Lawsuits Allege Private Prison Company Covered Up Youth Sex Abuse

A pair of recent lawsuits against a private youth prison operator in Florida amplify claims that the company, Youth Services International, has frequently covered up reports that staff sexually abused young people held inside its facilities.
According to a suit filed in October in federal court, the top administrator at one YSI youth prison regularly made sexual advances toward teenage boys held there in 2010 and 2011 and on at least one occasion brought inmates home with him and into his bedroom. A separate case filed in Florida court in November alleges that a female guard at another YSI facility in 2012 began an "intimate and sexual relationship" with a 14-year-old inmate.
Florida officials at the Department of Juvenile Justice did not investigate these alleged incidents until months and even nearly a year after they occurred, according to accounts from the mothers of the victims and documents obtained by The Huffington Post. This was in part because the for-profit prison operator failed to immediately report the alleged episodes as required under its contracts with the state.
The lawsuits reinforce the findings of a recent Huffington Post investigation that revealed more than two decades of abuse and neglect inside private prisons operated by Youth Services International and other companies run by its founder, James Slattery. The series focused particular attention on the state of Florida, which has become emblematic of a nationwide trend in which growing numbers of prisoners of all ages are placed inside institutions operated by for-profit companies. Florida has entirely privatized its youth prisons.
The articles detailed multiple instances of young inmates at YSI facilities in Florida complaining of having been beaten, sexually assaulted or neglected by guards only to have their reports buried or minimized. Former staff at these prisons told HuffPost that the company systematically discouraged employees from reporting mistreatment and other violations in order to avoid imperiling future state contracts.
Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice largely relies on contractors to self-report serious events such as fights, assaults or escapes. Former YSI employees told HuffPost that the state's system created incentives for the company to under-report and cover up incidents of staff misconduct or violence.
Citing the HuffPost investigation, a top Florida lawmaker has called for legislative hearings on abuses inside YSI's prisons. The first is scheduled for Wednesday.
The new allegations fit a pattern documented in HuffPost's earlier investigation, one in which company employees failed to report serious incidents to state authorities. A former employee at Thompson Academy -- the YSI prison where the top administrator allegedly brought inmates home -- says he alerted higher-ups to the administrator's behavior in a formal complaint in October 2011. But corporate officials never called outside authorities as required, according to the employee and state juvenile justice records.
"They used to tell us, 'If something's going on, don't call the police, call a supervisor,'" said the former employee, Kamel Warren. "They don't want people to come in, investigate and find out what was really going on in this facility."
State juvenile justice officials did not learn of the administrator's actions until 11 months after the alleged events occurred. Even then, the reports came only after an outside attorney representing former YSI employees heard about the incidents and went directly to the state, according to DJJ complaint logs. Correspondence obtained by HuffPost shows that supervisors at YSI were aware of the allegations involving the administrator but did not report them to the state.
Trips outside a youth prison facility are allowed only in special circumstances, according to state regulations, and a parent typically must give consent. Tomonica Allen, the mother of one of the boys, said she knew nothing of the outside activities until after her son was released. "Every time my child left, why didn't they inform me that he was gone for two, three, four hours?" she said in an interview. "Why didn't I ever know this until he got out?"
The other lawsuit alleges a similar cover-up on the part of YSI. Employees did not report the improper relationship between the guard and the inmate to the state until months later, when the girl's mother discovered the relationship and started calling local police.
State records indicate that Department of Juvenile Justice investigators are looking into the allegations brought up in both lawsuits. But the department has made no formal conclusions, even though officials have been aware of some of the allegations for nearly two years.
A spokeswoman for Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice declined to comment on the two cases, citing the pending investigations.
A lawyer representing YSI, Michael Elkins, wrote in an email that the company intends to "vigorously defend" against the allegations that the Thompson Academy administrator brought boys home with him. Chris Slattery, a YSI vice president who is the son of chief executive James Slattery, said the company "immediately reported" to the state once officials learned of the allegations involving the employee who started a relationship with an inmate.
The federal lawsuit centers on allegations that Craig Ferguson, the top administrator at YSI's Thompson Academy from 2010 through 2012, took boys home with him on at least one occasion and touched them inappropriately both while off campus and at the prison.
Ferguson often summoned the plaintiff to his office inside the facility late at night and would take his shirt off in front of him and rub the boy's back, shoulders and thighs, according to the suit. If the boy declined the advances, Ferguson "would get upset and irritated with plaintiff, and send him back to his bed."
