Please support Mr. Steele - wrote on Courthouse in Boston on Human Rights Day

murtarij@yahoo.com

AKidsRight.Org - All the information in our messages if FREE for reuse as you desire.  Subscribe/unsubscribe info at end of this message.
=========================================
Good People & People of Faith,

This message is about Mr. Andrew Steele.  I was able to speak to a
good friend of his, Ms. Mandy Varona <mandyvarona@yahoo.com> in the
Boston area who is familiar with Andrew and his history.  I came away
very impressed by his motivation and methods. This was a preplanned
and thoughtful action his part. I encourage anyone, especially those
in the Boston area, to contact Andrew & Ms. Varona.  They can use help
with arranging media coverage.

We will also be dedicating an area of our web site to his actions
and keeping track of what happens:
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/action_boston

This message contains more details on what happened and also some
corrections to what was initially reported.  We sent out a message on
Mr. Steele yesterday, the initial news report was:

    "An unhappy parent was caught red-handed tagging a courthouse
    after being denied a holiday visit with his sons.  Andrew Steele,
    45, of Tacoma, Wash. used three cans of spray paint to write
    "Steele boys rights denied" in large letters on the Brockton
    District Court in Boston, Mass.... (see links below for full story)

Ms. Varona explained that Andrew had not planned to use regular spray
paint!  He was going to purchase cans "easy remove" paint -- the same
type that is used to spray "Just Married" on cars.

He also prepared a two page "Purpose of Protest Statement" before his
actions on Thursday, Dec. 10 -- which he knew was Human Right's Day,
the start of Human Rights week.  An excerpt from that statement:

PURPOSE OF PROTEST:

    * My son rights have been and continue to be denied them.
    * My rights have been and continue to be denied me.
    * My children's mother's life has been made very difficult.
    * Some family members have been and continue to be harmed.

    FACT: Children need to feel special in Mom's life and Dad's. When
    they have this they do alright. When they are denied this they are
    at greater risk of having troubles.

    Read complete statement at: http://www.AKidsRight.Org/action_boston/purpose.pdf

CURRENT STATUS/CONTACT INFO:

    "Mr. Steele was arraigned in Brockton, MA, court on charges of
    tagging, destruction over $250 and malicious damage. Steele was
    ordered held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail or $500,000 surety. He
    will return to court on Jan. 6." -- from TheBostonChannel.Com

I was told he does not plan on making bail and wishes to continue
his protest as a prisoner.  We encourage everyone to write him at:

Andrew Steele, #53441 
Plymouth House of Corrections 
Housing Unit BS1 
26 Long Pond Rd. 
Plymouth, MA    02360 

He has a good friend in the Boston area, Ms. Mandy Varona, she is
trying to help Andrew get as much publicity as possible. She is very
familiar with his family background and struggles.  She can be
contacted at: Ms. Mandy Varona <mandyvarona@yahoo.com>, 
phone: (206) 313-9888

BACKGROUND:

For many years Andrew worked in construction.  He married and the
couple had four sons (who now range in age from 8-13). In his 40s he
realized he would not be able to work construction for long and wanted
to make a career change and become a Children's Book writer.  He wrote
and published one book (Amazon link below).  His wife was not happy
with this career change and sought divorce.

The divorce began in 2006 and almost immediately the Judge ordered
"supervised visits" and Andrew could only see his four sons every
other weekend, from 10am - 5pm, in a visit supervised by someone
acceptable to his wife.  There had been no type of threatening conduct
on his part.

The divorce decree (available at the web site) was issued in Nov of
2009 and no change was made to the visitation schedule or procedure.
There was NO extra time for any vacations or holidays.  Andrew had
hoped for a return to more normal contact with his children -- this
triggered his plan of action.

BACKGROUND LINKS:

http://www.examiner.com/x-15873-Family-Rights-Examiner~y2009m12d10-Dad-tags-MA-courthouse-in-protest-over-visitation
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/21918865/detail.html
http://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-Boys-Sphere-Andrew-Steele/dp/1857566777
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/action_boston
-- 
                                        John Murtari
_______________________________________________________
Coordinator                              AKidsRight.Org
jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org           A Kid's Right to BOTH parents"
(315) 944-0999(x-211)               http://www.AKidsRight.Org/

=========================================
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/
A Kid's Right to Both Parents!
---
Newsletter mailing list
Newsletter@kids-right.org
http://kids-right.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter