This should arrive in Judge Clarks' chambers 4/5 or 4/6.

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Honorable Judge Thomas Clark Fayette County Circuit Court 215 West Main Street Lexington ,KY 40507 4 April 2000

Honorable Judge Clark,

I am writing on behalf of Lester Coleman, his wife and three children (Joshua & Chad, twins, aged 10; Sarah, aged 13). Mr. Coleman was recently convicted in your court and comes before you on April 10, for sentencing.

My primary concern in this matter is for the Coleman children, but also for the entire Coleman family.

My experience with children from homes broken through parental action/inaction began in Portland, Oregon, where I volunteered at the ... facility in the Northwest hills. During my time as a student at ... in Louisville, Kentucky, I was employed as a Youth Worker at the ... I also took a job as a Direct Care Counselor at ... residential treatment facility.

Personal observation, study of case records, interaction with children and staff in various forms of state supervised care outside the family home contribute to my concern for Mr. Coleman’s children, and his marriage. I think most experienced child care workers having no policy agendas to advance would agree with the following:

1. It is typical for minor females in care outside the home to experience sexual abuse from peers and/or legal guardians. Male children also experience sexual abuse from their peers.

2. It is typical for minor males and females in a home where the father is absent for relatively long periods, for any variety of reasons, to experience both sexual and physical abuse at the hands of whatever male the children’s mother accepts as a ‘mate.’

3. Children, male and female, in state supervised care outside the home are frequently separated from their siblings and housed at a distance from their family’s home. Family members, in those instances, are able to visit infrequently.

4. These children, however housed outside the family home, tend to live in a prison-like hierarchy of dominance among their peers.

5. Frequently, in order to acquire state and federal monies, group homes and foster-care organizations will attempt to provide spurious ‘treatment’ by medicating the children in their care for the buzzword-disorder currently in vogue. Social workers call it “upcoding.”

6. Probably every child I’ve had contact with in any sort of ‘care’ situation or facility claims some gang affiliation.

7. Without the father of her children present, and already experiencing painful circumstances, the mother of children in care or trouble almost inevitably takes up with a male of questionable intentions/integrity to meet her perceived needs. Invariably her children, within and without the home, suffer.

Mr. Coleman is 56 years old. He is not, to my knowledge, a violent offender. I have been informed that he successfully complied with the terms of probation for his prior conviction.

According to the testimony of his physician, Mr. Coleman’s health suffered as a result of maltreatment while in Federal custody. His health is reported to have deteriorated during his current incarceration.

Mrs. Coleman’s age is unknown to me, but her emotional condition is reputed to be fragile at this time. She is unable to care for her children as a ‘single’ parent. It is for that reason that Josh, Chad, and Sarah are now in foster care.

I have been told that Mr. Coleman has a job arranged, and will therefore be able to support his wife and children. Those children need the active, engaged presence of their father in their lives to grow into balanced, productive people. Mrs. Coleman needs her husband to care for her and their children. For these reasons, there is no doubt that Mr. Coleman will comply with and successfully complete the terms of any probation or parole.

Your honor, I respectfully urge you to reunite the Coleman family on April 10, 2000.

Sincerely,

C

email cc: M.Meehan

R.Allan

cc: L.Coleman