Father’s Day in the DCLEC

June 19, 2011.

I’m writing this post on Father’s Day while incarcerated in the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center. I haven’t seen or spoken to my 5 and 7 year old daughters for nearly two years. The irony of the situation is; I’m in jail because I want to be a Dad.

I went through a 2 ½ year divorce in Southeastern Indiana. All I ever wanted was equal parenting time. When I was denied evidence to which I was entitled, I shared my story on the internet. When the judge and custody evaluator violated court rules by communicating outside the presence of both parties, I wrote some more. When Dearborn Circuit Judge James D. Humphrey disregarded the custody evaluator’s recommendation of almost equal parenting time and terminated ALL of my parenting time, I wanted to tell the world all about it. Unfortunately it’s illegal for a father to voice an opinion and be an activist to help bring change to a broken family court system because Dearborn County Prosecutor F. Aaron Negangard had me indicted.

I wonder what Judge Humphrey did on his Father’s Day? Maybe he spent the whole day with his wife and two sons. Maybe the Humphrey family went fly-fishing together, as Judge Humphrey taught his entire family how to fly-fish. He could have spent the day slow-cooking barbeque for the family. Several years ago his wife, Heidi, gave the Judge an outdoor cooker so he now cooks for the family on all holidays and family events. His specialty is apple wood pork shoulder. He probably does most of the cooking on family fly-fishing vacations in the mountains of North Caroline, Tennessee, or out west. Yellowstone National Park is the Humphrey’s favorite vacation spot. Humphrey’s cooking has led some to suggest that he open up a barbeque shack. But don’t count on the Judge cooking the entire Father’s day meal because his wife, Heidi, has become an excellent cook over the course of their 25 year marriage and she usually prepares all of the side dishes while he prepares the main course. Maybe Judge Humphrey just enjoyed a leisurely day reading his fly-fishing magazines.

One of the reasons I am in jail is because I encouraged people to send letters of complaint or concern to the advisor to the Indiana supreme Court Ethics and Professional Committee that was located in Dearborn County, Indiana. The advisor’s name is Heidi Humphrey. Her address was public record so that’s where I instructed people to send mail. Now I’m being charged with “communicating a threat: to Heidi Humphrey. At the time I wasn’t certain that Heidi and James were husband and wife but I didn’t think that her being married to Judge Humphrey should take away my right to have people contact a public official that was listed on the Indiana Supreme Court’s website. Now I have a protection order against me to stay away from James Humphrey, his wife, and two sons. Prior to my arrest, I didn’t even know for sure if Humphrey had children. So you are probably asking “How do you know so much about Judge James D. Humphrey and his family?” I read it on the internet.

My mother mailed me a printout of an internet article from the web publication, Indiana Court Times. The February 21, 2011 article features the “Honorable” judge James D. Humphrey. This is how I was able to speculate what Judge Humphrey did on Father’s Day. The article listed his family’s names, hobbies, sons’ ages, and even listed where they went to school. The article stated that James Humphrey grew up on a farm in Bright, Indiana where one of his “favorite activities as a child [was] squirrel hunting.” One of the reasons that Humphrey gave for terminating my parenting time was that I taught my daughter how to shoot a BB gun. Maybe someone should have separated Judge Humphrey from his father because his dad taught him how to kill animals with “dangerous” firearms as a child.

I didn’t lose the ability to spend Father’s Day with my daughters because I taught them how to shoot a BB gun; I lost the ability to spend Father’s Day with my daughters because I wrote negative things about James D. Humphrey. I’m spending Father’s Day in jail because I shared already public information on the internet. Why isn’t Dearborn County Prosecutor F. Aaron Negangard trying to prosecute James F. Magurie of the Indiana Court Times for exposing personal information about James Humphrey and his wife and sons? I would be facing life in prison if I told people his sons’ names and where they went to school. The reason why James Magurie isn’t spending Father’s Day in jail is because he wrote nice things about James D. Humphrey.

Holidays without my daughters are always a little tough but I know that one day they will appreciate how hard their dad worked to be their dad. My daughters will understand that sometimes people have to face adversity and take a stand against evil and vindictive individuals. They will know that their dad helped prevent officials like Judge Humphrey and Prosecutor Negangard from abusing their power. Most of all, my daughters will know how much their daddy loves them and there isn’t a crooked judge or prosecutor in the world that can take that away from them. Happy Father’s Day girls. Daddy loves you.