NEWS RELEASE
Monday, August 9, 2005
FAIRFAX, VA, Yesterday Judge Davis sentenced a Virginia father to 6 months in jail for attending his handicapped son's class party at Springhill Elementary in McLean last June 17th.
Mr Smith was warned in advance by several attorneys that it didn't matter if he proved he was innocent that he would still be convicted. The idea that attorneys belive that being innocent won't help certainly gives plenty reason for concern about with out "justice" system.
While the outcome of the "trial" was never really in doubt what was surprising was how obvious the kangaroo ears were in the courtroom (Kangaroo Court). Judge Davis turned angry and verbally abusive when Mr. Smith was called to testify. Judge Davis threatened to not let Mr. Smith testify in his own defense as required by the Constitution when Mr Smith started to explain that his son was in Special Ed and not first grade. Judge Davis in a very angry and harsh tone told Mr Smith that if he didn't want to play by the rules and say "yes" or "no" that he wouldn't listen to him. Since Mr. Smiths son has Down Syndrome and is in Special Ed but spends part of his day in a first grade classroom the question couldn't be honestly answered with a YES or NO.
Spring Hill Elementary School Principal Roger Vanderhye gave a very interesting revision of history, describing Mr. Smith going to the office and being directed to sign in and take a visitor pass as the office staff being frantic and calling him for help. He described teacher Ms. Richards and staff as being terrified of Mr Smith when in fact they introduced themselves, gave Mr. Smith lunch, encouraged Liam to give his father the fathers-day gift he had made. Somehow a principal who was twice as close to Liam Smith as he was to Ms Richards could make out she was terrified but completely failed to notice that Liam hugged his father, kissed him said he loved him and thanked him for coming to the party. Did Roger Vanderhye forget that Mr. Smith has a tape recording to prove Mr Vanderhye lied under oath or is he counting on the fact that Judge Davis doesn't care he is committing perjury.
Both sides agreed Mr Smith walked to the soccer fields when told to leave and that there are no signs, fence or other indication to support their claim that it was school property instead of a public soccer field. Mr Smith presented a photo of the field with a sign that clearly identified it as "McLean Youth Soccer Field".
The best example of the Kangaroo style Court Judge Davis presided over was with the description of the class, including Mr. Smith and his son, lining up in a single file line to head out to the soccer fields for the three-legged race. This was described by the prosecution as an "evacuation" of the classroom due to Mr. Smith' presence. A close second was when they blamed Mr. Smith for the trauma of the children for being arrested in front of them.
The prosecutor demanded jail time for the offense of showing up for his sons party, following the rules, signing in, being quiet, and trying to show that he still loved his son. Apparently having kept Mr Smith in jail for Fathers-Day-Weekend wasn't enough punishment for trying to be a good parent.
Judge Davis in issuing his ruling lectured Mr. Smith on the importance of following rules and in a sarcastic tone asked Mr. Smith how many days in jail it would take him to learn to follow rules, it was a very ironic commentary given that Judge Davis hadn't followed the rules of Judicial Conduct, that he was refusing to enforce state law 22.1-4.3 and that the school had not followed the law or school policy. Of the participants in the trial, Mr. Smith was the only one who had followed the rules and was sentenced to jail for having done so.
The 180 day suspended jail sentence, imposed by Judge Davis, has been appealed by Mr. Smith to the Fairfax County Circuit Court and the first hearing will be September 6th.
Schools discouraging or preventing non-custodial parents, especially fathers, from participating in their children's school events is a common statewide problem. While state law and school written policy supports access irrespective of visitation, some schools such as Fairfax County Public Schools have an unwritten policy to the contrary and instructs staff to not allow access to non-custodial parents. In fact Mr. Smith was not the only father convicted of trespassing in Judge Davis's courtroom yesterday.
On June 17th, Mr. Smith was arrested and handcuffed in front of his 8 year old son Liam who has Down Syndrome. Mr. Smith was held on a trespassing charge for the entire Fathers Day weekend in solitary confinement at the Fairfax County Jail (ADC-Adult Detention Center) before being released on a $1,000 bond.
Mr. Smith lives in Dublin VA and drove over 4 hours (one way) in order to attend his son's class party. There was no court order that prohibited him from attending the school event, his wife sent him an invitation to the party (per court order) and did not attend herself. Both state law VA CODE 22.1-4.3 and school Regulation 2240.3 require the school to allow non-custodial parents to attend their children's school events. Mr. Smiths son was happy to see him and even stated several times that he loved his father and was glad he came to the party. Mr. Smith was not disruptive and was well received by teachers, parents, and students, yet school principal Roger Vanderhye had Mr. Smith charged with trespassing and arrested in front of his son and other first grade students and their parents.
While spending fathers-day weekend in jail was unpleasant, Mr. Smith is working to make something good out of it. Mr. Smith wants to use the experience to encourage Virginia schools to follow state law and written school policy to allow non-custodial parents access to their children at school in order to make it easier and a more pleasant experience for other non-custodial parents to participate in their children's activities at school.
Mr. Smith wants to make sure nobody else has to go thru the same experience of being arrested and that no other children are left thinking their fathers/mothers didn't attend a school event because they don't love them.
Kangaroo court. Term descriptive of a sham legal proceeding in which a person's rights are totally disregarded and in which the result is a foregone conclusion because of the bias of the court.
- Black's Law Dictionary
More information about the incident including photo's, audio clips, and court orders is available at:
http://www.liamsdad.org/hall_of_shame/fcps/roger_vanderhye.shtml
http://www.liamsdad.org/court_case/court_case.shtml
For more information or interviews, please contact: Wesley Smith 5347 Landrum Rd Apt 1 Dublin VA 24084 (can't afford a phone, but if you send e-mail I could call you back) liamsdad@liamsdad.org http://www.liamsdad.org Mr. Smith was represented by: Office of the Public Defender 4103 Chain Bridge Rd, Suite 500 Fairfax VA 22030 Fairfax County General District Court 4110 Chain Bridge Road Fairfax, Virginia 22030 http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/courts/gendist/homepage.htm Clerk of Court, Room 232, 703-246-2153 Fairfax County School Board 10700 Page Avenue, Fairfax, Virginia 22030 703-246-3646 (voice) 703-278-8648 (fax) schoolboardmembers@fcps.edu Cluster Director -- Denny Dearden 703-204-3811 2334 Gallows Rd., Dunn Loring, VA 22027 cluster1admin@fcps.edu Roger Vanderhye e-mail: Roger.Vanderhye@fcps.edu Spring Hill Elementary 8201 Lewinsville Rd McLean, VA 22102 703-506-3400 703-506-3497 http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/SpringHillES/index.htm