Is this family court judge unfit?

[cumberlandreds]

I'm not against corporal punishment at all for a child. But this went way overboard. It was abuse,IMO. Seven minutes of that is too much and the way in which he was doing it was more to inflict pain than to correct. I was spanked by hand and with a switch off a tree many times when I was young and it was nothing to this degree. Also 14 is little too old for corporal punishment too. Especially to a girl. You really have to wonder about the dad.

[WMR]

He deserves to have HIS a** kicked. I'd love to see him try to use that belt on me.

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by WMR

He deserves to have HIS a** kicked. I'd love to see him try to use that belt on me.

I was just thinking the same thing.

What a piece of crap human being this is. And he sits in judgment of others.

I was spanked when I was a kid. I'm not against it. This is different. This is a beating, child abuse.

He deserves to go to jail and get his a** kicked every day from inmates who were abused themselves.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by 1990REDS

Just curious if any of the people that think this was ok have seen the full 7 minute version or just the cut up one in the link above. The full video also shows him grabbing her by the throat a couple of minutes in. Honestly I can't comprehend how someone could beat a dog with a leather belt for 7 minutes let alone another human being. Maybe this just brings up bad memories from my own experience with a abusive father, but the full 7 minute video is hard to watch. Actually it kinda ruined my day.

I only saw the short, cut up video. Grabbing a child by the throat, particularly a female? Incredibly over the line (I say a female, because I have personally seen full out fights between teenage sons and their fathers where it has almost been a "him or me" situation and in that case, I would understand such a scenario in terms of just generally protecting ones self). From what I originally watched, I saw something like 10 swats of the belt on the legs. Still a little much for my taste, but there is an incredibly large difference between that and what the full video shows.

[Larry Schuler]

How many belt slaps/minutes of choking should a wife get before it becomes spousal abuse? I know it depends on if you are into old school wife discipline or new school wife discipline.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

I'm not against corporal punishment at all for a child. But this went way overboard. It was abuse,IMO.

Yep. There is a difference between disciplining a child, such as spanking, and what went on here. This was absolutely abuse, and it disgusts me that any parent would do that to a child (regardless of what they may have done). No excuse.

I was spanked by hand and with a switch off a tree many times when I was young and it was nothing to this degree.

We actually got spanked with a wooden paddle. Then along came the hot wheels track. I knew I should have asked for a Slinky instead at Christmas

My Dad wasn't a strict disciplinarian, and when me and my brothers got spanked we deserved it. We definitely weren't angels growing up.

I think the biggest thing with me and my brother's was the "psychological pressure" we had to deal with all day when Mom said "Wait till your Dad gets home!". It kinda ruined your day because of the waiting to 6 PM rolled around.

LOL

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by GAC

I think the biggest thing with me and my brother's was the "psychological pressure" we had to deal with all day when Mom said "Wait till your Dad gets home!". It kinda ruined your day because of the waiting to 6 PM rolled around.

LOL

Yep, with me, I'd much rather take a spanking than have to listen to a lecture from my mother growing up. I remember once when she was paddling me, she was crying and saying "this hurts me more than it hurts you". I told her "then why don't you stop!?!"

Didn't work.

[Unassisted]

The girl in the video now lives here in San Antonio. This happened 7 years ago. Her dad says she held the release of this tape over his head for a portion of that time. She only released it when he quit bankrolling her living expenses and took away her use of a Mercedes he owned. In the meantime, the statute of limitations lapsed, which means no legal action can be taken against him.

Child abuse is illegal in this country, and so is blackmail. There are no heroes in this situation.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by PickOff

I can understand that this beating needs to be investigated to determine if it was legal corporal punishment or illegal abuse. If it is determined to be abuse, then the judge should lose his job, if not then the judge should be retained. Either way, he will likely not get reelected. See the link below for the difference between corporal punishment and abuse.

http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/Arti...ome-abuse.html

It seems to me that his actions on this video would not legally constitute abuse.

Corporal punishment doesn't apply since its not a school setting. Whether the punishment constitutes discipline or abuse would be decided on the physical/emotional harm question if put before a jury. Considering the duration and that this was not an isolated incident, based on statements by daughter, mom and the fact that daughter was aware of potential abuse to set up a camera, i'd say it wouldn't be to hard for a jury to find abuse. People have been convicted of felony abuse and child endangerment for less.

If this judge is a family court judge, his presence on the bench calls into question the legitimacy of the legal system in that jurisdiction, particularly when it comes to abuse cases.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

The girl in the video now lives here in San Antonio. This happened 7 years ago. Her dad says she held the release of this tape over his head for a portion of that time. She only released it when he quit bankrolling her living expenses and took away her use of a Mercedes he owned. In the meantime, the statute of limitations lapsed, which means no legal action can be taken against him.

Child abuse is illegal in this country, and so is blackmail. There are no heroes in this situation.

Of course he's going to say that. CYA.

[redsfandan]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

Corporal punishment doesn't apply since its not a school setting. Whether the punishment constitutes discipline or abuse would be decided on the physical/emotional harm question if put before a jury. Considering the duration and that this was not an isolated incident, based on statements by daughter, mom and the fact that daughter was aware of potential abuse to set up a camera, i'd say it wouldn't be to hard for a jury to find abuse. People have been convicted of felony abuse and child endangerment for less.

If this judge is a family court judge, his presence on the bench calls into question the legitimacy of the legal system in that jurisdiction, particularly when it comes to abuse cases.

I don't think he's currently on the bench. Pretty sure he got a little vacation while the allegations were looked into. While the DA said that he won't be charged criminally (because it was so long ago) it seems that whether he returns to the bench is up in the air. Plus there's the issue of whether this would affect custody of his younger daughter (think she's 10).

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

The girl in the video now lives here in San Antonio. This happened 7 years ago. Her dad says she held the release of this tape over his head for a portion of that time. She only released it when he quit bankrolling her living expenses and took away her use of a Mercedes he owned. In the meantime, the statute of limitations lapsed, which means no legal action can be taken against him.

Child abuse is illegal in this country, and so is blackmail. There are no heroes in this situation.

Gosh, it's hard to imagine how she might turn out twisted after the stellar upbringing she enjoyed.

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

The girl in the video now lives here in San Antonio. This happened 7 years ago. Her dad says she held the release of this tape over his head for a portion of that time. She only released it when he quit bankrolling her living expenses and took away her use of a Mercedes he owned. In the meantime, the statute of limitations lapsed, which means no legal action can be taken against him.

Child abuse is illegal in this country, and so is blackmail. There are no heroes in this situation.

I'd say she's owed a hell of a lot more than some money and use of a car for having gone through that. Sounds to me like he got off cheap, he should have ended up in jail.

[The Operator]

Wow. I was spanked as a child and I'm perfectly okay with it as a form of punishment, but I don't see how anyone can watch that video and not see it for what it is: a savage beating.

Here's to hoping he never works in the legal system again unless it's stamping license plates in prison. Guys like that are truly the scum of the earth.

[Rojo]

Originally Posted by George Anderson

He might of seemed a little over the top but in todays day and age when poor behavior is ignored by parents it is kinda nice to see a parent correct a child as opposed to ignoring it and flipping through the channels.

Yeah, that was real "nice". The kids you see "acting up" in public. Most of them are probably walloped at home.