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American Morning

New York City Ordered to Pay $600,000 to Three Battered Women

Aired September 16, 2002 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: For many years, the U.S. Society has made some progress in recognizing and protecting battered women, setting up shelters where they can be safe from an abusive partner. But in some cases, battered women are being victimized twice. First by an abusive partner, then by a system which in some cases takes their children away from them because they were battered.
That's what Sharwline Nicholson says happened to her when her two children were taken away after she was battered by her boyfriend. Now New York City has agreed to pay a total of $600,000 to Nicholson and two other battered women.

She and her attorney, Carolyn Kubitschek, are with us now. Good morning. Glad to have you with us.

SHARWLINE NICHOLSON, ABUSED MOTHER: Thank you.

ZAHN: When the city came in and took your kids away, why did they tell you they did that?

NICHOLSON: They gave me no explanation because I was not there when they took the children away. I was in the emergency room when they took the children, so I had no explanation. I just got a phone call in the emergency room saying, Ms. Nicholson, we have your kids, if you want to see them again report to the courtroom in like two days. That's all I heard. Nobody explained anything to me.

ZAHN: So you are sitting in the hospital with the wounds that you suffer --

NICHOLSON: Overnight.

ZAHN: Let's explain. Wounds is the wrong word. What did he do to you?

NICHOLSON: I had a broken arm, fractured ribs and I had concussions to the head. So I was, like, gashing blood from my head profusely. And they had let me stay overnight to check for internal bleeding and all of the other works, X-rays and all that.

ZAHN: So you had to go home to an empty house.

NICHOLSON: No, I did not go home. They would not allow me to go home. I end up to be homeless because she said she wouldn't allow me go home. Police wouldn't want me go home. When I got that call I was still in the emergency room the morning when I woke up. That was the call I was awakened with, saying that my kids were in care. ZAHN: So how did you get them back? You went through the system, you representing Sharwline, what happened?

CAROLYN KUBITSCHEK, ATTORNEY: I represented Sharwline in the federal court after it was all over. But a co-counsel, Jill Zicardi (ph) represented her in the family court. She was charged with neglecting her children and the exact charge was "engaging in domestic violence."

ZAHN: Now wait, wait, wait. The charge was she was neglecting her own children because, what? They were in an environment where battery had taken place?

KUBITSCHEK: Exactly. Because -- because they said she was engaging. I mean it's like saying that a victim of a robbery is engaging in the robbery, but that's what they charged her with.

ZAHN: How much did that hurt to see in paper for the first time that in some way that you neglected your own children when in fact you were the one who was battered?

NICHOLSON: It was devastating, totally devastating. I -- I -- my whole life was like falling apart in that slow incident, and the aftermath of calling the 911 for help and what turned out to happen to me was like totally devastating. It destroyed that period in my life. And that's why I went ahead for the lawsuit, saying this lawsuit not only help me and my children or help me therapeutically but will help other women in the system and who have been through the same thing.

ZAHN: How long were you without your kids?

NICHOLSON: Well in reality it was 21 days. In that time it was like a lifetime.

ZAHN: I need to read a statement that the Administration for Children Service has put out, even as they have settled the case. And it hasn't backed down completely. They say in each of these cases there was legitimate reason to be concerned about the welfare of the children involved and the family court agreed with our decision. Nevertheless you're part of this rather large settlement, your reaction to that statement?

NICHOLSON: Well, what they do in cases like that, they combine both cases. What they did in my case, they put me and the perpetrator with the same charges. So, when we went through those three that they were charging me with, nothing applied to me. So in reality, they had nothing to charge me with.

ZAHN: How many women do you think are out there in the country in similar circumstances?.

KUBITSCHEK: There are tens of thousands of women throughout the country. Sharwline here is part of a class action lawsuit, which had an eight-week trial last summer and at the end of the eight-week trial the federal court judge found that the City of New York systematically violated the rights of battered women and their children. And he issued a very long decision and court order telling them to stop it.

And really that trial and the aftermath of that trial led to the financial settlement for Ms. Nicholson and other two moms and their children. But since that time, we have been getting phone calls from folks all over the country saying, the same thing is happening in our city, in our state, in our county. Tell us about how we can fix it.

ZAHN: Well, we appreciate both of you sharing your story with us this morning. It's mind-boggling to think about what you had to go through on top of the injuries you suffered. Sharwline, best of luck to you. Carolyn, thank you for your time.

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