Allen, the plaintiff's mother, whose son was 15 when he was sent to Thompson in early 2011, said he started mentioning the outside trip to Ferguson's home after he was released. She said her son told her that Ferguson instructed the boys not to tell anyone they had been there.
Her son, whose name is being withheld because he was a juvenile at the time, told her he didn't go into Ferguson's bedroom that day, but other boys did.
Ferguson no longer works for YSI. In a phone interview after this article was published Monday, he denied all of the allegations about taking boys home, taking his shirt off and touching them inappropriately, calling the assertions "foolishness."
"All of those charges are false," he said. "People find motivation to do these type of things just for money. I'm surprised they would go so far with an untruth."
Warren, the former Thompson Academy employee, filed a sexual harassment complaint against Ferguson to YSI's corporate office in Sarasota, Fla., in October 2011 that also mentioned the administrator taking boys home. Warren wrote that Ferguson "hid a lot of things from investigators and lawyers. He has taken kids to his house and church with him. He bribes kids and staff."
Warren told HuffPost that a YSI senior vice president, Jesse Williams, acknowledged the allegations that Ferguson took boys home and said the company would investigate.
But state records show the first time the DJJ learned of the incident was more than four months later, in March 2012, when an outside attorney called in to report the allegations. Warren and other guards had mentioned Ferguson's behavior to the lawyer, Michael Hoffman, who was representing them in a separate wage dispute. Hoffman went on to represent Allen's son in the federal suit.
Elkins, the YSI lawyer, provided a redacted draft copy of the DJJ's investigation into the case, which confirmed that Ferguson took boys away from the facility but could not confirm whether he had taken them to his home.
Ferguson also pointed to the DJJ inspector general's preliminary findings, which he said proved the allegations against him "are lies."
"That came back unsubstantiated, and I knew that it would," he said.
Elkins noted that a judge dismissed a lawsuit involving Ferguson last year brought by the same lawyer, Hoffman, in state court. The judge dismissed the case because Hoffman failed to meet a filing deadline and had showed up late for a hearing.
The DJJ draft report also concluded that Warren and other lower-level employees should be held accountable for failing to report the incident, even though Warren did report the administrator's actions to his superiors at the company, who then did not relay the allegations to state authorities. The report found that corporate officials were not accountable, however, noting that one of the executives involved was in an "administrative position" and did not have direct contact with youth or guards.
Neither YSI nor state officials responded to additional questions about the investigation.
In the other lawsuit, filed in state court in November, the mother of a former inmate at YSI's Broward Girls Academy alleges that a female guard, Talisha Reddick, initiated a sexual relationship with her daughter when the girl was an inmate there.
Reddick would "punch, hit, slap and physically beat [her] and would also deny [her] bed sheets, food and sanitary items" if the girl refused to comply with her sexual advances, according to the lawsuit. The suit says Reddick continued to pursue the relationship for months after the girl left the facility.
The lawsuit accuses YSI of allowing Reddick to "take advantage of and manipulate" the girl, "whose capacity to protect herself was substantially diminished as a result of her youth, mental health issues and incarceration."
Reddick did not respond to calls seeking comment. Chris Slattery, the company vice president, wrote in an email that YSI believes the allegations are "without merit."
The girl's mother, Bridget Hester, said in a recent interview that she started noticing strange behavior in her daughter after she was released from Broward Girls in September 2012. She constantly missed classes at school, and would disappear at night and on weekends.
Several months later, a friend told Hester she had seen the girl kissing an older woman in a burgundy car. A few days later, in January 2013, Hester said she confronted a woman driving a car that fit the description who was dropping her daughter off outside a relative's home. She sped away, but the girl told her afterward that the woman was Reddick, Hester said.
Her daughter became despondent and refused to go to school, Hester said, and she ended up getting arrested with a group of girls in connection with an attempted carjacking last January. She is now serving time in a state-run prison for young female offenders.
Hester said her daughter opened up about her relationship with Reddick after the arrest, saying she often met the YSI employee for sex in Miami hotels.
Hester said she called Jasir Diab, a YSI regional vice president, on Jan. 21 last year to report Reddick. She also called local law enforcement and the Broward Girls Academy over the next few weeks.
State records show that Pamela Rollins, who heads the Broward Girls facility, called in the complaint to the DJJ on Jan. 28, a week after Hester said she told Diab about the misconduct. Neither Rollins nor Diab responded to requests for comment for this article.
Slattery said YSI reported the allegations "the same day it was brought to our attention." He said the company has no records of earlier conversations about the alleged improper relationship.
The DJJ's inspector general is still investigating the allegations, and the matter is also under criminal investigation by police and prosecutors in Palm Beach County.
This article has been updated to include comments to HuffPost from Craig Ferguson, the former Thompson Academy administrator, made after publication.
For more on Youth Services International, read HuffPost's two-part investigation, "Prisoners of Profit":
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/youth-services-international-lawsuits_n_4589550.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

