By Liz Kellar
Staff Writer
Court officials kicked two Family Court Reformers out of the Nevada County Courthouse Wednesday morning, warning they could be cited for a misdemeanor for obstructing business.
But the advocacy group reportedly has rallied the American Civil Liberties Union to their cause and promises to continue the fight . . . More
To reform the Family Courts would not be that difficult, and can actually be done by people like you and me: with the help of a concerned and informed public.
The following is / are all that is necessary:
1. Institute FL-C / Family Court Complaint forms …. on websites like yours and mine. Whereby people can file a complaint against a court official: i.e. Judge, Lawyer, therapist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, etc. …. that includes as many specifics as possible of unethical activity, needless oppressive hoops, etc.
2. Demand that all court hearings, mediation sessions, therapy sessions be recorded on audio tape, and DO NOT sign any Release of Liability form that doesn’t include the Right to record all sessions, use them in court (if necessary). If a proposed, or recommended court official does not agree to be tape recorded, then inform the court that you won’t be using any person who attempts to place themselves above the law. Remind the Judge that they already have “Quazi-Judicial immunity” and/or “litigation priviledge’ … and that you are NOT going to sign away any of your rights.
3. Do NOT sign any open-ended “Private mediation,” Therapy, Play-Therapy contract, but rather ONLY one that is limited in time and scope. For example, that lasts no more than 1-3 months.
4. Do NOT, if at all possible, hire a family law attorney. They are, for the most part, a bunch of Liars, Thieves, and crooks.
5. If your spouse, or former spouse, is prone to create conflict and/or to tell lies, then demand that all contact between you be via email, voice mail, or text message.
See http://www.familycourtcrooks.com for more information on what our courts have become.
6. Go on the Internet and read up on any court official who is on, or who the court wants to appoint to, your case.
7. The more court officials who attach themselves to your case, the more likely you will be to Lose custody of your children.
Feel free to call me at 760-429-4683 or text me at the same. My email address is truthseeker731@yahoo.com
Randy Berg
December 25, 2011:
I want to share an event that just recently happened regarding a child custody family court hearing. I was ordered to “professional supervised visitation” in July 2011 and advised in the court order and by Family Court Services to select a professional supervision monitor from the court’s website resource list. This was due to the fact that CPS made a substantiated finding of emotional abuse to my two children after being contacted by my ex-spouse. I filed an appeal, and after CPS reviewed the evidence I gathered they changed their finding. I filed a hearing in family court to have the professional supervision of visitation lifted. I subpoenaed the monitor that had been providing professional visitation services for the last few months. Part of the process when ordered to professional supervision visitation is you must go through a full intake/orientation with the professional monitor which requires you to meet with them and provide them the court order, the family court services (FCS) report/recommendation, copies of any restraining orders, police reports (if domestic violence is involved), CPS reports, medical reports and other documents related to the case. In short, the monitor is given full access to the history of your family court case, which are some of the most sensitive and personal issues to every parent. During the hearing, the testimony the professional visitation monitor gave was very inconsistent with her report. She stated events and made statements that were not in her report, but most notably she gave long narrative answers, speaking and directing her answers towards the judge rather than the parents about her experience, training and knowledge regarding parenting and co-parenting issues. It appeared that this monitor was overly trying to impress and showboat for the judge. I became immediately suspicious of this monitor and her motives. The hearing got continued to early January. I left the courtroom and went to the business office and asked the clerk if there was a family court case under this monitor’s name. The clerk confirmed the monitor had an active case. I pulled the file, reviewed it in full and spent the next several days doing research and background checks on this monitor. This monitor has a very heated active custody and visitation case before the very same family court judge in the very same family court department as I do and that she just testified in front of. She has had her personal custody case heard before this same judge eight (8) times in the last seven (7) months. She requested in April her husband be placed on professional supervised visitation, her request was denied. Several months later she again filed a request during an ex-parte hearing requesting he be placed on professional supervised visitation, even after the mediator and therapist recommended against it. This woman clearly is a proponent for parents being on professional supervised visitation. Additionally, not only does this monitor have the same judge as I