Reviews

 

ONE WOMAN, 14 CHILDREN AND NO HUSBAND

When the information came out that a single woman gave birth to octuplets, I was shocked at the hostility toward Ms. Suleman.

Under our Constitution and civil rights laws, the government nor anyone else can restrict the right of persons, married or single to reproduce. I document this fact in my book Women of Courage: the Rights of Single Mothers and Their Children Inspired by Crystal Chambers a New Rosa Parks. And I cite the leading U.S. Supreme Court decision on the right to reproduce. This right is also protected by the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights.

However, once those children are born, the state has broad powers enumerated in child protection laws to make sure that children are not harmed. And the states have child neglect laws to protect children as well. Parental rights can be terminated when the evidence warrants this.

It is clear from Nadya Suleman’s appearances on Dr. Phil that she was not emotionally equipped to plan for her babies. In fact, she had made no plans at all. No doubt giving birth to eight babies when you only expected one had to be a major shock, and physically she went through tremendous changes.

But Dr. Phil and civil rights attorney Gloria Allred helped Nadya set up a trust for the children so that all funds for them would be supervised by a retired judge, and through Gloria Allred, the Angels in Waiting, a professional child care not-for-profit organization volunteered to provide free nursing and child care for the eight fragile babies.

I was deeply disturbed to find out from Angels in Waiting on the Dr. Phil Show that on one day alone, Nadya did not enter the nursery during twelve hours in the daytime, and she refused to schedule training with the professionals on how to care for and bond with her infants. Even more shocking was the fact that she only entered the nursery when cameras were around.

Dr. Phil was informed and reported that the California Child Welfare Division was monitoring the case, and that nurses from Kaiser Permanente were entering the house every other day. Further Nadya’s attorney announced that she had hired non-English speaking nannies to care for the children. This could be a major problem in language development especially when it appears that Nadya will not be interacting much with those children.

The outpouring of help for those babies and their siblings has been heart warming. Time will tell who will actually raise those children.

Mary Kay Green, attorney at law, and single mother.

 

 

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WOMEN OF COURAGE: The Rights of Single Mothers and Their Children, presents a compelling story, honestly told by my long-time friend, Mary Kay Green, of another battle in the ageless war women have fought for equal protection under the law and freedom from discrimination based on sex. The book documents the case against the Omaha Girls Club by Crystal Chambers, terminated in 1986 from her job as an arts and crafts instructor when she became pregnant out-or-wedlock. Attorney Mary Kay Green took up her case against the Girls Club.

Beyond the substantive and procedural issues presented by the case, the deeper story is how in the nation most praised for its system of government based on law, not men (use of the gender-specific term intended), judicial decisions often are made on the basis of men’s personal biases about what women ought to be--- what we who teach criminal justice and sociology call the Madonna/Whore dichotomy---and their resistance to allowing women to control their own bodies rather than on the basis of hard-fought legal recognition that women are Constitutional persons due every legal protection accorded men. Clearly, not just the Girls Club, but the courts as well, applied a different standard of morality and behavior on women than on men.

Ironically, Crystal Chambers v. Omaha Girls Club, unlike many case in the struggle for women’s civil rights, involves not the right to get an abortion, but the right not to have an abortion or be forced to give up for adoption one’s children born out-or-wedlock.

Beyond a story about law and the legal system’s reinforcing differential moral standards on women, this is a story of political connections and the continuing role of patriarchy and (dare I say it?) racist assumptions and deference to corporate preferences at the expense of respect for individual autonomy and civil rights.

William D. Staley, J.D., Ph.D.

 

Omaha World Herald Newspaper
January 24, 2009

Tracy E. McGinnis, a single pregnant woman, when she was illegally fired by the Omaha Archdiocese. As a single pregnant employee she was protected by three federal laws. They are Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (sex discrimination), the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Section 105(a)(2) of the 1991 Civil Rights Act. Section 105(a)(2) bars the use of the “business necessity” defense in cases where intentional discrimination is alleged. In Ms. McGinnis’ case the Archdiocese claims the business necessity defense of “role model.”

