Family court Reform
Washington state ranks in the top ten worst states for domestic violence and violence against women. When a mother leaves an abusive father the abuse shifts and intensifies. Often the abusive fathers will turn the Family Courts into their sadistic playground because they believe their partner has no right to leave. They seek primary custody and sole decision making of the children to punish their victim. “Our Legislature has long recognized domestic violence is a problem of immense proportions affecting individuals as well as communities. Based on this historic recognition, the legislature has consistently adopted legislation to further protect survivors.” Family Violence Appellate Project. Unfortunately, as the legislature has started to make efforts toward combating this insidious crisis, the Family Court Professionals have already created a highly profitable cottage industry that they are not going to give up without a fight. There are no checks and balances for what goes on behind the closed doors of the court room. The current provisions that have already been codified into law to protect the victims have been turned upside down and are now being used against those they intended to protect. The courts are the equivalent of a war camp for mothers and children; who are their prisoners.
You may be thinking to yourself, “How are the Family Court getting it wrong? Are you sure that this is really happening?” The answer is yes, and for a moment you must suspend your disbelief and ask, what happens when the court becomes the criminal?
At one time the Family Court Judiciaries understood that they were to interpret and apply the laws to a case based on the evidence and how the legislature intended the law be applied. In recent years judges across Washington State are operating wildly outside of the law via Judicial Discretion. Meaning, in laymen’s terms they are doing whatever their bias pleases. Yale Law School’s Robert Cover said “Interpretations in the law constitute justifications for violence”. Meanwhile the “professionals” practicing within the system have created highly profitable racketeering rings. Lawyers, Guardian ad Litems GAL, Parent Evaluators, Psychological Evaluators, Reunification Therapists, and more have created volatile mine fields for mothers and children to navigate. Meanwhile, Washingtons Domestic Violence Agencies are ripe with federal and state funding, yet provide sparse and feeble services to the abused victims in Family Court they purport to support. These players all work seamlessly together to create a house of cards for abusive fathers, turning 120 day $20,000 custody case into a $300,000+ custody case that stretches out for years. Confirmation bias’s collude to burry victims in fraudulent findings, absent any real evidence. These racketeering rings must be stopped with strict oversights, liability, and evidentiary hearings. Abusive fathers should never maintain control over their targets and make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening. Abusive fathers should never be able to maintain control over their targets. The Abuse By Design tactics are a result of the Family Court’s Domestic Violence Industrial Complex.
The need for Family Court reform, including reforming RCW 26.09.191 to further protect survivors and protective parents in family court, is just the start.