Yes, Kelly, they actually can. They can also throw his parents in jail. Since he is a minor, they are legally responsible for him and it is their responsibility to get him to treatment.

Now, if socail services and judges would also take such care for children who are drug addicts and force those parents to get their children treatment and throw the parents in jail if they don't. Now THAT would be a good use of tax dollars.

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check out my blog: http://anniebananie.wordpress.com

I wish Social Services would concern themselves more with the 13-year old kids in the projects hanging out on street corners and getting shot at 1:30 in the morning. (Actual case from last week in Norfolk. No, none of the adults interviewed were the least bit concerned about WHY the 13-year old was out at 1:30 in the morning.) Oh, but silly me -- they're too busy prosecuting 16-year old terminal cancer patients.

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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-- H. L. Mencken

You're preachin to the choir, babe.

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check out my blog: http://anniebananie.wordpress.com

Isn't that the painful truth.

The problem with the whole juvenile system is the laws reguarding minors are written with the words "In the best intrest of the minor" and too many judges around the country hang on those words in their decisions. *They don't have to state why they are doing what they are doing, just that "in the best interest of the child" this is their decision. *It is how they pass on their beliefs and opinions without stating them.

The problem with this statement is no one has ever defined "best interest". *The courts get to interpret it how they choose. *So what may be good for one may not be good for another. *On the other hand had these parents pulled a different judge this may not have been the decision.

Sorry guys, the juvenile system is a sore topic with me. *I've had to walk through it for the last 18 months because DS decided to sneak out one night and get into trouble. *He got arrested, we share custody of him now with the state, and we have no idea when he will get to come home. *Judge decided he should be placed in a group home as "it was in his best interest". *Judge actually told us that our keeping him grounded so much actually contributed to his sneaking out. *(Hello! *The kid was grounded so much because he was sneaking out all the time after hours.) *What made me the maddest was social services literally tried to come in and take the other 3 kids out of the home too after DS was made state ward. *Fortunately, I held strong to take them or get out of my life. *They left. *Yet where is SS for the teens running the streets in the middle of the night and getting into trouble? *

Sadly these parents and kid have a long road ahead of them. *The courts are so backed up with BS cases that it will take months to get appeals through. *If the child survives the treatment, the courts will hang by their decison and probably force it onto another later down the line, stating "what works for one....", if the child doesn't survive..........well I hope the parents sue the #### out of the state. *

Either way my heart goes out to this family, and all others who have ever had to deal with the courts when it comes to "the childs best interest".

Update as of last night's news:

The young man has said outright that he will NOT report to CHKD as ordered by the court. "Because if you don't have this fundamental right to control what happens to your own body, then you have no rights at all."

His father has said that if they feel the need to jail him because of it, then fine: "I guess I'll go to jail, then."

_

Mommysparkles, you have my sympathies. What you and your family have been going through is a nightmare nobody should have to experience. Our legal system is so broken that I despair of it ever being repaired.

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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-- H. L. Mencken

Good for the kid and good for the family! And where is the ACLU in all of this? Aren't the kid's civil liberties being restricted by the judge's decision?

Mommysparkles, I hope that you get a speedy resolution to your situation. My thoughts are with you.

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check out my blog: http://anniebananie.wordpress.com

The ACLU is rarely where they're needed.

Kid's got ballz. I'll give him that.

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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-- H. L. Mencken

And they are usually where you DON'T need them.

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Debbie

"Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves." --Benjamin Franklin

The latest:

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- A 16-year-old cancer patient is headed to court today seeking to block a judge's order requiring him to report to a hospital for treatment as doctors deem necessary.

A juvenile court judge yesterday denied a request by lawyers for Starchild Abraham Cherrix of Chincoteague and his parents to stay his order pending an appeal in a higher court.

Lawyer John Stepanovich (step-AH'-noh-vitch) also asked the Accomack County Circuit Court to take over the case and grant the stay, and a hearing was set for noon today.

Abraham and his parents will appear at the hearing with their lawyers.

A judge last Friday ordered Abraham to report to Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk by 1 p-m today. The courthouse and hospital are about 80 miles apart.

Stepanovich says the Circuit Court is aware of the time that Abraham is supposed to be at the hospital.

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell yesterday filed a brief in support of the teenager and his family.

Also, see WTKR's story.

I'm glad to see the AG step in here.

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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-- H. L. Mencken