Boy Pays Price for Father’s Minor Mistake
Updated with another video.
Updated with video.
Tenured University of Michigan classical archeology professor, Christopher Ratte, took his 7-year-old son to a Tigers baseball game at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. He ordered a drink for himself and what he thought was a lemonade for his son. The reality was he had ordered a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, which is an alcoholic drink for his young son. Ratte said that he didn’t even know that there was such a thing as alcoholic lemonade. Check out this photo of a sign of the drinks menu.
A security guard witnessed the boy drinking it and the eventual result was this young boy spending three days and two nights in foster care. Before you jump to conclusions please read the details about this case below.
Highlights of this case:
- He was immediately taken to the hospital and doctors said that he had zero alcohol in his blood and they cleared him to go home.
- The boy spent the first night sleeping on a couch in the CPS building while his mom and dad waited anxiously outside.
- From the Detroit Free Press:
By law, CPS officials are forbidden to discuss the particulars of any investigation.
But Mike Patterson, Child and Family Services director for the Wayne County district that includes Comerica Park, said that in general his agency’s discretion is limited once police obtain a court order to remove a child from the parental home — usually authorized, as in Leo’s case, by a juvenile court referee responding to a police officer’s recommendation.
“Once the court has authorized a child’s removal,” Patterson told me, “we cannot return the child to the parental custody” until the court has OK’d it.
But that doesn’t explain why CPS refused to release Leo to the custody of two aunts — one a social worker and licensed foster parent — who drove all night from New England to take custody of their nephew.
Chris Ratte’s sisters, Catherine Miller and Felicity Ratte, left Massachusetts at 10:30 the night of the fateful lemonade purchase after the police officer who’d reluctantly requested a removal order told Ratte the state would likely jump at the chance to place Leo with responsible relatives. But when the two women arrived at the CPS office early Sunday, a caseworker explained they would not be allowed to see Leo until they had secured a hotel room.
The sisters quickly complied. But by the time they returned to CPS around 10:30 a.m., their nephew had been taken to an undisclosed foster home, where he would remain until a preliminary court hearing the following afternoon.
- From the Ann Arbor News: Don Duquette, a U-M clinical professor of law and director of the child advocacy law clinic, said he got a call from the chair of Ratte’s U-M department at 9 a.m. the next day. Duquette spent most of that day on the phone, trying to get Leo back into his parents’ custody.
The Michigan standard for the emergency removal of children from their parents does not reflect current constitutional law on a federal level, Duquette said, which requires proof of immediate danger to a child. Instead, in Michigan, law enforcement officers have the power to “remove a child whose surroundings are such as to endanger his or her health, morals, or welfare.”Duquette spoke of a bureaucratic run-around, where at one point he was put on hold for over an hour after calling an 800 number that was set up by CPS for quick response to child abuse crisis situations. - Also from the Detroit Free Press article: “Duquette says the emergency removal powers of CPS, though ‘well-intentioned’ are ‘out of control and partly responsible for the large numbers of kids in the foster care system,’ which is almost universally acknowledged to be badly overburdened.”
- The state finally released the boy on the grounds that the father have no contact with the boy which meant the father had to stay in a hotel until things were cleared.
- Duquette made this incredible and shocking statement about the system, “Class has something to do with the fact that the child was only in care for two days,” Duquette said. “What the referee said was that she would have kept the case for at least a week while the department completed the investigation. … If you’re not sophisticated, the system isn’t set up to give you very much of a chance to work against the ritual that’s ordinarily done.” So much for equal protection under the law. There is a reason we have basic rights people!!
- Three more days later the judge dismissed the case allowing the father to go home.
- The father had this to say, “It’s an extraordinary power to delegate to the state to remove parents from the children. And yes, it was really awful, and we just hope our story can highlight the overreactions authorities sometimes make so that better guidelines can be instituted for the exercise of this power.”
We’ll keep everyone updated as new things come out.
Unbelievable!
What happened to “Oops, my bad, That has alcohol in it? thanks for letting me know.” and every one continuing on their merry way. What is wrong with the people who call. This is just a big a problem as CPS itself. What is wrong with our society that people call the government FIRST instead of reaching out, lending a hand, and offering even a friendly warning or observation?
The problem isn’t just government power it’s regular people who agree that they should have it. How are we going to change hearts and minds in this way?
