A Grandfather on the Rollercoaster of CPS

by John Smith and Phil Adams/PNN

When I first met John Smith he was at our old office at Market street. Another correspondent at POOR told me had a story to tell. John told me that his reason behind telling me his story was that he just wanted people to know that he is being targeted by the court system, and unfortunately he isn�t the only one. So we took a walk down Market street. It was around 8 om but the night was still warm. John was in his work clothes, paint still under his fingernails, but his head still head held high. The sincerity in his voice and the truth in his eyes was a contrast to the department stores, consumers and car headlights we passed. The truth has more in common with the guy pissing on the sidewalk because he can�t use the pay to piss public restroom than the Virgin Mobile store and on foot patrol officers that stare at us. This is John�s story.

John Smith is honest hard working elder of African descent who loves his granddaughter. He is also an example of how ineffective our legal structure can be. John however still believes in the system even though it is currently letting him down. He loves his granddaughter Teresa and just wants what�s best for her.

In the past John served time for a felony charge. In 1976 he go caught up on a drug charge served his time and was released. After he served his sentence he was given a year of probation. Right now, he works construction and lives in a house in San Francisco with his sons.

John�s granddaughter Teresa is nine years old. She lived with John between ages 1 though 6 and now she lives with her mother and step-father. In the past when he was able to see Teresa she would say she didn�t like to stay with her mother because her step father treated her worse than her half sister. So John had Teresa stay with him. He had her enrolled in school, playing in band and was an active participant at the community at the school. This all changed when Teresa�s mother, who was not known by the school at all picked her up from school one day.

At the same time John�s daughter (Teresa�s mother) filed a restraining order against him claiming that he kidnapped his own granddaughter. This restraining order put John on a roller coaster ride through the San Francisco legal system that he�s still going through today.

The restraining order went to court but was dropped because Teresa�s mother never appeared at any of the hearings. However, it still went to criminal court because for some reason it was seen as a violation of John�s probation. John was put on probation again recently because his ex-wife was caught with weapons and said they were his. John has been separated from his wife for over four years now and those charges were also dropped because John had never seen or handled those weapons before. What I don�t understand is how a restraining order is a violation of probation for a crime that he was never convicted of? Anyway, he spent the night in jail and was released the next day for no reason.

John�s status as being once incarcerated is the reason why the court system and the Police treat him this way. As far as the legal system is concerned John is guilty they just need proof. It�s been over 30 years since his drug offense but he still labeled as a criminal.

What John cares about the most is Teresa. John�s daughter was declared an unfit mother after her third child died as an infant from influenza. So he wants to get custody of Teresa before anything can happen and it�s already obvious she is suffering abuse from her step father. However with the way the courts treat John, it doesn�t seem likely.