DocketNumber: No. 93-0863
Citation Numbers: 185 Wis. 2d 468, 518 N.W.2d 285
Judges: Eich, Gartzke, Sundby
Filed Date: 5/12/1994
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 9/9/2022
The principal issue presented in this case is whether the circuit court has either the inherent or statutory power — apart from the "harassment injunction" statute, § 813.125, Stats. — to enjoin the appellant, W.W.W., from having any contact with two minors he believes to be his children, until they reach the age of eighteen. Other issues relate to whether the
I. Background and Statement of Issues
In 1985, W.W.W. commenced a paternity action seeking a declaration that he is the father of two children born to M.C.S. and her husband, R.J.S. W.W.W. had a sexual relationship with M.C.S. during the period in which both children were conceived.
After protracted litigation, including appeals to this court and the supreme court, the action was dismissed, with prejudice, as not being in the best interest of the children. The supreme court affirmed the dismissal in In re C.A.S., 161 Wis. 2d 1015, 468 N.W.2d 719 (1991).
After the supreme court's decision, W.W.W. began contacting C.D.S. and C.A.S., attempting to convince them that he, not R.J.S., is their biological father. Attorney Patience Roggensack, who had been appointed the children's guardian ad litem in W.W.W.'s earlier paternity action, commenced the instant proceedings seeking to enjoin him from having any further contact with the children.
The trial court granted the guardian's request and issued two injunctions. The first, issued under § 813.125, STATS.,
W.W.W. appeals from the orders issuing the injunctions, arguing: (1) that the guardian ad litem lacked standing to seek the injunctions and improperly instituted the proceedings befor.e the judge who had presided over his earlier paternity action; (2) with respect to the injunction issued under § 813.125, Stats., that the trial court lacked competency to proceed under the statute for failure to comply with applicable time limits for holding the hearing and, alternatively, that the evidence was insufficient to support issuance of the injunction; (3) that the court lacked both "inherent or explicit" authority to issue the "age-eighteen" injunction; and (4) that the injunctions are overbroad. As indicated above, we reject his arguments and affirm the orders.
The case has a lengthy history. M.C.S. and R.J.S. have been married for many years and have five children, the youngest of whom are C.A.S. and C.D.S., the children involved in this case. As indicated, M.C.S. had a sexual relationship with W.W.W. during the time C-A.S. and C.D.S. were conceived. The relationship ended shortly after M.C.S. became pregnant with the younger child, C.D.S.
W.W.W. brought his paternity action shortly after C.D.S.'s birth. After hearing the testimony of the parties and several expert witnesses, the trial court concluded that there was a "high probability" that allowing W.W.W. to continue in his efforts to establish himself as the children's father would "more likely than not . . . cause damage and possibly irreparable harm to [the children]" and*dismissed the action with prejudice. At the same time, the court apparently entered an order declaring R.J.S. to be the children's father.
Several months later, in March 1992, W.W.W. began frequenting the children's residential and school neighborhoods, often parking his car near their house
The children reported these contacts to M.C.S. and R.J.S. and, several days later, Roggensack petitioned the same trial court that had heard W.W.W.'s earlier paternity action for a permanent restraining order preventing W.W.W. from contacting the children. Her petition was grounded on the general provisions of the children's code, on § 813.125, Stats., the "harassment" iniunction law, and on "the inherent power of the Court."
The petition was heard on April 2, 1992. After W.W.W., M.C.S. and R.J.S. had testified, W.W.W.'s attorney requested an adjournment, stating that he wanted to question W.W.W. in greater detail about his contact with the children. Over the guardian ad litem's objection, the trial court granted the request and continued the hearing.
After several delays requested by both parties, the hearing continued on November 25, 1992. Having heard all the evidence, the trial court found that W.W.W.'s course of conduct with the children had both harassed and intimidated them, and the trial court issued the injunctions.
Other facts will be referred to in the body of the opinion.
