Adolf Hitler Campbell, an unfortunately named three-year-old for whom ShopRite refused to make a birthday cake, and his sisters JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell have been placed in the custody of the state. We hope their new parents give them new names and they finally get some birthday cake.
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Comments:
@qwerty017: Apparently the local news said it wasn't because of the names. They aren't saying what it really was, though... maybe they haven't got enough time to get their stories straight yet.
You know who else was named Adolph Hitler?
Seriously, though, if I remember the original story correctly, Adolph Hitler ended up getting a birthday cake from WalMart.
@qwerty017: you must've heard wrong then. there are several instances of precedent for this action.
just not in the US (that i know of). finland and sweden i know both have naming laws. (just ask Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116... pronounced Albin...)
i have a hard time believing you seriously think naming your kid Adolf Hitler and Aryan Nation won't cause the kids issues... or even indirect abuse. you really think the kids should live a crappy life due to a decision that was made for them by those that are supposed to protect them? oooookay.
Either way, these people should not have children. When you obviously and flagrantly name your children with such horrible names, you are abusing your child.
@speedwell, avatar of snark: Odds are if they send a picky inspector to any home they could find a reason to snatch your kids. They probably showed up right after dinner and saw dirty plates sitting out.
This is most likely a case where someone decided it was child abuse to name your kid after Hitler and purposely sought out dumb reasons to take the kids away. The state could be dead wrong about the abuse and there is no guarantee a judge will easily give the kids back.
@x23: Names, by themselves, are not illegal in the United States. It may come out that there was something else wrong in the home. I mean, not like we'd be surprised by the sort of parenting two people who thought these names were a good idea might provide, but the names themselves are not proof positive of abuse or neglect.
I am usually not in favor of kids being taken away from their parents by the state, but I am torn in this case.
@ameyer: Actually, there's a report that after WWII, there were a lot of people named Hitler who changed their name. Then again, there was an old soldier who said, in effect, let the other guy change his; he's the one who disgraced it.
@x23: I do think it's messed up to do. But it shouldn't be a "remove your children" offense. The reason being that it is completely subjective in what is considered as being bad for the kids. Naming a kid Osama here would be bad but not if you were from the Middle East where it is a fairly common name.
I'm sure the names are not the *reason* for putting the kids in custody, but surely a factor. It's pretty safe to assume that there's a lot more going on that just the "weird names". Parents in a normal stable family don't call their children "adolf hitler" and "aryan nation", weirdos with a few screws loose do.
@se7a7n7: Remember back in the 80's when Madonna said she'd name her kids Spermatozoa, Coitus, and Labia?
@Corporate_guy: I sure wish I could say you were wrong. But I live in Texas, and I saw what happened to that polygamous group that was basically tried, convicted, and executed based on a disgruntled telephone report. And much as I hate cults (of personality or of religion), families should not be ripped apart by power-drunk do-gooders with delusions of their own virtuousness.
@qwerty017: Naming laws from around the world:
In Malaysia, you can't name your child Hitler, smelly dog, or 007.
In Denmark, you can't name your kids, like, anything.
And you might remember from last year, in New Zealand, you cannot name your son 4Real.
Meanwhile in America (same article), you can name your child ESPN. USA!
I hope the state has a damn good reason to take the kids...and none of this "omfg take the kids! we'll FIND a reason later lolz!!#$" crap.
As douchey as the parents may be for naming the kids the way they did, the parents have every right to name them as such.
@Xerloq: That's bad too. Not as bad as naming your children in honor of the orchestrators of the holocaust.
There has got to be some other reason these kids were taken. Child Protective Services has very strict guidelines delineating when custody goes to the state. Looks like the cake stunt attracted some unwanted attention to me.
From reports there have been no reports or any previous notes of neglect from the family. And most of the org's are not saying anything as they refuse to discuss specific families.
The only one confirming this is a deputy or something that was there during the childs removal.
