Tuesday, May 5, 2009

JUDGES 'DO THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THEY SHOULD DO' ACCORDING TO LOCAL COURT OFFICIAL: R A I N M A K E R S . . .

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“They do the opposite of what they should do.”
-Bailiff and Fairfax County Deputy Sheriff to VW regarding
circuit judge decisions in child custody cases

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To the inexperienced,
the business of court is justice.
To the victims of irregular custody-visitation orders
that
keep them coming back,
justice is a business.
-VW-

PLEASE JOIN US THIS FALL!
[click on seal]

CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

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“I have opened up the process of re-

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appointment to the public and unless
...
anyone comes to complain, the judges
...
usually get re-appointed.” -Dave Albo
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SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL? 888

JOIN US! (and please vote)
[click on seal]

ReferendumTime! DUMB, DISGUSTING, DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS Va. JUDGE RESELECT SYSTEM SHIELDED BY STATE CONSTITUTION} PROPOSING 09 BALLOT QUESTION TO AMEND

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Ms. Wyvell – In answer to the specific legal questions raised in your email, I would point you first to Article VI, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia. This section clearly states that the justices of the Supreme Court and all other judges in courts of record shall be chosen by majority vote of each body of the General Assembly. Therefore, the Constitution specifically sets forth the manner for the selection of judges. Since this is a constitutional provision, it can only be changed in accordance with the provisions of Article XII of the Constitution. This article provides for the procedure outlined in your email or for amendment by a constitutional convention. I am not aware of any provision of law that would give the Governor the authority through an executive order to place a referendum question concerning a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Consequently, I would suggest that you raise your concerns about judicial selection with your delegate and Senator. Thank you for your email. -Mark E. Rubin on 22 April 2009*



...
Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to change the method of re-appointing state judges from confirmation by the legislature to retention election
by the voters? Any takers? -VW-
...
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“Litigation Nation”
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You live in a “litigation nation.” Your chances of winding up in a courtroom are pretty good. Your understanding of the Virginia judge selection process is probably not so good. You take little interest in how a person becomes a judge, and remains a judge, for the same reasons you are likely to die without a will. Most of you are unprepared for the end of your life, just as most of you are unprepared for the prospect you will end up, after your day in court, with an unpleasant ruling, an unfair killer-decision possibly more unappealing than death itself. And in these times, court is barely less unavoidable than death.
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Inbred Judiciary
...
How can this happen? Why do judges in Virginia issue court orders that can make an innocent-enough person feel like the victim of a “hate crime” when some sensibly administered justice would have sufficed? This can happen to people in Virginia because the judicial selection and re-selection process is deformed and has created a judiciary that is inbred which is producing even greater deformity as judicial rulings deteriorate and as judicial respect--for the dignity and the resources of litigants--declines.

When legislative sessions close leaving judicial vacancies, circuit court chief judges must appoint district-level (juvenile district and general district) judges to fill the vacant posts. Circuit chiefs are also responsible for choosing lawyers to serve as substitute judges. Substitute judges and sitting district-level judges are more likely to be appointed or elevated by the legislature and the governor, when legislators are unable to agree, to a permanent seat either on district court or circuit court, if already a substitute judge, and circuit court, if already a district judge, juvenile or general, than non-insider status candidates. Judges for the appeals court and justices for the supreme court are generally recruited from the circuit bench, possibly even landing some of those judge-appointed substitute judges and judge-appointed district-level judges on Virginia’s highest courts. I have never completely understood how some of these promotions, or elevations, are decided.

Furthermore, I have noticed, when a judge advances to another court in mid-term, his or her interview is postponed, that is, delayed by the length of the term associated with that particular court: 8 years for circuit court, 8 for appeals and 12 for supreme. With the Judicial Performance Evaluation (JPE) program now cancelled by decision of the 2009 legislative session, “interviews,” known officially as “Judicial Interviews of Incumbents,” is the only screening mechanism in place, acting to protect citizen-consumers of legal services from defective judges. The event is annual and it really is Virginia’s ultimate oversight agency for the judiciary because even “Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission” board members must submit to “interviews.” But, and especially since most members of the general public do not go to “interviews,” it is mostly a “rubber-stamp affair.” Citizens, tragically, are skipping “interviews” because it is such a poorly promoted event, and sitting judges, apparently, are skipping “interviews” because jurists promoted before the end of their term slip through such a poorly designed system for screening them.

Incompetent Legislature
...
The General Assembly’s Courts of Justice Committee, under the tutelage of Mr. Albo, is derelict in its duty to appoint and re-appoint good people to the bench because: it has dumped a constitutional responsibility into the laps of circuit court judges (and the governor in those cases when legislators fail to fill judge vacancies at the circuit, appeals, and supreme court levels by close of session of the general assembly), it has junked the Judicial Performance Evaluation program, and it has routinely “qualified” candidates other judges handpicked for confirmation by the entire general assembly in “rubber-stamp affairs” known as “Judicial Interviews of Incumbents.” Though Mr. Albo this winter stated, “[S]omething we need to improve, is that it's too difficult [for members of the general public] to find out when judges are up for appointment and when [citizens] can speak," and, “[U]nless anyone comes to complain, judges usually get re-appointed,” he took no action to ameliorate the situation. Since telling a reporter for The Post 12 months ago exactly the 2008 selection process had been a “total disaster,” Mr. Albo has done an excellent job of showing the problem his back.

A referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters, if successful, would restore a reasonable and intelligent judiciary, improve judicial respect for the dignity and resources of litigants, and increase the likelihood of sensible court orders. Retention election would control for the ever-growing risk of killer-rulings that can make an innocent-enough citizen feel like the target of a “hate crime” because retention election interrupts judge-inbreeding. Retention election would eliminate legislator-commitment to not getting along at judge appointment time and cutting out public input, which encourage judge-inbreeding, because retention election removes the state legislature from any involvement in re-selection and gives the voters the final word on who gets to remain a judge.

The blind and sheltered re-appointment and confirmation of judges, many of whom were handpicked by other judges, simply is not creating a reasonable, intelligent and empathetic judiciary in Virginia. How can it? A judicial candidate, who was probably chosen by another judge, is “qualified” for re-appointment--without performance data, without public testimony, and without professional criteria to determine qualification--in a quiet “rubber-stamp affair,” that is, a candidate is subjected to a silly (Come see for yourself!) interview, lasting no more than 5 or 10 minutes, by a tiny panel of (trial) lawyer-legislators, then almost always breezes right through confirmation by an entire state legislature in yet another “rubber-stamp affair” that, like the silly interview, is nothing more than another formality.

If you agree the process is not “dumb, disgusting, and outright dangerous,” if you believe there is no emergency, you should stop reading now, click out and pray you never find yourself inside a court of law of this commonwealth. If, however, you find my information a wee bit disturbing then please let me know. I urge you also to tell your legislators--the delegate and the senator in your district--and maybe Mr. Rubin too. Send them your idea for a smarter, sounder, and safer judge re-appointment system in Virginia if you don’t like mine.

I propose amending the state constitution to allow the voters to decide in general elections whether to retain judges. I think we need a question on the ballot in November that will address the issue of inserting retention elections into the Virginia judge re-appointment, or re-selection, process. I hope you do too. I know that together we can stop the blind and sheltered re-appointment and confirmation of judges in Virginia and put sensible justice back into our courtrooms.

Public Input
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You might be asking, What is a “retention” election? Let me clarify with some help from Mr. Litten who wrote in “Let the People Judge the Judges: Reforming Virginia's Judicial Selection Process”:

…The new judge then serves a trial period at the end of which the voting public, through the use of an uncontested “yes/no” retention election, decide whether or not he or she should continue service. If retained the judge goes on to serve a full term and is subject to retention elections at the end of each term.

And,

…Retention elections insert democratic principles into the [judicial selection] process by allowing the ultimate authority in this country, the people, to hold judges accountable while still avoiding the serious problems found in contested elections, such as possible conflicts of interest when contributors to a judge’s campaign appear before the judge in court. “In retention elections, judges run against their records, rather than against opposing candidates, which means that incumbents are at risk of losing their seats only if voters deem their records unacceptable.” Holding retention elections serves “to remind judges that they are judges, not legislators, and that their conduct in office is important. Elections allow citizens to evaluate the judges” while still freeing judicial candidates “from traditional partisan politics and fundraising” and “judicial decisions are more impartial because judges are in a secure environment to decide the cases in a neutral and fair manner.”

Mr. Litten explains that “judicial decisions are more impartial because judges are in a secure environment to decide the cases in a neutral and fair manner” when freed from fundraising, traditional partisan politics, and lawyer-legislators who confirm them and also appear before them in court. I agree. In our current system, it is understandable state judges can be less preoccupied and less concerned with how the public might measure their loyalty to “Black Letter Law” or the “Canons of Judicial Conduct” than how their decisions might play out in “House Room C” at interview time.

Judge Garland L. Bigley was fired, in 2006. She had boldly told her interviewers, “Yes, I sanction lawyers.” Chairman Albo and the other lawyer-legislators were unimpressed. The judge had given, as an example, the lawyer who inconvenienced a lot of people--people like you and me--by not showing up for trial. So she sanctioned him, she said. The legislature disqualifies, or does not confirm, one judge a year, roughly. I was sorry to see Judge Bigley go. The people of the 11th Judicial District had lost a good judge, I thought.

[L]egislators can and do set their own criteria for determining whether a judge belongs in office,” we learn from Mr. Litten. We learn formal written judicial selection criteria do not exist in Virginia. I highly recommend his article.

The people of Virginia should demand from Richmond more separation between the legislative branch and the judicial branch in matters pertaining to the hiring and the firing of state judges and should see as normal, and urgent, more involvement of the electorate in the judge re-selection (re-appointment) process. It’s really a two-part issue: judge selection and judge re-selection (re-appointment). Retention election addresses the second half of this issue and is the first step toward a true Missouri Plan for Virginia. But Mr. Rubin says we must first amend (definition) the constitution to allow for the public input in judge re-selection (re-appointment) via retention elections.
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The Question

I ask for your support in getting on the 2009 November ballot the following question:

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to change the method of re-appointing state judges from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters?

_ YES

_ NO”

Please
show your support, or even lack thereof, by sending your comment, your vote, to:

YES.Judge.Retention.Election@gmail.com,

Or,

NO.Judge.Retention.Election@gmail.com.

