Week of March 1, 2009

3.   Coalition Update:  At yesterday's (3/4/09) hearing of the MA Governor's
Council, the Fatherhood Coalition asked members to reject Atty. Laurie
MacLeod to become a judge on the District Court.  Joe Ureneck, Coalition
Chairman, was on hand to speak and present a letter (see it here) sent March
3 to each member:

TO:  Governor’s Council
       Massachusetts State House
       Boston, MA

RE: Nomination of Atty. Laurie MacLeod to the Palmer District Court

Dear Councilors,

The Fatherhood Coalition is a non-profit volunteer organization of men and
women providing advocacy for fatherhood.

The Coalition requests that the Council reject the nomination of Atty.
MacLeod to the Palmer District Court.

Our concern regarding this nomination is not a matter of the nominee’s
personal integrity or competency.  Indeed, we assume that Atty. MacLeod,
like all nominees that come before the Council, is of the highest moral and
ethical standards.

Rather, we take exception to her former employment history as a domestic
violence prosecutor and how this history will be perceived by fathers and
men who come before her as a judge.

There is no question on behalf of reasoned members of the legal community
that the domestic violence system in Massachusetts is seriously flawed in
both law and procedure.  The victims of this travesty lose children, homes,
employment and financial security.  They are predominately men.

We believe the elevation to a judgeship of any individual who has actively
engaged in a process which has created such injustice and hardship to be
inappropriate.

We respectfully ask therefore that you reject the nomination of Atty.
MacLeod to the Palmer District Court.

Joseph Ureneck, Chairman
The Fatherhood Coalition
1-857-350-0575

Note:  Joe U. spoke for 20 minutes, and answered questions on behalf of the
Coalition's opposition to MacLeod.  If you'd call help, please contact the
councilors by phone (e-mail for Foley) to encourage them to vote 'no' on
MacLeod.  Call the one closest to where you live, and then the others
while/if you're on a roll:

Carole Fiola, Fall River; 1-508-674-9200

Kelly Timilty, Roslindale; 1-617-325-6569

Marilyn Devaney, Watertown; 1-617-923-0778

Chris Iannella, Boston; 1-617-227-1538

Mary-Ellen Manning, Peabody; 1-978-531-6363

Michael Callahan, Medford; 1-781-393-9890

Thomas Foley, Worcester; tjfoley512@charter.net

The eighth councilor, Tom Merrigan, has committed his vote to MacLeod, so do
not bother to call.  Merrigan also on the hot seat in this interview with
Howie Carr regarding the Garry Igne nomination because Igne said he would
“to maximize the protection of the public”:
http://audio.wrko.com/m/audio/21935255/howie_interviews_tom_merrigan.htm?q=merrigan&index=1&seek=

Week of February 2, 2009 Joe has this report to send us: