Kentucky Dan
I am also in a very similar situation as Bernie, only the cult is not involved. My name is Kentucky Dan, and I used to be a Kenosha county resident. Let me tell you that Bernie is not a crack pot, as shocking as it sounds it is very true and there is many more victims" Just not as outspoken, and just gave up.
My particular situation came about in 1999 in Commissioner Fitzgerald's family court. At the time I was a naive 22 year old, before a court system staring at visitation and child support that was the end of a manipulated mistake. I was represented by Tom Anderson Jr. in a two for one bankruptcy/paternity case. It was a scary situation that I had no knowledge of. I just lost a good job, and purchased a house, and couldn't pay for anything.
Tom Anderson Jr. told me we will go for everything, first establishing paternity. We went one time before Fitzgerald, it was brief and clear that the Child Support office was representing my son's mother. Next, it was ordered to what they referred to at the time as mediation, here I was not represented, and eventually ganged up on. It was later told to me that this never took place and attorneys are not allowed in mediation. When I left that day, all I received was a tax exemption every other year and supervised visits that lasted 7 years, on the grounds that my son's mother stated I had no experience with children.
It was shown to me then where my son's future would be drawn out, and the corruption, and unfairness I would have to deal with long term. I battled with not having any knowledge of what to do or what I should have done, but it was obvious I would need help and money to try to battle again.
This ordeal went on until 2002, when I moved to Kentucky. Every weekend I would just deal with seeing my son at his grandparent's house where I was ignored and alienated. Occasionally a holiday would pass where she would bring him to see my parents. I attempted, (without court) to ask her for more visitation, but was shot down. She had court ordered control and would not allow anything that was not court ordered. My son lived in that environment till age 6. With his grandparents and mother he developed many abnormalities that would surface later. It was a very bad environment where parties would take place quite often, and the mother and grandmother were very promiscuous.
It still boggles my mind as to why this was allowed to take place? Why would a side already be taken? Do people have experience with children before they give birth, and if not are the children taken away in Kenosha? Why was an environment with drinking, parties, possible drugs, and promiscuous sex a better place to raise a child than with his father?
In August of 2002, I came to the realization that I couldn't do anything up there financially or otherwise to help my son. Due to child support and a series of $9.00 hour jobs I couldn't support myself let alone fund a legal battle. So I moved south, and attempted to better myself first, and go back in a brief while and try to do battle again. Phone calls and occasional road trips would now be my visits, still supervised and unchanged.
In 2003 I met my current wife, owned a house now, and completed real estate school. Things were looking better. Between my wife and child support case worker I have, it was encouraged that I got to court pro se. Due to moving I should have extended visits, unsupervised and pay less support for that facts of serial children (other dependents),and travel expenses. My case worker assured me this would be easily achievable and I could appear over the phone, basically tree.
This hearing was scheduled for August of 2004, before James Fitzgerald again. Only my son's mother retained an attorney this time. My efforts were squashed, Fitzgerald ridiculed me and insulted me continuously: asking me several personal questions and then finally just taking away my every other year tax exemption.
It was not what I envisioned happening, my case worker was completely wrong. How could someone in his position conduct himself that way? Did her attorney and she manipulate him prior to my phone appearance?
My wife and I were very upset, and began doing research, and eventually filed a complaint against Fitzgerald, which is supposedly still being investigate;, if I only knew then what I know now I would have appealed his ridiculous order immediately. My wife was not going to let me give up. We needed to get money to do battle. I had a decent job at the time and my wife's research and persistence led me to refinance our house and later the car to fund a legal battle. I spoke to several attorneys before my third mistake. Upon speaking to someone at attorney John Wards office I began the process of being screwed Kenosha style.
My basic knowledge from my wife's research and a book by Jeffrey Leving, and several consultations led me to know what should be done and what I would hope to expect. This someone told me that attorney Ward could achieve this. He was familiar with my son's mother's clique and her mother's associates. He said he and Ward could do what Leving would have done just cheaper. He said they were local and he personally knew their house, and some events that occur there.
Now I heard all I needed and like and idiot I retained him at $3500 and another $2500 for that someone. Until Ward received his check I never heard from him. Ward talked big he was a religious marine and this would be easy. He wanted me to get everything together and move ahead.
It took about 4 months to get to court because we first were to see Fitzgerald; he rescued himself due to my complaint. Next came Pious which seemed fair and her attorney Geoffrey Dowse, and Dowse was not wanting Pious to hear our case. Dowse was very inquisitive as the why Fitzgerald recuse himself. Finally Pious did likewise due to a conflict of interest with my son's mother's employer. Until this point Ward seemed okay.
Then Mary Wagner was appointed and Wards whole demeanor changed. He became less responsive to my requests and rattled. It was almost anther 2 months before our first in a series of hearings and I had a bad feeling. My wife tried to research Ward and found screwed Kenosha style instead it was like a punch in the stomach. I was immediately concerned and at our first hearing I seen Wards one and only mediocre performance. Things were eerily similar Ward called me immediately when he knew that I knew about Bernie. He tried to discredit Bernie, but the truth was stranger than Fiction. Ward was either scared of Wagner or just in her web of corruption, along with his buddy that set out for an easy $2500. His approach steadily changed, he went from stating he would do what I asked and be aggressive to becoming passive in court and abrasive
towards me. He refused to abate my support, and didn't even try to do battle over her attorney's monetary requests. He actually told me to "make a good faith effort, and volunteer to pay more support."He eventually wouldn't even return my calls, and told me to either make appointments, (weeks or months away) or fax everything to him.(which then he would then charge me heavily),and not read or respond. His buddy was his middle man who would listen to my complaints and supposedly my updates and was supposed to investigate them. They would supposedly meet and discuss my case weekly, which I know never happened. All I received from the hiring of his buddy was false hopes and another legal battle. He eventually admitted he wasted my fee on talking to Ward repeatedly, or as he put it "putting out fires".
They worked together to screw me. What type of person could be so greedy as to destroy young family's finances in the name of "justice"? They both received complaints. Ward's buddy is still being investigated, and Ward's complaint thru Lawyer Regulation was dismissed and never investigated, showing the lines of corruption. Together they worked to defraud me.
Ward changed his game plans probably more than he changed his underwear, and only achieved one unsupervised visit for me with county restrictions. Her attorney ran over him, and he showed his sloppiness. Wagner throughout her bogus hearings continued to take from me, and compliment my son's mother. She would try to hide her bias by telling me I was doing the right thing. Ward would make excuses for why he wouldn't pursue abatement when I lost my job due to court, and avoid asking for additional visitation. He basically asked for me to jump through additional hoops, and always predicted Wagner's responses. I often wondered who he represented.
Wagner would violate every statute and just rule by opinion, even when statutes were pointed out. She never questioned why I had supervised visits, and seemed eager to answer her attorney's requests. Eventually, it was clear Ward was going no where, and all I could do was speak up, and fire him. His lack of determination and fear of Wagner made him completely ineffective. Finally, he let Wagner continue to ruin me financially.
Wagner only allowed me a visit at home in Kentucky after I had my home evaluated by Social Services. Why? My son's mother was never under scrutiny. She went out of her way to move in with her boyfriend who had no experience with children. This was part of her attorney's master plan, to make her look more independent and show she had financial responsibilities. Attorney Dowse also referred her to take my son to counseling at Johannssen and Schneider near Ward's office, to solely defeat my visits, not to look into his current situation in Wisconsin.
You need to know Johannsen and Schneider prefers to work solely for the mother and the money. They failed to find that he had a eating disorder, or the fact that he has most likely been abused or molested. He certainly has been neglected. Nicole Johnson, and Candace Wendlick "counselors", refused to look for these issues, and chose to focus on my visits and me moving, even though I never had any rights there anyway. Attorney Dowse knew how they operated, and that Wagner found them "HIGHLY RESPECTED" in Kenosha. My involvement in counseling ruined their plans, and they also received complaints thru Regulation and Licensing. I also must add Wendlick was related to one of my son's mother's good friends, coincidence?
After I fired Ward, and his deadbeat friend. Wagner really didn't change. She continued to hand me financial obstacles, and (momentarily) she got over me moving, and then attempted to raise my child support to over a hundred dollars a week, based on overtime, even though my family is on food stamps, and again cost me my job. My new attorney came out swinging and asked for what I told him to and eventually got me several weeks of visits and a Guardian Ad Litem appointed, against Wagner's wishes. Wagner never will listen or care enough to see what is happening or the need for a change in placement. She ordered it to mediation, before we could get the G.A.L.
At about that time I received my first order containing a visit for Christmas with strings attached. It could not be for Christmas day, it had to be for the day after which enviably cost me another job. Wagner stated "He has spent every Christmas with his mom and I'm not going to change that." Why? Who am I? His mom said I was only good for money. This order was enough for her to lose control and fire Dowse. Supposedly grandma was removed from the courtroom, and she told Wagner she was going to deny me a visit. Was Wagner going to see what I was saying finally? She threatened her with contempt, ordered her to get him here, and for me to pay expenses, (which I continue to do).
