Kate Royals

The Clarion-Ledger

When 16-year-old Ruslan Stubbs and his brother 18-year-old Elijah Stubbs told a Rankin County judge as politely as they could they didn’t want to live with their adoptive mother, he ordered them to jail.

Both boys are from the Ukraine and speak little English. Reservoir residents Tim and Suzanne Stubbs, who couldn’t have children of their own, adopted them two years ago. Before coming to the U.S., the boys lived in an orphanage for five years.

Their mother was too poor to take care of them, and their father was not around.

Suzanne and Tim divorced shortly after adopting the boys, and a custody battle landed them in front of Judge Dan Fairly in Rankin County Chancery Court.

Now the Ukrainian government is involved and a complaint has been filed with the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance, a commission that investigates judicial misconduct.

The commission would not say whether it is conducting an investigation of Fairly.

But experts say sending children to jail for contempt of court is no everyday occurrence.

“I personally haven’t had any children who refused to go (live with a parent) be sent to jail,” family law attorney Kathleen Conway of Jackson law firm Allen & Conway said. Conway has practiced family law since 1992.

Mississippi College School of Law professor Matt Steffey echoed Conway, saying he’d “never heard of” kids being sent to jail in a custody case.

Fairly said he could not comment as the case involves minors and is sealed.

In March, Tim Stubbs filed for full custody of the two boys who were living with him and his parents at the time. What happened next was something he describes as a bizarre and strange series of actions on the part of Fairly, including sending Ruslan and Elijah to jail.

On Aug. 12, the judge entered an order awarding Suzanne Stubbs visitation on alternating weekends. The children visited her on two weekends, but she alleged the children “were not respectful to her and did not ‘bond’ with her,” according to a letter written by Tim Stubbs’ lawyer to the Ukrainian embassy.

At the Sept. 10 hearing to review the children’s compliance with the August order, the judge heard testimony from Suzanne and Tim Stubbs, but not from the boys. At this hearing, the judge ordered them to live with Suzanne, which they “politely declined,” according to the same letter.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey confirmed Elijah Stubbs was booked on contempt of court in the Rankin County Detention Center that day.

Elijah stayed at the jail for a little over 24 hours. Ruslan was sent to the Rankin County Juvenile Detention Center for about the same period.

According to Tim Stubbs, they were released only after the Ukrainian embassy contacted the governor and other elected officials in the state.

“It’s something that I’m never going to forget,” Tim said of seeing the boys in court the next day. “The older boy was brought in in the prison outfit and handcuffed and in leg chains. You would’ve thought he just killed somebody. Even the younger one was brought in all handcuffed, though he was in street clothes.”

“In the past year they’ve lost their homeland, their home and their family,” Tim Stubbs said of Elijah and Ruslan.

Suzanne Stubbs, when reached for comment, declined.

A Sept. 24 letter from the Ukrainian embassy to the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance stated that the judge’s decision to incarcerate the children “cannot be considered as ‘in the best interests’ of these children.”

The judge also reportedly ordered the two boys’ Ukraine and United States passports (they are dual citizens) confiscated that same day.

“The Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine would like to bring to your attention that adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners is granted on the condition that the scope of child’s rights will be secured to the extent not less than established by Ukrainian laws,” the letter from the embassy continued. “It should also be noted that the Passport of the Citizen of Ukraine for Traveling Abroad is a property of Ukraine. Under Ukrainian law it could be temporary held or withdrawn only by Ukrainian authorities and only in clear-cut by law cases.”

Yurii Tokuar of the Ukrainian embassy said it also contacted the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues, which he says is “taking some measures on the issue,” though he did not know what.

On Sept. 11, the day the children were released from jail, Fairly awarded custody to a woman he appointed as guardian ad litem.

After being advised to request copies of the hearing transcripts, Tim Stubbs sent in his request and two checks. He received a letter back from the court reporter with his checks enclosed. The letter said “no hearings are to be transcribed unless or until an appeal is filed.”

A public records request for the transcripts from The Clarion-Ledger was submitted to the court reporter Oct. 3.

On Monday, the case was sealed by Fairly.

The next hearing is set for Nov. 13.

“I would love for it to be resolved that they come back and live with me … If they want to go live with her, I’m just for making them happy,” Tim Stubbs said. “I believe right now with me is where they want to be, and I know that every minute we’re apart we’re just losing that bond we made. It’s getting weaker, and we’re losing ground.”