Suing Parents for Neglect and Abuse in Straight

[Anonymous]

Have any children incarcerated in the Straight program sued, or attempted to sue their own and/or other parents? I understand the desire to believe that parents "didn't know" what was going on, but many did, and many say they didn't to avoid further confrontation. Straight is gone, but the true villains who funded the program and looked the other way as we were abused are still at large. Please let me know any information on this topic and refrain from posting any sentimental "they didn't know" posts that root from your deep seeded desire to mend broken family relationships. I am beyond that, and I'm looking for credible information.

[Anonymous]

i agree with you that the parents, as adults at the time, were and are responsible for the abuse we sustained, with the exception of those parents who were truly insane.  my parents had been abusive to me throughout childhood, and straight was a convenient tool they used against me.  the pseudo-legitimacy of the program provided a cover for them to continue abusing me, and had the added benefit of garnering sympathy (so they thought) as parents of a teenager who, they insisted, was on the path to self-destruction.  

a parent has to be either cruel or not very bright to believe that throwing your child to a mob of strangers with weird, violent ideas can do anything good.

[Anonymous]

I have never been down with that jive honky "they did the best they could" Hallmark type of sentiment. The more I look into things, the more I know they knew - first of all, it was very clear that you were putting your child in a windowless warehouse seven days a week, that your child would have to ask permission to pick anything up in the host home was not a big secret, that your child would be beltlooped, that your child would sit in blue chairs in a white warehouse and be so cheery on a Friday night that they wanted to sing "I am Straight, hear me roar!" in unison with 200 give or take other teenagers when they had never been into football games and the pep rallies. Fuck that shit, my parents sucked big time. How about you hit me till I have something like a psychotic break and then you decide that the safest thing for me is to lock me up for some more mental abuse. Okay, second of all, my parents are post-bac degreed, my mom took us to the George Mason University Library to do school research with the microfiche, so there you go, doing a little research in the mid to late eighties, before the internet, you could still find Fred Collins and other Washington Post news articles on Straight's abusive, destructive tactics. Not to mention the 60 Minutes show and so on. But Straight was the best deal in town.

This is an okay topic, even though I could not literally sue them.

[Anonymous]

I agree entirely. Our parents were abusive, negligent morons.

[Anonymous]

Mine still foster kids and send them away!

[Anonymous]

It would never stick. And although you might get even with your parents by telling them through the court system; "Shame on you", the likelihood that you would win any settlement is nil. At least they might have to be deposed, that in itself might be worth any trouble you have getting there. To depose my folks for Straight would be awesome! In fact, what you are mentioning might not be that hard. Just to put my parents on the hotseat for a few minutes and let them FINally realize what they did to me Straightwise, and make them crawl a bit and finally be MADE to be honest about their intentions, their motives, what they knew...that alone would be worth the trouble to set up any potential law suit against your folks.

Again, lets say you never make it into court because of statutes or other reasons, lets say your own parents insurance they used to have is closed as a business. Neverless, the steps you take to get into court are the things that would offer you pleasure: tieing your parents up with paperwork when you were denied ANY and ALL education, asking your parents humiliating and embarrassing questions and letting them know that if they obstruct justice by not answering the questions you can absolutely sue them and then press charges. This really does sound like fun.

Hell, if you want to pursue this ...just say something more here. Honestly I don't think you would win any sort of claim against them ...but just to see you saying a really harty Fuck You to your folks is all good in itself. Serious fun, and I believe it would provide you with some good healing by putting your parents in a situation not entirely unlike what they put You in. I don't care if others have said before; "move on, grow up, get real, mature, bla bla etc etc". All that advice comes from people who wish they knew what to do with their sorry lives.

I think your idea is the best I've heard in a long time. Go forth and grill the bitches. There really is alot you can do if you spend even half a day in the court library. Hell, you could file a restraining order against them if you wanted. If you have a disability and you say you are in fear of them from PTSD, there are any number of things you could do to them that would get you into an immediate court situation real quick. Restraining orders are served within a day or two after you've been granted the temporary one, and if you can afford a court reporter then you can sure as hell catch them in some lies in court.

