Justice for Kelly Rutherford

As it has been two years since Kelly Rutherford's children were sent to live with their father in a country none of the them is citizen, we are writing to appeal to your sense of fairness and justice.

This is frightening that a judge effectively deported two american citizen children to accommodate a man who had his VISA revoked and was exiled from the United States; and the reasons for his forced departure from the US are unclear, which raises serious concerns about the children's safety and well-being. The judge forced two American children to live in France without their mother even though she was the only one they've ever lived with, and the children's own counsel recommended that they stayed in the US with their mother.

Ms. Rutherford agreed to take the children to visit their father frequently, and did so, but her offer was rejected.

Labeled by ABC’s legal analysis, Dan Abrams and many others as "one of the worst custody decisions ever" Abram says: "Put aside the fact that neither of the parents are French citizens, both of these children were born and raised in the United States. Amazingly, the legal question was whether the children of a loving American mother should be forced to live in a country where neither parent has citizenship because their father had done something that made him illegible to remain in the United States". In the words of the divorce examiner Tina Swithin: "Los Angeles County Judge Theresa Beaudet ordered two young children, Hermes and Helena (ages 7 and 4) to be uprooted from their home in America and sent to France with their father. The decision was handed down when their father, Daniel Giersch, of Germany, was deported and banned from the United States by the State Department amidst suspicions that Mr. Giersch was a suspected drugs and weapons dealer. One part of this equation that defies logic is that the children are both American born and raised citizens. The latter part that leaves me and many others baffled is that neither Rutherford nor Giersch are French citizens yet the children are ordered to reside and be schooled in France. The Family Court System is tasked with the responsibility of acting in the best interest of the child but being sent to live in a foreign country and away from their mother is clearly not in the best interest of the children. If the State Department finds Mr. Giersch unfit to even enter the United States, how is it possible that Judge Beaudet could find him fit to be the primary caregiver of two small children?" According to Chelsea Storey, Family Law Attorney: “The fact that these children who have birthright citizenship and therefore a legal right to live in America have been ordered to live in a foreign country is extremely troublesome and sheds light on a myriad of other problems in the family court system. In an overreaching decision that ensured a father, who had been deported for suspicion of illegal activity, had equal time with his children, the children have been ripped away from their mother, their primary attachment figure. Using the erroneous premise that Ms. Rutherford can travel at will to see her children in a foreign country and that Mr. Giersch, due to his deportation cannot, the judge completely disregarded other “best interest” factors. Equal parenting time does not automatically guarantee children’s “best interest.” With the overcorrection and abolishment of the “tender years doctrine,” which maintained that young children should remain with their primary attachment figure to reduce separation anxiety and developmental problems, children’s actual psychological needs are being ignored by decision makers. The ‘best interest’ standard should always consider and incorporate psychological and emotional needs of the children. In this case it appears these important principles were ignored to advance an agenda.” As you can see, it's not only us, the fans who think this custody decision wasn't the best for the two parties, so all we are asking for is a more just verdict.