do, but she and her ex-husband also have had the same family court services (FCS) mediator that conducted the most recent mediation and wrote the current report and recommendation to the court. Never at any time did this monitor disclose any of this information to me. Every professional, regardless of the type of service they are providing, is ethically and morally obligated to disclose such information that would raise a reasonable question of a conflict of interest. This professional monitor did not do so. Her ethical character and motives must therefore be questioned. This is a woman who has been in my home for several months supervising my visits, discussing all aspects of my case, its history which included full access to all court orders, fcs reports and other documents. I have even provided her copies of oral transcripts from some of my previous court hearings. It is clear this monitor was unethically using me and my case to gather information and gain knowledge about the same judge and mediator that she has for her own personal family court case. It is also clear that her showboating testimony was done in an effort to impress this same judge as a tactical advantage for her own family court case. I immediately sent a letter explaining this in full to the San Diego Superior Court Executive Office and its director, Mike Roddy. I also copied the presiding judges of both the superior court and family court. I asked him to explain why professional visitation monitors listed on the court’s resource list are not required to disclose to parents the fact they have a personal case with the same judge or the same family court services mediator. I asked him to explain how/if the executive office does background checks on these monitors and how they ensure the monitors are in compliance with California Rules of Court 5.20 (the law governing the requirements of monitors). And lastly, I requested to have my hearing transferred to another department so that I can question this monitor during the continuance of my hearing in January regarding this new evidence in front of a judicial officer that was neutral from either case. I received a response letter from Mr. Roddy in which his only statement was that his office does not have the authority to transfer my case to another department (which is untrue) and that I should obtain the assistance of a lawyer. He did not answer or address any of my questions or concerns about what the executive office is doing to oversee these professional visitation monitors. The executive office clearly is being evasive on this in an effort to avoid accountability. They also pathetically use the fact that their website has a disclaimer stating that the court takes no responsibility for the people/agencies that the public may find on their lists as a scapegoat to avoid accountability. Yet it is their very judges that order parents to use these professional supervision monitors from their resource list that parents are forced to pay a substantial amount of money for. I then filed an ex-parte before the family court judge explaining everything as well and asked for the court to disqualify itself and transfer the continuance of this hearing to a different judicial department as I wanted to re-question this monitor based on this new evidence. The judge denied my request. I think it is obvious that what happened and is happening in my case is wrong regarding the court, their resource list, the executive office and the lack of any rules that mandate these monitors to disclose such information to parents. What is happening to me could and probably is happening to other parents. I was just lucky enough to catch it. Had I never been given cause to be suspicious of this monitor after her showboating testimony I would of never found any of this out. I foolishly assumed that family court and the executive office would have the most simplest of disclosure and ethical rules/requirements for these professional monitors that they order parents to use and list on their website resource list. Additionally, there is another aspect to this situation that I believe is also of great concern, which is, the ex-husband of this professional visitation monitor who currently has an active and heated case before this very same family court judge. Isn’t it fair that he be aware that his ex-wife is working as a professional supervision monitor and she is giving testimony which includes her “alleged” expert opinion testimony on her skills, training and knowledge regarding parenting and
co-parenting issues before the same family court judge that is ruling over his custody case. I am in shock that something like this could occur, and even more in shock that family court and the executive office don’t seem to care or think it is a concern. I plan to make a motion this week in family court to subpoena this monitor again for redirect and question her regarding this new evidence and other information I now have to impeach her testimony and credibility. I’ve contacted other family court advocate groups and they agree there is a problem here. They also suggest that the message be put out to the public and that the public should attend the continuance hearing in early January…..this is the strongest way to ensure that family court and the executive office take this seriously and do something about this serious problem.
Sincerely,
Familycourt_reformneeded@aol.com