I think you're on the right track and I honestly think that what you are feeling is right too. Getting even is only part of the healing, the paper work and the legal steps you have to take to get to where you want to go REALLY do not take long at all. With a very little bit of creativity and some gas to get you to the court house ...you can have some real fun for as long as you find people to fuck with. You find them in any court system, I'll even let you ask me to come forward for you as a character witness to what happened in Straight.

Wow, honestly - this is a great idea if you develop it right. There's all kindsa shit you can stick to 'em. Look it up, post back here soon.

[Anonymous]

maybe i need to talk to you.

[Anonymous]

This is an interesting concept.  If you take into consideration the emotional trauma it caused most (ok ALL) of us, and how that trauma resulted in subsequent choices in our lives, it would not be too far fetched to bring a lawsuit against the ones who placed us there to begin with.

It has always blown my mind to read on here "oh i have a great relationship with my folks, that was a long time ago- they said they had no idea how bad it was"  My mom still uses that line, and 15 years later I still think it is bullshit.  I remember my withdrawal meetings BEGGING for my life, marks visible on me, obviously not well looking, having to be torn away (literally) from my dads leg.  But you didn't know how bad it was?  Spare me the bullshit.

I have kids now, i cannot imagine A) handing them over to strangers for ANY reason or B) seeing them like that and not going hmmmmm this isn't right... DUH

[Anonymous]

"but they were brainwashed, too"

yeah, right.

I remember my dad bitching about "all those open meetings" he had to drive to, twice a week.  Damn, that must have been rough.

Any parent who put their child in Straight is an idiot and an abuser.  How they could attend a single open meeting and not think that something was wrong with the place is beyond comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Ok, so I'm ready and have been ready to do this. Can someone list some numbers and names of Attorneys that have won 'Straight' cases before. I guarantee that Straight is only the icing on the cake....

.... Oh, I forgot to mention the most important thing...

My parents are rich.

[gregg ritter]

I like the way you think. I wonder if we could do the same with Miller and Ruthie? I'd be willing to front the legal fees if so...

[Anonymous]

Sounds great. Do you think us former clients could start a class action? Perhaps we could each sue each other's parents as well. Seems like it'd be a landfall for the attorneys and not to shabby for us druggie kids. Most of the parents who were in the program while I was there were quite well off. I've heard some of the program heads even had their kids in the program. I bet they aren't too happy either. Come on, there has to be some attorney somewhere that wants to get paid whose saliva glands will start to water when they hear this.

[Anonymous]

Class action, c'mon get over what happened 20 years ago.  If your looking for monetary satisfaction at this pojnt in your life then you need to get a job and earn money the American way.

The parent's weren't told everything, not even close.  Sorry for those whose parent's didn't live up to the definition of one.  My parents put me in there with the best of intentions, regardless.  If you hold resentment toward you folks to this day, then you need some professional help.

This whole notion of trying to sue is ridiculous.  Get up Monday morning, go to work, do a good job and be proud to earn a living instead of trying to take a the lazy man's way out by suing.

[Anonymous]

Ha ha. Fuck you. What the fuck do you know? You crack me up.  :lol:

[Anonymous]

it ain't his fault he's ign'rant. he cain't read. he cain't git it 'bout the fects of thuh, ya know. uh. child abuse? we callin it child abuse these days? hoowee, now tha's a reel stretch! tha's lahk sayin controllin a child's ever movement from the tahm they wake up tuh thuh tahm they gota bayd at night and uh watchin ever move they make an uh makin um talk about they sex lives frunna all them peeple is child abuse. you sher you wanagothere? ah mean, come ON! ah mean, it ain't Straight's fault if uh sum joonyer staffer set a cuppla gerls on me fer failyer to participayt who jes happened ta not rilly lahk it too much when i tole em to git thay hans offa me. ah mean, yuh know, jus cuz sumbody gon' nearly kill me twicet in one yeer when i's a li'l bit teenager kid an all, that ain't no cause fer no long term mental destabilizashin. idn't that right. sho'e em up, girl. git on yo hoss onna Mundy mornin anuh rahd yo'self off inna th world. yeehaw. giddyup. aymayun! mm hmm! tha's raht. gon' gitchoself onna hoss. gon' rahd.