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Broken America’s Family Court System

In the United States of America, over seven million people find themselves in domestic

disputes. Some don’t have the iota of premonition of what is about to overwhelm them,

especially when children are involved. The claim can be supported by those who have

experienced the Family Court horror. America’s Family Court System is a collection of

transcripts about domestic disputes. The key players include judges, attorneys, therapists, and

others. Each player confronts issues within the family courts from their own professional

viewpoints. Family court systems are wrecked victimizing the innocent parties (Wilson, 31).

United States family court structure is suffocated with biases and corruptions that closed the

gates to justice long time ago, if justice ever was. There is a growing rate of lack of

understanding in the family court cases frustrated by the dastardly antagonism of the entrenched

interests. There are many evident flaws in traditional principles in the family court today. For

example, children are happier with biological parents, children do not have the capacity of

having a voice in a family courtroom, and the notion that jointly custody is always preferable.

The growth of apparent family court feebleness and contradictions is alarming, thus affecting the

interest of a child. America family court system is broken with confusing and jumbled situations

that create more misery than succor.

Family court system fails to adopt the fundamental elements of a fair trial
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Any citizen who understands how the judicial system of the United States of America

works may go into family thinking they have a constitutional right to being represented. Also,

they may assume that they are legally entitled to access the transcripts of the court, a separate

inquiry in determining their claims, or even in some instances the right to be judged by a jury of

their peers. As mentioned above, the way it is designed makes it difficult for any individual to be

guaranteed of all these. It is not run in a similar manner as civil courts. Notably, severe matters

and allegations can be brought forwards during the proceeding of the case, for instance,

regarding domestic violence, child neglect, child abuse, or parental alienation. However, it is

surprising that the petitioners and respondents are always denied access to these resources.

When this is the reality, it becomes even more grueling on the side of the parties in the

dispute. Given the fact that these courts are not operated in a similar way as their civil

counterparts, it is difficult to convince them that the verdict arrived at will be conclusive and not

partisan. The challenge here is to convince them that, indeed, the court system will protect their

rights and accord them a fair hearing. This is the biggest weakness of the family court. The

consequence of this is that the losers will not be content with any ruling that is made by these

courts. Thus, they will look to settle their scores through illegal means that may often escalate

the conflict.

The family court escalates fights

Family courts engender a situation that encourages fights. Due to the way they are

designed, family courts are only concerned with the welfare of the child. As a consequence, all

activities of the court are tailored to establish the responsibility of either parent towards the

child’s welfare. Such a determination will help the court to decide on who will get custody of the

child. This situation is very precarious. The fact that both parties agreed to settle the struggle of
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the child’s custody in court implies that both feel that the child is safe in their hands as opposed

to their partners (Goldfarb, Deborah, et al. 325). When the court rules in favor of one, the verdict

sets a series of events into action. The losers have a right to appeal the decision, but when the

appellate court helps it, it the leavers them with no option but to physically fight for the custody.

Given the implication of such a scenario, the family courts in the country have been

found guilty of inspiring fights and escalating conflicts. The judges are guided by the strict laws

that apply in our jurisdiction, meaning that they are given little room to reason with the situation.

The court should be the arbiter of the problem and not judge the warring parties independently.

They all feel entitled to the custody of the child, and if one of them feels aggrieved by the

decision, they may escalate the conflict even further. This observation is a reflection of how

things look like in the country today. Instead of cooling down the conflict and ensuring that the

child is in safe hands, it leaves the losers with a sour taste in their mouths. This situation is not

healthy at all.

The judges are not monitored

In a family court, the responsibility weighing the value of the evidence presented,

examining its credibility, or delegating some of the tasks to experts on family matters as

provided for by the is the most logical way of concluding a case (Gutowski, Ellen, and

Goodman, 10). It leaves no stone unturned. From the legal perspective, such a conclusion is seen

as being “in the best interest of the child.” However, this is not the scenario with the family court

system as the judge. This is a precarious situation as the judge can elect to make an unfair ruling

depending on their level of bias. More so, this is a very drawn out procedure as many and is very

costly on the part of the parents. The fact that the judges are not overseen by superior organs
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means that they can exercise their bias for as long as they want. Also, the way the case is

handled means that the involved will spend vast amounts of resources.

