A Broken System: Contempt Of Family Court
- Details
- Category: Fixing the broken system
- Created: Monday, 26 December 2016 14:54
- Written by Stephen Krasner - Public Service and Advocacy - Husband and Father
The term “Family Court” is designed to portray itself as a judicial institution that looks out for the best interest of a child — the overwhelming reality for many is the discovery that the name of the court — like the industry and players that stem from it (judges, divorce lawyers, mediators, custody evaluators and Title IV-D beneficiaries) — is often a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Courting Quicksand
The more you struggle — the more you question — the more you call upon your rights — the stronger you get entangled and pulled in by a system that is both broken and intentionally designed to serve its own self interests.
By the time a parent looks around and identifies the non-adhered to court procedures, administrative rule non-compliance and abundant violations to the many rules of professional conduct — and understands the true nature of the apparatus at play — it is often too late — because those institutions and people tasked to help you have shown their true colors — and they have little to do with the symbolism of our nations RED, WHITE and BLUE.
Trappings Of Corruption
Family Courts display true clashes that pit the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law — in a manner that tears parents lives apart, harms children and financially ruins so many people while sustaining a thriving, corrupt and lucrative system.
The institutional corruption is a more mechanical environment that many players operate within and manipulate. The individual corruption is where players are willfully engaging in unethical motives — knowingly gaming the vulnerabilities found within the courts infrastructure.
Both types of corruption operate and thrive in family court environments as well as those industries and services stemming off them.
How do you identify and stop something so prevalent — initially you need to publicly expose and report about the many variables and components first and foremost — while also raising awareness of the many problems.
Politicians And The Mainstream Media
Searching news stories online about issues intertwined with the family court system will return some hits where the media covers stories ranging from the racketeering in divorce court out in San Diego County to recent reporting of problems and calls for reform to the foster care system of Texas.
Collectively it wouldn’t be too difficult to churn out a 24-hour news reporting media outlet on the non-stop dysfunction involving the extortion, bribes, racketeering, judicial misconduct, and denial of basic constitutional rights stemming from all the personal pleas, hard evidence and data available. Information and individuals all willing to speak-up and blow the whistle are within reach for many newspapers, magazines, television news programs and other forms of mainstream media — with the resources, grit and hard-nosed reporting style to expose it — holding those engaging in such practices accountable to the court of public opinion.
Elected officials whom hold the power of reforming the many laws and practices in state legislatures across the country should recognize the large numbers of the voting public where such ordeals of divorce and custody impact large constituencies that are not only sizable but bipartisan — whereas reforms to these systems are number one issues to them.
While many of our elected officials receive letters, phone calls, e-mails and in-person appeals from parents caught, and tormented, in these ordeals — little actions or improvement come to fruition and instead many often get directed elsewhere in a never ending wild goose chase.
Occasionally examples of elected officials stand out who have engaged these issues — one such can be found in the late State Senator from Georgia, Nancy Schaefer, when she released a report on her findings regarding the corruption in child protective services (CPS), coinciding with many issues in family courts, drawing conclusions in saying,
“Having worked with probably 300 cases statewide, I am convinced there is no responsibility and no accountability in the system... On my desk are scores of cases of exhausted families and troubled children. It has been beyond me to turn my back on these suffering, crying, and sometimes beaten down individuals. We are mistreating the most innocent... I have witnessed such injustice and harm brought to these families that I am not sure if I even believe reform of the system is possible! The system cannot be trusted. It does not serve the people. It obliterates families and children simply because it has the power to do so.”
Awareness And The Rabbit Hole
Boggles the mind for so many how an entire area of law can be so overtly dysfunctional and corrupt — playing out on such a vast and broad stage — with few and far between efforts set forth to blow the national whistle on a crisis of considerable magnitude — one that threatens the very fabric of family.
Many people do not recognize what transpires in these ordeals because sometimes they consciously choose not to do so or they look the other way because the problems and challenges don’t impact them.
More often than not many don’t grasp what transpires in these courts because in order to be truly aware of it you need to have experienced it — and even then it can be a rude awakening for many parents, and those supporting them, to understand the larger reality.
A good analogy for people in comprehending how the shock and realization of it unfolds for those who have been a party to it is well illustrated in a scene from the blockbuster movie “The Matrix” whereby the character Morpheus offers a choice to the lead character Neo to stay in a world that isn’t real — but comfortable and secure — or to unplug from it and become aware of the more troublesome reality of what’s truly transpiring.
“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” ―Morpheus, to Neo
Damages And Liability
As parents stand up for their rights in increasing numbers and engage the court system they often find many of their worst nightmares confirmed as to how crooked things are — while absorbing the enormous stress and emotional scarring and trauma that can only come when your beliefs and faith in the law and judiciary system are ruthlessly and utterly shattered.
The damage manifests itself in many different forms.
Physically it can come on as almost like a tingling sensation that sometimes creeps over the hands as they shake. Each phone call that rings — a sudden sound — letters and emails from anyone involved in the ordeal — all can trigger an almost dizzying and bewildered feeling causing a person to withdraw from the events around them and even experience a sudden heart rate increase — perspiration hitting fast and furious — steadiness on one’s feet briefly impaired.
When some of the physical symptoms first appear many people have the fear of thinking they are having a heart attack — blood sugar imbalance — severe allergic reaction — until it is eventually diagnosed as issues relating to anxiety and often described with many of the same symptoms as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) — albeit in these ordeals it can be termed as Legal Abuse Syndrome.
The institution and parties culpable for causing so many damages (where they didn’t exist before) are the same ones claiming to be for the child’s best interest — the ones that force litigation and thus destroy many parents ability to provide for their child’s well-being and their own.
The evidence of liability as to the damage and role played by these courts and their accompanying players upon the many mothers, fathers and children can be seen in the lives they devastate as parents are stripped of their rights, property, savings, monthly incomes and ability to provide for their children, families and themselves — and in the worst cases denied their freedoms via incarceration in modern day debtors prisons.
One only has to review the data of the many cases in these courts in cross-referencing and analyzing the simultaneous home foreclosures, bankruptcy filings, suicides and violence to understand the sources and direct correlations to these courts.
The reality and sad truth when all is said and done — so often these ordeals are exasperated and exist only to serve the needs of inflating the egos and wallets of many judges, lawyers and third party players with the incentive of “supply and demand” to engage and continue in these nefarious practices — shielded by judicial immunity — matrimonial bars — and a network of good ol’ boys with a playbook of manipulative tactics — dirty tricks — and blinders to ethical standards and oaths.
Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-broken-system-contempt-of-family-court_us_585cedabe4b068764965bbd3
