Court rules in best interests of the child…
A sample of cases handled by Legal Aid of North Carolina
[NOTE: This is an actual case submitted by an attorney from the Legal Aid of North Carolina office in, Sylva, NC.]
The mother of a three-year-old boy felt strongly that visitation
with her child’s father in prison would not be in the best interest
of her son. When the father filed a case for visitation rights, the
mother contacted the Legal Aid of North Carolina office in Sylva, NC
for assistance.
The mother and the father had been married for three years, but had
separated. When the mother had started dating, the father had assaulted
the mother’s boyfriend at the mother’s house with the boy present in
the house. The father had been arrested and convicted of shooting and
attempting to kill the mother’s boyfriend. After the assault, the mother
and father had been divorced.
On one occasion, the mother had taken the child to visit the father
at the medium-security prison, but afterwards the child had nightmares,
was fussy, and did not eat on his regular schedule. The mother, therefore,
did not want the son to continue to visit the father in prison primarily
because of the potential ill effects on the child. The boy has a kidney
disease and takes medicine two times each day. Also, the drive to the
prison took approximately six and one-half hours, and she felt that
the long drive was not good for her child.
At Court, the Legal Aid attorney presented additional information on
prison visitation rules: (1) visits at the prison take place in a room
with prison guards; and (2) each visitor who goes to the prison is searched
before each visit at the prison. The Legal Aid attorney also asked
the mother to give her personal testimony regarding the prior visit.
Although the father’s mother, a well-respected business woman, testified
that she would take the child to the visits at the prison, the Legal
Aid attorney reminded the Court of the lengthy drive involved
with each visits and the potential harmful effects on the young boy.
The Court ruled that the father would not have contact visits with his
child while he was in prison. The Judge stated that "under the present
circumstances and the father’s present environment prison, that it is
not in the best interests of the child that the father have prison contact
visits with the child."
After the Court ruling, the Legal Aid attorney noted: "I believe
that probably the overriding factor for the ruling may have been that
the father had tried to kill the mother’s boyfriend with the child in
close proximity and no regard for the physical safety or mental status
of the child. Domestic violence typically has long-term detrimental
effects, and the prison setting just reinforces that. Fortunately, Legal
Services was available to help this mother and her child in Court, and
the Court ruled in favor of the child."
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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.