III. The Guardian ad Litem's Standing
W.W.W. argues first that Roggensack lacked standing to bring the injunction action because she had not been reappointed as the children's guardian ad
He never raised the objection in the trial court, however, and we have often held that we generally will not consider arguments or issues raised for the first time on appeal. Poling v. Wisconsin Physicians Serv., 120 Wis. 2d 603, 610, 357 N.W.2d 293, 297-98 (Ct. App. 1984). The waiver rule is grounded on the recognition that" [c] ontemporaneous objection gives the trial court the opportunity to correct its own errors and thereby avoids unnecessary delays through appeals, reversals, and new trials," Christensen v. Equity Co-op. Livestock Sale Ass'n, 134 Wis. 2d 300, 306, 396 N.W.2d 762, 765 (Ct. App. 1986), and W.W.W. has not persuaded us that we should exercise our discretion to relieve him from that waiver.
Here, too, W.W.W. never made any such objection in the trial court. He neither requested that the judge be substituted nor offered any challenge to the judge's authority to hear the matter, and he thus waived any such objection. Wirth v. Ehly, 93 Wis. 2d 433, 443, 287 N.W.2d 140, 145 (1980). Again, we see no reason to exercise our discretion to relieve him from that waiver.
TV. Loss of Competency to Proceed Under § 813.125, Stats.
W.W.W. also argues that the trial court lost competency to exercise its jurisdiction under § 813.125, STATS., because it failed to comply with the time limit set forth in paragraph (3)(c) of the statute, which
There is no question that the trial court began the hearing within the seven day period, as required by the statute. And we note that even before the hearing began, W.W.W. sought a continuance. The request was denied and later in the hearing W.W.W.'s attorney renewed it, stating that he wishéd to examine W.W.W. "at length and in detail" about his contacts with the children and that he intended to call expert witnesses to testify. When Roggensack objected to any continuance, W.W.W.'s counsel stated that he had another appointment which would require him to leave very shortly, and he indicated that an adjournment was necessary in order that W.W.W. could be "fully and properly heard." He also attempted to meet Roggen-sack's objection by agreeing to have the temporary restraining order continue in effect until such time as the hearing could be resumed. And when the court indicated that it would not be able to reschedule the matter for some time, counsel indicated that he, too, would be unavailable for several weeks.
As indicated, a variety of scheduling conflicts — including a request by W.W.W.'s counsel for a further delay of nearly three months — prevented the hearing from resuming until November 25,1992, some seven months after it had begun.
As in the other instances, W.W.W. raises this issue for the first time on appeal. He never challenged the court's competency to proceed for violation of the seven-day time limit when the hearing resumed in November. In In re G.L.K., 153 Wis. 2d 245, 248, 450 N.W.2d 498, 499 (Ct. App. 1989), we held that the failure to raise the issue of the juvenile court's competency to proceed with
W.W.W. argues that G.L.K. has been undercut by the supreme court's decision in In re B.J.N., 162 Wis. 2d 635, 469 N.W.2d 845 (1991). B.J.N. involved a challenge to the competency of the trial court to extend a dispositional order in a CHIPS case when no hearing was convened within thirty days, as required by § 48.365(6), STATS., which provides that, whenever a request is made to extend a CHIPS order prior to its termination date, and the court is unable to hear the petition before that date, it "may extend the order for a period of not more than 30 days." The trial court in B.J.N. scheduled the hearing in a timely manner but later rescheduled it to a date several weeks beyond the thirty-day limit, with the result that no hearing was held, or even commenced, prior to the statutory deadline. The supreme court held that the court lost competency to proceed by not convening a hearing within the thirty-day period and also that the complaining party could not be held to have waived the competency objection by failing to raise it in the trial court, stating: "[W]e have consistently ruled that a court's loss of power due to the failure to act within statutory time periods cannot be stipulated to [or] waived." B.J.N., 162 Wis. 2d at 657, 469 N.W.2d at 854.
We agree with Roggensack that B.J.N. is distinguishable for, in that case, no hearing was held within the prescribed time limit. Here, the hearing was held and all of the witnesses who were present in court testified. It was twice adjourned and continued at W.W.W.'s request, accounting for nearly four months of the total seven-month delay. Under all of the circum
V. Authority to Enter the "Age-Eighteen" Injunction
As we have noted, the trial court grounded its "age-eighteen" injunction on general provisions in ch. 767, Stats., and also on its "inherent powers." W.W.W. argues that the court had neither statutory nor inherent authority to issue the age-linked injunction. It is a question of law which we decide independently. In re E.C., 130 Wis. 2d 376, 381, 387 N.W.2d 72, 74 (1986).
Among the sources from which courts receive their powers are the statutes and their own "inherent judicial authority." E.C., 130 Wis. 2d at 381, 387 N.W.2d at 74. We are satisfied in this case that the trial court had the authority to issue the age-linked injunction under either or both sources.
Section 767.01(1), STATS., states that "[t]he circuit courts have . . . authority to do all acts and things necessary and proper in .. . actions [affecting the family] and to carry their orders and judgments into execution as prescribed in this chapter." "Actions affecting the family" include both the determination of paternity and actions "[t]o enforce ... a judgment or order in an action affecting the family granted in this state_" Section 767.02(l)(i) and (L), STATS. Thus, the circuit court has statutory authority to do all things necessary and proper to maintain the integrity and effectiveness of its orders and judgments, and we believe that that is precisely what the trial court did when it entered the injunctions in this case.
The trial court dismissed W.W.W.'s action because it concluded that allowing him to proceed with his claim that he was the children's father was contrary to the best interests of the children. In so ruling, the court relied on the opinions of expert witnesses that informing the children that W.W.W. was their biological father could lead to "a substantial risk of harm" to them. C.A.S., 161 Wis. 2d at 1038, 468 N.W.2d at 728.
What W.W.W. asks on this appeal is for us to conclude that the trial court, after ruling that it would be against the children's best interest to allow him to pursue his parental claims in court — and having had that ruling affirmed by the state's highest court — nonetheless remains powerless to preclude him from pursuing the same objectives outside the legal system. With adverse rulings from both the trial court and the supreme court in hand, W.W.W. nonetheless decided to carry on alone and, contrary to both the letter and spirit of the court rulings, began approach
In addition to the statutory power to carry their orders into execution, trial courts have broad "inherent" powers to accomplish the same ends. In Dennis v. Dennis, 117 Wis. 2d 249, 344 N.W.2d 128 (1984), a divorce proceeding, the trial court entered a support order that it recognized was beyond the husband's pre
Judges presiding in actions affecting marriage have no less power than judges presiding in other actions. It is clear that support payment, division of estate and maintenance orders issued by a court affect the rights and remedies of a party in an action and the judge is authorized and has the duty to assure those rights and remedies will not be impaired, impeded, defeated or prejudiced.
Dennis, 117 Wis. 2d at 259, 344 N.W.2d at 132. We believe the same principles apply in this case.
The Dennis court went on to note that, under § 767.01, STATS., "Wisconsin courts have authority to do all acts and things necessary and proper in family actions to carry their orders and judgments into execution," Dennis, 117 Wis. 2d at 259, 344 N.W.2d at 132-33, and concluded:
We have held that courts, in addition to statutory authority to carry their orders and judgments into execution, have the inherent power to do so. [In] In Interest of D.L.D., 110 Wis. 2d 168, 180, 327 N.W.2d*487 682 (1983), we held: "Where a court is granted jurisdiction over subject matters, it is implicit in that grant of jurisdiction that a court can use the contempt power to effectively carry out the functions ordered by the legislature." In our organized society, it is necessary that courts be able to carry out their orders. The propriety of those orders can be tested on appeal.
Id. at 259-60, 344 N.W.2d at 133 (citation omitted).
Just as the trial court in Dennis was held to possess the inherent power to issue and enforce a "seek-work" order, we believe the trial court in this
And whether that authority derives from the court's inherent judicial powers, or whether it has its source in the court's plenary subject matter jurisdiction under Article VII, Section 8 of the constitution to entertain any matters brought before it, the result is the same. The injunction was "necessary and proper," not only to carry out the court's orders and judgments, but also to protect the rights and interests of M.C.S. and R.J.S. and, of course, those of the children, which are considered "paramount" in all actions affecting the family. Steinbach v. Gustafson, 177 Wis. 2d 178, 185, 502 N.W.2d 156, 159 (Ct. App. 1993).
VI. Evidence to Support the § 813.125, STATS., Injunction
W.W.W. confines his argument on this point to an assertion that there is insufficient evidence to support a finding that he intended to harass the children. As we have noted above, in order to obtain an injunction under § 813.125, STATS., the petitioner must establish, among other things, that the respondent has, "with intent to harass or intimidate another person," engaged in a course of conduct which actually does harass or intimidate the person and which serves no "legitimate purpose." Section 939.23(4), STATS., defines "with intent to" as meaning "that the actor either has a purpose to do the thing or cause the result specified, or
Intent is a fact: " 'The state of a man's mind is as much of a fact as the state of his digestion.'" State v. Lossman, 118 Wis. 2d 526, 543, 348 N.W.2d 159, 167 (1984) (quoting William L. PROSSER, The Law OF Torts § 104, at 745 (3d ed. 1964)). However, because intent is, by its very nature, "rarely suscéptible to proof by direct evidence," it nearly always is established by circumstantial evidence and inference. Clark v. State, 62 Wis. 2d 194, 197, 214 N.W.2d 450, 451 (1974). Indeed, we have said that intent is a fact that "must be inferred from the acts and statements of the person, in view of the surrounding circumstances." Pfeifer v. World Serv. Life Ins. Co., 121 Wis. 2d 567, 569, 360 N.W.2d 65, 66 (Ct. App. 1984). In situations where only one reasonable inference may be drawn from the evidence, the drawing of that inference is a question of law, which we review independently. Vocational, Technical & Adult Educ., Dist. 13 v. DILHR, 76 Wis. 2d 230, 240, 251 N.W.2d 41, 46 (1977). Where, however, more than one inference may reasonably be drawn from the established facts, we must accept the inference drawn by the trial court.
The drawing of an inference on undisputed facts when more than one inference is possible is a finding of fact which is binding upon an appellate court. It is not within the province of... any appellate court to choose not to accept an inference drawn by a factfinder when the inference drawn is a reasonable one.
State v. Friday, 147 Wis. 2d 359, 370-71, 434 N.W.2d 85, 89 (1989).
At that point, C.D.S. approached them with a group of friends and W.W.W. "brought the group up to date on the conversation" he was having with C.A.S. He told the children that blood tests could be taken to establish parenthood, and that there was "a serious dispute about who [C.A.S.'s and C.D.S.’s] father is." According to W.W.W., all of the children were interested in his story and "liked the idea of solving the mystery" as to who C.A.S.'s and C.D.S.'s father really was. He told C.A.S. and C.D.S. that "someday [their parents] may try to move and take you away from ever being able to know the truth about which man is actually your natural father, the blood father," and that "it was important for us to stay together because I felt as though we were family."
W.W.W. testified that C.A.S. and C.D.S. appeared to agree that the "mystery" should be solved, and that when the other children heard that, they all began "literally cheering" on the sidewalk. W.W.W. then told C.A.S. and C.D.S. to go home and "bring it up with their
W.W.W. acknowledged that C.A.S. appeared to be "ill at ease" when he approached her on March 2, and he thought at the time there was a possibility that the other children would tease C.A.S. and C.D.S. about what he was saying to all of them. He said he told her that she should not pay attention to them. W.W.W. also testified that his conversation with C.A.S., C.D.S. and the other children lasted approximately twenty minutes.
