Another Unanswered Plea for Help

Dear Judge Person,

I’ve tried repeatedly to reach you, but your assistant says I can’t speak with you.  I just want to make sure you know what has happened and that we need your help.

I spoke with the Mayor’s office today after posting a blog as to how Shelby County has harmed my family. They suggested I try again to reach out to you directly since this is your jurisdiction. I am praying you will take the time to read this..

28 years ago you were a Referee in Shelby County, and you signed Docket #32663, making your recommendations based off a circuit court hearing that established paternity of a Mr. Charles Lust.  Charles Lust was an 18 years old man, living in Rhode Island, when this order was sent to Vital Statistics that recommended his name be changed to Charles Bell.  Vital Statistic sealed his original birth certificate.

Shelby County Juvenile Court failed to notify Charles, his parents, or social security of this name change.  Because no one knew of this name change, Charles has lived for 46 years as Charles Edward Lust.  He has two sons, Jeremiah Lust and Zachary Lust, that share his last name.

We’ve tried for 18 months to find a way to fix this.  We live in Florida, and can not do a legal name change based upon a few things.
Birth certificate is under the name Bell, and according to all legal matters, he was never Charles Bell.  (Birth Certificate under the name Bell never created).
Already fingerprinted threw The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System as Charles Edward Lust for his job.
Must have a valid form of ID to submit to fingerprinting, which Charles does not have.
Birth certificate name and social security name does not match.
No legal form of Identification proving he is Charles Bell or Charles Lust.

We are a family, we have worked hard to make sure that should something happen to one of us the kids are protected.  If Charles dies, I will not be able to get a death certificate, life insurance, social security or anything else to help provide for my kids.

Charles can’t drive, can’t prove who is, can’t get on a plane, can’t vote, can’t get a new bank card, can’t pick up his kids from school…. Charles CAN’T do a lot of things.

How would you feel if this happened to your family?

I am asking you to make an amendment to #Docket 32663 to strike the name change to Charles Edward Bell and make his name the name he has had since birth, Charles Edward Lust.

 You are the only person who can help us fix this.  I hope you can find it in your heart to help us. 

As the elected Juvenile Judge, you have the power in your pen to help us fix this.  You are a judge with the knowledge and experience to help us find a way to get his name and identity back.

Tell me what I need to do? Tell me what motion to file? Tell me what I can do to end this nightmare for my family?

Please help me save my husband, the stress of this is killing him. He can’t sleep, has blood pressure problems, chest pains, depression and tumors that had to be surgically removed that are caused for extreme stress. We worry every day, we will never get a resolution to this matter.

I’m attaching a copy of the original Circuit  Court motion, that clearly shoes it was posted by the JC in 1983, four years after the original hearing.  I’ve also attached Docket #32663 that you signed as the Referee.

Please feel free to contact us, if you have any questions or would like to speak to us directly.

I would truly appreciate any time you could give this matter.

Reaching Out

I have spent hours every day fighting this battle. People wanting to help, saying they have compassion and would never want to be in our position.  “This is unbelievable, something that just can’t happen.” Well, it did happen!  Now, can you please tell us how to fix it!

Here’s a list of everyone we’ve contacted, who knows our story and yet can’t tell us how to fix this.

Mona Hart – General Counsel – Tennessee Department of State – Capitol

Office:  (615) 741-2819 Fax:  (615) 741-5962 Mona.Hart@tn.gov

 Leslie Kinkead Tennessee Supreme Court  (615) 741-2687  leslie.kinkead@tncourts.gov

Tre Hargett Tennessee Secretary of State tre.hargett@tn.gov

Mirage Congressional District office in Shelby County

Yolanda Adams Judical Assistant to Judge Curtis Person, Jr.

Steve Stamson Clerk of the Court Juvenile Court division

Van Sturdemeyer(sp) Circuit Court Division van.sturdivant@shelbycountytn.gov

Tom Coupe   Judical Action Center JUVJ.Jac@shelbycountytn.gov

Judy Short Vital Statistics (615) 532-2661

Judy Short’s Supervisor – Lydia James (615) 532-2622

Attorney General for FL

Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist office (850) 488-2272

The American Civil Liberties Union  aclutn@aclu-tn.org

The NAACP rick.campbell@co.shelby.tx.us

Florida Bar kkelly@flabar.org

The following elected officials who allegedly care about their citizens that couldn’t find time to respond in any way to repeated calls and emails.