These parents are certainly a disgrace to parents in this country. They seemed very starved for attention. Why else would you name kids Adolf Hitler, Aryan Nation, etc.? Granted, I see nothing wrong with the name Adolf, but to add the Hitler would bring extreme ridicule.
However, I do not agree with the states decision to remove the children from their parents. There are no reported cases of abuse or neglect. Like I said, I do not agree with the naming, but if it's determined that the state removed the kids simply because of their names, then it spits on the Freedom of Speech amendment. I do not condone Hitler, nor his actions, but again, this country is supposedly built on freedom. Removing children from a home based on their names is a poor reason. A meeting with the parents perhaps to coerce them to alter the names would have been a good start. Removing the Hitler name would have been suffice IMO. Removing Aryan Nation from the other kid would def. be positive seeing as its a stupid name in General. It'd be like me naming myself Louie Puerto Rican Taino Tribe Colon. It just sounds stupid in general. I believe a much more subtle and responsible course of action was called for here despite the irresponsible actions of the parents.
Were they able to keep their dog, Il Duce?
@Brian Oblivion: Oh, they have all sorts of guidelines... that they follow when they damn well feel like it.
I imagine the state has SOME reason that they've removed the children from the home - perhaps the parents have been caught doing something illegal?
But I do think that they've done their children a "daily ass-kicking in the schoolyard" disservice by naming their children that.
Is it right that they might be harassed and beat up daily? No - they shouldn't have something stuck on them that furthers their parents' ideas. But children are mean and cruel - and so was Hitler.
@x23: You mean something like poor dietary or exercise habits? Or not emphasizing education? Or not teaching them about personal finance? Or any number of reasons kids are set down the path of a crappy life by their parents?
You'd better crank up the taxes if you want the state to take over for every parent who makes suboptimal choices, because there are far worse choices made every day on children's behalves than these very unfortunate middle names.
Who knows what the real reason was? Not me, and not anyone here, not really. But come on, it's not like these are the LAST people on earth whose kids you'd expect to get taken away. Just sayin'.
@Xerloq: I don't know, I don't mind those names as much. They're all perfectly fine words, not describing anything WRONG. If anything, it's wrong that, in our culture, these things are considered indecent, when they're all just natural parts of life, and not bad parts, either. We have such a puritanical thing going on in the US, we can't even say the real names of things without blushing or offending someone.
But those kids WOULD get their asses kicked on the daily.
It's not because of the names.
@se7a7n7: Yes, but not badly enough in itself that the crap shoot of children's services and foster care looks like a better option. Often enough it is, I agree, and I suspect that there was considerably more involved here than stupid names.
@tc4b: That's the point. Their names are hurtful and will get them nothing but trouble. Would it be OK to name a girl "DUMB CUNT JONES" or to name a boy "Dipshit Cocksmoker Jones"? NO, it wouldn't.
@sinfuly Delicious: What he says is that the children looked okay when he got there, though. That's not particularly conclusive. And DYFS has officially stated that names are not a sufficient reason to remove kids from their home. And I do think it's inappropriate for them to comment on the specific case, so they're kind of screwed on the PR front beyond that blanket statement.
When the names of these kids cause undue pain, misery, heartache, and inconvenience those parents are abusing their children. Adolf will have a hard time getting a job that isn't at a fast food restaurant, let alone getting into a decent college. The same for his sister. I am all in favor of changing these kids' names, and I am on the fence about removing them from the home in this instance, but the parents are obviously white supremacists and someone needs to step in and make sure that these kids are raised correctly.
@x23: Live a crappy life due to a decision made for them by those that are supposed to protect them? That's called life. Noone has a choice on if they were born or not, what there name is, who they live with, where they live, in what style they live, nothing.
Crappy name? Legal name change.
Hate your home town? Move.
Hate your parents? Run away.
@Corporate_guy: "Odds are if they send a picky inspector to any home they could find a reason to snatch your kids. They probably showed up right after dinner and saw dirty plates sitting out.
