Tag Archives: California Open

JOIN CAL OPEN AND ME IN SACRAMENTO ON THURSDAY

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If you’re in the Sacramento area on Thursday (March 18) and support unrestricted obc please join Jean, Nina, me, and other CalOpen and Bastard Nation folks at P.F. Chang’s. Go to this link and hit the RSVP button. California adult adoptees and their supporters are speaking in a seasoned voice through Cal Open in the Capitol Halls and Committee Chambers. We hold the accurate historical background of record sealing and understand California’s rights on privacy. Our position is clear: California Adult Adoptees have a right to the records of their own births, second to none. Cal Open Special SessionThursday, March 18th, 20105 PM – 7 PMSacramento WelcomingMarley Greiner, Executive DirectorBastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization California’s Code Challenges and Case Precedent on PrivacyHistorical Evidence Incremental Steps to Openness FailsPresented by Nina A. Greeley, Esq.PF Chang China Bistro1530 J Street, SacramentoValet parking available. FREE street parking, after 6 PM LEARN MORE and RSVP to secure your seat early! 2010 Legislative Session Commenced January 4thAB 372 “will not be pursued”, according to author Assemblymember Fiona Ma’s Capitol Office.Cal Open is monitoring newly introduced adoption related bills for the 2010 session. Status of Assembly Bill 372AB 372 is now an INACTIVE bill.This status Continue Reading →

GOOD NEWS: CAL AND JERSEY BAD BILLS DIE

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For once we have some good news! California AB 372 is officially dead! The January 22 deadline for it to pass out of committee and on to the Senate floor went by with no action. Although nothing official has come from sponsor Sen Fiona Ma, her office told CalOpen that the bill would “will not be pursued.” Astoundingly, CARE (California Adoption Reform Effort) as of tonight, has not seen fit to announce the demise of their bill on its website. It’s last update is dated May 28, 2009. That’s what we’ve come to expect, though, from fake reformers who scrub their website of their own history and embarrassing documents, dismiss an ideology of rights. embracing instead “non-emotional” wishes and desires”, (whatever that means), and posit that adoptees need to be “navigated by professionals” rather than ourselves. Veteran grassroots bastard activists who have actually gotten clean bills passed were ordered to take a hike by the dilettantes of CARE. We’re sure CARE, like herpes, will come back. Jean Strauss and CARE are all over the March 18-21 AAC conference in Sacramento. CalOpen and Bastard Nation continue to hold the line in California. There is much work to be done there, and Continue Reading →

CALOPEN’S NO VETO RESOLUTION

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In case you missed it, here is California Open’s No Veto Resolution. Please join CalOpen. It won’t cost you a dime or your dignity! OUR PROMISE TO YOU WE LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND! NO SELL-OUT! NO RESTRICTION! NO COMPROMISE! CAL OPEN’S NO VETO RESOLUTION WHEREAS we recognize that disclosure and contact vetoes, mandatory intermediaries and registry provisions are an affront to the dignity of adopted persons in California and a violation of their right to due process and equal treatment under the law, WHEREAS there has been a demonstrable negative effect on the ability to pass unconditional open records in other states that have passed veto legislation and/or any provisions that are less than unconditional access on demand by the adult adoptee, WHEREAS our primary goal is to restore the unrestricted right of adult adoptees in California to be treated as equal citizens under the law, WE HEREBY DECLARE that under no circumstances will we accept the addition of a disclosure veto, contact veto, intermediary or registry provisions, or any conditional provision to our legislation that would be less than unconditional access for adult adoptees to the original record of their birth. All legislative authors, sponsors, members, and coalition partners Continue Reading →

CALIFORNIA: I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! BAD BILL HITS THE BOARDS!

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CARE’s baited breath “want and desire bill, “AB 372, was introduced in the California Legislature on February 23. Sen. Fiona Ma is the sponsor. CARE has not disappointed us, bringing forward a bad bill. No, excuse me. I’m wrong. Not bad. Atrocious. OVER UNDER SIDEWAYS DOWNThough advertised as an “open records bill,” as written now, it will do nothing to restore the right of Cal adoptees to their own birth records. It will, in fact, if passed, probably make it more difficult to retrieve an obc than it already is. To assure us illiterates (and I bet that includes its own members who hit the roof when they saw the bill), that we just don’t “understand” what the bill really says, CARE posted a disclaimer on its website a few hours ago: (a word about reading a bill: Legislative language, and the language of statutes, can be confusing. The language is based upon existing legal code which encompasses thousands of pages that are all interrelated. The chane that we are requesting will allow adult adoptees over the page of 18 access to their original record of birth. The text herein is written by the legislative counsel for the California Assembly Continue Reading →