Contempt was never more than a threat; everything Wagner has ordered her to do or provide has not been pursued. If I do one item late or even hesitate it costs me. After the "Emergency Hearing", things never really got better. I was ordered to pay my insurance premium plus his mothers and the deductible, plus half the bills. Is that fair? There are no statues stating anything like that is allowed, not to mention taking more than 17% for one child is completely a violation. My attorney now has given up on trying defending this issue. He has also succumbed to the Wagner won't hear it syndrome.
Wagner has even stated about my son's mother that "she is a good mother". Where does she get that? When she ordered mediation it was at Interconnections, a joke. I was the first to pay and make the appointment, but since I appeared over the phone, she was able to manipulate the mediator they had. Mediation was a waste of money but Wagner said we had to do it before she could appoint a guardian but she didn't say it as nicely. It was clear that my son's mother, which whom we should start referring to as "the cow", had gotten there before it started and manipulated the mediator. She tried to attack me about moving, and claimed we were there about visitation not placement and stated "I'm not going to rip a seven year old out of his home". Where did this come from? Mediation lasted 5 minutes.
From this mediation it was decided that a guardian should be appointed. The guardian appointed was Jodi Meier, she also is either corrupt or very easily manipulated. I was the first to contact the guardian but somehow the cow was the first to have the appointment. It was obvious by the time I got my appointment that Ms. Meier already picked sides and I would not benefit by her appointment and neither would my son. She began right away to bash me about moving, and overlooked or downplayed my concerns about my son's well being.
She went even further and started aiding the cow by providing her with legal advice. I knew this was illegal, and also made her aware of it. She wanted to hear from my witnesses to the cow's interference and alienation. My wife and father were my witnesses to this and she chose to become argumentative with my father and even told him he was bad mouthing the cow. She brought this frivolous opinion to court along with her opinion of me moving. She also told the cow she only had to drive 150 miles south for transportation and I was to pay the expenses. This was a Kenosha policy, not a statue. Mary Wagner agreed with these ideas and said "tell your dad to button it up".
Where was my advice? What did I pay $200 towards the guardian for? What did Ms. Meier do for my son? Wagner even went as far as saying "I met your son, and he's a fine boy, and you did a fine job raising him", to the cow. When did the happen and why? He said it never did, so someone is once again telling a fib.
Everything I am entitled to has a monetary value in Kenosha. How much money does it cost to buy a judge, and a guardian, a counselor or two, and a mediator? Attorney Bedings represents the cow now. Does any of these names sound familiar? Mysterious things happen in Wagner's court like missing orders, modified transcripts, dead phone syndrome on phone conferences (AKA mute button), and hallway transactions.
Complaints on these individuals are useless, unless there are many. Jodi Meier also received one. As with all complaints, and grievances involving Wagner and her cronies, they get the response that the complaint has no merit or doesn't warrant investigation. Wagner has made herself'"bulletproof" with campaign contributions to the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals in which the Judicial Commission is controlled. The Office of Lawyer Regulation also has an inside person for Mary's clan. Came Hahn and her boss defend Mary and Jodi and even Ward. Facts are facts, and maybe you have been screwed Kenosha style?
Ward and his buddy have been out of the picture for some time now and approximately a year or more ago I hired a Racine attorney to replace him. The attorney, (I won’t reveal his name YET), seemed aggressive enough at first. He jumped right battling Dowse and asking for my rights from Wagner. My attorney told me to that Ms. Beddigs is a poor attorney, and Dowse was better. Yet things did not improve.
With the G.A.L. appointed things got worse. Even with evidence I had the G.A.L. showed her allegiance was to the almighty dollar and the mother. Anything I could tell MS. Mary K. or Jodi Meyer would seem to infuriate them. I’m concerned about my son, and they are supposed to be also. Right now I cannot clearly tell you what I know (due to litigation), but it’s clearly neglect and it was her job to investigate it.
Since my last portion a lot has happened. I have received several visits, which usually I am informed by my son of many disturbing events. My attorney became even more ineffective, and admitted he can’t ruin his career over this. But off the record he believes what Bernie and I believe about Kenosha. Social Services investigated the cow, and that was very startling. Even in Racine County, Wagner and her crew have connections. One call to Jodi Meyer was the investigators investigation. The findings were verbatim what the cow says. Interesting? Are they just lazy? Or do they just not care; maybe it’s the single mother syndrome, or sex, money? Anyway, Jodi finally got to meet my son after that. Still a real investigation has never taken place.
