The Sean Goldman Case: “Heartbreaking and Disgraceful”
Jun 3rd, 2009 | 21 responses
Yesterday, we reported that a Brazilian federal judge had ordered that 9-year-old Sean Goldman, who was abducted by his Brazilian mother four years ago and taken to Brazil, be released today.
Sean Goldman was to be taken today by 2 p.m. to the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro to be reunited with his father, David Goldman, and returned to the United States.
It would have been the happy and honorable ending to a four year heart rending struggle by David Goldman to get his son back from those who have been keeping him against every legal, civilized, and moral rule and norm: the family of his former wife and her second husband, a lawyer from a prominent and powerful family in Brazil.
But it was not to be.
This morning, the New York Times reports:
One day after a federal judge here ordered that a 9-year-old boy who was abducted by his Brazilian mother be returned to his American father, a Supreme Court justice stayed the order, extending a custody case that has reached the highest levels of the Obama administration and caused tension between Brazil and the United States.
Judge Rafael Pereira Pinto had ruled Monday that the child, Sean Goldman, be turned over to United States Consulate officials here by Wednesday afternoon. The consulate was to turn the child over to his father, David Goldman, who lives in New Jersey.
The boy’s father who has been in Rio to be reunited with his son, called the Supreme Court stay “heartbreaking and disgraceful,” according to the Times.
And it is heartbreaking, disgraceful and disgusting.
The United States has condemned Brazil’s handling of the case as a violation of the Hague Abduction Convention.
The New York Times:
The State Department has cited Brazil for noncompliance with the abduction treaty, saying there are about 50 unresolved cases involving children who were taken there from the United States. “Brazil needs to define itself as either a nation of laws or a nation that harbors and protects child abductors,” said Bernard Aronson, a former United States assistant secretary of state for Latin America who is assisting Mr. Goldman.
Even Brazil’s own president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has said that Brazil should respect the treaty
This morning, on NBC Today’s show, talking from Rio de Janeiro, a teary-eyed and visibly upset David Goldman thanked all those who have been supportive of his plight and said that he will never give up on getting his son back.
We are with you David.
opinions powered by SendLove.to
21 Responses to “The Sean Goldman Case: “Heartbreaking and Disgraceful””
“The United States has condemned Brazil’s handling of the case as a violation of the Hague Abduction Convention”
***********
Isn't it funny how we can trace back so many many problems to Dick Cheney?
Wow, we really have a position of strength to bargain with when it comes to integrity and the Hague decrees on humane handling of detained foreigners……
*sigh*…
Dorian,
I can’t understand what you are complaining about.
The Hague Abduction Convention is a living document. Apparently, the Supreme Court of Brazil has Justices who have a wealth of Latina experiences to draw on so that they can apply empathy to their decision.
Why follow the law when the desired outcome dictates something different?
Isn’t this type of decision exactly what the left is advocating for here?
Silhouette:
I realize that we may not be dealing “from a position of strength” because of past actions by previous adminitsrations.
But perhaps, the present administration, or the future Brazilian administration might have better suceess.
What Silhouette said was exactly what I thought when I read this post. Specifically, when I read this:
I got a sick feeling in my stomach — not because what Aronson said is not absolutely correct and true, but because a statement like that, calling for another country to follow the rule of law, carries SO much less force today than it did eight years ago.
The ripples of harm caused to every aspect of our country's national interests because of the Bush administration's policies for the past eight years continue to spread out. It's going to be affecting us for decades upon decades to come.
It's truly horrifying.
H E L L O !
An activist Supreme Court ignores established law to issue a ruling that produces the outcome they want for compassionate reasons and leftists complain about it.
Am I the only one who finds this incredibly ironic?
Yes, Cheney et al have slaughtered our ability to negotiate the safe return of any americans abroad. D.E, as long as Gitmo is open and running and the perps remain unprosecuted, the US is de facto, presently, as I write this, a torturing nation. Abetting a crime by refusing to prosecute its suspects, even under mountains of new evidence mandating prosecution, is absolutely nothing but accessory after-the-fact.
Sil — as long as Gitmo is open and running and the perps remain unprosecuted, the US is de facto, presently, as I write this, a torturing nation.
