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The Kidnapping of Amanda Lee

Evanston, Illinois - July 27, 2000. For more than two weeks, Amanda Lee has been involuntarily held prisoner at Evanston Hospital. Her nightmare is one of profound proportions and will hopefully be the catalyst to numerous investigations. Imagine voluntarily checking yourself into a hospital only to become the victim of numerous criminal acts. This is what has happened to Amanda Lee.

Amanda is a loving wife and the mother of a beautiful 3 month old daughter. She's a good and lawful Christian woman who has never acted in any different manner. Lately, she's been feeling the stress each new mother endures for the love of her infant child. Amanda is a dedicated mother, but in the excitement of her new life of motherhood, she failed to take care of her own physical needs, such as adequate sleep. Every mother can testify to the fact that the first 3 months are the most stressful due to very little peaceful periods of sleep.

She went to Evanston Hospital with her family to seek help. She had realized her need to learn how to cope with the demands of new motherhood without destroying her own health, but didn't know where to get advise. Amanda voluntarily agreed to undergo a stress evaluation at the advise of the staff doctor she spoke with. People go to a hospital looking for help and expect just that, but for Amanda Lee, this is where her nightmare began.

Shortly after voluntarily admitting herself for the stress evaluation she had been convinced she needed, Amanda was awakened by a man she recognized as a hospital employee. He was rummaging through her personal belongings in the previously locked closet next to her bed. When she called out, he ran off. Frightened of seeing a hospital worker in the process of robbing her, she quickly told the staff of the incident. She also told her husband and he filed complaints with the Cook County Sheriff's Department and the Evanston Police Department. She and her husband then advised the hospital that, because of this incident, she was voluntarily leaving. The hospital staff quickly denied her the right to leave without explanation.

We must all remember that Amanda went to Evanston Hospital, with her family, to seek advise and help. She entered the hospital under her own free will. She is now a captive of the hospital with no lawful explanation as to how or why. They have denied her right to freedom and have negated her lawful rights without any due process.

To make matters worse, they have forced controlled narcotics into Amanda against her wishes and objections, and against those of her husband. When she advised the staff that she was pregnant, they ignored her and administered further drugs that are considered by the FDA to be a danger to her unborn child. The drugs are causing her to be sick to her stomach and have given her terrible nightmares. Her husband contacted their family physician and learned of the danger of these drugs, so he promptly returned to the hospital, with witnesses at his side, to remove Amanda from the danger she was in. The hospital staff promptly removed him from the premises and he has been denied visitation with Amanda ever since. That was nearly two weeks ago.

Amanda and her husband, Craig, have spoken to witnesses we have interviewed relaying a very interesting chapter to this saga. On two occasions, the attending physician, William E. Merry, M.D., has boldly stated to them that she will not be released because of the criminal complaint made against the staff member who had pilfered through her personal belongings, and because of a formal complaint Craig had filed against Dr. Merry for forcefully administering dangerous narcotics into Amanda without consideration of her pregnancy or well being.

The nightmare continues to increase for Amanda. Just recently, on numerous witnessed occasions, she has been forcefully stripped naked in the corridors by staff members, all in plain view of other patients and visitors. When Amanda has spoken out against their cruelty directed against her, they have written false reports about her "abnormal" behavior. When Amanda stated to the staff that she was a respectable Christian woman and that they would be answerable to God for their abuses against her, they acted with further hatred and prejudice. The more Amanda Lee and her husband have objected to her abusive treatment in the Name of the Lord God, the more hatred has been leveled against them by the hospital staff.

During our own preliminary investigations, we spoke only with witnesses in order to keep our objectivity as accurate as possible. These witnesses have seen and heard first hand most of the incidents we have described here. For this reason, we believe our observations are more than marginally correct and factual. Dr. William E. Merry has refused our telephone inquiries. So have Ray Grady, the hospital Administrator; Dr. Stephen Cherniak, Director; and, Yildez Fidel, the head Floor Nurse. It appears that neither Craig nor Amanda have anything to hide, yet hospital staff have refused to speak with us.

