Hes Deserve Justice

Commercial Appeal, 12/16

Letters to the Editor: Hes deserve justice

 

Regarding your Dec. 11 article "Lawyers offer aid to Hes," I wonder if Circuit Court Judge Robert Childers, who ended the Hes' parental rights after a trial last spring, has looked at the label on his judicial robe. I will bet it says "Made in China."

The Hes were not allowed to see their daughter, Anna Mae, for four months several years ago. The family with whom the Hes left their daughter threatened to call the police if they came back. Since when is this abandonment? The judge said failing to see a child for four months constitutes abandonment in Tennessee. This makes the United States look bad in the eyes of the world.

Jack He works very hard. He thought his child was going to be in foster care, not adoption. I hope there will be justice for the Hes. China is watching this case. Don't think it isn't.

Robert Dean

Memphis

Associated Press

State briefs

Shelby: Universities ask to help in child custody case

Two Tennessee university law clinics and Chicago-based Loyola University have asked to submit briefs in a high-profile child custody case in Memphis.

Lawyers from Vanderbilt University and the University of Memphis want to help analyze state law as a ''friend of the court,'' to clarify parental rights issues in the case of Anna Mae He ?a 5-year-old girl at the center of a custody battle between two couples from Cordova.

Chinese nationals Shaoqiang ''Jack'' He, and his wife, Qin Luo ''Casey,'' gave their daughter to Jerry and Louise Baker when she was an infant.

The financially distressed Hes said their arrangement was temporary, but the Bakers said they were told they could keep the girl until she was grown.

Circuit Judge Robert ''Butch'' Childers terminated the Hes' parental rights after a 10-day trial last spring. He called them unfit and said their legal efforts were a ruse to avoid deportation.

The case raises several legal issues for Memphis' growing immigrant population, said a motion filed by Loyola Child Law Center, Vanderbilt Legal Clinic, the University of Memphis Child Advocacy Clinic and the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services.

''I see this as an opportunity to point out to the court the fundamental principals of the law that ought to be adhered to,'' said Bruce Boyer, director of the Loyola center.

If allowed to submit briefs, the law clinic attorneys said they would identify major issues, including the statutory definition of abandonment, clarification of statutory procedures for determining parental fitness, and the statutory procedures for determining a child's best interests in parental rights' termination cases.

The group said it would show that the state's parental laws don't endorse a comparison between natural and adoptive parents, nor give regard to the political climate of the child's native country when removing it from the birth family.

Associated Press

Lawyers offer aid to Hes

3 schools want to submit briefs

By Shirley Downing
Contact
December 11, 2004

Three university law clinics --- including Loyola in Chicago and Vanderbilt in Nashville -- have asked to submit briefs as a "friend of the court" in the Anna Mae He case.

The lawyers offered to help by analyzing state law and clarifying parental rights issues in the high-profile child custody case.

Two Cordova couples are locked in a legal battle over 5-year-old Anna Mae He.

Chinese nationals Shaoqiang 'Jack' He and his wife, Qin Luo 'Casey,' gave their infant daughter Anna Mae to banker Jerry Baker and his wife, Louise.

The financially distressed Hes said the arrangement was temporary, but the Bakers said they were told they could keep the girl until she was grown.

The case raises a host of legal issues, particularly for the area's growing immigrant population, the motion said.

Bruce Boyer, director of the Loyola Child Law Center, said such cases could have an impact on many others.

"I see this as an opportunity to point out to the court the fundamental principles of the law that ought to be adhered to," he said.

The motion was filed on behalf of Boyer's clinic, the Vanderbilt Legal Clinic in Nashville, the University of Memphis Child Advocacy Clinic and the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services.

Circuit Court Judge Robert 'Butch' Childers terminated the Hes' parental rights after a 10-day trial last spring. He called them unfit and said their legal efforts were a ruse to avoid deportation.

Jack He, a university professor who works at restaurant jobs to support his family, and his wife strongly disagree with Childers's assessment.

If allowed to submit briefs, the law clinic attorneys said they would identify major issues, including the statutory definition of abandonment, clarification of statutory procedures for determining parental fitness, and the statutory procedures for determining a child's best interests in parental rights termination cases.

They said they would show "that Tennessee's termination of parental rights statute does not endorse a comparison between a child's birth parents and any potential adoptive parents, nor does it support fact-finding with regard to removal of a child from her birth family based on the political climate of the child's country of origin."

The Hes' attorney, David Siegel, welcomes the help.

The Bakers' attorney, Larry Parrish, said he wasn't aware of the motion, but said such requests are fairly common.

"Well, come on ahead," he said. "If they are going to start getting people involved with amicus briefs, we might, too."

-- Shirley Downing: 529-2387

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Custody decision may take months

Attorney says he might ask for appeals bypass

By Shirley Downing
Contact
October 9, 2004

Two Cordova families in a legal tug-of-war over a 5-year-old Chinese girl may have to wait several more months for a decision.

Attorneys in the custody dispute over Anna Mae He said the earliest date to expect a hearing on an appeal could be early next year.

Attorney Larry Parrish, who represents the custodial parents, said he may ask the state Supreme Court to "reach down" for the case -- bypassing the state Court of Appeals -- so the question of Anna Mae's future can be resolved more quickly.

Chinese nationals Shaoqiang 'Jack' He and his wife Qin Luo 'Casey' He have appealed a May 12 ruling by Circuit Court Judge Robert 'Butch' Childers that terminated their parental rights and gave Anna Mae He to mortgage banker Jerry Baker and his wife, Louise, who seek to adopt.

Following a 10-day bench trial, Childers declared the Hes unfit to parent Anna Mae, and said they were motivated by a desire to avoid deportation. The Hes have strongly rebutted Childers's depiction of their character and intent.

Jack He said he has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State in Washington.

But the Bakers say Childers's ruling was on target.

"He did a great job of putting in writing what we have been living these last several years," said Jerry Baker.

It was in early 1999 that the Hes voluntarily gave newborn Anna Mae to the Bakers for temporary safekeeping when they were down on their luck, but the Bakers would not return the girl.

Both families in recent months have sought to raise money for legal costs.

The Bakers said they have incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills.

In an E-mail, Baker said he and his wife are "indebted to Parrish for sticking by us all these years" but they are "desperately trying to come up with the funds for the appeal process."

The Bakers' church and friends are sponsoring fund-raisers.

The Hes, whose attorneys are working pro bono, said a non-profit foundation raised more than $12,000 to pay the costs of transcripts.

The Hes may soon move to Jackson, where Jack He is working in a restaurant, Casey He said Friday.

"I want to take my daughter and go back to China," Casey He said as she watched the couple's two younger children play in the living room of the family's modest apartment in Cordova. "China is my home."

Jack He said he has reconsidered comments that he might return to China without his family, or Anna Mae, as he said shortly after the trial.

A professor in China, He has supported his family in Memphis by working long hours at low-paying restaurant jobs.

He said legal scholars at several "prestigious" universities have offered opinions and support that has lifted his spirits.