Apr 30 at 1:49 pm
In some states parents have the right to give alcohol to their children (I’m not condoning this…). The law seems a little vague when it says “morals” can be endangered by the surroundings. I wonder how this can be interpreted and by who?
A parental rights amendment would set great parameters for all states to follow.
Apr 30 at 2:39 pm
Parenting is a fundamental (natural) right recognized by the US Supreme Court. The natural right to parent children cannot be terminated without due process. Due process does not mean the suspicion of any authority of a State government. It means a court hearing where evidence of harm is presented. Only in cases of previous or imminent harm by a parent can a court terminate or restrict the right of a parent.
While you’re at it, it is worth noting that affectively all States statutes regarding child custody violate this fundamental right to parent ones children. A parent should never lose their right to be fully engaged in the life of their children due to the other parent petitioning for a divorce. Many parents make the mistake of signing a divorce settlement not realizing they are giving jurisdiction to the court to restrict their parental rights.
While your defining parent rights in a Constitutional amendment, it would be worthwhile to address this issue as well. Simply stated, a parent cannot be denied the right to parent their child including continued physical custody without due process.
In cases of abuse ,the abusive parent can lose their right following a hearing that determines abuse is imminent or has already occured. A parent that has not had such hearing cannot not be denied their parental rights. Parents who decide they no longer desire to be married but without just cause would have to voluntarily give up physical custody. Just cause would be limited to the narrow scope of abuse, abandonment or infidelity by their spouse. No-fault divorce could still be obtained but the respondent could not be denied physical custody in such a case.
Apr 30 at 6:51 pm
[…] has this unbelievable report: . . . Tenured University of Michigan classical archeology professor, Christopher Ratte, took his […]
May 1 at 11:46 am
How crazy is this? It sounds like it was a simple mistake! When did it become a crime to make an innocent mistake?? This story in and of itself is proof that we need to preserve parental rights in this country!
Think of that poor child and how traumatized he must be after that. The lemonade did LESS harm than social services did! That is one (of many) government entity that really needs to go!!!
May 2 at 6:38 pm
It sounds like the driving motivation in this case was not the welfare of the child (as it should be) but rather the potential for the CPS to gain federal funding by swiftly initiating foster care. They then could take their sweet time in trying to piece together a case against the parents. It’s just another good example of how the system is not accountable to anyone. If the CPS caseworkers could have obtained any type of culpable admission from either the child or one of the parents (e.g. that he had ever been spanked etc.) the case would have ended up in Court and the child remained in foster care until the parents cried “uncle” and submitted to CPS control. The involved caseworkers would have ended up getting commondations, promotions, raises, etc. The situation is really getting intolerable where the caseworkers are really becoming prosecuters, accountable to no one!
May 2 at 7:12 pm
This is ridiculuos!! They people that they should be after…they’re not!! My Nephew’s Body is 6′ft underground because of CPS neglect!! Now if they would stop dealing with nonsense cases like this one, clearly it was an honest mistake, then they could pay more attention to the real cases that are REAL!! Screaming for their attention like my nephews case!! Bruises visible to the naked EYE!! But yet they still sent him home to the awful stepfather and wicked mother!!
Info to link on this site of Our story below! I’m sure you’ve read.
Posted 22 April 2008 04:55 PM Hide Post
Former airman shocked to learn his son has been dead for a year
May 5 at 8:34 am
Those CPS people should be lined up and shot! What a bunch of imbeciles! Actually, everyone, starting with the cretinous and obviously mentally retarded security guard at the stadium, who had anything to do with this stupidity should be lined up and shot! Detroit…home of the brain dead!
May 5 at 4:09 pm
meanwhile, my friend’s ex husband, whom has a LOT OF MONEY, goes to get their children completely drunk, and because of the money, is let go in his merry way after she calls the police, with a simple warning to come and get the kids another day. They let him drive off totaly wasted.
May 5 at 4:11 pm
Why is the government not after the real, pedophiles, drug traffickers and criminals?
May 5 at 4:42 pm
Hi from down under,
The CPS here is just the same. Called by another name here, it takes children whose parents have declined various drugs for their children and forcibly has treamtnets administered in the hospital. These are usually good parents who are making informed decisions about health care. I think widespread reforms are neccessary - or alternatively just shutting these people down until some sane perameters can be laid down.
