The Norris Family Breakup

The Norris family has been damaged forever by the intervention of the Children's Aid Society, reduced from prosperity to penury, from confidence to fear, and even from health to medical neglect. Before intervention, Cathy Norris lived in a home in Kingston Ontario with her two sons Tyson born in 1991, and Cole born in 1993. The older boy does not want his name to come up on a Google search, so his surname (the same as his brother's) is omitted. The boys' father, Tom Anderson, no longer played a role in the family. Cathy's employment was adequate to support the family and she owned a second home rented out for income. Cathy had recently completed university courses making her eligible for more remunerative employment, but soon the intervention reduced her to temporary work. A good way to understand how the family lived is by examining two YouTube videos of their life before intervention, Kingston Children's Aid cruelly separate brothers and The family Separated by the Kingston Children's Aid. Or use our local copy (wmv) of the second. The first of these videos tried to comply with Ontario law preventing identification of children involved in a child protection case by obscuring the faces of the boys. In later developments the family name was publicized by the police, so there is little point in trying to conceal their identities.

Apprehension

On October 13, 2005 the Children's Aid Society of Kingston and Frontenac took custody of Cole, then twelve, by picking him up at school, and his brother Tyson, fourteen, by entering his home with police and a warrant.

To get the warrant, social worker Kaveh Khanverdi, misspelled Khanvardi by the court reporter, applied to a justice of the peace. Remarkably, he alleged no abuse, saying that Tyson had no problems. He applied for the warrant because Cathy failed to admit him when he approached the home with police escort, but no warrant, on what lawyers call a "fishing expedition", using legal process to compel production of evidence without any basis for believing that wrongdoing has occurred. In a written application (available only through later reference) Khanverdi twisted an earlier statement by Cathy expressing distrust of a Big Brother named Jason. Confusing names, Khanverdi claimed that Cathy accused her son Tyson of being a spy for CAS. It doesn't matter: there is no indication the Justice of the Peace ever read the application. Cathy later found that Mr Khanverdi did not have the MA degree that he claimed in his affidavits.

Cathy hired Douglas R Haunts to represent her without getting effective representation. Later a policeman told Cathy that Mr Haunts' father was a former Kingston policeman.

Tearing down the family

Tyson soon escaped CAS custody and returned home. On October 17 Kelly DeWolfe and two police officers arrived at the Norris family home in Kingston threatening a break-in. Cathy let them in, and they unsuccessfully searched the home for Tyson. Cathy later assembled a webpage devoted to Kelly DeWolfe.

On October 18 there was a court hearing before Judge Belch. Tyson attempted to attend the hearing, but was removed by CAS worker Kelly DeWolfe and two police officers. Three days later he again ran away from the CAS facility, Loyalist Youth Services.

On October 25, Cathy got to see Cole for the first time since he was picked up. It was in one of the CAS fishbowls, with CAS workers Kelly DeWolfe and Kaveh Khanverdi making notes.

On November 6, Tyson returned to a CAS group home in order to keep Cathy out of jail for contempt. The next day there was another court hearing. During the hearing, news was presented that Tyson had escaped yet again. His lawyer Lili Kramil-Marcus suggested putting Cathy in jail to teach Tyson (her client) a lesson.

On November 10 at a hearing before Judge Sheffield CAS used an affidavit by Kelly DeWolfe asserting that in a monitored phone call Cathy had told Cole that Tyson was dead or missing. Cathy's recording of the phone conversation showed the assertion to be false, but family courts are not interested in this kind of evidence. Tyson was in the courtroom, but CAS took actions to prevent him from attending all later hearings in his case. The next day he again escaped from CAS custody.

The bitch who stole Christmas

On November 20, 2005 Tyson wrote a letter critical of CAS (pdf). Canada Court Watch posted it on the internet four months later, March 25. In court the next day Judge Pedlar allowed Tyson to stay with an estranged relative, Cathy's aunt Nannette in a rural area near Guelph, 340 km from the family home in Kingston.

On November 28 Cathy visited CAS and left letters for Cole along with Christmas presents, a DVD player, a Shrek figure and candy canes. Two days later Kelly DeWolfe handed Cathy a letter saying her letters to Cole were banned as inappropriate. The gifts could not be given to Cole because there was no court order, and Cole was not permitted to write to Cathy. On December 6, 2005 Cathy visited CAS to pick up Tyson's things and the presents not delivered to Cole. Cathy said to Kelly DeWolfe: "You won't even give a kid a candy cane before Christmas, you bitch". This comment became the basis for banning Cathy from the CAS office.