And please share your viewpoint with your legislators (senator and delegate) when you share it with me. Why not also forward a copy to Counselor and Senior Advisor to the Governor Mark E. Rubin? Information on Mr. Rubin can be found below in my recent email message for him and his answer for me (which also prefaces this post).

After you email your comment, your “yes” or “no” vote, to Judge Retention Election at gMail, the Senator and the Delegate in your district, and Mark Rubin of the Office of the Governor, please forward a copy to Therese Martin (mail to TBMartin4@verizon.net) of the League of Women Voters. Ms. Martin has stated, in a recent email message for me, “Once a [referendum] is placed on the ballot in Virginia…the League has often taken a position on the question and campaigned either in favor of or opposition to the question.”

Do not send your comment to me if you do not want it published on the blog!
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Thank you for participating! -VW-
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… I was very disappointed to see that the interviews were almost worthless … There were generally irrelevant questions. Judges were rubber-stamped. It was a horrible way to reappoint without scrutiny … -Robert F. McDonnell, Candidate for Virginia 2009 Governorship, Former Virginia Attorney General, Former Virginia Delegate and House Courts of Justice Chairman


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*Original Messages

From: Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov
To: [VW]
Subject: RE: Referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:07

Ms. Wyvell – In answer to the specific legal questions raised in your email, I would point you first to Article VI, Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia. This section clearly states that the justices of the Supreme Court and all other judges in courts of record shall be chosen by majority vote of each body of the General Assembly. Therefore, the Constitution specifically sets forth the manner for the selection of judges. Since this is a constitutional provision, it can only be changed in accordance with the provisions of Article XII of the Constitution. This article provides for the procedure outlined in your email or for amendment by a constitutional convention. I am not aware of any provision of law that would give the Governor the authority through an executive order to place a referendum question concerning a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Consequently, I would suggest that you raise your concerns about judicial selection with your delegate and Senator. Thank you for your email.

Mark E. Rubin
Counselor to the Governor
Patrick Henry Building
1111 E. Broad Street
Richmond, Va. 23219
804-692-0136

From: [VW]
To: Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov
Subject: Referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:38

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Mark E. Rubin
Senior Advisor to the Governor
Patrick Henry Building
1111 East Broad Street, 3rd Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov

Re: Referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters

Dear Mr. Rubin,

I am writing to you because my search for a good explanation of the relationship between “executive order” and “state governor” is leading me absolutely nowhere.

In discussions--about referenda--with representatives of the Fairfax League of Women Voters I learned the rule in Virginia is “no referendum may be placed on the ballot unless it is specifically authorized by law.” Unfortunately, my question for the ballot in November is not a referendum specified in the Code of Virginia. So I write you to inquire if Governor Kaine can issue executive orders that would bypass the requirement referenda first be allowed by law before their placement on ballots. After all, Virginia law does not prohibit my issue. And the law is flawed also because it does not consider that my issue might be an emergency. The law is unreasonable too because bills that propose to deprive lawmakers of special authority simply do not bide well with most legislators.

I am feeling held back by the law’s stinginess (and I should say I am feeling oppressed by such a requirement since most states have much less offensive policies and procedures regarding the right of private citizens to place a question on the ballot), its failure to invite and welcome creativity and innovation, its failure to anticipate and provide for matters that are urgent, and its failure to recognize that most legislators will fight hard against any legislation that proposes to strip them of important power such as the power to re-appoint/re-select judges, for example.

I would feel less held back, however, if I were a “governing body” instead of a “mere individual,” a decent-enough citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, paying the taxes I owe, respecting the laws, voting. In my research, I was sorry to learn that an individual may not request a court order to place a question on the ballot. I learned “governing bodies” only may request court orders to place referenda on ballots. I learned that after I convince the Virginia General Assembly to create a law that allows me to try to take away its right to re-select state judges, I should knock on doors for signatures for my petitions showing the question I am convinced 99.9% of the Virginia populace would answer with a resounding YES.

So, now, a second purpose of this letter for you, Mr. Rubin, is to know if The Office of the Governor (Tim Kaine), after issuing the executive order for a referendum on retention election of state judges by the voters, can then request a court order for getting on the 2009 November ballot the following question:

“Shall the method of re-appointing state judges be changed from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters?

_ YES

_ NO”

Mr. Rubin, please, Are you not just a little perturbed by this steady stream and never-ending thread of media attention on judge hiring and firing “system-failure” in Virginia?

Virginia’s judicial selection and re-appointment/re-selection process has been broken for years. When in the world will our leaders begin to give this problem top priority and take action to solve it?

Furthermore, Do you not hear the people of Virginia crying out for more involvement in that process, a process more and more evidence is suggesting is producing a bad judiciary?

And ridding Virginia of bad judges is not getting easier.

Mr. Cooper, for example, reported March 16, 2009, on the stalled Judicial Performance Evaluation program. I believe Mr. Albo wanted public dissemination of performance records and Mr. Hassell did not. Because these two apparently could not agree on the handling of results the JPE program was killed. Thank you very much. Former husbands and former wives are not the only ones disagreeing over children. Most of us don't kill the children.

I would say Mr. McDonnell must not be too happy. The JPE program was his “baby.” He conceived it because he considered judicial interviews “almost worthless.” He told Mr. Gilbert in a February 2008 telephone interview: “There were generally irrelevant questions. Judges were rubber-stamped. It was a horrible way to reappoint without scrutiny.”