Cheers
May 5 at 4:49 pm
I unfortunately can believe this family has been through this. I also didn’t know that there was an alcholic lemonade. So it could have easily been me. This is the second major case of CPS taking kids wrongly in the last 30 day. They took the FLDS children 400+ of them, yet no one has been arrested for anything and the calls were false reports. When do they get their children back, if ever? Who makes them God and gives them the rights to decide what is right or wrong for our children? We need our parental rights restored immediately. I hope this family sues the stadium while there at it for not separating the alcholic drinks from the non-alcoholic drinks on the signs.
May 5 at 5:59 pm
Parents should be afraid. Parents should be very afraid. Our government is taking away all of our right slowly, but surely. Geo. Bush has recently signed a bill (S. 1858) that requires DNA samples be taken from every newborn and sent to Homeland Security. We need to quit expressing opinions and start fighting.
May 5 at 6:00 pm
Ok, I’m completely in shock here. Why is it that it’s ok to be stupid, but not ok to make a mistake? This country is not paying attention to the real problems. But then again, good kids from good families make better candidates for placement with foster families and adoptions……………ops, did I say that out loud? My heart goes out to that poor boy and his family. And I’m sure there are so many more out there like that. I hope we can get enough parents willing to take a stand to stop things like that from happening again…..
May 5 at 7:19 pm
I didn’t know there was such a thing as alchoholic Lemonade either. I think that instead of putting the parent through this, the shop should have been held responsible for not clearly stating that it was Alchoholic… and as far as class goes, why would you need a Hotel room for relatives to assume custody? To a child, visiting relatives is normal. But a child is going to know something is wrong when they are taken to a strange place. Some children might even thing they are being punished. And what would happen if the father could not afford a hotel room? The kid would have to be kept for a month or more? No kid or parent deserves to go through that, and I would think that the social workers in question should be fired for not considering the well being of the child, and for withholding information from the relatives. It’s obvious the social worker COULD HAVE held off on transporting the boy while they paid for a hotel room.
May 5 at 8:43 pm
I hope the family is smart enough to sue and sue big and I hope I could be on the jury. Because unless the government could show some serious facts that have not been presented here, I would not only award the family a large multi million dollar settlement, but the boy would get the same awarded to him too. The only thing the government sees (and big business too) is money; so to get their attention you have to hit them hard in the pocket book. And further more the people involved in being responsible for the abuse need to be royally punished; to the point the next idiot in that position would literally be scare to pull this kind of abuse on someone. Wake up America; it’s the courts that are destroying America; yet we the people sit on the juries and continue to kiss the rear end of the government and big business and continue to screw our neighbors. When an injustice is done by powers to be, the juries have got to stand up and award huge sums of money and insist they are respected and paid. That is the only way to get the “powers to be” attention. This is the key and I hate to say one of the few avenues left to turn this tyranny on us around.
May 5 at 8:57 pm
I absoltely agree! Its high time we start taking some action. Whenever you have good parents afraid to parent, or godforbide take a child to the hospital, its no wonder criminials are getting younger and younger, teen pregncies are off the charts(abated only slightly by abortions) and children and teens are making gashtly videos of ungodly behaviors.Multi-million dllar suits are the only way to wrest our rights back from cps.www.xanga.com/kelseyport101
May 5 at 10:51 pm
I can not believe that they took this little boy away from his mom and dad that give him comfort every night. This is going to leave a lasting impression on this little boy. This is the reason why parent must unite together and take a stand not to allow the goverment to dictate to us how to raise our kids. They need to take care of the case that really need the help and use common sense on situations like these. What is this world becoming? I feel like we are communist and not really free at all if these things continue to happen. I will pray that this boy will not have nightmares of those days and that the Lord will give him and his family peace.
May 5 at 11:08 pm
God help us! The next thing in the pipe line for California is to take away the rights of the parents to use spanking as a form of discipline (to be interpreted by the courts). Take a close look at the U.N.’s attempt at taking control of our kids, (here in the U.S.)America better wake up before its to late!