C.A.S. and C.D.S. told their mother about the encounter when they got home. According to M.C.S., they "burst" into the house stating that a man had told them "Dad isn't our real dad," and that he (the man) was their real father. M.C.S. described the children as "agitated and anxious" and stated that they were shouting and "upset," which was unusual for them. She said that C.A.S. was frightened and told her she had been "shaking" during and after the encounter with W.W.W.
When R:J.S. came home from work, the children were still excited and he noted that they appeared "anxious" and "very confused" when they told him about the encounter. According to M.C.S., they were still upset at breakfast the next morning.
The following morning, W.W.W. waited in his car along the children's usual route to school. When C.A.S. and a companion passed by on their bicycles without stopping to talk to him, W.W.W. started his car and followed them for several blocks. He eventually pulled in front of them, stopped and said: "Have a great day, girls." W.W.W. returned to the school in the afternoon and watched as M.C.S. picked C.A.S. up. He stated that C.A.S. saw him there.
W.W.W. claims these facts are insufficient to establish or infer that he had the intent to harass or intimidate C.A.S. and C.D.S. Indeed, he asserts that the trial court "expressly found" that he had no such intent, citing us to the following comments made by the court at two points during the course of rendering its decision from the bench: "I'm not sure whether [W.W.W.] is merely naive or whether he just lacks an understanding of the developmental delicacy of children . . . . [H]e just simply doesn't, won't or can't understand how frightening that stalking behavior is to a child."
It is important to consider those remarks in the context in which they were made. The court began its discussion by pointing to W.W.W.'s "very carefully planned" meetings with the children for the purpose of disclosing to them "his version of probably the most important and fundamental questions of their identity and their security in life." The court noted that W.W.W. had studied the children's neighborhood to such a degree that he had "almost an almanac knowledge of the neighborhood" and ruled that, based on the testimony of the parents and the court's own experience in life, his conduct had the effect of harassing and intimidating the children.
We do not consider the cited remarks to be in any sense a finding or determination that W.W.W. did not intend to harass or intimidate the children. And while the court never made a specific "magic-word" determination that W.W.W.'s contacts with the children were undertaken with the intent to harass or intimidate them, we are satisfied that such a determination may be inferred from the record and the trial court's remarks.
The court was satisfied, for example, that W.W.W.'s "premeditat[ed]" planning of his contacts with the children and his persistent course of conduct with them
reflects his intention ... to contact these children over the objection of their parents, claiming rights that under the law he does not have, that is, the right of a natural parent to ... communicate [to the children] the most intimate and basic fundamental*494 information about themselves, who they are, who their parents are, and [invade] the[ir] security to be free of uninvited contacts from legal and factual strangers in their lives.
The fact that this conduct is harassing and has intimidated the children is reflected [in the record]
Finally, the court stated:
[F]or [W.W.W.] to seek this kind of contact outside of the protection of parental permission, in public, in the presence of the children's friends, knowing that, by his own admission, it subjected the children to the possibility of cruel teasing from other children, and ignoring what is the obvious danger of unsettling the sense of security and the sense of identity that children want and need as they're growing up, these contacts [serve] no legitimate purpose....
These excerpts and other portions of the trial court's lengthy oral decision satisfy us that, despite the absence of an express "magic-word" determination, the court indeed decided that W.W.W., by his persistent and thoroughly planned actions, intended to — and did in fact
VII. Overbreadth
Finally, W.W.W. argues that the injunctions are overly restrictive and "unreasonably oppressive," and he asks us to overturn them on that basis.
