John Murtari update 24 Aug 2006

(reproduced here by request)

Activist father Murtari, thankful for press, lucky to be alive.
August 22,2006
by Teri Stoddard

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John Murtari says he feels better this morning after a night of restful sleep. The feeding tube that's been keeping him alive was removed yesterday and the plan is to reinsert it tomorrow. "It's been difficult sleeping," he said, "I've been very uncomfortable. It's great getting a whole night's sleep." When asked about staying hydrated while the tube is out he responded, "I've been drinking a little juice each morning, and a little milk each evening, and I'll continue to do that, as well as drink some water."
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Murtari, 49, hasn't had solid food since July 31 when he reported to jail to serve a 6-month sentence for "willful" failure to pay his $60,000 child support arrears, a charge he says in unjust. He has been paying what he can afford, he claims, and says the $60,000 it has cost him to stay in his son's life isn't being taken into acount.
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Domenic, Murtari's 13-year-old son, was moved across the country by his mother after the divorce, something Murtari tried to stop. Murtari visits him four times a year and brings him back to New York for visits twice a year. "Those airline flights are expensive," he says.
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Murtari, founder of AKidsRight.org <http://www.akidsright.org/>, and other family rights advocates want Congressional hearings and ultimately passage of a Family Rights Act <http://www.akidsright.org/act.htm>. They believe no one should lose custody of their children, whether by divorce or Children'sProtective Services, without a trial and a jury of their peers.
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Having only consumed 30 ounces of water in 10 days, then 2 nutritional supplements the day he was given the feeding tube, Murtari had experienced low blood pressure, a rapid and irregular heartbeat, tremors, loss of over25 lbs. and was starting to have trouble finishing sentences.
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Jail personnel told Murtari it was his choice to starve to death, and they would not intervene. After local newspapers published articles on his situation, he was finally given the nasal gastric feeding tube.
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Inspired by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Murtari hopes his passive resistance to the incarceration will draw attention to the immoral laws affecting people in family court. "I have good news for you," he told me, "the Post-Standard [newspaper]<http://www.akidsright.org/post_standard_8_22_2006.jpg>did a half-page
editorial section
[on
his situation.]


"Please tell everyone thank you for writing letters," he added.

continued...

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