Parent trapped on the Hindes legs of society

A Michigan judge has issued an impossible order to a deployed sailor: appear in court today or face arrest and the possibility of losing custody of his six-year-old daughter. The sailor, Matthew Hindes, is currently serving on the USS Michigan under the Pacific Ocean, so there is no way he can appear in court. And before you suggest services like Skype, Hindes is not even allowed to attend by Skype or phone, only in person. “He’s protecting the rights of others, but who is protecting his rights?” Hindes’ wife Benita-Lynn told media. Hindes was awarded custody in 2010, after his daughter Kaylee was removed from the home of his ex-wife, Angela, by child protective services. While the sailor is deployed, Kaylee has been under the care of the daughter’s step-mother Benita-Lynn. Because Hindes left his daughter in the care of his wife instead of leaving her with the mother, the judge has refused to issue a stay under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which allows courts to “grant a stay of proceedings for a minimum period of 90 days to defendants serving their country.” Circuit Court Judge Margaret Noe disagreed with Hindes’ lawyers request for relief, saying, “If the child is not in the care and custody of the father, the child should be in the care and custody of the mother.” That doesn't make sense. If child services removed the child from the mother's custody, I'm sure there was a good reason for doing so, and that they were acting in the best interests of the child. Just because the father is deployed overseas and possibly fighting in a war the child didn't start is no excuse for demanding she stay with a potentially unfit mother, especially when there's a step-parent who can look after her.