Perhaps Dr. William E. Merry believes he is above all law, including God's Law. While he was a resident physician at Montefiore Hospital in New York City, he purportedly had revealed his homosexual preference and support of "gay rights". Does he have a hidden hatred for Christian women like Amanda Lee because her beliefs are opposite his? Only an inquiry into the abusive crimes directed against Amanda will reveal the truth, but something has apparently motivated Dr. Merry to make this a personal attack. His own personal actions support this. So that this will not happen again, we need to demand the patient care history for Dr. Merry. How many other women have received this same abuse of his authority? Public inquiries must be made and any former female patients or Christians who have also been abused while in his "medical care" must come forward.

It appears that we have uncovered a cover up. It also appears that no one expected Craig or Amanda to speak out against the continuing prejudicial hatred and threats made against them. In light of the legalities involved, the hospital accepted Amanda Lee's voluntary agreement for evaluation, which also included a voluntary agreement to leave the evaluation if she so desired. Since the hospital has repeatedly denied her right to leave voluntarily, they have illegally kidnapped Amanda Lee and broken their contract with her, without due process of law.

Another factor to consider is this. The longer the hospital and Dr. Merry keep her as a patient, the more health insurance payments they will collect from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. This may have even been their original intent, but now there is much more than possible insurance fraud involved. Ironically, Amanda knows of this type of insurance fraud, having been an employee of Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

We believe, based on the accounts witnesses have presented to us, that what is taking place is a deliberate retailiation and inexcusible cover up. Evanston Hospital staff have commited more unlawful and immoral crimes against Amanda Lee than could possibly be considered mistakes. It appears that the health care system and administration of Evanston Hospital has broken down, and that abuse of both physician oaths and controlled substance laws have been commited by hospital staff.

While this is taking place in Illinois, how many others have been, or currently are, victims to this in other hospitals in other states? We have all heard stories like this before, but what has been done to stop such moral and unlawful abuses? In that light, every Christian man should get on his knees and thank God that this has not happened to his own wife. Craig and Amanda Lee Strauss need your help. They made the mistake of trusting a physician who has abused that trust. They need the voice of good and lawful Christian Americans to speak out against what Amanda Lee is being forced to endure. Despite police reports, neither the Cook County Sheriff nor the Evanston Police have done anything to investigate. The only way Amanda Lee's nightmare will end is when those who have abused both her and their positions of authority have been exposed and the public demands an investigation to reveal the facts.

We encourage every Christian man and woman to support an investigation into this matter, and to appeal for the immediate release of Amanda Lee. You can do your part by voicing your opinions:

Evanston Hospital, 2650 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60201. Tel (847) 570-2000

Cook County Sheriff's Dept., Commander Robertson or Tom Fitzgerald. Tel (708) 865-4700

Cook County Sheriff's Dept., Sheriff Michael Sheehan, Tel (312) 443-5500. Fax (312) 603-4420

Evanston Police, (847) 866-5000 (main number). Detective Hutton (847) 866-5040 or (847) 866-5010, ext. 4028

Illinois Senator Patrick O'Malley, Tel (708) 671-1269. Fax (708) 923-1818

 

*************** UPDATE ****************

Evanston, Illinois. July 28, 2000- An emergency hearing for mandatory incarceration was held today for Amanda Lee. At the end, the judge ruled that Amanda's "right to deny dangerous medications", versus the Hospital's demand that she be administered them, "did not warrant further incarceration". However, this is not the end of the nightmare authored by Evanston Hospital, et al.