Well, it doesn't appear that this is going to change anytime soon according to the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll:
By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn't be closed. By more than 3-1, they oppose moving some of the accused terrorists housed there to prisons in their own states.
I agree, Silhouette, that we have made mistakes and perhaps are now paying for them.
However, civilized nations–and Brazil claims to be one—should be able to recognize, acknowledge and reciprocate to the fact that changes are being made, albeit slowly.
Moreover, kidnapping of an innocent child should not be compared to torture of enemy combatants.
jwest, “An activist Supreme Court ignores established law to issue a ruling that produces the outcome they want for compassionate reasons and leftists complain about it.”
Oh puhleeze. Sean is an American citizen who was kidnapped, taken to another country and is being kept away from his family- his father (as you know his mother is dead).
Please tell me what is compassionate (your word) in that.
Of course the Republicans who ran as “compassionate conservatives” during the 2000 election went on to torture people, imprison people without trial, trample the US Constitution, etc. So perhaps a better question would be, “How do you define compassionate?”
If you had children who were kidnapped, taken to another country and that other country would not return them to you, then I would hope that you, as a parent, would want your children back. But perhaps not.
Jwest is just bitter that there are very few people left in this country that are still buying into the right wing fear mongering that he seems to have bought into. Jwest – after 8 years of Obama, you will have 8 years of Hillary.
Sleep tight.
bsully77: LOL! Yes, we have Hillary to make the GOP turn in their grave….
“Please tell me what is compassionate (your word) in that.”
Wow, when leftists miss a point, they miss it by a mile.
OK, let me walk you through this one. A Brazilian national marries a brutish American, they have a child and after trying to make the marriage work, the battered woman escapes with her child back to the loving arms of her family in Brazil. She meets a Brazilian man who naturally treats her and the child wonderfully. All is happy until she dies during childbirth.
Now, the evil American appears and wants “his” child back. Realistically, the boy has only known his Brazilian father and family. What crueler deed could be done to this child than to rip him from his loving family’s arms directly after the death of his mother, to send him with a man he does not know to a country he is a stranger in?
Here comes the point – Try not to miss it this time.
The scenario above may not be the true story, but it’s the perspective of the Brazilian Supreme Court. Compassion (empathy) on their part would demand that the best interests of the child would best be served by leaving the boy in his loving home and familiar surroundings.
The law, however, demands the boy go with his biological father.
Conservatives would argue that the law should be followed. Leftists would (and do in a number of cases) argue that the Justices should use empathy, ignore the law and rule the way their hearts tell them.
The irony is that now a flaming leftist (Dorian), who would argue night and day that activist judges on our Supreme Court are a good and necessary thing, is crying about how unjust a ruling like this is.
Get it?
Gee….I seem to recall something that sounds awfully similar to this situation that many conservatives absolutely decried:
Elian Gonzalez
There are even some theories that this was one of the reasons that Gore lost Florida in 2000.
Just to refresh:
- Elian kidnapped by his mother from Cuba (I'm not much of a Cuba fan, Elian's kidnapping is a fact, don't bother calling me a communist, leftist, whatever other label you'd like to throw around)
- Elian's mother dies, relatives in Florida want to keep him, his father wants him back in Cuba
- Clinton administration upholds the rule of law by ordering Elian returned to his father, which he was.
- Many conservatives in Miami furious that no exception was made in Elian's case.
So conservatives such as jwest claim that they'd want the rule of law enforced in this case but not for Elian…interesting.
Anna,
Let me get this straight.
From my comment concerning the irony of the left complaining about an empathic Supreme Court bending established law (in the midst of the Sotomayor controversy),
your retort is to throw up Elian Gonzales?
How was Elian relevant to Supreme Court exercising “compassion” or “empathy” to arrive at a decision they wanted rather than the one outlined by settled law?
Yes, there were some Cuban American republicans who were upset with Janet Reno, her decision and her methods, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the salient point I was making.
Come on people, this shouldn’t be that hard.