I completely agree with Mr. McDonnell. I have observed three years of “rubber-stamping” as a regular at “Judicial Interviews of Incumbent Judges.”

In my opinion, and in the opinions of more and more supporters who are joining me each year for judge interviews, the Virginia system for selecting and re-selecting judges is dumb, disgusting and outright dangerous. I offer no apology for my choice of adjectives.

I am very concerned. Many citizen-consumers of legal services in Virginia are very concerned. We are watching Virginia’s judge selection and re-selection process spiral out of control, and we do not like what we see. Many of us got out of bad marriages for the right reasons. We are now ready to see more separation between the judiciary and the legislature for reasons we know are right.

Mr. Jackman wrote recently about this growing public disenchantment with the Virginia judge appointment and retention process, while reporting also the removal of Judge Finch from the Fairfax circuit bench. Mr. Jackman’s news story appeared on the front page of the Metro section in The Washington Post.

And between Mr. Jackman’s reportage of March 2, 2009, followed two weeks later by Mr. Cooper’s posting of March 16, 2009, and Mr. Gilbert’s piece of March 31, 2008, we have Ms. Kumar who, in a May 11, 2008, article, quotes Mr. Albo when he called the 2008 legislative session’s judicial appointment process a “total disaster” (because legislator-bickering left too many judicial posts vacant for your boss, the governor, to fill).*

Mr. Rubin, we have in Virginia selection of judges that is sloppy compounded by retention of judges that is slipshod. The two divorced mothers who presented testimony in Richmond last December to oppose the re-appointment of Mr. Finch were led there by me. I am completely committed to helping the electorate understand how it can become involved in Virginia’s judicial selection and re-selection process because our Circuit Court Chief Judges and our District Court Committees and our Courts of Justice Panels-- all under the tutelage of Mr. Albo--have done such a deplorable job of providing citizen-consumers of legal services in Virginia with good people to staff the bench.

I wish I could go around and ask my neighbors if they believe the method of re-appointing state judges should be changed from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters. Virginia law says I cannot. Virginia law currently does not permit me to collect the signatures needed to get my question on the ballot. “My issue” is not authorized by law, and in Virginia, I have learned, “no referendum may be placed on the ballot unless it is specifically authorized by law.”

So, again, I would like to know if our governor is empowered to issue an executive order that can bypass the requirement my referendum, my question to the people about changing the method used in Virginia to retain judges from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters, be authorized by law before its placement on the ballot. Could Governor Kaine then request a court order which would allow his office to get the following question on the November 2009 ballot:

“Shall the method of re-appointing state judges be changed from confirmation by the legislature to retention election by the voters?

_ YES

_ NO”

Truly, Mr. Rubin, What will it take for you and fellow top state officials to finally care that establishing policy and procedure for the regulation of judge selection and re-selection in Virginia is an emergency?

How much more testimony from aggrieved constituents at Judicial Interviews each year?

How much more press coverage?

I will not be easily distracted by talk from you and others of the need to amend the Constitution of Virginia. You and they must persuade me first that the right to re-select/re-appoint state judges belongs solely to the state legislature. I see no such language in our constitution.

Respectfully submitted,

Veronique Wyvell, RN
Private citizen
7831 Enola Street, #TA7
McLean, Virginia 22102

*Current Events

March 16, 2009 / by Alan Cooper
Judicial evaluation program is dead
http://www.valawyersweekly.com/weeklyedition/2009/03/16/judicial-evaluation-program-is-dead/

March 2, 2009 / by Tom Jackman
Va. Judge Selection Process Criticized: Group Challenges Lack of Public Input
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030101882.html

May 11, 2008 / by Anita Kumar
Bickering in Va. General Assembly Leaves Judicial Posts Open
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002531.html

March 31, 2008 / by Daniel Gilbert
Data Will Help Lawmakers Determine Judges Qualifications
http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/-TRI_2008_04_01_0001/7881/


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Related Links


Friday, December 12, 2008
RIDDING Va. OF BAD JUDGES NOT GETTING EASIER. With Judicial Evaluations Stuck in Albo’s “Secret Safe,” Lawmakers Seek to Unseat Chief Justice Hassell.

Friday, March 6, 2009
VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM GETS 'D' FROM HALT: Massive loopholes in laws “allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime.”

Sunday, March 8, 2009
THE MISSOURI PLAN DOES NOT INVOLVE THE STATE LEGISLATURE ... And The People Decide in General Elections Whether to Retain Nonpartisan Court Judges

Sunday, March 8, 2009
VIRGINIA JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS IN SHAMBLES AS OUR LAWMAKERS SHUN THE MISSOURI PLAN: HERE’S THE SCOOP FROM CARL TOBIAS, TOM JACKMAN AND BRAD ZINN

Thursday, March 12, 2009
CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

Thursday, March 12, 2009
NO FORMAL JUDGE APPOINTMENT, RETENTION POLICIES, PROCEDURES EXIST IN VIRGINIA. TERM LIMITS WOULD PROTECT CITIZENRY NOVA MOTHER TELLS AP'S LARRY O'DELL

Monday, March 30, 2009
PartyTime! Public Welcomed to “The Premier Legal Event In Northern Virginia,” The George Mason Law School 12th Annual Judicial & Legislative Reception

And

Wednesday, January 24, 2007
IN VIRGINIA, JUDICIAL INBREEDING IMPEDES JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN




. . .
ADDENDA

6.1.09 ... Gov. Tim Kaine elevated two lower court judges today to fill circuit seats in Southside and in Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights ... The delegation that covers the Southside circuit ... was unable to settle on a candidate to replace Wellons during the 2009 legislative session.

