Spies, Lies And An Idiot Professor

When I speak upon the matter of child abuse propaganda, I rarely am provided an example of such high caliber as this.

As the sensationalism of espionage rarely abounds in the media, you have deeply entangled in the core of this article,  the authoritarian ignorance of a law professor on the operations of child protective services.

What About the Kids of Accused Russian Spies?

(June 30) -- The children of the 11 suspected secret agents are not accused of being involved in a Russian spy ring. But their lives are being turned upside down anyway.

The suspected spies have seven children among them, most of whom are thought to be younger than 18. But while plenty of details have emerged about the James Bond-like activities of their parents, very little is known about the children.

The Star-Ledger reports that 11-year-old Katie Murphy and 7-year-old Lisa Murphy have been in child protective custody in New Jersey since their parents' arrest. But the whereabouts of the other underage children has not been made public. It's also unclear what might happen to them if their parents are imprisoned.

AOL News spoke to Jane Spinak, a law professor and the co-founder of the Child Advocacy Clinic at Columbia University, to learn about what may be in store for the children of the accused agents.

Where are Katie and Lisa likely to be right now?

They're likely to be living in a foster family. I don't know if New Jersey is concerned somehow about their safety in a way that would suggest that they're having them in a more secure setting, but I would find that very unusual.

PROPER RESPONSE: The siblings have been separated and placed in different foster homes.  Any matter dealing with personal information of children and child protection is protected by privacy law.

What about the other young children?

If the kids are in protective services, and the parents say, '"I want my child to be living with this friend or this relative," parents can continue to make decisions about their children. If the parents have no one who can come forward, then the state may put them in foster care.

PROPER RESPONSE: Parents do not have the final say in the placement of the children.  Parents do not continue to make decisions of the children as the children are under the auspices of the state as temporary wards.  Due to the seriousness of the charges assigned to the parents, the children are considered to be in danger of future harm.  Future harm may be described as the soothsaying mystical powers social workers are proscribed in their educational curriculum.

Do the accused spies still hold their parental rights?

The parents are not necessarily being charged [with child abuse], so their parental rights have not been terminated.

PROPER RESPONSE:  There is no such thing as parental rights as we know it.  If the parents are incarcerated, the grant of custody has been revoked because the children are now in the custody of the state.

Do they know where their children are?

Certainly; even arrested parents have a right to know where their children are.

PROPER RESPONSE: Hell no.  A parent does not have the right nor the ability to know where the foster placement is.  This is to protect the privacy of the foster parents and to ensure the parents will not come to see the children.

What's the legal status of the children?

If the children were born here, then they are citizens. If they are citizens, then they can't be deported. Either they are foreign nationals and so they don't have a right to be here, or they were born here and so they're citizens and they have a right to stay, regardless of what happens to their parents.

PROPER RESPONSE: Child Protective Services does not care if the child is a foreign national and will terminate parental rights to adopt the child, regardless of citizenship.  

What will happen to them if their parents are convicted and imprisoned?

Once everybody figures out legally who they are and legally who their parents are, they will likely live with relatives. I'm guessing that within a relatively short period of time they will be living with people who they know and who they're connected to. But that doesn't mean it's not traumatic for them now.

PROPER RESPONSE: Relative placement will not be encouraged as the imperialistic morality parade will have held its own ex-parte legal proceedings and declared any degree of consanguinity to place the children at risk of moral harm by such treasonous acts that the parents have yet to be tried and convicted.  Due to the traumatic nature of the proceedings, the children have, more than likely been heavily medicated on psychotropics and are in intensive therapy to prepare them for adoption.

Have the children been allowed to speak with their parents?

I think so, because there is no allegation of which I'm aware that the parents abused their children, neglected their children or threatened anybody.

PROPER RESPONSE:  More than likely not.  The parents are incarcerated.  Phone access is considered at this time to be a luxury not afforded to prisoners.  Even if the parents were allowed telephone privileges, there is no guarantee that the children will be at the agency to receive the call as the foster parents phone numbers will never be given to parents without authorization from the child placing agency.  

Waldo Mariscal, the 38-year-old son of accused spies Vicky Pelaez and Juan Lazaro, has said that the FBI asked him if he had seen his parents carry large sums of money. Can authorities interrogate the younger children about their parents' alleged activities as well?

They shouldn't. Normally a parent would decide whether to allow their child to be interviewed by law enforcement agents. I don't know if that means that the FBI would do it anyway, but normally there would not be a basis for this.

PROPER RESPONSE: They can do what they want to do as the children are in the custody of the state.  Child Protective Service workers have already conducted in-depth interviews with the children and do not need prior parental permission according to law.  The basis for the interview would be to see if there are other patterns of child abuse, other than moral neglect (being charged with spying).  In turn, the child protection reports would be forwarded to be included in court records.