On December 8 Cathy visited Tyson at a restaurant in Guelph. On the same day, Tyson spoke to Cole by phone, with Kelly DeWolfe monitoring the call. Cole expressed anger that his mom had sent him nothing. On the way back from the visit with Tyson, Cathy was stopped by police because of a province-wide warrant issued pursuant to the child protection case and held in the back seat of a police car for 30 minutes. Later that day Cathy's car broke down. Since she had her dogs with her, it was impossible to stay in a hotel, and the dogs would not stay with strangers. The only alternative was to lie to CAS, claiming she was away while really staying with her aunt for the next week.

On December 13, 2005 Kelly DeWolfe filed an affidavit saying that Cole was permitted to receive gifts, and from this time on Cole was permitted to write to his mother. Cathy never received a single letter from Cole. Two days before Christmas Cathy got to visit Cole for Christmas, under the humiliating conditions of a visiting room, watched by two CAS workers with a policeman stationed outside. Later Kelly DeWolfe faulted Cathy for not getting Cole what he wanted for Christmas.

Cole stayed with aunt Nannette for four days at Christmas, December 23 to 27. On January 5, 2006 aunt Nannette reported to Kelly DeWolfe. Kelly's notes said:

Tyson has a hatchet for woodworking. Nannette saw Cole and Tyson in the den. Cole was on the computer. Tyson had the hatchet aimed at Cole’s neck. Nannette yelled and advised them not to do this. Tyson then put it away. Tyson has aggressive fooling around.

Cole told Cathy the sheath was on the ax, and he never treated it as dangerous.

Also on the night of January 5 Tyson ran away from Nannette, and was surrounded by police who threatened to release their dog on him. The police returned Tyson to CAS.

On January 9, 2006 an affidavit of Kelly DeWolfe faulted Cathy for enrolling her son Tyson in school, and for accompanying him on a school trip to a museum. She also announced that CAS has discontinued Tyson's orthodontic treatment. The next day Cathy was summoned to a court hearing on 30 minutes notice. Tyson was not in court, because he was never informed of the hearing.

On January 11, 2006 Cathy had another supervised visit in the observation room with Cole and Tyson, watched by two social workers and two policemen. A week later at another visit Tyson secretly gave Cathy a letter announcing his intention to go on a hunger strike if kept away from his mother. In later visits, CAS changed procedures so that Cathy could not get surreptitious letters from her sons. Shortly after this meeting, Tyson ran away from CAS and has been with his mother since.

Publicity starts

In February 2006 the family established a website at www.casinternment.com. The website itself said it was established by the older boy, Tyson. Later, Cathy took over maintenance and added a large amount of media files to the site. At about the same time, Bruce Polnick became the family services worker for the Norris family.

Kelly DeWolfe at the Norris home March 6, 2006. audio (mp3)

On March 6 there was a hearing before Judge Brennan. The judge said "someone goofed" when CAS apprehended the Norris kids. CAS claimed Tyson threatened Cole by holding a hatchet to his throat back in December at aunt Nannette's. The same day, police surrounded the Norris home and threatened to break down the door unless Tyson let them in. Tyson escaped CAS custody again later that day. The judge's order two days later told Cathy not to publish the names or pictures of her children on casinternment. A day after that Judge Robertson ordered Cathy to terminate the casinternment website. Cathy was restricted from seeing Cole for five months.

On March 11, Cathy sent out emails requesting support in publicizing her case. Dufferin VOCA established a mirror of the one page that existed at the time. Later that month, Canada Court Watch posted a letter from Tyson complaining about the treatment of his family.

Cathy silenced in court

Cathy inquired whether a move to Brantford would allow her case to be transferred there, and was assured that it would be. She did move her family to Brantford, but the case remained in Kingston. A trip to court now became an overnight trip, since Cathy could not drive both ways in one day. On June 28, 2006 Cathy drove to Kingston to file an affidavit in her case scheduled for a hearing the next day. At the courthouse, her affidavit was refused on a rule requiring filing two days in advance. Cathy noted that most of the affidavits filed by CAS had been filed one day before court, or on the day of the hearing. On the way out, Cathy was stopped by two police cars. She slept in her car overnight.

At the hearing the next day before before Judge Robertson, Cathy was attended by three policemen, in addition to normal court security. That left police short-handed in another courtroom where they failed to keep the peace in the case of Steven Steacy, accused of killing his girlfriend.

