Attn: Burke

Please make a decision on case #……… to be heard by the Panel of the Appellate Court.
I realize that it can be hard to make decisions that effect the outcome of a child’s life. By delaying the
inevitable, which would be James and Barbara and I comfortably being a family unit again, you are showing me that you do not care. You have enough evidence in our case file to show beyond a reasonable doubt that delaying this case even further is a bad judgment. I have studied Family Court. I have been involved in Family court for twice as long as you have. I have been a father longer than you have. Odds are ( based on daily work schedules), I have spent more time with my children than you have spent with yours. I am friends with your colleges, both past and present. My personal observation is that you do not want to be a Family Court Judge, If I am mistaken and have offended you, feel free to make a decision based on your emotional dislike of my perspective on the reality of the situation here.

I understand that life does not always work out the way we planned, If it were not for the actions of others, I would be the Instructor of St. Cloud prisons Barbering Program and cutting hair on Saturday’s at my Shop. This is a big deal breaker in the fate of my life, I once again have to overcome the adversities of life, which I will, as I have always done.

Now, you have concern for how someone in my situation might handle being forced to be on the sidelines as my son’s life is dangled helplessly right in front of me. It is almost like you expect some kind of Anger driven fit to be shown by me, this will not be done.

I have plans to work with our legislators to make real change in the way that Family court deals with “ the child’s best interest “. Many before me have attempted to do this, some for good, and some for bad. I will be effective in changing the system standards in your life time, I am disgusted with the ignorance shown overall and I am not alone. Make a decision that best suits the child please, The GAL you have chosen to be an expert witness to the accounts of this case is not qualified to work in her previous county “ Carver “, why would there be any reason to think that she is Qualified to work in yours. My excitement and honor to have this case handled by one of the greatest Judges to ever set foot in an American Court room is gone. Thank you for your time, Kevin James Ayers.

Although WATCH does not have direct interaction with victims or their families, we have often been told, via the victim’s advocate or a letter to our office, that the victim was grateful to see the red clipboard, often the only non-court affiliated person in the courtroom, just to know that one person heard her story. Many victims, and defendants, sadly, go through their hearings with no family support, no friends.
One person’s threat is another person’s comfort. Eye of the beholder, and all that.

The “garish” color discussion puts me in mind of a scene from the movie “Meet the Parents.”

Robert DeNiro, the intimidating father of Ben Stiller’s girlfriend, asks his prospective son-in-law if he picked out the color of the green rental car that he procured at the airport. Stiller tells him that the guy at the counter made the color selection. DeNiro then tells Stiller that studies have shown that geniuses tend to select green cars. When Stiller smiles at the comment, DeNiro immediately reminds him, “but you didn’t pick it out.”

When getting started we were advised by those in the system, including several judges, that our volunteers should have identifying badges so that every one in the courtroom would know when an observer was there, lest we be perceived as sneaky and secretive.

We were advised by MADD, the organization on which WATCH is modeled, not to use badges or anything with the word WATCH on it, lest we be perceived as trying to influence a jury.

We decided on a simple Masonite clipboard, something our volunteers could use to hold their notes. A volunteer offered to to go look for the best deal on clipboards she could find.

A few hours later she called. She couldn’t find any wood ones, did we want neon pink or dark red plastic? There were more of the red ones. That, and the fact that I don’t like pink, made red the obvious choice.

We never considered it a symbol, we saw it as a courtesy to those working in the courts, something they had requested so they wouldn’t wonder about every stranger sitting in the courtroom. Over the years the clipboard has evolved to become our logo — after all, the work we do doesn’t give us many options — but to say that we chose it as a symbol, or brandish it in the courtroom as a threat, is just wrong.

In fact, we’ve discovered that many of our volunteers feel intimidated by the imposing ambience of the courtroom, and are uncomfortable entering it without a clipboard, something they see as their credential.

It’s an ironic twist, or perhaps a tribute to the credibility that WATCH has built over the last 15 years, that two judges, the most powerful people in the courtroom, would report feeling intimidated by the sight of a volunteer toting a bargain red clipboard. As M. Kessler notes, sometimes a clipboard is just a clipboard.

Why have colored clipboards at all, if they aren’t intended to communicate a message? If the color of the clipboards doesn’t matter, then use normal wood grain ones.

And why would Judge Nordby admit he is so easily distracted by the by the “flash” of the “garish” red clipboard, which he calls an “ingenious device?”

A lot of garish adjectives here to make a clipboard seem, in a flash, to be more ingenious than it really is. Sometimes a clipboard is just a clipboard.

The courtroom is not a place for observers to communicate with the each other nor the litigants nor the bench. The only reason the clipboard is red is to communicate something.

This is a very sympathetic cause, but rules are rules.