Petitioning Esther Jacobo For Full Investigation Into DCF Florida

Dear Esther Jacobo:

Robin K. Jensen

Thank you for your time and consideration into this matter. I am sure after your review of this case, you will see a pattern of lies and manipulation on the part of Ms.Robin K. Jensen Lawyer for DCF in Sarasota Florida.

I also ask that you request the court tapes to listen first-hand how easily a Lawyer can manipulate their status to abuse citizens under the color of law. We are petitioning for a full investigating in this case.

Sincerely,

Randy Kluge

941-915-1046

DCF caught kidnapping

Governor Phony Rick Scott?

 

Fourteen months from the next election, Gov. Rick Scott’s sales pitch is clear. He portrays himself as the education governor, the defender of the environment and the advocate for open records. He’s the jobs governor, and he has empathy for Floridians without health coverage. Don’t be fooled by the packaging. It’s a facade that hides reality, and Florida deserves better.

Education
Scott organized a three-day summit last week to tackle controversies over the coming Common Core State Standards and the discredited school accountability system now in place. He promotes the $1 billion in new money public schools received this year and his effort to give teachers raises.
The reality is Scott failed to show up at his own summit to listen to the concerns of school superintendents and others. Instead he ate dinner privately with former Gov. Jeb Bush, whose passion for education is unquestioned even if some of his views are controversial.
This year’s per student funding is the highest of Scott’s three years as governor. But it is still lower than each of the five previous years under his predecessors, Charlie Crist and Bush. Scott also signed into law the legislation that siphons off school construction money to privately run charter schools. And the governor’s last two hand-picked education commissioners have shown more interest in advocating for charter schools and expanding voucher programs than in creating successful public schools.
Now there is another interim education commissioner, and the revolving door in Tallahassee leaves local school districts without clear direction from the state. Will Scott fold on Common Core and the student assessments needed to make them work?
Environment
The governor staged another media show last week to promote a worthy project to improve water flow into Everglades National Park. That is a drop in the bucket compared to the damage he has done to the environment.
The governor decimated growth management and eliminated the agency that enforced it. He fought the federal government over clean-water standards, neutered the water management districts by slashing their tax base and manipulated the regulatory process to put politics above science. His money for Florida’s springs is hardly meaningful. The deal he cut with the federal government on restoring the Everglades put the deadline off again. And to raise money to buy sensitive lands, the state’s solution is to sell land it already owns.
Scott is still looking at toll roads to nowhere across the middle of Florida. The state still has no cohesive energy policy. And the governor’s environmental agency is more focused on quickly approving the requests of developers than on protecting wetlands. A news conference on one worthy project cannot mask years of bad policy.
Jobs
Scott inaccurately claims he is more than halfway toward meeting his pledge of creating 700,000 jobs, and he keeps cranking out the news releases. Last week: 100 jobs at Boeing in Miami; 105 new air cargo jobs in Orlando; 200 jobs at technology company Citrix in Fort Lauderdale. The week before that: 40 jobs at the moving and storage company PODS in Clearwater.
Many of the jobs Scott counts won’t be created for years, if ever, and the bigger picture is darker. The state’s unemployment rate has been stuck at 7.1 percent for three months, better than the national average of 7.4 percent. A report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the labor force expanded in the Tampa Bay area, Jacksonville and Orlando in the past year but in other areas — South Florida, the Panhandle, Bradenton, Sarasota and Lakeland — the labor force contracted. And the jobless rate in Pasco and Hernando counties is still 8 percent or higher.
Scott’s heavy-handed attempt to lure companies from other states is a public relations nightmare, and it isn’t working. While Florida now has roughly as many jobs as before the recession, people earn less and there are more part-time jobs. Jobs in the low-paying leisure and hospitality sectors are up. Better paying jobs in construction, manufacturing and professional/business services are still down.
