa by the Sea facility near Ensenada, Mexico, closed last weekend by government officials. More than 500 students were returned to the United States from the program.
Ken Stettler, director of the Utah Office of Licensing, remains convinced he had the votes to pass Senate Bill 140, giving his office regulatory authority over Majestic Ranch, if only Stephens and others had allowed it to come up for a vote.
"It still goes back to the old deal that, you know, if you are giving political contributions, then when the time comes and you need to call in your chips, you're going to have a listening ear, which is more than a lot of the citizenry has," says Stettler.
If cash is the secret to opening political doors, Lichfield and his profitable network of schools are well on their way to securing the master key.
The La Verkin entrepreneur, his family members and business associates have poured more than million into political campaigns during the 2002 election and so far this year. The contributions - all to Republican candidates, and many to Utah politicians - have come like a desert downpour: fierce and sudden.
The family donated no more than a couple of thousand dollars prior to Jan. 1, 2001.
Lichfield told The Tribune there was nothing nefarious about his sudden plunge into the political arena.
"We've been abundantly blessed, and when you're blessed, we feel you have a responsibility to bless others," he said, confirming that World Wide member schools gross more than $70 million annually.
The family's charitable contributions dwarf political donations, Lichfield added, putting the former donations at $3 million last year.
Utah politicians who were among the biggest benefactors of the Lichfield election-year largesse insisted they never had discussed issues with their patron.
U.S. House candidate John Swallow has received 18,000 from Lichfield and his associates, more than any other candidate.
Swallow's campaign manager, Tim Garon, said Swallow had not met Lichfield until 2002, when the Lichfield family handed over 30 checks on a single day totaling $30,000 to Swallow's campaign.
"John and I are close friends," said Lichfield. "We just connected as families."
After his 2002 election loss, Swallow did legal work for a Lichfield company in Nevada. As a state representative, Swallow had twice sponsored legislation that would have allowed parents to get a tax break for enrolling their children in a private school.
Lichfield said he has "mixed emotions" about tuition-tax credits, although "you obviously see I have an incentive to be for them." Although such tax breaks would benefit private schools, including World Wide members, he said he has reservations about hurting public schools by draining resources.
As with Swallow, Sen. Bob Bennett met Lichfield just a few years ago, but has become a friend. They don't discuss policy, said Bennett's spokeswoman, Mary Jane Collipriest.
Last year, Lichfield sent Bennett a form letter supporting a Medicare reform bill, according to Collipriest. The bill expanded Health Savings Accounts, which allow parents to make tax-free contributions to an account that can be used for medical costs, including the type of residential treatment provided by schools affiliated with World Wide.
Lichfield said he doesn't remember the letter or the issue.
He said he hasn't pressed his issues on Bennett nor any of the Utah gubernatorial candidates who have received 40,000 so far this year from the Lichfield family and business associates.
"I don't think I've ever sat down and given them a litmus test," Lichfield said. "There were so many good candidates."
Republican gubernatorial nominee Jon Huntsman Jr. concurs.
"We have not talked about any of his issues. I do not know a whole lot about his business," said Huntsman, who accepted $60,000 from Lichfield and $5,000 from Majestic Ranch. "What business is he in?"
Former U.S. Rep. Jim Hansen took more than $45,000 from Lichfield for his unsuccessful campaign for governor this year.
"Bob Lichfield is a great American," said Hansen. "I don't know a thing about" the string of schools for troubled youth.
Stephens, the outgoing House speaker whose bid for governor ended unsuccessfully in the May 8 Republican State Convention, did not return eight messages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
for comment over a period of more than two weeks.
"Believe me, the check had nothing to do with SB140," said Lichfield. "Marty Stephens was going to get a donation from me no matter what happened to SB140. Marty Stephens is a quality guy."
Lichfield shrugs off any suggestion he has, in just two years, become a political power broker.
"I'd like to use my means and resources to bless peoples' lives. Does that also imply influencing policy-makers to make good policies that support good family values, quality education and the things I believe in? Definitely. I'd like to have some influence in that," he said.
Reps. Steve Urquhart and Dave Clark, both St. George Republicans, helped stall SB140 in the Legislature's House Rules Committee after consulting with Lichfield family members and their business associates. Each received $2,500 in donations in 2002 from Lichfield.
Urquhart, who said he was representing a constituent and his philosophy of limited government, acknowledged consulting with Stephens.
Stettler identified Stephens as a key player in the demise of SB140 - a claim confirmed by bill-sponsoring Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan.
"He was determined it wasn't going to pass," said Buttars.
Buttars, who shepherded the bill through the Senate, came under attack himself because he is the head of Utah Boys Ranch, which also treats troubled youth.
"Mine is a full, licensed residential program and I think that makes me a better facility," he said. "I'm prejudiced and I admit that. I think every kid deserves to have his food, safety and shelter guaranteed by oversight."
Buttars declined to comment on Lichfield or his affiliated companies directly.
"There are some huge forces that I took on there. . . . I really don't want to talk much about that," he said. "This is a mean, ugly game with money going in lots of directions."
Ken Kay, World Wide's president, questioned Buttars' sponsorship of a bill that would affect his competitors.
"Personally, I found that dazzling that here's a guy that has something to do with this Utah Boys Ranch in there trying to do this," said Kay.
