Emily Ramshaw over at Texas Tribune tells a heart-rending story about Frank and Chila Covington’s loss of guardianship of their Down Syndrome daughter because they did not want her to receive psychotropic drugs in a group home. Texas law makes it easy for the state to quash parental rights, and in this case the judge did it in a secret ex parte hearing. So far the legal battle to appeal the judge’s decision has cost the Covingtons $55,000.
This is the nightmare of every parent of a disabled child. Allisonette #3 is Down Syndrome, and I feel just like the Covingtons: she is a gift from God.  The idea  that a psychiatrist or “mental health expert” can use the court system to harm a child and to separate her from a loving family is nauseating.
I have two questions for Ramshaw about the story. She doesn’t name the Tarrant County probate judge who made the decision and who has now recused himself. She does mention that several complaints have been filed against him. So, Emily, who is he? And why the free pass?