Cunningham, Burgess appointed to Southside, Chesterfield judgeships

By Alan Cooper / Virginia Lawyers Weekly Blog / June 1, 2009

Gov. Tim Kaine elevated two lower court judges today to fill circuit seats in Southside and in Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights.
Kaine appointed Chesterfield J&DR Judge Harold W. Burgess Jr. to replace Judge Cleo E. Powell, who was named to the Virginia Court of Appeals, and General District Judge Joel C. Cunningham to replace Judge William L. Wellons, who had retired, in the sprawling 10th Judicial Circuit.
The delegation that covers the Southside circuit – the counties of Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg and Prince Edward – was unable to settle on a candidate to replace Wellons during the 2009 legislative session.
Wellons’ chambers were in Halifax as are those of Cunningham, who will be the first black judge in the circuit.
Cunningham has been on the district bench 1997. Before his election, he was in private practice in Halifax for 10 years and served previously as an attorney for the Virginia Legal Aid Society, as a prosecutor in Halifax and as an assistant attorney general.
He is a graduate of Virginia State University and the University of Virginia law school. The delegation that covers Chesterfield agreed on John V. Cogbill III to replace Powell, but he decided not to take the seat after the legislature adjourned for the year. The delegation then told Burgess that it preferred that Burgess fill the seat.
Burgess was in private practice for 22 years before his appointment to the J&DR seat in 1996. He graduated from the University of Richmond in 1968 from and the U.Va. law school in 1972.The General Assembly will decide at the next session whether to elect Burgess and Cunningham to eight-year terms.

This article can be found at:
http://www.valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog/2009/06/01/cunningham-appointed-circuit-judge-in-southside/

. . .
ADDENDA

5.20.09 ... Circuit court judges of the 27th judicial circuit select a substitute judge to fill a vacancy in juvenile and domestic relations court ... Judgeships are typically decided in the House and Senate, but if legislators can’t agree on a person, the circuit judges together make an appointment.

Blacksburg lawyer tapped to be a judge

By Shawna Morrison / The Roanoke Times / May 20, 2009

A Blacksburg lawyer and substitute judge has been selected to fill a vacancy for a juvenile and domestic relations court judge in the New River Valley.
The circuit court judges of the 27th judicial circuit selected Harriet Dorsey to fill the interim position and she agreed, Circuit Court Judge Bobby Turk said Tuesday. An order officially appointing Dorsey has not yet been entered, he said.
Dorsey’s appointment will begin June 1 and will last through the end of the year.
Next year, the General Assembly will attempt to appoint someone to a full six-year term.
Judgeships are typically decided in the House and Senate, but if legislators can’t agree on a person, the circuit judges together make an appointment.
The 27th judicial circuit includes the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe and the cities of Radford and Galax.
Dorsey is one of several substitute judges who have heard cases, primarily in Wythe County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, since former Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Michael Keith Blankenship went on leave last year following legal troubles and then resigned.
Dorsey has been a substitute judge in the juvenile and domestic relations court and the general district court for 20 years as well as an administrative hearing officer for the Supreme Court of Virginia.

This article can be found at:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/205397

. . .
ADDENDA

2.28.09 ... Local delegations were unable to agree on candidates to fill several vacancies, including seats in the 9th and 10th circuits and general district seats in the 25th and 27th circuits. If the legislature can’t settle on candidates for those seats at the assembly’s veto session, Gov. Tim Kaine will be responsible for filling the circuit positions and circuit judges the district seats.