Courts cannot handle situations where parental alienation is present

Therapist sometimes can be biased. They can direct favor and testify as a professional in

a case of custody without disclosing individual settings that attributed to the alleged conflict of

interest or bias. Some professionals may have negative associations to one of the parents leading

to providing false witness in a family court. Some therapists could also be victims of “alienated

parents”. This can attribute the therapist to be biased when making recommendations or

determinations in court. “Parental alienation” are today commonly used as a defense factor

against assertions of child abuse (White and Gilbreth, 160). False sympathy could influence such

professional’s opinions which impacts the judge’s decision on which parent should get custody

(the alleged alienator or the alleged abuser). Obnoxious therapist could take the advantage to

destroy the case. Since therapists don’t defend either parties, lawyers from both sides can use

these implications to further defend the case.

It is absurd but such scenarios often happened in the family courts. For instance, a

daughter may accuse her diabetic father for sexual abuse. A therapist who is an expert in sexual

abuse and parental alienation may support the case. Diabetic people often suffer from erectile

dysfunction. However, even if the therapist know that the father has the condition, can give false

witness before the judge to contradict science. Judges will bend the law basing on the

information provided by both the daughter and the therapist. This is a very risky measure taken

by the family courts to protect the child perpetrator assuming he did it.

Judicial complaints
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Parents with grievances against the judges or professionals who testify for or against

abusers can forward their claims to the Board of Psychology or Board of Behavioral Science.

However, transparence issues are common in such scenarios. Access to information confidential

information that protect the child’s privacy can be compromised (Westcott, 277). During the

initiation of a divorce case both the petitioners and the respondents table their assets and

expenditures. Judges and attorneys get access to crucial information such as wealth to be divided

(Haralambie and Nysse-Carris, 111). Exposing such information can raise biasness issues when

making a ruling. Although parents have the right to remove a judge from the case, it is

procedural or can be appealed. In law an appeal is based on a legal error, not necessarily factual

errors of the proceeding case. Judicial complaints are confidential except for abuse of the judicial

role or office that are publicly disciplined. The rest are confidential. Since 2000, only 11 judges

have been relieved the bench by the commission that oversees judgmentship in U.S.A.

(Cashmore, 163). Although many judges in many states of America have been accused for bias

and corruption, the claims are unheard, marginalized, and disconnected. This is due to lack of

adequate information, transparency, constitutional protection, and accountability of the suggested

claims. There are growing fights for judicial reforms in America. In 2016 the Commission for

Judicial Performance was audited. This shows how masses of Americans have lost the trust of

the family courts processes.

The power of the judge

Parents’ divorce cases are in the hands of a judge. Whether a parent is making claims or

accusations, judges have the final word in the family courts. The judges are empowered to weigh

the value of evidence provided in court and determine credibility to make a decision in the best

interest of the child (Pruett and Jackson, 295). Family courts are different from other courts. For
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instance, in the criminal court, detectives, attorneys, and judges are collectively involved in the

process of determining the truth. In this context, the jury role is spread among more than one

expert. However, in the family court it is sole responsibility of the judge. To some extent, a

family court judge may direct tasks to meditators and professionals to help in drawing a concrete

decision of the evidence provided (Taylor, Smith, and Nairn, 148). Such events are rare yet they

can be biased. That is, when there is disparity in income, experts brought in to help the judge

could be biased in favor of the better paying parent (Smith, Taylor, and Tapp, 215). It is hard to

prove such allegations due to the limited information, transparence, and oversight, but they

happen. In some incidence, attorneys and experts that are closer to a family judge could

compromise the decision to be made conflicting the interest of the child. Such allegations are

also difficult to proof since judgement information are concealed. These problems

psychologically affect the parents who cannot afford to buy the jury or experts.

The litigation process is costly

Is the estimated cost of a custody case between $30,000 to $40,000? This process is

detraining emotionally and financially. This more so more sever when a person loses their

custody as they have to take care of the litigation fees. Many cases in the US that involve

custody are very costly on the part of the parents. For instance, they have to part ways with

approximately $75 to $400 on an hourly basis. They have to pay for the court fees as well as

catering for all specialists or mediators involved in their case. If parties decide to settle and go on

with further actions of the court, this is a massive relief on the parties involved. However, in

most cases, it is not, and they are forced to dig deeper into their pockets for justice to be served.

It is psychologically draining on the part of the parents

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The way family disputes are settled in a family court system is very draining emotionally.

The court does not care for their psychological wellbeing as it will go on and make a ruling on

the case without considering what they feel understandable, it is challenging to separate children

from their parents (Harwin, Judith, et al. 102). They are emotionally attached, and yet the system

goes on to implement the ruling in a manner that most of the time, humiliate the losers. The only

they have is to commit offenses as a way of retaliating for what they deem to be an unfair ruling.