MORE THOUGHTS ON THE COMING CALIFORNIA FIASCO

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There are a lot of problems with CARE’s proposed access bill in California: elitism, compromise, rejection of rights and grassroots, and its decision to go for a bill in the midst of California’s economic dissolution.After several comments posted in my earlier blog entry regarding the so-called constitutionality issue in records access in California, I intended to a make relatively short comment, but decided that topic and some other thoughts really need a separate entry. Below I discuss the constitutionality issue and make a couple observations on the coming California Fiasco. This is not meant to be a definitive response. My comments are mine only, and do not represent CalOpen, which is perfectly capable of taking care of business itself. WHY DOES CARE BELIEVE THAT AN UNRESTRICTED ACCESS BILL WON’T FLY?The California Adoption Reform Effort (CARE) has shown little inclination to learn the history of past California records access campaigns, organize California adoptees outside the Amen Corner, build long-term relationships with leggies, or learn the lay of the Cal legislature, even with their pricey navigator…er… I mean lobbyist… at the helm. Judging from CARE’s past disinterest in constitutional studies (see BB Church) and its recent lame de facto attempt to acquire Continue Reading →

WE’VE SCREWED UP YOUR STATE, NOW WE’RE COMING TO SCREW UP YOURS: CALIFORNIA ADOPTION REFORM EFFORT–COMMENTS

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A few minutes ago I posted a long blog, We’ve screwed up your state, now we’re coming to screw up yours–California Adoption Reform Effort: if you don’t like compromise, go away. After it was up for a few minutes the entry seemed too long. I have gone back and divided it into two parts: (1`) The Letter and (2) Comments. I have now posted The Letter first, followed by this. I suggest you go below and read the The Letter First. Zen fascists will control you 100% natural You will jog for the master race And always wear the happy face …California Uber Allies. Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys For the past few weeks we’ve been watching the formation of a new “adoption reform” organization in California: California Adoption Reform Effort (CARE). CARE consists of a few Californians, lead by adoptee author/filmmaker Jean Strauss who lives in Washington State and Stephanie Williams, a pricey lobbyist formerly with the Cal Trucking Association. It’s advisory committee is cattle car Who’s Who of mostly deformers, industry hacks, and out-of-staters. According to CARE’s webpage, the organization is “dedicated to providing adult adopted citizens access to a non-certified copy of their original record of birth.” Unfortunately, Continue Reading →

ABANDONING YOUR BABY: "IT’S SUCH A SIMPLE THING TO DO"

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You gotta hand it to the folks in California. When they’re not busy enacting Word of Faith legislation (see “Facts Don’t Matter”), they’re complaining that not enough parents are anonymously handing over their newborns to the state’s at-a-location-near-you baby dump. The reported 33 (or 32) babies in “non-bureaucratic placement” in Los Angeles County since the state’s Safe Haven law went into effect in 2001 isn’t good enough for Safe Haven cheerleader LA County Supervisor Don Knabe (pronounced kuh NAH bee.) Quoted in the March 18, 2005 issue of the Torrance Daily Breeze, Knabe lamented that turning over a baby shouldn’t be a tortured decision for mothers. “It seems like such a simple little thing to do, but it’s such a struggle for these mothers to do this.” Perhaps Mr. Knabe should consider slerking around a fire station in the middle of the night and dropping off one of his kids anonymously. Or better yet, at his age and with California’s new designated dumper law–a grandchild. It would be such a simple gesture for a parent (or grandparent) who cares–and would certainly help with the family budget. If it saves just one…. Happily, help is on the way! The folks at Continue Reading →

FACTS DON’T MATTER….

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…. when it comes to legalized baby abandonment and the California Legislature. On March 15, the California Senate Judiciary Committee met to vote on SB 116,the repeal of the sunset of SB 1368–the state’s Safe Haven law which permits any old anybody (not only parents) to anonymously “legally abandon” an infant 72-hours old or less at hospitals and police and fire stations with no questions asked. If passed, the repeal makes the law permanent. While researching the bill to write testimony Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization learned that the California Department of Social Services is mandated by SB 1368 and by California’s sunset law itself to prepare and present annual reports to the legislature on the use and effectiveness of the Safe Haven program in that state. The reports were mandated into the law specifically for legislative review when the sunset came up so that (gasp!) the legislature could make an informed and educated vote on whether or not to continue the program. As it turns out, CDSS couldn’t be bothered with such a difficult task. Although a report was issued for 2002, unlike many other CDSS reports dealing with adoption and child welfare, it is not available online. Continue Reading →