The scope of an injunction is within the. sound discretion of the trial court, State v. Seigel, 163 Wis. 2d 871, 889, 472 N.W.2d 584, 591 (Ct. App. 1991), and the limited scope of our review of discretionary rulings is well settled. We may not overturn a discretionary determination that is demonstrably made and based upon the facts of record and the appropriate and applicable law. Id. at 889, 472 N.W.2d at 592. And because the exercise of discretion is so essential to the trial court's functioning, we generally look for reasons to sustain discretionary rulings. Steinbach, 177 Wis. 2d
The injunctions in this case prohibit W.W.W. from contacting the children, either directly or indirectly, and from frequenting specific streets around their residence and along their route to school. Each is accompanied by a map specifically designating the streets in question.
W.W.W. argues first that the two-year § 813.125, Stats., injunction goes beyond the court's statutory powers in such cases, citing subsection (4) of the statute, which authorizes the court to grant an injunction "ordering the respondent to cease or avoid the harassment of another person." He claims that, by going beyond a simple order enjoining him from harassing the children by doing certain specified acts, the injunction goes beyond the court's powers under the statute.
Not only do W.W.W.'s past actions indicate that he will not cease harassing C.A.S. and C.D.S., but he has stated that he plans to "never let them go." The trial court recognized this when it noted that W.W.W. "simply cannot be trusted because of the extent of the behavior and the length of time and the lengths to which he will go" to continue having contact with the children, despite a decision of the state's highest court in "litigation in which [W.W.W.'s] position was fully litigated and has reached a final judgment."
The trial court adequately explained the need for such an unusually restrictive injunction in order to finally put a stop to W.W.W.'s harassment of the children. The record bears out that need and, under all the
W.W.W. also argues briefly that the terms of both injunctions are "unreasonably oppressive" because, rather than simply enjoining him from going to the children's home and school and ordering him to avoid their routes of travel during school hours, it bars him from all contact with the children and prohibits him from traveling on several city streets. Other than to state generally that such an order amounts to an "abuse of discretion" on the court's part, W.W.W. does not explain the argument further. We have long held that we need not consider arguments that are "not developed themes reflecting . . . legal reasoning," but rather are supported only by "general statements." State v. Pettit, 171 Wis. 2d 627, 646, 492 N.W.2d 633, 642 (Ct. App. 1992).
Even so, the record reveals that the trial court carefully balanced W.W.W.'s constitutional and other rights against the need to protect the children and their parents from unwanted encounters with him. The court struck that balance against W.W.W., concluding that, in light of W.W.W.'s "history of pretextual presence in [the children's neighborhood] . . . for the purpose of contacting them," it wanted to establish "the minimum area which will provide these children a zone wherein [W.W.W.] cannot be present for any purpose II
To be effective, injunctive relief must be tailored to the necessities of the particular case. Seigel, 163 Wis. 2d at 890, 472 N.W.2d at 592. And while the terms of
As we noted earlier, our review of discretionary determinations of the trial courts is quite limited. Where the record reveals an appropriate exercise of discretion on the court's part, we will affirm the decision even if it is one we ourselves might not have made were we ruling on the matter in the first instance. Burkes v. Hales, 165 Wis. 2d 585, 590, 478 N.W.2d 37, 39 (Ct. App. 1991).
By the Court. — Orders affirmed.
Section 813.125(4), Stats., authorizes a court to grant an injunction ordering a person to "cease or avoid the harassment of another person." "Harassment" is defined in the law as, among other things, "[e]ngaging in a course of conduct or
While we have been unable to find such an order in the record, the trial court noted in rendering its decision in this case that it had entered an "order declaring [R.J.S.] the father of these children" — apparently contemporaneously with the order dismissing W.W.W.'s paternity action.
In this regard, we agree with M.C.S. and R.J.S. that any error in failing to reappoint the guardian ad litem must be considered harmless. Had W.W.W. objected to the guardian ad litem's standing, the trial court could have immediately reappointed her pursuant to § 767.045(l)(a)l and (2), Stats., which authorize the appointment of a guardian ad litem "whenever the court deems it appropriate" when it "has reason for special concern as to the welfare of a minor child."