The bottom line: The job situation is not nearly as rosy as Scott projects.
Health care
After Florida failed to persuade the courts to block health care reform, Scott called for the state to accept billions in federal dollars and expand Medicaid to 1 million uninsured residents. “I cannot, in good conscience, deny Floridians the needed access to health care,” he declared in February.
Then he stopped listening to his conscience. Scott sat by as House Speaker Will Weatherford blocked expansion, and he has dropped the issue. What the governor has done is reject millions in federal dollars to implement health care reform and left the creation of an insurance exchange to the federal government. He also foolishly signed into law a ban on state regulation of health insurance rates for two years.
New U.S. Census figures show nearly 1 in 4 Floridians lack health insurance, the second highest rate in the nation. Hospitals in Orlando, Vero Beach and elsewhere are laying off workers and reducing pay in part because the new Medicaid dollars aren’t coming.
Scott isn’t expanding access to health care. He is working against it. He is making it harder for hospitals to make ends meet, harder for the uninsured to get coverage and harder for businesses to comply with the federal law.
Openness
Scott promised an unprecedented effort toward government transparency: Regular releases on the Internet of nearly all emails received or written by the governor and his top staff. The goal was to eventually extend the service, known as Project Sunburst, to Scott’s 11 agencies as well.
Sunburst has been a bust. Efforts to meet a seven-day window in posting emails to the site routinely goes unmet and are incomplete. Agencies were never added to the project and Scott and his aides avoid creating public records when they can. Scott’s chief of staff isn’t shy about reminding subordinates that anything they send to him by email is a public record. Contrast that with the first e-governor, Jeb Bush, who was such a believer in efficient communication his state portrait includes his Blackberry in the background.
It’s not just Sunburst. The governor also helped kill one of the most promising efforts for open government. He refused to take ownership of a software project, Transparency 2.0, that would have allowed the public to easily track how state government allocates and spends taxpayer money. The project died from neglect.
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-governor-phony/2139239

Removal Of DCF Supervisor Lisa Voigt Venice Florida Petition

Target: David Wilkins dcf-osc@dcf.state.fl.us Sponsored by: Randy Kluge And Concerned Parents

This is a petition requesting the removal of DCF-supervisor Lisa Voigt from her position working with Department Children and Families in any position. She has flaunted the laws, allowed false reports to stand, abused the color of law and completely disregarded constitutional rights. And she has no care for the emotional abuse she puts children through. I have found filing complaints with in the DCF office is nothing but a joke as they will not give themselves a "black-eye" admitting that one of their employees is not fit to work with Department Children and Families. These crimes were committed on April 19, 2011 in the city of North Port Florida.


 Lisa Voigt DCF-supervisor
DCF-supervisor
1864 17th Street
Sarasota, FL 34234

The following is a list of the specific laws and statues broken by Ms. Voigt

Florida Statues

KIDNAPPING; FALSE IMPRISONMENT; LURING OR ENTICING A CHILD; CUSTODY OFFENSES View Entire Chapter

787.01  The term “kidnapping” Kidnapping; kidnapping of child under age 13, aggravating circumstances.—(1)(a) by threat confining, means forcibly, secretly, or abducting, or imprisoning another person against her or his will and without lawful authority, with intent to:
Hold for ransom or reward or as a shield or 1. hostage.
2. Commit or facilitate commission of any felony.
Inflict 3. bodily harm upon or to terrorize the victim or another person.
Interfere with the performance of any governmental or political 4. function.
Confinement of a child under the age of 13is against her or (b) will within the meaning of this subsection if such confinement is his without the consent of her or his parent or legal guardian.
(2) person who A kidnaps a person is guilty of a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life or as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 