Cole missing

On August 17, 2006 Loyalist foster care reported that Cole did not return for dinner at 5:30. Late in August Cathy put an ad in the Kingston Whig-Standard under Lost & Found: MISSING 13 YEAR OLD COLE NORRIS. For information visit casinternment.com

The casinternment Hydra

With Cathy's voice effectively silenced in court, CAS moved quickly to take advantage. In August 2006 the family court ordered Cathy to remove the website. Affidavits by Kelly DeWolfe (Aug 21) and Bruce Polnick (Aug 22) reported that information on the casinternment website was making it difficult for Kingston CAS workers to do their jobs, though neither claimed there was anything false on the website. Starting on August 31 in two days, Brantford police visited Cathy Norris at home three times. On September 8 Cathy was ordered to deliver Cole to Kingston CAS by September 15 or go to jail. She was also to refrain from any publication. About September 10 a Russian mirror site of casinternment appeared. Shortly after another French mirror site was created. On September 15 Cathy disabled the casinternment site. An affidavit by CAS computer wizard John Page said only the home page was down, subsidiary pages could still be accessed, though it is unlikely anyone but computer professionals got into the site that way. An affidavit by Bruce Polnick dated September 19/20 cited the mirror sites at www.cas911.narod.ru and at www.cas911.ifrance.com. It also cited several postings to Canada Court Watch claimed to be from Cathy Norris. Following a hearing on September 21 without Cathy in the courtroom, Judge Belch ordered a Warrant of Committal for Cathy Norris, to be incarcerated for 30 days, fine on Cathy Norris of $3500, sending a copy of the order to TUCOWS Inc, and that Dr Susan Beckett shall forthwith file her parenting capacity report. On October 1, 2006 TUCOWS disabled the casinternment domain name, in compliance with the court order.

By this time Cathy was equipped with a video camera recording all contacts with the police.

• September 2006. link (wmv). Constable Swift comes to the Norris home in Brantford in a search for Cole. While Tyson is sitting in the room, he suggests that Tyson is really Cole. While one of the dogs is filmed sleeping, the officer also explains that he could kill the dogs if he feels threatened.
• September 2006. More of Swift link (wmv). The cop tries to get fingerprints or a DNA sample from Tyson, then alleges some far-out theories of child substitution.
• September 2006. link (wmv). Cops interview neighborhood kids near the Norris home, then a social worker arrives to identify Tyson. Cops deny that they threatened to kill the dogs. At the end, a doggie gets his revenge.
• October 11, 2006. link (wmv). This recording, with little video but fearsome audio, captures the mood of a family under police attack. A cop threatens to kill the family pets Jade and Trigger. Cathy was sent to jail in Kingston, where she remained until October 30.

On November 7, Bruce Polnick quit Kingston CAS.

Brantford bust

Cole did not want to fall behind in his education so Cathy worked out an agreement for him to go to school in Brantford. When they attempted to enroll, the school refused to do so and a policeman escorted Cole out of the school. The next day a warrant to apprehend (link to photo copy 1 megabyte) was executed in Kingston. The description (messy shaggy hair, white ski jacket) was not much like Cole at the time, as you can see in the contemporaneous videos below.

• March 2007. link (wmv). This video of Cole made before his attempt to enroll in school shows that regardless of the efforts of CAS to destroy him and his brother, he is coming through the ordeal in good health and good spirits.
• March 21, 2007. link (wmv). Brantford refused to enroll Cole and a policeman escorts Cole out of the building. Later in the day, Cole ran away while waiting outside the CAS building.
• March 22, 2007. link (wmv). Cathy Norris, referring to Cole, tells cops "he ran away". The cop misquotes Cathy twice claiming she said "we ran away". The video shows five cop cars, as backup cops patrol the sidewalk in case of an attempted escape.

Cathy Norris has a pile of legal documents approaching two thousand pages. At a hundred dollars a page they cost $200 thousand to produce. CAS compensated by cutting necessities, such as orthodontic treatment for Tyson.

Conclusions

This case illustrates some widespread features about family law. It is typical of the most common kind of child protection case, the single mom, the atypical features being Cathy's meticulous record keeping and publicity. As for the children's lawyer, when a lawyer for a child suggests jailing mom, the lawyer is representing the interest of the social services system that appointed and pays him (her in this case) in preference to his client. And while the written rules are the same for everybody, in their administration there are grades of rules, one for parties representing the crown (CAS), another for private parties represented by counsel, and another still for unrepresented parties. When a lawyer is late for court, the judge waits, for an unrepresented party the same infraction creates a default. In the Norris case, CAS routinely filed affidavits on the day before court, or even on the court date itself. When Cathy tried to do the same, her documents were refused on the basis of the rules.