Charlie Sheen, whose feud with employers at CBS has spilled out into the open, has been on a tear lately, taking no prisoners and saying all sorts of outrageous things. There’s no doubt he’s been ruffling some feathers, annoying people, and coming off as a bit unhinged, but he seemed to think he had the situation under control. Today, the other shoe dropped, and police entered Sheen’s home and seized his children at the behest of his ex-wife, who allegedly has a substance abuse problem like him.
Sheen may be acting a bit crazy, but if he’s recently gone cold turkey, that’s to be expected, and it doesn’t appear that he’s broken any laws with his outbursts and off-kilter antics. However, there are other means to deal with men who are causing a stir, and they often hit closer to home than the threat of a spell in the county lockup. In short, they go for what you really care about: the children.
LOS ANGELES — Troubled Hollywood star Charlie Sheen told U.S. television Wednesday that police acting under court order removed his twin sons from his home overnight after his estranged wife expressed concern for their welfare.
The actor told NBC television’s “Today Show” program that his two-year old sons, Max and Bob, were removed by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department.
“I said, ‘I love you, and I said, don’t say good-bye. Say “see you later.” Later is, as we believe, to be very soon,” Sheen said, describing his parting from the two boys.
The same threat was leveled against Mel Gibson, who has had his own behavioral issues, not all that long ago.
Plenty of people have reason to dislike Mel Gibson, although those who know the man personally tend to defend him. He can be abrasive, offensive and about as politically incorrect as possible. Parallels have been drawn between him and Charlie Sheen. Perhaps there is something about acting that demands a certain volatility of character. However, nobody besides opposing parties in custody disputes ever suggested that Mel Gibson – or Charlie Sheen – were anything but loving fathers as far as their children were concerned.
Despite that fact, the NY Times came out with an article that should be extraordinarily worrisome to any divorced father. It was titled “In Family Court, a Reckoning for Gibson’s Career.” The article implied, accurately, that determinations made in family court can have a profound effect on a man’s life prospects. What it did not do, however, was get to the next logical conclusion: family court can also be used to coerce men in matters beyond their families. Indeed, this is part of the problem with contemporary family law — it has the potential to be used as a tool of social control. Don’t like someone’s political views? Seize their children and hang on until they shut up. Have a beef with an employee or coworker? Call his ex-wife and tell her you’ll give her a hand in court. Custody disputes could be used to blackmail, intimidate or simply lay low one’s enemies.
Although Sheen comes off as unstable and strange to a lot of people who have heard him lately, there’s something quite menacing about this seizure of his children, which was accomplished with an ex parte restraining order. The truth is, it could happen to any number of men, including some who have perfectly legitimate complaints (and for all we know Sheen’s complaints may be legitimate).
I think Americans have stop and ask themselves something very important:
What is a Constitution that prohibits warrantless seizure of our property and persons worth if someone can walk into a courthouse and have a judge rubber-stamp an order for the police to come into our homes and seize our children?