Assembly elects judges

By Alan Cooper / Virginia Lawyers Weekly Blog / February 28, 2009

The reappointment or election of 24 judges and two members of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission was the last business of the 2009 General Assembly tonight.
Both houses adjourned for the year about 8:45 p.m. after the reappointments and elections.
The reappointments were Fairfax Circuit Judge Gaylord L. Finch Jr. and the five general district judges who had been caught in the crossfire between the General Assembly and the Supreme Court of Virginia over the confidentiality of the judicial performance evaluation reports: David L. Williams and Timothy Wright of Chesapeake, Bryant L. Sugg of Newport News, Birdie H. Jamison of Richmond and Colleen Killilea of the 9th Judicial District.
The reappointment of Finch [which is contingent on the expectation he will retire by January 1, 2010--see
Tom Jackman] had been delayed because of complaints raised by litigants who said they felt that Finch had handled their cases in a cursory manner.
Circuit judges appointed to a first term were:
Mary Jane Hall, a partner at Kaufman & Canoles, to the vacancy created by the retirement Judge John S. Morrison Jr. in Norfolk.
Hampton General District Judge Bonnie L. Jones to the vacancy created by the retirement of Circuit Judge William Andrews.
Gloucester General District Judge R. Bruce Long to the vacancy created by the retirement of 9th Circuit Judge William shaw.
John V. Cogbill III, a partner at McGuireWoods LLP in Richmond, to the vacancy created by the elevation of Chesterfield County Circuit Judge Cleo E. Powell to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Prince William General District Judge Craig D. Johnston to the vacancy created by the elevation of Circuit Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
General district judges appointed to a first term were:
Philip J. Infantino Jr., a partner at Pender & Coward PC in Norfolk to the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert Carter in Chesapeake.
Steven C. Frucci, a partner at Stallings & Bischoff PC, to the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Edward Hudgins in Virginia Beach.
M. Woodrow Griffin Jr., a sole practitioner in Hampton, and Tonya Henderson-Stith, a partner in McDermott, Roe & Walter PC in Hampton, to the vacancies created by the elevation of Judge Bonnie L. Jones to the Hampton Circuit Court and the retirement of Judge Edward Knight III.
Pamela O. Evans, a commissioner of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, to a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert D. Laney in Chesterfield County.
Richard A. Claybrook Jr., deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Rockingham County, and Amy B. Tisinger, a prosecutor in Shenandoah County, to vacancies created by the retirement of Judges Norman deV. Morrison and Marvin Hillsman Jr. in the 26th District.
Richard C. Patterson, a partner in the Tazewell firm of Gillespie, Hart, Altizer & Whitesell PC, to the vacancy created by the death of Judge Greg Matney in the 29th District.
Juvenile and domestic relations district judges appointed to a first term were:
Michelle J.L. Atkins, an attorney with Abrons, Fasanaro & Sceviour in Norfolk, to a vacancy created by the elevation of Jerrauld Jones to Norfolk Circuit Court.
Deborah S. Roe, a partner at McDermott, Roe & Walter in Hampton, to the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Nelson Durden in Hampton.
R. Michael McKenney, commonwealth’s attorney in Northumberland County, to the vacancy created by the retirement of J. Maston Davis in the 15th District.
H. David O’Donnell, a sole practitioner in Harrisonburg, to the vacancy created by the retirement of Marvin Hillsman Jr. in the 26th District.
Michael J. Bush, commonwealth’s attorney in Russell County, to the vacancy created by the failure to elect Judge John M. Farmer in 2008 in the 29th District.The legislature reappointed lay member Olivia Welsh to JIRC and appointed Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley B. Cavedo to the seat vacated by Judge Cleo E. Powell when she was appointed to the Court of Appeals.
Local delegations were unable to agree on candidates to fill several vacancies, including seats in the 9th and 10th circuits and general district seats in the 25th and 27th circuits. If the legislature can’t settle on candidates for those seats at the assembly’s veto session, Gov. Tim Kaine will be responsible for filling the circuit positions and circuit judges the district seats.

This article can be found at:
http://www.valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog/2009/02/28/assembly-elects-judges/

. . .
ADDENDA

Model Judicial Selection Provisions Revised 2008
ESTABLISHING A [JUDICIAL NOMINATING]
COMMISSION PLAN FOR APPOINTMENT TO OFFICE
BY EXECUTIVE ORDER


[Preface] …The 2008 revisions represent American Judicature Society policy as to the “best practices” in selecting, retaining, and evaluating judges. While earlier versions of the model provisions offered a variety of alternatives regarding the role and composition of judicial nominating and evaluation commissions, this version limits the availability of alternative provisions to provide for the strongest possible processes. Earlier versions also offered language for establishing judicial nominating commissions by constitutional provision, or by statute or executive order. With this version, in order to create a nomination process with the greatest stability and legitimacy, model constitutional or statutory language is provided in Part I and model language for an executive order process is offered in the Appendix.

-Seth S. Andersen

Executive Vice President
American Judicature Society
The Opperman Center at Drake University
2700 University Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50311
800.626.4089
http://www.ajs.org/
http://www.ajs.org/selection/docs/MJSP_web.pdf


Monday, March 30, 2009

CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

______________________________
...
“I have opened up the process of re-

...
appointment to the public and unless
...
anyone comes to complain, the judges
...
usually get re-appointed.” -Dave Albo*
...
______________________________
The List of State Judges and Their Terms seen here was taken from the Virginia 2007 State of the Judiciary Report. It is subject to change with the release in mid-summer of the Virginia 2008 State of the Judiciary Report and as judges announce their plans to retire. All judges named below are incumbents slated provisionally for interview in the fall by the Courts of Justice (COJ), a committee comprised of general assembly members from the house and senate and vested with the power to qualify state judges for reappointment. Interested citizens should visit the Virginia General Assembly website for instructions on how to sign up to receive via email House and Senate Notices of Judicial Interviews (sample). -VW-**

____________________
Who's up in two thousand nine?
JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF INCUMBENTS YEAR 2009

__________
Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court Judges


Deborah V. Bryan, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
William S. Moore, Jr., 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Joseph P. Massey, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010

continued 888

ServeAmericaTime! HOW ARE YOU DELIVERING ON CHANGE? OUR PRESIDENT WOULD LIKE TO KNOW. TELL THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS BARACK OBAMA / New Act Signed 21 April

...
Thank you … Thanks for sharing your story of service, the White House will be reading through your story and those of all the other Americans who let us know how they are chipping in to deliver change to the country. Check back at WhiteHouse.gov over the coming days and weeks for some of the highlights of what we hear … Be sure to check out the Administration’s new resource for finding service opportunities at Serve.gov. [SOURCE: WhiteHouse.gov/change ]*
___________________________________________________

Friday, April 24, 2009

Re: How are you delivering on change?

