WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS SITUATION?

I have received emails from various people around the State of Connecticut also talking about the abuses that they have suffered in the hands of corrupt judges and abusive lawyers.  Many of these people talk about having lost thousands and thousands of dollars in the court system and having had judges simply dismiss their cases without a legitimate hearing. 

From my own personal observation, it seems as though judges and attorneys along with their colleagues within the mental health profession, operate without any concern that they will be held accountable.  Unlike in many other systems, there appears to be no checks and balances in place within the legal system which could protect the average citizen against the worst of these abuses. 

So the question I've had posed to me is what can we do about this situation.  As you know, I have joined Protective Mother's International, an organization run by Janice Levinson and Lundy Bancroft, which maintains as a primary goal changing the corrupt court system which is abusing so many people, particularly women.

I know that this is the goal, but how can such a goal become achievable?  What would the strategy be for creating change? 

I know that around 1999, 2000 Thomas C. Foley, a politician who had undergone his own very difficult high conflict divorce, was involved in establishing a Commission on Custody and Divorce issues which heard testimony from people throughout the state.  Granted, many of the names of the professionals who participated in this Commission consist of some of the people I know have cheated, lied, and financially exploited people, still the Commission worked productively. 

The end result of this Commission was a series of recommendations which we now see in the form of the Automatic Orders which I have mentioned elsewhere on this blog.  So, for those of us who can become discouraged , it is important to note that the outcome of one person's activism, that of Mr. Foley, did result in some significant changes. 

Unfortunately, subsequent to the Commissions actions, it was disbanded and without followup, the possibility that the automatic orders would end up being enforced was significantly reduced, if not totally nullified.  As I have learned in divorce court, there is the Agreement, which is all well and good, but then there is the Enforcement of the Agreement, and the first without the second is essentially absolutely nothing. 

Of course, this doesn't totally wipe out the significance of Mr. Foley's contribution.  I believe that the automatic orders essentially provide a blueprint for reducing or eliminating the problem of high conflict divorces.  While we still haven't been able to enforce those orders, at least we have a blueprint, a map that leads us in the right directions. 

Of course, I don't think that the automatic orders cover every problem that victims of high conflict divorce have to address, but at least they get us started in a positive direction. 

In responding to some of the emails I have received, I talked about the necessity for a small core of dedicated activists to approach our elected officials and have legislation passed which could protect citizens from the abuse of the corrupt family courts here in Connecticut.  However, what I have had pointed out to me is that this has been done.  But, again, the problem lies in the area of enforcement. 

For example, we have the automatic orders which were so carefully crafted by the original Commission, but Judges and attorneys fail to enforce them.  We have our constitutional rights such as a right to a hearing and a right to due process, but again Judges and attorneys fail to enforce it.  Some of the reason why these orders and rights are not enforced is because we as litigants are not sufficiently informed about them and consequently we don't demand that they be enforced.  This might surprise you.  You might say, sure I know what my constitutional rights are!  But, trust me, you may have memorized them in Social Studies in High School.  But that does not translate into you recognize them when they flash by you in family court.  So, I do think that simply educating people about what their rights are, about what the automatic orders are, could play a very vital role in terms of enforcement.  How can litigants enforce their rights when they don't know about them? 

The major areas where we need to see enforcement are:  1) The automatic orders; 2) Our constitutional rights and 3) perjury, when people lie either verbally or in documents submitted to the court as the basis for court orders there must be consequences. 4) protections from bias based upon gender, race, disability, etc.  I see discrimination directed towards people all the time based on those criteria. 

Another problem that I see is that litigants are excluded from the attorney/judge gossip loop.  Often judges and attorneys chat in the hallway and decide a case, go into the courtroom and hold a hearing that is simply a charade because the decision has already been made on the sly.  This should not happen. 

Well, these are just some general ideas that I'm throwing out based upon my experiences and the ones you've written to me about to my email:  Slopercathy@gmail.com.  If we can come up with a coherent and coordinated approach to ending the problem of corruption in the family courts in Connecticut, we can go a long way towards eliminating it.  Let's keep this dialogue going.  Email me!  Comment in the comment section!  A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step!