May 5 at 11:31 pm
We lost 3 children that I now of this year to death because CPS isn’t doing there job correctly. I mean they take away children that don’t need to betaken and give them up for adoption and leave the children that do… Major reform needs to happen on how to see what is going on. I know more about abuse then most people do because I was abused as a child for several years. I know one that most people that abuse are very very obsessive about certian thing beyond there control yet they need to control it AKA children messes ect. (want something to be perfectly clean and to stay that way and they want the child to do it correctly) two control is the key to everything if there isn’t a child there there will be so as to control the mom. (saw my mother thrown through a glass table with me standing there her tring to protect me so he couldn’t hurt me. He whipped me until my butt was bruised) Emotionally will say they will never do it again to keep you there very maniulative will do anything to control the person of interest. CONTROL IS THE KEY TO ABUSE. heck my mother had to out think the man to get away from him. At one point and I was only 6 or 7 I thought of killing him myself to save my family. My mother told me once that she started to dream about killing him so she knew she had to leave. The guy was a sociopath probley would have killed her eventually ( he was throwing knives as her one night).
May 6 at 12:08 am
There were bad decisions and a failure to exercise appropriate discretion way before CPS became involved. I think it comes down to people being afraid to make a decision. It is easier to pass on the issue to someone else than it is to take a stand and say something like, “Hey, it was an honest mistake, and that’s all it ever was. Now you know. Have a good day and enjoy the game.”
The security guard had the opportunity to use common sense and end it right there. The security supervisor could have exercised some discretion and put a stop to the progress. Certainly, a well trained and experienced police officer should have been able to assess the situation and see this for what it was, and sent the father and son on their way to enjoy the game. It just takes a few minutes of asking the right questions and making a reasonable decision.
May 6 at 12:24 am
The concession stand should be held accountable. It is up to them to make sure everyone knows what is alcoholic and what is not. I would have bought Mikes lemonade if it were not for the price.
I would have been extremely angry to find out after I opened it, it had alcohol in it, whether it was for myself or my children. Wonder how many others unknowingly bought the alcoholic drink.
May 6 at 3:02 am
How sad in society today a man can make an honest mistake and have his child ripped from his home. Yet we have children who remain in abusive situations that aren’t removed without a court order. How many times have these children been seriously injured or even died due to time be wasted on cases like the above, which should have never happened!
May 6 at 7:01 am
The government is allowing these types of incidents to happen because the government wants to control your children. This country is being turned into a communist, socialist state and the way to get there the fastest is to destroy the family.
May 6 at 9:55 am
Unfortunately, I understand this case only too well. I hope readers take action to preserve our parental rights. Our case was just as shocking. http://www.nebraskainjurylawreport.com/category/constitutional-rights/
May 6 at 10:22 am
I am another parent who would not have known Mike’s Lemonade is an alcoholic beverage. If it were served in the bottle I might have read the label (because I happen to be a label reader), BUT if it were served in a park/concession type of cup with a straw, I would have never known.
May 6 at 10:44 am
Amen to Carrien at the top! I am a widow with 6 children . 1 month after their father’s death last year , I was in a restaurant with them when my oldest son & myself both had to use the bathroom urgently , leaving my 2nd oldest in charge of the others briefly while we eleiviated ourselves. She’s 9 . When I returned , a woman patron of the restaurant came over & threatened me giving me a tongue lashing & claiming that she worked for the state! My kids had just lost 1 parent & here she was threatening to take away the other.
I kept thinking ” What ever happened to the time when seeing that someone needed help people would offer to lend a hand instead of passing down judgement threats & disdain ?” If she had cared about me & my children she might have stepped up & sat with them for a few minutes. She was more concrened with her self image of self righteous superiority.
She had said that I could have gotten a waitress to stay with my children , that simply had never occurred to me & she could have offered the suggestion without the threat! I love the Nanny 911 & wife swap shows! No one wants to screw up their families , there are simply techniques or skills that they have never been shown , that someone call non-judgementally share & make a huge difference.
There IS something wrong with the general attitude in society today! They could take your kid away if they climb out of a car seat while your driving ( beyond your control ) yet it’s legal for a woman to have a doctor murder her full term child while it’s being born! It’s also perfectly acceptable for children to ride in mass with out seatbelts to the public schools that they want to force them to attend! There are tremendous inconsistencies our law enforcement! If convicted of child endangerment because my 10 year old child happened not to have a seat belt on in the back of the care when officers out fund raising are searching for something to charge you for , you could be sent to parenting classes ,& yet my neighbor stealing property from our yard or shed while we were on vacation ( which was later discovered in his living room ) doesn’t get fined or ticketed or sent to “Don’t rob your neighbor classes” …….