The attending physician, William E. Merry MD, astonished all when he testified that they - he and Evanston Hospital - wanted to place Amanda in a different facility because the insurance coverage had been stopped. It's good to know that our telephone calls to Illinois Blue Cross and Blue Shield were taken seriously. His testimony proved that his patients are nothing more than a matter of commerce. His testimony also proved that neither he nor Evanston Hospital are concerned for the health and well being of their patients. It's obviously a matter of money and wealth. The god of commerce is their king. That point was exhibited clear enough to all who attended the mock "hearing" today. When Craig and Amanda challenged Dr. Merry and Evanston Hospital, the criminals retaliated with an illegal and immoral "involuntary commitment". It is no exageration to state that Evanston Hospital is a dangerous place if you happen to be a patient. The facts surrounding Amanda Lee's nightmare support this.

Dr. Merry also stated to the court that Amanda was "indiscrete", yet when the Christian Ecclesiastic council had arrived at the trial, Amanda told them how the head nurse had once again intimidated her by force, hours before, to remove all her clothes, and then refused to give them back. When the Ecclesiastic council visited Amanda prior to the hearing, she had wrapped herself in a blanket because the nurse refused to give her more than a hospital gown. The church council observed that all the other patients in that ward were fully clothed except for Amanda.

Apparently anticipating today's emergency "court hearing", Dr. Merry and his staff of co-criminals pumped Amanda full of drugs late last night and early this morning. When she appeared in the courtroom, professional medical witnesses attending with the council observed that she was dehydrated and fidgety, signs of a drug inducement. This was not the same Amanda that the Ecclesia council has visited in the hospital the day before.

At the trial, outside the courtroom entrance, the licensed BAR attorney representing Evanston Hospital threatened one of the church council who had signed the Ecclesiastical Writ of Habeas Corpus . He stated "the writ was a violent threat against the well being of the hospital staff" and that "it had strong repercussions for those that signed it." In other words, the licensed legal attorney was threatening the "church" and those of the Ecclesiastic council who had signed it. That, in itself, shows the true intentions of those who believe they are above and better than the Law of God and the general common laws of this nation.

Every reader of this report should voice their demand that Evanston Hospital remove Dr. Merry and his boss, Dr. Cherniak, for deliberately endangering the well being of their patients, citing the witnessed and documented "treatment" given to Amanda Lee Strauss. If they have done this to Amanda, how many in the past have fallen victim to their crimes? How many more must suffer their immoral intentions in the days and weeks to come? If it doesn't stop now, when will it ever stop? Are you willing to be their next victim? Are you willing to allow your wife, or anyone else of your family, to become victim to these intentional criminals?

According to Amanda Lee, the head nurse, Deborah Tabor RN, nurse Yildez Fidel, and another nurse named Carol, were physically and mentally abusive to her during the entire two weeks she was unlawfully incarcerated. In light of what crimes they have committed, they must now be forced, by public outcry and demands, to face Federal and State inquiries for their intentional and criminal acts. At the very least, we should all demand their employment be immediately terminated pending necessary and proper investigations.

The Strauss family intends to file formal charges against Evanston Hospital as soon as Amanda is resettled with her husband and infant child. They have decided to move to a more peaceful community, one that still follows Christian values and the Law of God. We will also do our part to press for an investigation as to why the police departments did not respond to the formal complaints and pleas for her protection and release. Kidnapping is a serious crime. Ignoring that it happened is a serious crime. Failure to perform your sworn duties as a peace officer is yet a more serious crime.

The hospital staff named above are proven as dangerous. They must be stopped from commiting further abuses and acting out their hateful crimes against Christians. There is no doubt, by the testimony we have heard from many witnesses, that Amanda Lee was singled out as a victim of prejudicial hate mainly because of her outspoken Christian beliefs. If the Body of Christ, His Ecclesia and church, allow those who intentionally commited these crimes to escape lawful punishment by not voicing outrage and concern for what has happened, then every Christian in America can expect this same treatment towards them.

We urge every reader to take five minutes of your time, spend less than a dollar on long distance telephone if needed, and call the contact numbers listed above to voice your demands for formal inquiries and investigations. Your calls will make a difference and can stop the same abuses in your own community. Examples must be made, and that can only come about when good and lawful Americans demand it.

Compiled by Anthony Wayne for Lawgiver.Org

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