Dear Mr. President ...

I am not much of a fighter. And so my little daughter has lost her mother because her mother is not much of a fighter. We were last together in July of 2004. My little girl, Brigitte, is now 11. She lives just 20 miles down Route 7, in Ashburn.

Family courts in Virginia prefer fighters. Family judges in Virginia favor the most aggressive parent-litigant. And often the most aggressive parent in the courtroom was the most violent parent in the home. In Virginia, a domestic abuser may hurt the mother of his child, by abusing [her with] court proceedings, without hurting his chances of gaining custody. When cases go to court, in Virginia, children go to fathers more than they go to mothers. And violent men are twice as likely as caring and involved fathers to seek custody. It’s a statistic that is probably now 10 years old. My observations show the problem has worsened.

Violence in the courtroom is an issue close to my heart.

And so I started a blog with the goal to protect the mothers who are trying to protect their children from a violent and abusive father.

Virginia’s family courts are a ‘Public Health Hazard.’

Virginia’s ‘Best Interest of the Child’ standard is a racket.

Virginia’s ‘Judicial Selection Process’ a shambles.

Every morning when I wake up my mind is busy, busy thinking up of new ways to improve our bad judiciary and move us closer to the ‘Approximation Rule.’

My strategies are better than my web-mastering skills and my web-writing skills. But I manage the blog. It’s called Mommy Go Bye Bye.

It’s found here: http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/.

It’s ‘fighting’ without the hitting and yelling, the litigating.

I would rather ‘fight it out’ in a blog than in a courtroom. I want that message to reach as many abused mothers as possible. I encourage them all to send in their stories of judicial manhandling of their children, of heavy-handed justice that diminished and even ignored the impact of the domestic violence on their children. I will post, I tell all of them. I tell all of them this is the way you need to ‘fight.’

Mothers are hearing me.

One bad judge lost his job a few weeks ago because now we are being listened to.

Please know that I am here. A stone's throw from the White House, in Fairfax County, where ‘change’ is happening.

Persistence is key, I have always believed.

A ‘deliverer’ from McLean, Virginia,

Veronique Wyvell RN
7831 Enola Street #TA7
McLean Virginia 22102
703.748.0072
the MOMMY GO BYE BYE blog

PS - Thank you for your exquisite website. I have made it my home page.

*HOW ARE YOU DELIVERING ON CHANGE?

Whether you were already serving your country, or are responding to the President’s call, share how you are delivering on change in your community.

Whether it is an hour per month helping those struggling in the current economy, tutoring kids in your neighborhood every day, or anything else, we want to highlight what Americans are doing to strengthen our country.

Please complete the form below and share this page with your friends:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/change/#TB_inline?height=220&width=370&inlineId=tb_external

{Go to Serve.com and discover NetworkForGood.org -VW}

[This post was originally published on 24 April 2009]

CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

______________________________
...
“I have opened up the process of re-

...
appointment to the public and unless
...
anyone comes to complain, the judges
...
usually get re-appointed.” -Dave Albo*
...
______________________________
The List of State Judges and Their Terms seen here was taken from the Virginia 2007 State of the Judiciary Report. It is subject to change with the release in mid-summer of the Virginia 2008 State of the Judiciary Report and as judges announce their plans to retire. All judges named below are incumbents slated provisionally for interview in the fall by the Courts of Justice (COJ), a committee comprised of general assembly members from the house and senate and vested with the power to qualify state judges for reappointment. Interested citizens should visit the Virginia General Assembly website for instructions on how to sign up to receive via email House and Senate Notices of Judicial Interviews (sample). -VW-**

____________________
Who's up in two thousand nine?
JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF INCUMBENTS YEAR 2009

__________
Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court Judges


Deborah V. Bryan, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
William S. Moore, Jr., 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Joseph P. Massey, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010

continued 888

PartyTime! Public Welcomed to "The Premier Legal Event In Northern Virginia," The George Mason Law School 12th Annual Judicial & Legislative Reception

...
No Joke . . .

How do you win a court case in Virginia?

By making sure the lawyer you hire is also a state legislator.*


________________________________
George Mason University School of Law


Mark Your Calendar--May 20
12th Annual Judicial & Legislative Reception

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Doors Open at 5:45 p.m.
Levy Atrium, School of Law

Mark your calendar for the 12th Annual Judicial & Legislative Reception to be held on Wednesday, May 20, in the Levy Atrium from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

This popular event began in 1998 as an opportunity to recognize and honor those who serve the people of our region on the bench or in an elected position and has grown to be characterized as "the premier legal event in Northern Virginia." Over the years attendees have included governors, members of Congress, state legislators, and federal and state court judges from Virginia and the District of Columbia. Plan to join attorneys, judges, legislators and Mason Law alumni for this annual gathering.

As in previous years, sponsorships are available at four levels. All sponsors will receive an allotment of tickets, as well as recognition in a full-page Virginia Lawyers Weekly advertisement and on the evening of the event. Complete details are available in the sponsorship flyer. The sponsorship deadline is May 1. A portion of your sponsorship is tax deductible. Contact 703-993-9862 for more information.

Other attendance options will include:

Single ticket—$35
Block of 10 tickets—$300
Mason Law students and May 2009 graduates—$15

For more information, call Dana Fallon, Assistant Director of Alumni Services, 703-993-9862 or dfallon@gmu.edu, or click here to RSVP online.