In my frustration I have contacted the attorney general at least twice, and my response so far has been, “Contact the Wisconsin Judicial Commission”. That’s funny. I always made my attorney aware of my moves, and he was continuing to get more and more afraid, and getting weaker, threatening several times to withdraw. Since I have learned a few things that made me upset about him, first of all he could have got rid of Wagner after anyone of my hearings with-in 10 days, by asking for a new judge. He knew I was not being treated fairly. Why did he refuse to do this, what was he afraid of?
Summer came and went, I got 4 weeks here with my son, but there had to be a hearing before each visit. Even criminals get temporary schedules! This was rough, if you see Jodi thank her for me. That summer I learned so much about my son, like he was brainwashed into an eating disorder, he refuses to play outside, and enjoys 2 year old cartoons and shows. And most disturbing he refused to eat for 24 hours after speaking to his mom. That resulted in him throwing up. What do I do? I called my attorney, and told him, I called the cow and took him to the doctor my other 2 kids see. The doctor heard what I hear, and gave him medicine for Anorexia. My son even told everyone there his mom rarely feeds him lunch and sometimes no dinner either. The Dr here also referred him to a dietician. This would not have happened if there was not a problem. The cow followed up with the Dr.’s recommendations when he got home by taking him off the medicine immediately, and taking him to their Dr, in Kenosha a week later. Now that’s concern.
Next came court after the visit, and poor Jodi Meyer, and Mary K. were so upset with me. Mary K. said “I won’t tolerate you upsetting Ms. Meyer, and how dare you undermine the mother”. Well, oops!! My kids throwing up and won’t eat I guess I should have drove him 530 miles to Kenosha and had a hearing! Mary continued, “that type of decision is to be left up to the mother who has done it all along, leave the decisions to the professionals here”. Then she threatened me again with losing my visitation stating if I did it again “Things will go backwards”. I believe that’s the only way they go in Kenosha. Once again this all was brought to Mary’s attention by Jodi Meyer.
Now my attorney from Racine says it’s all he can do to keep me out of jail, even though I owe nothing. All of my complaints obviously fell on deaf ears. The next two court dates were even worse. Jodi even admits to representing the mother, and tells the cow she doesn’t need to drive half way, just 150 of the 530 miles. Then, most recently, she doesn’t need to drive at all. It’s my fault I moved, and she won’t let anyone forget that opinion. Since October of 2006, they have let the mother dictate the flight arrangements that I am to pay for. After that last summer hearing Ms. Meyer mysteriously dismissed herself without a recommendation, but not without a bill.
Just so you know, you can dispute G.A.L. fees through the finance department. The contact there is Bethany Loftgren, but in doing so you will upset the judge, and ultimately it’s up to the judge. Now the letter I sent to Beth triggered this, but the letter they chose to use against me is the confidential complaint to Lawyer Regulation. Wonder how they got it? It’s not in my court file. And why is it so upsetting to Mary K.? They must be REALLY close huh?
2 years and $20,000.00 later the saga continues. The hearing before last Mary hung up on me, and the last one she would not let me be present. That is truly not legal, or ethical, and once again it was a violation of my rights. She lied stating I made no arrangements, yet I have proof I did. That hearing a final order was to be made, and my dispute over G.A.L. fees was to be discussed. When it was mentioned that the 14th amendment was violated Mary ordered me to be present at a all day trial. What’s her motive? She said “He will be on the stand.” At that same hearing she almost took away my visitation, and stated not only will he pay the G.A.L. fees immediately, but he will pay them again when Jodi Meyer is reassigned for trial. Once again I did get my after Christmas visit, and of course I got to pay all travel. What else would you expect?
My Racine attorney gracefully stepped out, with the unwanted direction of my new Milwaukee Fathers Rights Appeal attorney. So far he has wanted transcripts which now I can prove are altered. These transcripts are very hard to get and costly. Oddly they take month to print out, sometimes are missing and very in price from $35.00 to $200.00+ each. Well, I will keep you updated. February 2nd? 2007? Will it happen? Will it be as Bernie says “Jail or Justice?” Will I get what I LEGALLY PAID FOR? Or will I continue to be Screwed Kenosha Style?
Thanks-Dan
