The question of opening Family Court is finally in the newspaper. The Family Law Commission asking the Legislature in Dover to create a Blue Ribbon Task Force to study opening Family Court has been picked up by one of the News Journal's Opinion Writers, Harry F. Themal. The "stakeholders" of the broken system want to keep the court closed and, Mr. Themal "seems" to agree. See the article at the link below:

Now is the time to send letters to the editor in support of opening Family Court hearings. However, please do not include specifics of your case, name the judge who heard the case, or name the attorney you hired as your letter may not get published; the News Journal does not want to be sued.

We need to discuss the issues, not specific cases. Issues would include, but not be limited to:

• judges not wanting to see evidence crucial to the case,
• ill-prepared attorneys,
• attorneys demanding clients sign agreements not in their best interest,
• administrative errors the court seems unwilling to correct,
• child support issues,
• audio tapes with parts of the hearing deleted,
• custody evaluators overstepping their bounds,
• and many more.

Stake holders of a closed court remark that open hearings are not in the best interest of the children; children are not in court hearings. Another excuse given is litigants' privacy of financial issues. Courts do not list account numbers, social security numbers, etc. during hearings.

The time is NOW for litigants to stand up and speak up. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this with me, please email me at kitten3700@yahoo.com.

Please inform anyone you know that would be interested in participating.

Mission

Our Vision

Our Goals

• To continue to hold public hearings which give citizens the opportunity to speak regarding their experiences and concerns regarding Family Court.
• To bring issues to the forefront and offer solutions that will make the journey through Family Court less destructive, devastating, and more timely to completion. Divorce is the breakup of a marriage, however, Family Court ties the litigants together for more years than necessary.
• To empower parents to retain and exercise their right to protect and parent their children.
• To educate and assist parents in protecting themselves and their children against developmentally inappropriate custody arrangements, and legal abuse/harrassment.
• To educate the court and the public regarding the individual and community consequences when systems intended to protect do not just fail to protect, but re-victimize, injure, and disenfranchise the most vulnerable.
• To collaborate with legal, health, and social science professionals to enlighten the media, legislators, and the judiciary about schemes which minimize and downplay the true best interest of the child and the long term effects divorce has on their lives.
• To unite the effort of positive reform in the Family Court system for justice, equality, and protection of the innocent.

Rights Every Litigant Should Claim in Family Court

• An open court to ensure justice, impartiality, and a fair and balanced hearing.
• Decisions that are timely, no longer than 60 days.
• Contempt of court issues taken seriously with penalties when litigants do not adhere to the rendered judicial decision.
• Litigants ability to purchase audio copies of their hearings as an alternative to expensive written transcripts.
• Easy to understand legal forms and how to file them in the court.
• Opportunity to prove perjury in Family Court cases. Penalties need to be applied if found to be true.
• Protection of legal consumers from unscrupulous, overcharging, and incompetent lawyers who are not providing adequate services for the money they receive.
• Custody evaluators mandated to follow APA/DPA policies, regulations and guidelines, offer services that are affordable, and provide written reports in advance of trial to litigants, their attorneys and the case judge. Under no circumstances should an evaluator give recommendations to the court for custody.