I have been following the story of David and Sean Goldman in the press ever since it began to get national attention. For any of you who don’t know, David Goldman’s ex-wife Bruna who was a Brazilian native, took their son Sean to visit relatives in Brazil when Sean was five. She never returned. She obtained a divorce in the Brazillian court system and 
re-married a politically connected and well-to-do family. Bruna ignored an order by a New Jersey court that ordered Sean be returned to his biological father. David Goldman began a grueling fight against the Brazilian government to follow international law and get his son back.
Under other circumstances, this would be another unfortunate child custody case. However, in 2008, Bruna, who had become pregnant, died during childbirth. International law and conventions signed at the Hague by both the United States and Brazil, dictate that the child was to be returned to his biological father. The well-connected Brazilian family stalled and used their political influence to drag out the proceedings, never letting David Goldman see, or talk to his son. Now let’s make sure we all understand something. David Goldman is not an abusive father. He’s not a child molester, or someone who Sean Goldman needs to be protected from. David is a man who loves his son and wants to have him back in his rightful home.
Soon after the Obama administration took up residence in Washington, the case caught the attention of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It flowed up from there, to President Obama, and it has caught the attention of Brazilian President De Silva. The case was moved from the local municipalities to the federal level and It was ordered that David be allowed to see Sean. After more waiting, Delaying and stalling by the Brazilian family, a three judge panel finally ruled earlier this week that Sean was to be returned to his biological father as soon as possible. David, cautiously optimistic, flew to Brazil to hopefully retrieve his son. Unfortunately, you can guess what happened. Sean’s adoptive family filed one more injunction, that was granted by a single judge on Brazil’s Supreme Court. The injunction says Sean’s testimony should be heard. The Brazilian court goes into recess this weekend until February. It would seem that justice delayed for David Goldman is indeed justice denied.
What is happening here is utterly despicable. This is nothing more than a well-connected family trying to force its will over international law. One wonders about Brazil as a whole because of this sort of thing. Goldman’s wife decides that what is tantamount to kidnapping is the only way to get what she wants. She meets a man who is known to give lectures on how to stymie international law in cases such as this. Did anybody honestly expect anything different from the family she married into if her own moral compass is so out of whack that kidnapping is the primary option?What’s wrong with this picture? This is a country that wants the attention of the world for its effort in hosting the Olympics in 2016. What they are doing is showing the world that they think the rules don’t apply to them. A similar case happened on our shores back in 2000. A young boy by the name of Elian Gonzalez was the focal point of a 
custody battle between a father, who was in Cuba, and members of his extended family who lived in Miami. When the courts decided that Elian had no legal standing here and had to be returned to his biological father, the extended family refused. The U.S. sent armed soldiers in to retrieve him and return him to his biological father! That is how international law works.
My admiration for David Goldman grows every time I see him on television. This guy is so calm, so collected, so in touch, it’s almost unbelievable. He’s been excited and let down so many times that patience has become a way of life for him. He has learned to expect to be disappointed. The moxie that takes is beyond my comprehension. If it were me in his shoes, I’d have done something nuclear by now. My hat’s off to him. I believe, as do three separate psychologists who have examined Sean Goldman, that Sean is being damaged by the Brazilian family’s attempts to brainwash him. The time for stalling is through. In the end, Sean will be ordered to be returned to his rightful father. It may take until February, but in the end, I’m confidant the Brazilian government will rule in David Goldman’s favor. The entire affair is giving Brazil a black eye. How big the bruise gets is now in the hands of Brazil’s Supreme Court. In all actuality, Sean’s step family has already lost. Lower courts have already set precedent . What the step family is doing now is pure vengeful spite, and the one being damaged the most by it, is the one who is the most defenseless against it.
2 Comments
My heart and prayers go to Mr. Goldman. I am also concerned for Sean’s feelings on the subject. We have to consider that this child loves his family in Brazil. And as much right this father has to have his son, he is also breaking the bond that this little innocent has with his mother’s family. Sean is not a thing. He has feelings and rights. These must be respected first. He should be the one making the decision as to whether he wants to live with his father or should his father visit him in Brazil. I see that adults and the courts are making a grave mistake that will only damage the normal psychological development of this child. What a pity!
I agree with you 100%. David is a superb father, and Sean is a lucky boy to have someone who loves him son much.
The Brazilian family, however, was not an adoptive family. They consisted of Bruna’s parents and brother, her Brazilian husband, and their infant daughter, Sean’s half-sister. The step-father, an attorney who works on international kidnapping cases of all things, actually tried to get a new birth certificate for Sean, removing David’s name, changing Sean’s last name to Lins e Silva, and inserting his own name in the “father” column. Amazing. He actually had the audacity to tell the court Sean had been abandoned by his father, his mother had died, and he was an orphan. I hope he is never allowed to see Sean again, he is a horrible person and Sean is so much better off without him.
In the end, right won out over wrong. Sean is back where he belongs, with his one living parent. May they live in peace and happiness together forever.