He dismisses as "baloney" the claim by Stettler and Buttars that the bill simply would have allowed state licensing officials to inspect Majestic Ranch twice a year - including once in an unannounced visit.
Kay said the legislation would have required professional diagnoses of the 65 youngsters at Majestic Ranch and allowed regulators to pore through "private financial records" and dictate "how you conduct [operations] and train staff and who they are."
Kay said there is simply no need for the state to have such a strong hand in the boarding schools' operations.
"We see certain bureaucrats that want more control. I think it has a lot to do with power," said Kay. "I think we are every bit as sensitive, if not more sensitive, to children's rights and safety. We have a total anti-abuse stand - 100 percent."
But the Association-affiliated schools have a checkered record. Government agencies in the Czech Republic, Costa Rica and, most recently, Mexico have shut down schools.
In South Carolina, inspectors put Carolina Springs Academy's license on probation after administrators failed to report child abuse. They also found students sleeping on stained, torn mattresses in unfit dormitories and problems with how students were restrained.
Regulators also banned Lichfield's brother, Narvin, from the facility based on his operation of the Costa Rican school.
Congressman George Miller, D-Calif., has twice asked the Justice Department to investigate the schools, and more recently Rep. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., made a similar request. The Bush administration has said it lacks the authority to initiate such a probe.
The Justice Department said it has forwarded the complaints to the U.S. Attorney for Utah and the FBI field office, but a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney said nothing has come of the referral.
Meantime, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, whose office two years ago unsuccessfully prosecuted the director of Majestic Ranch on abuse charges, as recently as last week toured one of the affiliated schools in St. George with Urquhart.
Shurtleff's campaign has received no Lichfield contributions, a spokeswoman said.
Lichfield said in his two or three meetings with Shurtleff, he has never attempted to get Shurtleff to rein in investigators or prosecutors. He said he doesn't have that kind of influence and wouldn't use it if he did.
Scott Simpson, a former executive director of the Utah Republican Party, spoke with Lichfield often during the 2002 campaign.
"From my perspective, it seemed based on ideology," said Simpson. "There are a few ways you can get involved in politics. You can run for office, you can be the grass-roots guy pounding in the lawn signs or you can be the guy who writes the check."
gehrke@sltrib.com (http://mailto:gehrke@sltrib.com)
-
As screwed up as the situation is, it's a good thing they published that article.
-
Yeah, that artical seems to have been to long in coming. I'm glad the issue is seeing some ink.
As for how to get the wider public's attention - Maybe we need some outlandish soul to dress up as Bat Man or Spiderman, and climb supream court building - or some such place.
Maybe shinny up the Temple, or the Joseph Smith memoral building. That might be safer - less likely to get shot down.
All this is being said with a smile; and a nod and a wink at the Brits; and is not to be taken seriously.
-
This REALLY has to get more press. This is obvious corruption and being bought out by a corporate interest at the expense of the general populace.
UGH. It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
For the Salt Lake Tribune to print this "anti-Mormon" type article, critical of Lichfield, is a huge sign of change in that city's newspaper. The Trib had been extremely cautious about making waves, but in the last 6 months, they have been bolder. BTW, The San Diego Union-Tribune, the first paper breaking the Casa story, has a sad reputation for being uninterested in child abuse cases. In calling the reporter to complain about the one-sided "Gee, we think they're swell" parent interviews, I was shunted to the Ombusdman assistant, who told me to write a Letter to the Editor. I balked, so she then gave me the paper's educational editor. I plan to phone him Monday.
-
To add your voice to those opposing the State Department's letter of condemnation to Mexico for raiding Casa....
http://contact-us.state-gov (http://contact-us.state-gov), then click the drop-down menu to reach:
"send a messae to the Secretary of State"
and/or
"foreign policy opinions, subset of Western Hemisphere Affairs"
The Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, is Roger Noriega. He can be reached through the site's email, or at
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
To reach the person DIRECTLY responsible in the DC Office of State for border states of Norhtern Mexico and Canada, email:
Wendy Ryde, Overseas Citizens Officer at rydewc@state.gov, telephone (202)736-4986. She is new to the post (6 weeks) and has gotten some information from anti-WWASPS people. She needs more. Her predecessor is Ruth Branson, former Northern Mexico liason, who is also privy to the Mexican and Baja governments' dealings with WWASPS. Interestingly, Ms. Branson has just been moved to the Carribean desk, meaning she now is the State contact for Jamaica. Her direct phone number is (202)647-7310.
The Tijuana Consulate has put in a new "command", Dave-something-I-didn't-get-his-last-name. Al Anzaldua who held the post for several years and was too-too-cozy with Dace Goulding, Casa's director, has been removed to another position, and my contacts with Ryde and Branson could not provide his eventual whereabouts.
-
I'd like to suggest that all of you send a short letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune. Apparently this corruption is now coming out in the press. See the article on page 2 of this thread.
The legislature is to society as a physician is to the patient. If a physician ignored side effects of medications like today's legislators ignore the side effects of their legislation, the physician would be accused of malpractice. I accuse today's legislators (with rare exception) of legislative malpractice. Many of the ills that are so obvious in our society are a direct result of previous legislation. Their solution? More laws!
-- John A. Bennett, DO
-
I have to say, I'm not surprised by this. I'm just glad to see some journalists doing their job in this regard. It's about damned time!
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid
of the dark. The real tragedy of life is
when men are afraid of the light.
--Plato