Rick Campbell Shelby County Judge rick.campbell@co.shelby.tx.us

Phil Bredesen Governor of Tennessee Phil.Bredesen@tn.gov

Joe Ford Shelby County Mayor joe.ford@shelbycountytn.gov

 

WPTV News Channel 5

After six months of playing games with the Shelby County Courthouse, we called upon our local media to find a way to fix this!  Maybe just maybe someone in Tennessee would pay attention if the media got involved.

Marci Gonzalez  from WPTV investigated our story.. here’s her report, which was shown as the  “Breaking News” story on the 11pm newscast six months after this ordeal started…

 

Posted: 08/18/2010

• By: Marci Gonzalez

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. –  There are a few things Charles Lust knows for  sure: That he’s a good father to six-year-old Jeremiah and four-year-old  Zachary, and that is who he says he is.

“All my life I’ve been Charles Lust,” he says.

After all, it is the name on his Social Security card, his tax  documents and his driver’s license.

But when he went to the DMV to renew that license in March, everything  changed.

Because of Florida’s True ID law, unlike his renewals in past years, he was  required to bring a certified birth certificate, among other things, to prove  his identity.
When he called to obtain the certificate from Tennessee, where  he was born, he was told that there was a very big problem: his name is not  Charles Lust.

His real name, he was told, is Charles Bell.

“Shock, awe, like, what do you mean my name is Bell?” he explains of his  reaction.

Charles was told that in 1979, when he was 14-years-old, the court  recommended that his last name be changed to that of his father because his  mother was filing to receive child support.

The juvenile court in Shelby County didn’t signed off on it until 4 years  later in 1983 when Charles was 18-years-old.

Despite being an adult, the name change became legal.

A spokesperson for the court admits that the family may have never known  about the name change because neither Charles nor his parents were in the  courtroom that day.
“And it took this for me to find out. I’ve never  been sent a letter or any kind of notice notifying me of that,” Charles says  from his home in West Palm Beach.

It isn’t a simple fix.

Charles learned that due to the change his original birth certificate is  under seal and a new birth certificate was never issued after that.

Now, he can’t prove who he is: Charles Lust or Charles Bell.

“It pretty much gives me two identities,” he says.

Two identities could mean a lot of trouble.

Charles says, “That’s committing fraud basically…What happens to my Social  Security? What happens to my tax records? I mean can the government come after me?  I’m pretty scared about this…I’m at a standstill. I can’t get a driver’s  license, my banking can get screwed up, I could lose my job.”

And, it means Jeremiah and Zachary Lust are also living under false  names.

Their mother says, “It’s devastating! Because of this we found out our children’s names are illegal because their birth certificates are now fraudulent…It’s completely stopped our life 100 percent.”

It’s a family-wide identity crisis with no solution in sight.

A court spokesperson said it is not at fault, and the court was simply  following the laws as they were written at the time.

Despite the advice that Charles needs to simply pay a fee to have his birth  certificate sent to him, Charles says officials refuse to release his birth  certificate.

Charles claims that several attorneys he’s reached out to are not willing to  take on his case because his situation is so rare.

He says “I don’t know what I can do. My hands are tied.”

Everyday Things

We have gone round and round with every department, on both state and federal levels, within Tennessee & Florida. Everyone claims they can not help us, it’s always a different excuse.  We just want someone to understand the severity of this issue and fix it. Can you imagine waking up one day to renew your license to then find out you are not who you thought you were.  As a man, as a father, and as a husband…your life has stopped. 

How would you like to suddenly not be able to do everyday things?

• Drive a car (need a Driver’s License)
• Collect social security benefits (need a Driver’s License).
• Get health insurance (need a Driver’s License).
• Get on a plane (need a Driver’s License).
• Get a new job (need a Driver’s License).
• Buy a new home  (need a Driver’s License).
• Buy a new car (need a Driver’s License).
• Get a credit card (need a Driver’s License).
• Drive yourself to work (need a Driver’s License).
• Write a check (need a Driver’s License),
• Cash a check (need a Driver’s License).
• Get a new debit card (They have an expiration date and you have to have a valid forn if ID).
• Register  kids for school (need a Driver’s License).
• Take kids to the doctors (need a Driver’s License).

The stress of one judical decision is destroying our lives, our family and our health. And everyone in Shelby County and in the State departments couldn’t care less!