This is most likely a case where someone decided it was child abuse to name your kid after Hitler and purposely sought out dumb reasons to take the kids away.
"
Or perhaps you're making all of this up and the parents were involved in something else post-investigation.
White power groups have been known to be gang-associated and involved in the Meth trade, you know.
Just as I'm not assuming anything, the kneejerk defense of "it MUST be the names!" is strange.
My Godwin meter just exploded.
@qwerty017: They weren't taken away because of the name. These people are sicko white supremacist nazis. The poor kid should not have to be brought up in that perverted environment.
The Shop Rite thing was an obvious play for media coverage. In this area Shop Rite has a large Jewish clientele and is known for having kosher deli, butcher etc.
If it was just about a cake, there were plenty of places where they could have gone quietly.
I bet these kids are already on the TSA's no fly list.
I saw this earlier today when I was reading a newspaper online and emailed it in. But the article never said WHY they took the kids. Just that they took them.
I'm sure there's more to the story than we know at this point.
@se7a7n7: "Dumb Cunt" is a far cry from "Labia." The fact that you equate the two kind of makes my point.
Though, I think we agree any of these names would be cruel.
@Brittany Stewart: Yeah, those names are going to bring them a lot more troubles than playground bullies. Still, it's tricky changing a kid's name. By the time you're a toddler you're pretty attached to your name. Taking a kid from his parents and renaming him makes for one confused little preschooler. Living in a house full of hate is awful and living with a hateful name is awful, but those kids are in a delicate situation right now.
I hope the little Füherer enjoyed his WalMart birthday cake.
Sorry folks. The law is very clear. Case law is well established. Names, like a number of other things, are constitutionally protected free speech. You cannot use the mere fact that these people named their kids something we don't like, no matter how distasteful, in and of itself, as the basis for taking them from their parents.
There are an abundance of cases from the 60's of "hippies" naming their kids all kinds of strange, and the grandparents trying to get the kids.
In addition, some kids names are pre-determined based upon religious or ethnic traditions.
As for their removal from their home, everyone is speculating.
There are privacy laws designed to protect children, so how many details are released about why they were removed are dependent upon the nature of the issue. We are all better served to wait until we have some additional facts before judging or getting all whipped up into a frenzy.
But it's not too much of a stretch that if these asshats gave these names to their kids, that they may have done other stupid things. Whether or not whatever they have done or not done is so stupid as to endanger the kids is for a judge to decide, based on the law, and not how tasteful their choice of names is.
This is still The United States of America, last time I checked.
I feel sorry for the kids though. Maybe they call him dolf for short. Or has a nickname or street name or something. We can only hope.
@Brittany Stewart: I call everyone to notice that the relatively levelheaded, decent post that heads this thread is written by someone named "Brittany." If ever there was a name that gave trouble to all the little girls unfortunate enough to share it, even partly, with La Britney... All I mean to say is, we have a winner in the "qualified to talk about this issue" department.
The father of these children mentioned in one of the news stories about the birthday cake that his family already had an open case file with DYFS. So this recent development probably has something to do with the fact that they were already receiving assistance from social services.
We're not going to hear from social services why these children were removed because DYFS keeps these things confidential. Minor children are involved, and all parties in such a situation are entitled to privacy.
The hearing tomorrow in front of a judge is to explain why these children were removed from their parents' care.
It's very traumatic, time consuming and expensive to remove children from their parents' care. The aim of social workers is to maintain an intact family if at all possible and to provide the family with all sorts of support so this might be achieved. The fact that these children were removed suggests that they were in immediate danger.
It's not about their names, folks.
@speedwell, avatar of snark:
And here in Chicago there was the Herman Hettler Lumber Company on Elston Ave..
It was around until the late 70s or early 80s.
Old Herman built himself a huge mansion on the North Side.
It's still here, now a private school.
Wow. I hope the state has more going for them than that they named their kids weird. Otherwise I can see a long and fruitful lawsuit in the future because last I heard strange names aren't illegal.