Karen Coates Checks In

Many of you old-timers from the site will remember the Amy Joan Schneider (AJS) saga. Feel free to scan the archives, but the Reader's Digest version of the story goes like this: a young woman loses custody of her children and has trouble getting them back. Ultimately, she charges racism and political pay-offs, which she has been unable to prove. Her case has gone all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court with detours in to federal district court as well.

Over a year ago, I received word from the other side of the story. (AJS response here).

Karen emailed today and expressed some concern with the coverage since we last communicated. She has noted that my coverage has not included commentary, and I will admit that my own convictions on this story has been conflicted. So, let me state upfront that I have to treat this story differently than anything else I cover on WMD. I don't know what is best for these children and I thank God I'm not the one who has to decide.

From the WMD Mailbag:

Every judge Amy has ever faced has been "racist" and involved in some type of massive "conspiracy" against her and her family. Do you not see the paranoia and mental illness here? The reason it is still going on is because Amy continues to file, without permission of the court (which is what resulted in the direct civil contempt charges against her). She has been under a court order in the Macon County case since February 2004 to stop filing new petitions without permission of the court. She is now also under court order in U.S. District Court to bar future filings without permission of the court. Judges don't do this because they are being paid off or because of membership to a political party. They do it based on the court record. And we have 100% agreement with every judge that has ever seen this case that these kids do not belong with their biological mother.

Amy doesn't have her two oldest children now for one simple reason: the history of the case. She abandoned them in 1990 when they were toddlers of 30 and 11 months old. She ignored them for 5 years. She lost parental control of them officially in court in 1995. She ignored them for 7 more years. By then they were both teenagers with whom she had never had any relationship. Even after she began filing in court, she never made any attempt to establish an on-going relationship with them. She verbally harassed and physically fought with them during court-ordered visitation, which resulted in suspended visitation. And she refuses to accept the outcome and end litigation. She is the one using the system to punish her own children. Kaela will be 18 in June. Josh will be 17 in October. They don't want to live with her, or for that matter, have anything to do with her. If you were in their shoes, you'd feel the same way. They are practically adults, and she still has no respect for their wishes or concern for their feelings.

The IL case is back in Judge Webber's court because Amy lost all her (frivilous) appeals, accusing the judges of conspiracy and racism. She lost because her accusations were totally false. There is not other reason.

Later in the email, Karen makes a point that I must confess I agree with... If Amy's case were true; that there is a grand conspiracy of racist, greedy lawyers and judges in Illinois, the national media would have picked the story up by now. In the two years I've covered this case, I have been contacted a couple of times by media professionals and once they get the details of the story, they disappear. Does that mean that after they run down the details, there is something that I have not been privy to? I must admit, I have direct access to a good deal of the documentation and the principals, and I still don't feel like I know enough...and I have come to the conclusion that I probably never will.

AJS continues her fight. The two children will both be 18 next year... And I don't understand the continued struggle as the children would be free to make their own decisions when they are legal adults. There are plenty of theories why this case is still going on...both sides have their reasons...

Me? I just have to look at this case through the eyes of the children. While my situation is different from theirs, I too came from a broken family. My parents divorced and I wanted nothing more than to understand what happened and to learn to live with it. I still have those feelings to this day and I'm in my 30's... What are these kids going to remember about their mother and guardians? Only time will tell, but this story does have a deadline...and it is only a year away... The children, on the other hand, will have to live with this forever.

I don't condemn anybody for this. If I were placed in these circumstances, I don't know what I'd do... The facts are what they are, though. And in the end, truth is what will prevail. So long as the truth is free, all will be made right...