Lakisha Malik standing

Source: Tanna family.

by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff

Another family has allegedly been gagged from speaking out about their experiences with Child Protective Services and a hospital they have said is hurting their child. Lakisha Tanna is the legal guardian and grandmother of Baby Malik, hereafter known as “Baby M.” She has been ordered by the Cook County, Illinois, Family Court to refrain from media contacts or postings about her grandson.

In response, Mrs. Tanna has posted this message in several places on Facebook:

Chicago Illinois; As of Wednesday 05.13.15 I have been given a court order that prohibits me from any further media interaction, interviews, photographers or any other postings regarding my child or the case none whatsoever, not even use of his name. I was told it was already effective as of 03.12.2015 I just wasn’t made aware of this. I was told this violates DCFS policy considering they have temporary custody of him. States they are his guardian & I do not have a right to do this.

Read the original story here: Chicago Lurie Children’s Hospital Takes Baby Away From Family for Seeking a Second Opinion

Lakisha and Malik recent

Lakisha Tanna and “Baby M” – Source: For the love of Malik Facebook page.

Is the State of Illinois trying to silence her? Is his how Child Protective Services has gotten away with taking children away from parents for so long, in so many places, without bringing criminal charges against the parents? Where is the transparency when gag orders are issued against the parents, and news reporters are forbidden to obtain or print any records on this cases? The secrecy that shrouds the Family Court System potentially endangers families everywhere, because any alleged corruption is allowed to continue unchecked.

Where there is such secrecy, corruption is free to breed. Where parents are silenced, injustice can be allowed to continue. If the deeds of any government agency are exposed to the light, then they have to actually follow the Constitution and the law. This is the whole premise behind Freedom of the Press – that basic American liberty was intentionally placed into the Bill of Rights to ensure that the government is kept accountable to the people.

Colonial writers penned this powerful editorial in Philadelphia’s Freeman’s Journal back in 1787:

As long as the liberty of the press continues unviolated, and the people have the right of expressing and publishing their sentiments upon every public measure, it is next to impossible to enslave a free nation. Men of an aspiring and tyrannical disposition, sensible of this truth, have ever been inimical to the press, and have considered the shackling of it, as the first step towards the accomplishment of their hateful domination, and the entire suppression of all liberty of public discussion, as necessary to its support.

For even a standing army, that grand engine of oppression, if it were as numerous as the abilities of any nation could maintain, would not be equal to the purposes of despotism over an enlightened people. An abolition of that grand palladium of freedom, the liberty of the press, in the proposed plan of government, and the conduct of its authors, and patrons, is a striking exemplification of these observations. The reason assigned for the omission of a bill of rights, securing the liberty of the press, and other invaluable personal rights, is an insult on the understanding of the people. (Source.)

In an earlier article published on MedicalKidnap.comFamily Court Judges’ Unconstitutional Gag Orders On Parents, we reported that the national group Liberty Counsel issued the following statement when Lou Pellitier broke the gag order that the Massachusetts family court placed on him regarding the medical kidnapping of his daughter Justina:

Gag Order: The Juvenile Court imposed an unconstitutional gag order upon the parents to prevent them from speaking to the media about this case. After the father spoke to the media, DCF sought to hold him in contempt. Liberty Counsel began representing the Pelletiers and submitted a brief in opposition to the enforcement of the gag order. DCF then agreed to drop the contempt motion, the judge dissolved the gag order, and the judge ordered the return of Justina’s medical care back to Tufts Medical Center and Dr. Korson, where she had been treated before the ER visit.

As legal experts across the U.S. have stated, “These gag orders are obviously nothing less than intimidation tactics trying to scare parents into giving up their constitutional rights to free speech.”

There is great concern for Baby M’s safety at present. He is currently being held in Lurie Children’s Hospital. His latest return there was not for any medical reason; it was an emergency placement because he was removed from the foster parents’ custody. Allegedly, Lurie Children’s Hospital is planning to repeat surgery on him soon, one which has been performed twice already, involving resectioning of his intestines. From the Facebook page that is run by supporters of the family:

“This lil baby has been through so much in this short time of his life. He needs his family. I personally think he should be removed from that hospital. I’ve read several families complaints about Luries. Now they trying to do another surgery on this poor baby. Sounds like their experimenting on him especially now that he’s in state care.”

When parents are gagged and the process is hidden behind a cloak of secrecy, how is the public to know whether or not the state officials are following the law? Does the lack of transparency in the family court system shield those who are corrupt from accountability to the public?

A Facebook page has been set up to support the family – For the love of Malik.

for-the-love-of-malik

Bruce Rauner is the Governor of the State of Illinois, and may be reached at 217-782-0244 or 312-814-2121, and contacted here.

The Tannas State Representative is Marcus C. Evans, Jr. He may be reached at 217-782-8272 , and contacted here.

Donne E. Trotter is their Senator, and he may be reached at 217-782-3201, and contacted here.