Hello There,
Charlie Gutierrez is a friend of mine, and he has spent the last two years
researching civil law suits.  On June 15th, 1995, Charlie filed a civil
law suit in the U.S. 9th District Court located in San Francisco, 
California.  I do not know how much he is asking for in compensatory
damages, but I do hope he wins.  His Constitutional rights have been
grossly violated, and now it is time for "justice" to prevail.
Charlie, like many other parents here, (and perhaps elsewhere) can only
visit his children when a supervisor is present, AND he is not allowed to
discuss his case, he is not allowed to talk about the past, he is not
allowed to talk about the future, and he is not allowed to ask personal
questions (like: How are things at school?).  
What exactly did Charlie do to deserve this, you must wonder.  Well, the
answer is simple.  He and the children's mother got a divorce many years 
ago.  That is all the reason the courts (at least in this county) need to 
place these kinds of restrictions on a parent.  
I can site at least 50 cases in this county alone where parents are subject 
to this kind of restriction on their freedom of speech with their children.  
These cases have only come to my attention within the last few months.  If
I know of this many, there must be hundreds more that I'm not aware of.
That is a very distressing thought indeed.  
It is not only non-custodial parents in divorce cases that are given these
restrictions, but parents of children in foster care are also subject to
the same restrictions - even when they are court ordered to assist their
children with counseling!  Of course, if the parents don't talk to the 
child about counseling, then the parents are in violation of the court 
order because they are not "helping" their children.  It is a no-win 
situation for the parents.  If the parents decide to talk freely with the
child, then the visits are eliminated.  So what recourse does a parent have?
It appears that the only reasonable recourse is to file a civil law suit
and let the Federal Court decide whether or not the parents rights are
being hampered.  Whether or not monetary compensation is ever received 
is not the issue - parental rights AND family rights are the issue here.
In just a few days another law suit will be filed, ours, and hopefully we
will find that there is still a "justice" system in America, and not
just a legal system.
Charlie has asked me to include his law suit to the VOCAL echo in the hopes
that it will help other people.  He has a great desire to help others
simply because he has a kind heart and he truly cares about people.  He
is an inventor, and the things that he invents are devices to help 
disabled people lead more productive lives.  His work along these lines is
truly amazing.  He has asked that I publish his number so that anyone who
has any questions about his law suit may call him and he will do whatever
he can to help.  I am not sure that he knows how often he may be called 
upon for help, but I do know this, his help will be freely given.  Please
feel free to contact him if you think he could be of help to you in a
civil suit that you may wish to pursue.  
His address and phone number:                                 
                 Charlie Gutierrez
                 137 Wilbur Avenue #30
                 Antioch, California 94509
                 (510) 706-1050
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