PRIMARY SOURCE  -  US CONGRESS - DECEMBER 2, 1970

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The Congressional Record

 

The Gracey Case entered into the official record of the U.S. House of Representatives

 

This page from the Congressional Record shows that the Gracey family's fight was not just a local court case — it had reached the floor of Congress. Entered into the record on December 2, 1970, it includes testimony, news coverage, and an appeal to the public on behalf of the family. It is one of the most significant primary sources on this site.

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                Original scan of Congressional Record page 39527.  Transcript below

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                 Congressional Record page 39527, December 2, 1970

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Why this matters

 

Having a family's case entered into the Congressional Record means it was formally placed before the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the national legislative debate. This was not a small-town dispute that stayed in Oswego County — it was being cited in Washington as evidence of a broader crisis in parental rights and state power over education.

 

The record includes a statement from the Graceys themselves, a detailed account from PONY-U Inc. (Parents of New York United), and a striking on-the-record quote from the Mexico school's own supervising principal.

 

 

         "For some time, five or six years, there had been talk of taking children away from their            homes, to put them in distant schools."

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            Mr. Elvin Pierce, Supervising Principal of the Mexico Schools, as quoted in the                       Congressional Record

 

 

 

 

 

Full transcript

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Transcribed from the original document. The document is in the public domain as a U.S. government record.

 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE ·

DECEMBER 2, 1970 · PAGE 39527CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE

December 2, 1970

 

PONY-U, INC.

Parents of New York United Inc., Clarence, N.Y.

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GRACEY FAMILY IN THE DESPERATE PLIGHT

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The Gerald Gracey family of Mexico, New York are fighting for the right to keep their own children. Their desperate plight has called forth widespread response from all parts of the country.

 

A local Reporting Committee for PONY-U Inc., Parents of New York United, talked with Mrs. Gracey on October 27th, in her Mexico home.

 

They reviewed the following events with her:

 

Early in September the Graceys took their children out of the Mexico Public Schools. The parents objected to teachings which they contend are against their religious tenets. They are devout Roman Catholics.

 

Mrs. Gracey secured school desks and necessary teaching equipment. She has since that time taught them herself, keeping a five hour instructional day during the school week.

 

On September 28, Mr. Gracey was summoned to appear in Oswego Family Court, for a hearing. He had not been able to secure the services of a lawyer, although he had called the Pulaski Legal Aid Bureau, and several attorneys in private practice. The presiding Judge, Donald Comstock, failed to provide him with a lawyer. He ordered a welfare agent to enter the Gracey household, and investigate their family life.

 

The agent reported back to Judge Comstock that the children were "receiving excellent care," and "sound moral teachings."

 

On October 14, Mr. Gracey appeared in court again, in answer to a summons. He still did not have a lawyer. He got no response of help or service from lawyers he contacted. Judge Comstock did not give him court-appointed counsel, but did assign a Mr. Robert Hurlbutt as guardian of the Gracey children. The judge ordered the removal of six of the nine children from their home.

 

On October 19, two Sheriff's Deputies, and two matrons took the children to three foster homes. The Graceys did not know where their children were for more than two days!

 

Through an appeal to a priest outside their own parish, United Press and Associated Press were alerted, and the story out over the nation. Calls and letters from all parts of the country brought expressions of shock and sympathy to the Graceys. Some people have offered financial assistance.

 

A New York attorney, Mr. James McKenna has agreed to represent the Graceys.

 

Mr. McKenna brought a show cause order to Judge Comstock, who had the children returned to their parents on October 25th. But they are still under the guardianship of the court appointed lawyer, Mr. Hurlbutt.

 

Following the release of the Gracey children, Judge Comstock received two phone calls, threatening to bomb his house. According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, State Police evacuated the Comstock residence, but no such attack materialized. Speculation runs high on what connection this has with the case. Was it a move to get people to sympathize with the judge?

 

When the Graceys go to court to fight for their natural right to keep their own children, they will be fighting for all of us. They will be defending the sanctity of our most basic national group — the Family. The main issue will be: whether or not the State Education Department can gain the power to seize and remove children from their parents, on grounds that some kind of educational requirements are to be fulfilled this way.

 

Please bear in mind, that if a few cases could be decided quietly, in small courts, in favor of school systems having this power, a precedent would be established. Then you and I and all other citizens would be placed in real immediate danger of losing our own children, on the decision of a school agency.

 

We also interviewed Mr. Elvin Pierce, Supervising Principal of the Mexico Schools. He indicated to us, in person, that this will be a test case, whether or not parental objectives and Constitutional rights can be overridden by the State Education Department may be decided here.

 

He also stated that "for some time, five or six years", there "had been talk" of taking children away from their homes, "to put them in distant schools."

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One type of school program which takes children to distant locations is the education park. There is such a plan for the Syracuse area. There is also one for the Buffalo area, called "Project 1990" headed by Dr. Lamatie of SUNYAB.

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Education parks are large schools where thousands of children would be concentrated, for long periiods of time, totally isolated from the community and family.

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This type of program could not be put into effect, unless parents are stripped of their rights to care for their children at home, to raise them in their own traditions and religion, and to guilde them in their social life.

 

Within the fortress of the family the rights of individuals are established and preserved. From birth to death family structure provides the individual with his name and security in society. All our countrymen enjoy legal rights and responsibilities as "family members" and as potential family originators. When the walls of the family fall, so will die law and rights in our country. So will die all strength to support our free way of life. Search and seizure with permanent disappearance of citizens could occur.

 

I appeal to you and your friends to help these besieged citizens. Mr. Gracey is a Korean War Veteran, and a member of the V.F.W. He is a millwright, employed by Alcan Aluminum.

 

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 13 in Oswego Family Court. The court battle may be long and costly. The importance of its outcome to all of us cannot be overestimated.

 

Please make contributions payable to: PONY-U, Inc. Parents of New York United Legal Fund for Gracey Family, Box 20, Clarence, New York 14031.

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