I was the principal attorney for Crystal Chambers (along with Omaha attorney Edward F. Fogarty and DeKalb, Illinois attorney Edward Diedrich) who at the time of her discharge was a 21-year-old, black, single, pregnant arts and crafts instructor in her case against her employer the Omaha Girls Club. The case and its subsequent federal district court trial and appeals lasted from l982 through l988. While the ultimate decision of the appellate courts upheld the trial judge’s determination that the Omaha Girls Club’s racially and sexually discriminatory single pregnancy negative role modeling policy was a legitimate “business necessity” defense. Three Federal 8 th Circuit Appellate Court judges wrote a dissenting opinion that the acts of the Omaha Girls Club and the trial court determination clearly violated the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

I did not stop with the appellate court decision; I sent the trial court decision to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee when Judge Beam (the trial judge) was up for nomination to the 8 th Circuit Court of Appeals. While ultimately Judge Beam was appointed, I received a promise that this intentional discrimination as a “business necessity” defense would be barred by an upcoming amendment to the l964 Civil Rights Act. In l991, after an outrageous U.S. Supreme Court decision on the business necessity defense, Congress passed the l991 Civil Rights Act. Section 105(a)(2) of the act specifically bars the use of the business necessity defense in cases where intentional discrimination is alleged.

Upon the passage of this amendment, I wrote a letter to the director of the Omaha Girls Club and to Warren Buffett, one of their principle contributors, informing them that the Omaha Girls Club’s single pregnancy negative role modeling policy violated the l991 Civil Rights Act. Neither individual responded to my letter; however I subsequently learned that the Girls Club abolished the single pregnancy negative role modeling policy.

The Omaha Girls Club’s grounds for discharge of an instructor until 1991, were single pregnancy, commission of a felony and racial discrimination. This “negative role modeling policy” casted a single pregnant instructor in the same vein as a felon or someone who commits intentional racial discrimination; ironically at the time of Ms. Chambers own litigation the Omaha Girls Club violated its own intentional racial discrimination policy and had no policy on sex discrimination or marital status at all.

Since 1986 nearly 100 law review articles, legal periodical articles and legal treatises have been written about Crystal Chambers’ case. The majority of these writings support Crystal Chambers and her rights under the law. Her case made legal history and continues to be written about.

Like the Omaha Girls Club, the Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha is engaging in illegal acts. Acts covered by the very same laws discussed above. The Archdiocese will more than likely allege that the Catholic Church opposes sex outside of marriage and that being single and pregnant is a violation of their religious teachings as a defense against Ms. McGinnis’ lawsuit. This defense has been defeated in two federal cases out of New York City against two separate Catholic parishes. The single pregnant Catholic School teachers in those cases were successfully represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union and both cases have been highly publicized.

The absolute hypocrisy of Omaha Archdiocese is dumbfounding. They outright oppose abortion but fired a teacher who chose not to have an abortion. This teacher did uphold the doctrines of the Church on the issue of abortion. The Archdiocese in its continued hypocrisy allowed another single pregnant teacher to remain teaching only after she chose to get married versus losing her job. The Archdiocese denied this option to Ms. McGinnis.

I have written a book about Crystal Chambers, case against the Omaha Girls Club entitled: Women of Courage: The Rights of Single Mothers and Their Children Inspired by Crystal Chambers a New Rosa Parks. The book not only discusses Crystal Chambers’ case, but documents the Constitutional and legal rights of children of single parents referred to in the law as “illegitimate” children—twelve U. S. Supreme Court decisions hold that these non-marital children are equal to the children of a marriage for all purposes under the law protected by the Equal Protection Clause of the 14 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The book further discusses the Constitutional and legal rights of single mothers and fathers.

I have an autographed copy of my book for Tracy McGinnis, and I strongly advise the Archbishop to obtain and read my book obtainable through Amazon.com “Mary Kay Green.” See also: www.marykaygreen.com.

During the case, I was given a prophecy from a holy Omaha Catholic priest. After praying silently over me one month before the Chambers’ trial, he spoke these words: “You will speak in a loud voice, the words that you speak will be MINE (God’s), and you will be heard.” The case was covered twice on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered; in Newsweek in an article written by Dave Kotok of the Omaha World Herald and the late federal courts reporter Dave Thompson; it was covered in an article in the March 30, 1986 Sunday New York Times, in the New York Daily News; in In These Times; and Chrystal Chambers and I appeared on The Phil Donahue Show (April 4, 1986); and in 2003 Crystal Chambers and her case were a half hour feature on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner radio talk show. Tom Joyner held Crystal Chambers up as a little known black hero and a woman of courage and he discussed the outrageous trial court decision by Judge C. Arlen Beam.

The Archbishop is not only violating federal and state anti-discrimination laws but he is also violating the laws of God.

 

Mary Kay Green, Attorney at Law, NE 15402, currently residing in Kansas City, MO 816-214-8774, former member of the Omaha City Council.