Likewise, my comment was concerning the irony of the right only being interested in rule of law when it's “convenient”. The Elian Gonzales events seemed an apropos comparison since it was a similar situation. Many on the right wanted the law bent for Elian to keep him away from those nasty communists in Cuba, irregardless of the fact that he was born there and was kidnapped.
There is irony on both sides…almost sounds like common ground to me.
jwest, “The scenario above may not be the true story, but it’s the perspective of the Brazilian Supreme Court. Compassion (empathy) on their part would demand that the best interests of the child would best be served by leaving the boy in his loving home and familiar surroundings.”
I swear you make me want to throw up. At least you acknowledge that you're mixing apples and oranges.
The kidnappers that the boy has been living with the last couple of years are very wealthy and connected. The Brazilian Supreme Court is practicing empathy as much as Dick Cheney practiced “compassionate conservatism” when he locked up the detainees in Gitmo (many of whom ARE innocent), threw away the key and instituted the return to the barbaric act of torture.
If you're so convinced that conservatives believe in following the law, then I need point you no further than the conservatives' trashing of the Constitution, domestic and international law to do what they wanted. And lied to the US public.
Sean's father, as far as I can tell, is loving and he deserves to be with his son, who was kidnapped from him. It doesn't matter if the kidnapping was done one day ago or ten years ago. You seem to use the passage of time as a reason why we should not obey the law and treaties. When in fact this case has been going on for years. Are you saying that is the solution to everything? That if the criminals obstruct and throw up roadblocks to justice that they will always win out if they just wait long enough?
The humans are discusting.
I heard and saw on CNN last week, the woman from Columbus- Ohio saying on email to CNN comments that Brazil is a disgrace, and about America? Recession? Somebody knows what means recession? Americans are paying and they think that they are still on top. If don't take shower, they stink, here in America has all disease too. Americans are not supreme. Americans are not superiors. Wake up! All humans are nothing, including americans. Did I do clear? Laws are not rights anyways, because I am here in America and a lot injustice americans and law did to me and I came to this country legal, I pay taxes. On CNN shows sensacional pictures about the father and the son. They are trying to hook you up and show that the brazilian woman was wrong, but who else was on bedroom with David Goldman and his ex- wife? Nobody! Are you sure David Goldman is amazing? Between them, inside the relationship, nobody knows nothing. I just think America wants to show power and control the world. Big case or not, they want to show off. I have seeing alot hypocrisy here. Americans are cold people. Everything here involve money, power, arrogancy. No wonder why the world hate America. And with these type of comments that americans people say, make more and more the world hate America.
All you who politicize this should be ashamed. Brazil is very anti-American because her people have been schooled to believe that all of their problems are caused by Americans. You need only listen to the bigoted comments of Lula to see how warped mainstream Brazil has become. You know the drill. Just as you have been schooled to believe that conservatives are the problem here and the that liberalism has no downside. The truth is that Obama policies have failed everywhere they have been tried. BY THE WAY, this has nothing to do with Dick Cheney or Bush. They both have more decency in their little finger than Obama has in his whole body. Obama lies every time he opens his mouth. In addition he is not very smart. He constantly makes gaffes that make Bush's verbal gaffes look mild. Who could forget Obama's stupid “cinco de cuatro” remark. This from a man who represented thousands of Mexican-Americans in Chicago. The fact of the matter is that US courts screw up things all the time. But they got the Elian Gonzalez case right. It does not matter if the father is North Korean. THE FATHER IS THE FATHER, not this elite attorney in Brazil and his well connected family.
Errr….
1-) I live in Brazil.
2-) In fact, many Americans are well liked here. There is the habit among the middle classes of bashing the United States, but it´s more a discourse than anything else. I once saw an American(That spoke a perfect Portuguese) that was very well respected.
3-) Lula has the bad habit of exaggerating when he talks about his poor roots, but I don´t think that he hates the US.
4-) I find this episode outrageous, and I´m tired of our Judiciary. The Judiciary, that invents law, that´s the problem. The Chief Justice of the current Supreme Court would be under arrest in the US.
5-) Yes, if you make a search in Portuguese about Sean will see a majority of blog posts SUPPORTING David Goldman.
The reality is that in Brazil the law is defined by money and power… no laws count when money is involved. Welcome to the bottom of the third world…