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Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Child Protective Services Department

Jan 14, 2009
By .
Irksome, Law, Politics & Current Events

Remember the little boy who got no cake?  The story would have made a good after school special, about cruelty to those who are different, if the little boy hadn't been named Adolf Hitler Campbell.

Now comes news that little Adolf, and his sisters AryanNation and Honszlynn Hinler Campbell, have been removed from their parents' care by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services.  Why?  The Division isn't saying, but the local sheriff confirms that there are no reports that the children have been neglected or abused.

I assume that Adolf was not removed because his welfare was endangered by an absence of cake.  While I have little sympathy for the parents, I do get a little exercised when bureaucrats step beyond their powers, or step on the rights of the unpopular, even the loathsome, to score a political point.  If there is no evidence that these children have been abused or mistreated, they should be handed back immediately.  As much as it galls me to say this, the Campbells should file a suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for civil rights abuses, and they should be paid handsomely.

Neo-Nazis are so marginalized that they pose no serious threat to national safety or liberty.  A government official who feels entitled to step beyond his powers in the absence of emergency, whether a President or a children's social worker, is a constant threat.

Of course, some assume that because children cannot legally be removed from homes for their parents' political beliefs, "it's very likely the Campbell children were removed for some other additional misfortune, like malnourishment or abuse".  This amounts to an assumption that government actors generally try to follow the law, an assumption I'm unwilling to make.  I find the lack of a criminal report suspicious.  Police are typically involved immediately if there is credible evidence of child abuse or neglect.  Unlike some, I don't trust my government.

Last 5 posts by Patrick Non-White

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5 Comments

  1. Ken  •  Jan 14, 2009 @9:51 am

    I quite agree.

    There is little question in my mind that raising these kids as neo-Nazis sets them up for a lifetime of FAIL, or at least a chunk of their lifetime until they escape their parent's wife-beater-shirted orbit and develop independent thought.

    But that's not the sort of abuse, I think, that the government can address. You and I can come up with a thousand equally credible scenarios of officious bureaucrats concluding that some lifestyle or viewpoint is so inherently wrong and harmful to warrant removal of children. For every bureaucrat who wants to remove the kids from a neo-Nazi home, there's a bureaucrat who wants to remove kids from the home of, say, a loud gay rights advocate, or drug legalization advocate, or anarchist, or whatever.

  2. Ken  •  Jan 14, 2009 @1:44 pm

    Also, your "I don't trust my government" link could easily have gone to the slightly more on-topic destination of a discussion of the appallingly thuggish and lawless behavior of Texas child-protection bureaucrats towards an unpopular religious minority.

    Trust of the government is a curious thing. Some people hit the Chimpy McHalliburton button as hard as they can and would never trust the Bush Administration about anything, yet have a bizarrely placid demeanor towards various elements of federal, state, and local officialdom. Others are the exact opposite. I don't get it.

  3. Patrick  •  Jan 14, 2009 @2:11 pm

    I view the topic, in this case, as the particular oddball group under the microscope. In that sense Weaver, who was condemned in terms reserved for the likes of Timothy McVeigh before Gerry Spence showed the truth (the FBI would never take potshots at white supremacists for no good reason) is a perfect analogy.

  4. PollyChalmers  •  Jan 15, 2009 @3:05 am

    This is an excellent post, and though I find them loathsome as well, I agree with you.

    It's appalling the abuses the DYFS services get away with, while letting real abuse just slide until children die. Four boys starved under their very eyes for years, while they were busy removing children from people they just didn't like. It happens all the time.

  5. KipEsquire  •  Jan 15, 2009 @8:45 am

    Just to clarify, the Sheriff indicated that his office received no reports. That in no way means that child welfare authorities received no reports. If I see a child being abused or neglected, I'm not likely to call the sheriff. (Actually, I'm not likely to call the sheriff, as opposed to the police, for anything).

    Just saying…

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