The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is the Miami Herald. They get the award for the following.

A Miami appeals court Wednesday ordered a juvenile court judge to open to the public all hearings in a child-custody dispute between a Cuban national and a Coral Gables Cuban exile family that wants to raise a 4-year-old migrant girl.

In a three-page ruling, a three-judge panel of the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami overturned Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen's April 20, 2006, order that all hearings in the case be closed. The Miami Herald Media Co. appealed Cohen's order in March.

The appeals court did not rule on the part of Cohen's order that bans all courtroom participants from speaking about the case.

''Under Florida law, the trial court may close any dependency hearing to the public upon determining that the public interest or the welfare of the child is best served by doing so,'' the appeals court wrote. ``However, such a determination must be supported by competent substantial evidence.

''The evidence presented to the trial court fails to satisfy this requirement,'' the court wrote.

The little girl's mother immigrated legally to the United States in 2004, and, after living for a short while in Houston, moved with her two children to Miami. Shortly after, the mother became despondent and attempted to kill herself by slashing her wrists. The girl and her now-12-year-old brother were sheltered by the Department of Children & Families.

The brother, who has a different father than the girl, went to live with the Cuban-American family in Coral Gables with the consent of his dad. The girl's father in Cuba has pressed for custody, arguing he is a fit parent and should be given an opportunity to raise the girl. DCF workers have alleged he is not fit to raise her.

The father is currently in Miami while he and his lawyers prepare their case.

The Miami Herald has not named the children or their mother in order to protect the children's privacy.

Yes the Miami Herald hasn't named the child to date. Will that policy continue after their victory?

What does opening the hearings to the public accomplish? Alex at SOTP writes-

But what gall shrouding themselves with statements such as "to protect the children's privacy" or that "the public will get to see how justice is being done in this case". This is not a noble pursuit of the truth, this is just a newspaper hungry for controversy meddling in an extremely sensitive case. They don't care about the child, her father and the families involved. There's no public good to be served by reporting on the case as is ongoing, none; and the Herald honchos who ordered this sensationality hunt would be ashamed of themselves if they had anything reminiscent of a conscience.

There is no public good accomplished by the Herald by opening this case to the public. What will happen is the child and the families will be put in the public spotlight. Sooner or later, they will get named. How noble of the Herald to make that possible. NOT! Does the Herald feel the need to do this for every child hearing in the courts? Why this one case? To stir the public up, like Alex said? I think so, and some how the warped idiots at this newspaper think that will increase circulation.

Another sick episode of the Florida MSM sticking their noses in where they don't belong. Click here and here for other examples. This time will no justifiable reason but for possible financial gain, and that makes The Miami Herald is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Note- I blogged about this custody case previously in this post.

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