Roggensack also argues persuasively that the failure to formally extend her appointment was a "technical nonconformity with procedure which does not warrant reversal of the trial court's order." The supreme court has long recognized that
The supreme court discussed the experts' testimony in considerable detail in C.A.S. and, as we have indicated, upheld the trial court's determination that allowing W.W.W. to continue the action would be inimical to the children's best interest. In re C.A.S., 161 Wis. 2d 1015, 1038-40, 468 N.W.2d 719, 728-29 (1991).
W.W.W. suggests that the "all acts and things necessary and proper" authority under § 767.01(1), STATS., only authorizes the court to enforce the dismissal of the action itself, not "each and every finding made in support of its order or judgment." Again, we disagree.
As we have noted, the trial court's order dismissing the paternity action was not based merely on its conclusion that W.W.W. should be precluded from establishing paternity. The order was grounded on the court's adoption of the expert witnesses' conclusions that it was in the best interest of the children to protect them from information that would be harmful to them and would carry the potential of destroying their existing family relationship with their mother and father. In addition, the supreme court held that W.W.W. has no constitutionally protected interest in establishing a parental relationship with the children. C.A.S., 161 Wis. 2d at 1031-32, 468 N.W.2d at 725-26.
There is little question that the trial court had jurisdiction to entertain Roggensack's petition. It is well settled that Wisconsin circuit courts do not depend solely on the statutes for their powers. They are vested with "plenary jurisdiction" under Article VII, Section 8 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which gives them "original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal within this state ...." See Eberhardy v. Circuit Court, 102 Wis. 2d 539, 548, 307 N.W.2d 881, 885 (1981). This constitutional grant of jurisdiction has been characterized as "extremely broad" and "all-encompassing," id. at 548, 553, 307 N.W.2d at 885, 887; it is "subject matter jurisdiction to entertain actions of any nature whatsoever." Mueller v. Brunn, 105 Wis. 2d 171, 176, 313 N.W.2d 790, 792 (1982).
W.W.W. stresses that family courts "are constrained by the provisions of the statutes," citing Whitwam v. Whitwam, 87 Wis. 2d 22, 27, 273 N.W.2d 366, 368 (Ct. App. 1978), where the supreme court struck down a trial court order conditioning a future grant of alimony upon the dependent spouse's receipt of public assistance, noting that "[a] family court judge's power to make judgments and orders regarding alimony or maintenance is limited to what the statutes allow." As Dennis and other cases discussed in this opinion indicate, however, family courts, like courts generally, possess inherent powers to ensure the operation and validity of their orders and judgments.
Even if such a finding — or the express drawing of such an inference — could not be inferred from the record, we have long recognized that we may nonetheless affirm in such situations "if the decision is clearly supported by a preponderance of the evidence." Miller v. Miller, 171 Wis. 2d 131, 134, 491 N.W.2d 104, 106 (Ct. App. 1992). We believe the record, which we discuss at length in this opinion, provides the necessary support for such a determination.
W.W.W. does not argue that there is a lack of evidence that his conduct harassed or intimidated the children, other than to suggest that, while his acts may have been harassing with respect to M.C.S. and R.J.S., "the children cannot vicariously be harassed."
The evidence discussed above concerning the children's remarks and behavior at home in the hours and days following the initial contact, considered in light of the children's ages (they were eight and ten years old at the time), satisfies us that
The fact that this conduct is harassing and has intimidated the children is reflected in the... description [given by] the mother and the father of the emotional state of the children at the time that they initially burst into the home with reports of this uninvited contact with this stranger. The court also relies on its knowledge of human affairs and its experience in the affairs of life in concluding and inferring from these facts that these contacts and appearances of a person that they don't know, who causes upset in their parents' lives, which the parents telegraph and demonstrate to the children, to a greater or lesser degree, is an intimidating course of conduct to the children.