787.02 False  The term “false imprisonment; false imprisonment of child under age 13, aggravating circumstances.—(1)(a) forcibly, by threat, or imprisonment” means secretly confining, abducting, imprisoning, or restraining another person without lawful authority and against her or his will.
Confinement of a child (b) will within the meaning of this under the age of 13 is against her or his section if such confinement is without the consent of her or his parent or legal guardian.
(2) commits the offense of false imprisonment is A person who guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
A person who commits the offense of false (3)(a) child under the age of 13 and who, in the course of imprisonment upon a committing the offense, commits any offense enumerated in subparagraphs 1.-5., commits a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life or as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
1. Aggravated child abuse, as defined in s. 827.03;
Sexual 2. battery, as defined in chapter 794, against the child;
3. Lewd or  lascivious conduct, lascivious battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or or lewd or lascivious exhibition, in violation of s. 800.04 or s. 847.0135(5);
A violation of s. 796.03 or s. 796.04, relating to prostitution, 4. upon the child; or
Exploitation of the child or allowing the child to be 5. exploited, in violation of s. 450.151.
(b) Pursuant to s. 775.021(4),  to prohibit the imposition of nothing contained herein shall be construed separate judgments and sentences for the first degree offense described in paragraph (a) and for each separate offense enumerated in subparagraphs


787.03 Whoever,  knowingly or Interference with custody.—(1) without lawful authority, recklessly takes or entices, or aids, abets, hires, or otherwise procures another to take or entice, any minor or any incompetent person from the custody of the minor’s or incompetent person’s parent, his or her guardian, a public agency having the lawful charge of the minor or incompetent person, or any other lawful custodian commits the offense of interference with custody and commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.


I know she is guilty of kidnapping as they never produced a warrant to take the child which was not being abused, she forced her and the officers into the home with coercion and intimidation implying that there would be an arrest warrant issues, she also said that if we came to court the next day we could get her back. When asked why she said she did not know why she was there. She removed the child from me screaming that she wanted me and wanted out. The child was not in the home and there was no imminent danger.


Chapter 817
FRAUDULENT PRACTICES View Entire Chapter

817.025 Home or private business invasion by false personating;  person who obtains access to a home or private business by false penalties.—A personating or representation, with the intent to commit a felony, commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. If such act results in serious injury or death, it is a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
History.—s. 1, ch. 91-133.



Matters 817.155 jurisdiction of Department of State; false, fictitious, or within fraudulent acts, statements, and representations prohibited; penalty; statute of limitations.—A person may not, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of State, knowingly and willfully falsify or conceal a material fact, make any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation, or make or use any false document, knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry. A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. The statute of limitations for prosecution of an act committed in violation of this section is 5 years from the date the act was committed.
History.—s. 52, ch. 87-99; s. 194, ch. 91-224; s. 26, ch. 2005-267.

She had no right to come into our home, she had no warrant but used her position and that of the North Port police officers to intimidate, harass and manipulate. There was no signs of abuse and I was not home nor was the child.

Chapter 876
CRIMINAL ANARCHY, TREASON, AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER View Entire Chapter

876.05 All persons who  employed by or who now or Public employees; oath.—(1) now or hereafter are hereafter are on the payroll of the state, or any of its departments and agencies, subdivisions, counties, cities, school boards and districts of the free public school system of the state or counties, or institutions of higher learning, except candidates for federal office, are required to take an oath before any person duly authorized to take acknowledgments of instruments for public record in the state in the following form:
I,  , a citizen of the State of Florida and of the United States of America, and being employed by or an officer of   and a recipient of public funds as such employee or officer, do hereby solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Florida.
Said oath shall be filed with the records of the (2) official or employing governmental agency prior to the approval of governing any voucher for the payment of salary, expenses, or other compensation.
History.—s. 1, ch. 25046, 1949; s. 22, ch. 83-214; s. 55, ch. 2007-30; s. 77, ch. 2011-40.


876.06 Discharge for  876.05-876.10 to take the refusal to execute.—If any person required by ss. oath herein provided for fails to execute the same, the governing authority under which such person is employed shall cause said person to be immediately discharged, and his or her name removed from the payroll, and such person shall not be permitted to receive any payment as an employee or as an officer where he or she was serving.
History.—s. 2, ch. 25046, 1949; s. 1414, ch. 97-102.


