Suzanne Shell

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Donna Suzanne Shell (born circa 1957) is an American activist critical of child protective services.

Shell grew up in Minnesota. Her first experience with child protective services occurred in 1974, when at age 17 she was struck by her father. That year, she was put in a foster home and gave birth to a baby she gave up for adoption. [1] She further became involved in dependency and neglect cases after Elbert County, Colorado took away one of her children in 1991 "for a spanking that left no marks." The child was returned after four days with no further action against her. [2] Since that time she has assisted other families facing court-ordered sanctions. Shell runs a website called Profane Justice and has also published a book by the same title. [3]

Shell stated in an interview with Freedom Magazine, a Church of Scientology publication, "In today’s society, many parental practices are being falsely interpreted as abuse — including home schooling, discipline, spanking, Bible reading, and even breast feeding. This results in the prosecution of many innocent parents." [4] In 2002, she told a reporter "I don't think they should ever terminate parental rights without proof that a child has been seriously hurt."[5]

[edit] Notable legal cases

In 2001 the Colorado Supreme Court charged Shell with "unauthorized practice of law." [6] In March 2004, the Colorado Supreme Court cited Shell for contempt of court for ignoring the 2001 order[1], and in 2006 she was again found in contempt. [2]

On December 12, 2005, Shell demanded Internet Archive pay her $100,000 for archiving her website between 1999 and 2004. [7] Internet Archive filed a declaratory judgment Action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on January 20, 2006 seeking a judicial determination that Internet Archive did not violate Shell’s copyright. Shell responded and brought a countersuit against Internet Archive for archiving her site, which she alleges is in violation of her terms of service. [8] On February 13, 2007, a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado dismissed all counterclaims except breach of contract. [7] The Internet Archive did not move to dismiss copyright infringement claims Shell asserted arising out of its copying activities, which will also go forward. [9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Prendergast, Alan (February 10, 2005). Beyond Contempt. Westword
  2. ^ a b Pankratz, Howard (December 19, 2006). Parent advocate found in contempt. Denver Post
  3. ^ Shell, Suzanne (2001). Profane Justice: A Comprehensive Guide to Asserting Your Parental Rights. Sage Wisdom Press, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-0966025415
  4. ^ Stout, Mark, and Gail M. Armstrong . Children of the State. Freedom Magazine, Vol. 32, Issue 1
  5. ^ Suprynowicz, Vin (November 10, 2002). Sitting in jail for spanking. Las Vegas Review-Journal
  6. ^ People v. Shell — Case 01 SA 136
  7. ^ a b Lewis T. Babcock (February 13, 2007). Internet Archive v. Shell Civil Action No. 06cv01726LTBCBS.
  8. ^ Claburn, Thomas (March 16, 2007). Colorado Woman Sues To Hold Web Crawlers To Contracts. InformationWeek
  9. ^ Samson, Martin. Internet Archive v. Suzanne Shell. via Phillips Nizer LLP

[edit] External links

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