Remember Adolph Hitler?

A few weeks ago I wrote about the saga of the Campbell family who temporarily lost custody of their three children. I contended that it was another example of abuse of state power and the removed the children based upon the unfortunate and distasteful names they bestowed upon their offspring. I also likened it to the abuse of power that lead to the FLDS raid and the legal, albeit temporary, kidnapping of their children.

The children, Adolph Hitler, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie, were taken, the parents not told of the reason why. The DYFS workers took the children "saying only the children were in danger." No explanation of the type of danger, just "danger".

In defiance of a court order the mother of the children spoke out, saying that her children belong with her and taking her case to the public. This article also quotes the landlord who says he heard the children playing late at night and heard the Campbell's arguing with a relative who threatened to firebomb the house. The landlord also indicated he was planning on evicting the family based upon the threats of the potential fire bomber.

That the pre-school children are up late is subjective and not necessarily a bad thing. And it is certainly not a reason to believe the children were in immediate danger.

And the potential eviction is not a reason to take the children, it is a reason to move the family into public housing if necessary, or refer them to other social service agencies to help them relocate.

That leaves the firebomb threatening relative as the immediate threat. But the only legitimate course of action is to arrest the fire bomber and interrogate them as to the seriousness of the threat. Removing the children is just wrong... and makes no sense allowing the real criminal to remain at large.

So that returns us to the only remaining reason for removing the kids... their names. And the state should not have the power to arbitrarily decide when to seize children and forcibly remove them from their home... especially because they don't like the kids' names.

Additional indicators of bad faith... while en route to court to see if they can get their children they were stopped by the police who addressed him as the Nazi guy. Now the couple displayed judgement as bad as their taste in choosing in names by toting along Granny who was drunk.

So don't get me wrong, I have no sympathy for these people (just the children) and I question their ability to be responsible parents... but that does not make the state's seizure of the children right.