Legal Update, Walkathon and Your Help Needed
1 September 2009
Dear Friends and Supporters,
It has been some time since our last news update on the Goldman case and while there have not been any major developments to report, we thought we should share some other information with you relating to the case. Simply put, the clock keeps ticking and Sean Goldman remains in Brazil , away from his father and despite a court decision ordering him returned to the U.S. It has been five years since Sean’s abduction, one year since the death of Sean’s mother and almost three months since the return order was issued by the federal court in Rio.
Update on the legal case
As many of you know, Judge Rafael de Souza Pereira Pinto of the First Federal Court in Rio de Janeiro ordered Sean Goldman returned to his father on June 1, 2009. The return order was blocked as a result of a petition filed by a political party to the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court which led to a stay order issued by one Supreme Court justice. The Supreme Court later dismissed the motion unanimously but unfortunately, the petition succeeded in allowing the families holding Sean Goldman to block his return to his father in the U.S. pending a decision from an appeals court.
We are currently waiting for a ruling from the TRF-2 Regional Appeals Court in Rio which will be deciding on the appeal submitted by the defendant, João Paulo Lins e Silva, concerning the return order issued by Judge Pinto. While we have no way of knowing when the decision will be announced, our understanding is the decision could come sometime in September.
For some background on the how the legal process works in Brazil , please visit the following thread: http://bringseanhome.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1822.
Things you can do today to support the Bring Sean Home Foundation
Please spread the word! Compose an email to family and friends making them aware that Sean is still in Brazil and that there is more we can do to help. Many people who had been following the story assume Sean is home because they have not seen the case on the news lately. Let them know that sadly, this is not the case and more needs to be done today.
Ask them to call their Congressman requesting support of H.R. 3240 (“The International Child Abduction Prevention Act”) and H.R. 2702 (“The Suspend Brazil’s GSP Trade Status Bill”).
Contact information for your congressman is available at: www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials. For more information on these important pieces of legislation, please view the following threads:
Ask your contacts to call both of their U.S. Senators to push for hearings on international child abduction in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (mention that NJ Senator Lautenberg has requested these hearings, but there’s no word yet as to when or if they'll happen). Contact information for your Senators is available at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.
The Bring Sean Home Walkathon & Fundraiser
Please join the Bring Sean Home community on Saturday, October 3, in Long Branch, NJ at Pier Village for the Bring Sean Home Walkathon & Fundraiser. All proceeds will benefit The David & Sean Fund and will be used to help defray expenses related to the abduction and repatriation of Sean Goldman. Details on this event will be announced shortly. For more information on the event and how to register, visit: http://www.bringseanhome.org/walkathon.
Thank you for your tremendous support. While Sean remains in Brazil and our job is far from finished, we have come a long way in the past year and that would not be possible without the enthusiasm and amazing efforts from all of you.
Thank you,
Bring Sean Home Foundation
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. This mailbox is not monitored, you will not receive a response.
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