Also, there is more to this than meets the eye. For instance, with the harsh economic times, the

enormous amounts of resources used in legal fees mean that the parents have to go out of their

way to make ends meet. This is a very draining experience, especially when they end up losing

the battles. These observations imply that the family court in the USA is very ineffective in

tackling its mandate. There are many loopholes in the system that makes it not achieve its

intended purpose. With such a reality, only corrections will help save it from the bad name it

already has. The changes have to be radical by all means. Apparent almost every litigant is not

contented with the way this court system operates. They all feel the need to change it for the

better.

Conclusion

In conclusion, parents are facing major difficulties outside the court rooms that need

intervention of medicines. In high-conflict scenarios of disagreeing parents, they end up on trial.

Parents with limited knowledge with regards to the judicial law enter the family courts with high

hopes of getting the rights of a lawyer, gain accesses to the trial information as the court hearing

develops to proof the claims. However, family courts are regarded as civic courts. Therefore, no

matter the density of the involved allegations in a divorce, both the petitioners and respondents

do not always have such resources. Heartbreaking and devastating events happen in the family
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courts. Family courts are fully supported and equipped with the most intrusive powers of a

country; not only the power to separate the children from their parents, but also the power to

determine how much divorced parents get to see them. Family courts judgements are never

published, therefore, drawing the inference on how inadequate these powers are employed. The

manner in which judges grapple with unenviable decisions with the help of law cuts makes it

difficult to effectively and efficiently evaluate risks to children. Putting such decisions in the

hands of corrupt and biased judges who are unaccountable and untrained in domestic abuse, is

bound to causes affirmative problems. Given the degree error for human judgement, the balance

of evidence points to a biased, corrupt, and unaccountable court judges against the interest

children with divorcing parents, the family courts are broken.

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Work Cited

Wilson, Hon. Mr Justice.

(2003). The misnomer of
family law. Family Law,
33,
29-36.
Wilson, Hon. Mr Justice.
(2003). The misnomer of
family law. Family Law,
33,
29-36.
Wilson, Hon. Mr Justice.
(2003). The misnomer of
family law. Family Law,
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29-36.
Wilson, Hon. Mr Justice.
(2003). The misnomer of
family law. Family Law,
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29-36.
Cashmore, J. (2003b). Children‟s participation in family law matters. In C. Hallett & A. Prout

(Eds.), Hearing the voices of children: Social policy for a new century (pp. 158-176).

London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Goldfarb, Deborah, et al. "International comparison of family court professionals’ perceptions of

parental alienation and child sexual abuse allegations." International Journal on Child

Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice 2.4 (2019): 323-341.

Gutowski, Ellen, and Lisa A. Goodman. "“Like I’m Invisible”: IPV Survivor-Mothers’

Perceptions of Seeking Child Custody through the Family Court System." Journal of

Family Violence (2019): 1-17.

Haralambie, A., & Nysse-Carris, K. (2002). Children‟s legal representation in civil litigation. In

B. Bottoms, M. Kovera, & B. McAuliff (Eds.), Children, social science and the law (pp.

106-128). England: Cambridge University Press

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Harwin, Judith, et al. "Tensions and contradictions in family court innovation with high risk

parents: The place of family drug treatment courts in contemporary family

justice." International Journal of Drug Policy 68 (2019): 101-108.

jurisprudence and the

courts. North Carolina:
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outcomes. Journal of
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Pruett, M.K., & Jackson, T.D. (1999). The lawyer‟s role during the divorce process: Perceptions

of parents, their young children, and their attorneys. Family Law Quarterly, 33(2), 283-

310.

relationships with
stepfathers and
noncustodial fathers on
adolescent
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Robertson, Laura, and Karen Broadhurst. "Introducing Social Science Evidence in Family Court

Decision-Making and Adjudication: Evidence from England and Wales." International

Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 33.2 (2019): 181-203.

Smith, A.B., Taylor, N.J., & Tapp, P. (2003). Rethinking children‟s involvement in decision

making after parental separation. Childhood, 10(2), 201-216

Taylor, N.J., Smith, A.B., & Nairn, K. (2001). Rights important to young people: Secondary

student and staff perspectives. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 9, 137-156.

Westcott, J. (2002a). The Family Court revisited – From the perspective of children in the family

justice system (Part 1). Family Law, April, 275-278.

Wexler, D.B., & Winick,

B.J. (2003). Judging in a
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White, L., & Gilbreth, J.G.
(2001). When children
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White, L., & Gilbreth, J.G. (2001). When children have two fathers: Effects of relationships with

stepfathers and noncustodial fathers on adolescent outcomes. Journal of Marriage and the

Family, 63, 155-167.

Wilson, Hon. Mr Justice. (2003). The misnomer of family law. Family Law, 33, 29-36.