876.09 The provisions  all employees and elected Scope of law.—(1) of ss. 876.05-876.10 shall apply to officers of the state, including the Governor and constitutional officers and all employees and elected officers of all cities, towns, counties, and political subdivisions, including the educational system.
This act shall take (2) precedence
I know she did not uphold her oath, she was in no way supporting the Florida or the United States constitution by allowing unauthorized search and seizure, my constitution right to be safe from that as well as safe from intimidation and false accusations were trampled on. I know this is to apply as well…..acting under the color of state law requires that the defendant have exercised power "possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because the wrongdoer is clothed with the authority of state law,"[18] and such actions may result in liability even if the defendant abuses the position given to him by the state. If she had not used her position and the positions of the two officers with her then we would have never allowed her to do this reprehensible act.



Chapter 112
PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES: GENERAL PROVISIONS View Entire Chapter

Any contract that has been executed in Remedies; contracts violation of this part is voidable: 112.3175 voidable.—(1)
(a) By any party to the contract.
In any circuit (b) court, by any appropriate action, by:
1. The commission.
The Attorney 2. General.
3. Any citizen materially affected by the contract and residing  jurisdiction represented by the officer or agency entering into such in the contract.
Any contract that has been executed in violation of this part (2) presumed void with respect to any former employee or former public is official of a state agency and is voidable with respect to any private sector third party who employs or retains in any capacity such former agency employee or former public official.
We have really been affected materially by the actions Lisa Voigt has taken, Attorney bills over $40.000. My wife was no longer able to manage her business and clients; she had to turn them over to another representative. We are unable to stay in our home because the memories, both good and bad or too hard to bear, seeing the place in the front yard where I collapsed after having her ripped away. I am no longer doing the upkeep and maintenance of my properties but hiring it out, I am also hiring out all my work from a local bank. As well as doctor and prescription fees.
Florida Constitution
: SECTION 12. Searches and seizures.—The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and against the unreasonable interception of private communications by any means, shall not be violated. No warrant shall be issued except upon probable cause, supported by affidavit, particularly describing the place or places to be searched, the person or persons, thing or things to be seized, the communication to be intercepted, and the nature of evidence to be obtained. This right shall be construed in conformity with the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court. Articles or information obtained in violation of this right shall not be admissible in evidence if such articles or information would be inadmissible under decisions of the United States Supreme Court construing the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
History.—Am. H.J.R. 31-H, 1982; adopted 1982.


SECTION 23. Right of privacy.—Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life except as otherwise provided herein. This section shall not be construed to limit the public’s right of access to public records and meetings as provided by law.
History.—Added, C.S. for H.J.R. 387, 1980; adopted 1980; Am. proposed by Constitution Revision Commission, Revision No. 13, 1998, filed with the Secretary of State May 5, 1998; adopted 1998.




The elements of Duress have been stated as:

1. One side involuntarily accepted the terms of another;
2. Where the circumstances permitted no other alternative; and
3. That said circumstances were the result of coercive acts of the opposite party.  

However, duress may also be raised as as affirmative defense even though it is caused by a third party, so long as the party benefiting from the state of duress knows that the affected party is in duress. See Associated Hous. Corp. v. Keller Bldg. Products of Jacksonville, Inc., 335 So.2d 362, 363 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). (If an instrument is (1) signed under duress and (2) the state of duress is "known to have been induced by the party in whose favor it redounds" then duress is a proper defense to an action on that instrument, it matters not from whom the duress emanates.)
In more general terms it can be stated that duress is a condition of the mind produced by an improper external pressure or influence that practically destroys the free agency of a party so that the act of that party was not of her own volition. City of Miami v. Kory, 394 So.2d 494, 499 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981), citing Fruhauf Southwest Garment Company v. United States, 111 F.Supp. 945 (1953); and Herald v. Hardin, 116 So. 863 (Fla. 1928).
We were under duress and threat of arrest, we did not voluntarily accept this but were forced, we felt there was no other alternative as the officers were using the Color of Law to intimidate us. All of this happened under duress.



Amendment IV Search and arrest The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.


Life is hard thank you for such a beautiful place.



http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/removal-of-dishonest-social-worker/