Something’s got to go…… I’d like to see a movement for all monetary penalties for traffic violations to be done away , & replaced with community service type penalties. That would put an end to bogus ticketing & fundraising & half the tickets that are given out. It would protect families unity far more than the increasing number of “BIG BROTHER” restrictions supposedly “protect” us on the road.
May 6 at 1:28 pm
As a former caseworker I can say, the kid wouldn’t have been able to be placed if a judge hadn’t o.k’d it. And as far as kids being put back into abusive homes again,the court decides,but the case worker gets blamed because they can’t talk about it.
This sounds like a bad call and we need to hold not only CPS agencies accountable but the juvenile courts that allow these things to happen.
May 6 at 1:32 pm
I don’t drink, and I nearly bought some of that stuff for myself when I ran across it in the PRODUCE SECTION of the grocery store . . . good thing I read labels!
Michigan is definitely one of the worst states for parental rights: CPS is totally out of control there. My cousin had her baby taken away for more than two years because of “failure to thrive” (slow weight gain, etc.) She had done everything she could, including taking him to the hospital regularly to try to find out what the problem was. One day CPS showed up at the hospital and took away the child. He didn’t “thrive” in foster care, either, and my cousin finally got him back, but it took all kinds of heartbreak, money, effort, and time.
May 6 at 5:42 pm
It’s truly sad. CPS is out of state in New York as well. A few years ago my sister broke up with her boyfriend of ten years, and afraid that she would be unable to provide for her three children and her one foster child, she called CPS and told them that I punched my daughter in the face. She was thinking that my children would be removed from my home and placed with her, and that she would receive a check for them. Months later (Thank God my children weren’t removed), the truth finally came out but the damage was already done. And the caseworkers STILL would not close the case. I had to go to parenting classes, anger management classes and my children and I had to undergo court-ordered therapy. Our lives were turned upside down all because someone wanted a check. They had no evidence but preyed on my family because I didn’t know how to navigate the system.
May 6 at 6:42 pm
we all have gotten away from our lord and god jesus christ.what i mean is look at tv,sports,underwear commercials,sexy shows,etc…do you get my drift.
May 6 at 7:16 pm
Much worse than the drink for the boy was the whole atmosphere of the public sports arena-drinking, swearing, idolatry of the ball players. There is no hint that this was a Christian family, that they had assured the boy that God was watching over him in their absence, or that they had the support and advice of a pastor and the rest of the body of Christ from their local church congregation. The stealing of the boy from his parents was completely wrong. This country’s social system is just one big spoiled child, bullying his younger brothers and sisters until his Parent makes him stop. Pray for God to chasten and protect His children and teach this country to be righteous.
May 7 at 9:29 am
omg some of you people prefer to take this oppertunity to preach your dogma and passing judgement instead of seeing that your own rights are also in jepordy to that same governmental body. parents should not have to second quess every move they make for fear of the government taking their children away. WAKE UP PEOPLE your religion doesnt protect you or your children.
May 8 at 9:59 am
The goverment put parents in jail and
releases pedophiles. Then hires pedophiles for CPS. We have been taken
over by Big Business who owns our
goverment, thur lobbist.Who is the largest lobby in America? Gambling, who’s favorite job is to separate families.
May 8 at 5:08 pm
ON ANOTHER ISSUE:
I am looking for input and opinions regarding parents who smoke. Should a parent be subject to having the state keep their child from them solely because they smoke? Particularly if the parent does not smoke in the home or car but only outside?
May 8 at 8:39 pm
The sports stadium involved obviously used CPS to cover their own illegal blunder. They served alcohol to a minor, and should lose their liquor license permanently. They should also lose a law suit to the family. Didn’t the cashier who sold the drink know that they should check the ID of two people if they are selling two drinks?
May 9 at 6:36 pm
For a great read on this site regarding the PRA, check out the comments here:
http://www.parentalrights.org/blog/courts-the-law/washington-times-op-ed-california-may-ban-spanking
May 10 at 4:09 pm