This announcement can be found at:
www.law.gmu.edu/news/2009/jlr_2009

Find the sponsorship flyer here:
www.law.gmu.edu/assets/files/alumni/JLR09Sponsorship.pdf

*Related Links . . .

Sunday, March 8, 2009
THE MISSOURI PLAN DOES NOT INVOLVE THE STATE LEGISLATURE ... And The People Decide in General Elections Whether to Retain Nonpartisan Court Judges

Sunday, March 8, 2009
VIRGINIA JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS IN SHAMBLES AS OUR LAWMAKERS SHUN THE MISSOURI PLAN: HERE’S THE SCOOP FROM CARL TOBIAS, TOM JACKMAN AND BRAD ZINN

Thursday, March 12, 2009
CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

Thursday, March 12, 2009
NO FORMAL JUDGE APPOINTMENT, RETENTION POLICIES, PROCEDURES EXIST IN VIRGINIA. TERM LIMITS WOULD PROTECT CITIZENRY NOVA MOTHER TELLS AP'S LARRY O'DELL

Friday, March 20, 2009

CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

______________________________
...
“I have opened up the process of re-

...
appointment to the public and unless
...
anyone comes to complain, the judges
...
usually get re-appointed.” -Dave Albo*
...
______________________________
The List of State Judges and Their Terms seen here was taken from the Virginia 2007 State of the Judiciary Report. It is subject to change with the release in mid-summer of the Virginia 2008 State of the Judiciary Report and as judges announce their plans to retire. All judges named below are incumbents slated provisionally for interview in the fall by the Courts of Justice (COJ), a committee comprised of general assembly members from the house and senate and vested with the power to qualify state judges for reappointment. Interested citizens should visit the Virginia General Assembly website for instructions on how to sign up to receive via email House and Senate Notices of Judicial Interviews (sample). -VW-**

____________________
Who's up in two thousand nine?
JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF INCUMBENTS YEAR 2009

__________
Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court Judges


Deborah V. Bryan, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
William S. Moore, Jr., 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Joseph P. Massey, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010

continued 888

MovieTime! At least 44 states have aired “Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories” since its October 2005 release ... Virginia is not one of them*

____________________
“I have mentioned there my attendance at the September and December [2006] JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS. All Courts of Justice committee members who also attended received from me a special information packet (yes, containing the DVD) -- a miniaturized version of the compendium. And I put a copy of the compendium into the hands of newly appointed Fairfax County Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court Judge Glenn Clayton as he walked out the door.”*

Now Playing In Virginia VVV

Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories



PART I

“Contested custody, about 10 percent of break-ups, clogs courts. In these disputes, some studies show, a mildly abusive, or brutally battering or seriously molesting parent lurks in three fourths of cases. It can be a mother, but mostly it tends to be a father, and recent studies show fathers winning these battles 2-1. Do the math. It's a problem. … What our legal system has failed to grasp is that lust for vengeance drives the worst of fathers to use litigation itself as a way to abuse ex-wives. Their economic incentive has also grown. Winning custody can be cheaper than child support.” -BP in “Custody Fight”

Custody Fight: Documentary Sheds Light On System That Lets Children Suffer At the Hands of Abusive Fathers

By Bob Port
Albany Times Union
October 16, 2005

This week, every judge, lawyer, psychiatrist, psychologist, and social worker with any connection to family law in New York ought to be taken into custody, escorted to their local courthouse and forced to watch "Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories," a PBS documentary set to air in the Capital Region at 10 p.m. Thursday on WMHT Ch. 17.

Before coming to Albany, I worked for years at the New York Daily News. I had occasion to cover stories from Family Court and custody battles, largely in New York City. I've heard the tales of more than a hundred people in recent years caught up in the "Twilight Zone" of a custody dispute, as many of them identically refer to the legal system.

This exquisite documentary, "Children's Stories," like no other production I have seen, makes comprehensible the subtlety of a scandal that recurs in custody proceedings in New York and other states. It is an almost impossible story to tell, one from which journalists flee, and it boils down to this: A judge, often misled by self-interested lawyers and court-appointed professionals, ignores a protective mother, ignores the wishes of children and awards custody to a man who is an abuser, emotionally or physically, of his wife or their children.

In a bitter irony, the judge orders this injustice wrapped in the banner that is New York's legal standard for deciding custody: "best interests of the child."

What our legal system has failed to grasp is that lust for vengeance drives the worst of fathers to use litigation itself as a way to abuse ex-wives. Their economic incentive has also grown. Winning custody can be cheaper than child support.

"Children's Stories," filmed partly in Loudonville, will not try your patience with he-said, she-said debate between couples or among experts. Save that for later. Instead, the filmmakers select wise experts to explain and ask that you do two things our courts easily fail to do: Trust mothers to behave like mothers and listen to what children say.

There is little Sarah, ordered to live with a father she feared. "You feel like," she says, biting her lip, "you want to die."

There is the terror-stricken voice of Manya recorded on the phone, pleading with her mother to rescue her from her father, who molested her for years. "I don't care if you have to break the law," she sobs, "get me out right now."

There are the observations of Jeff, who turned 18 and escaped, but who remains haunted at having lain awake across the hall from his little sister as she was raped and sodomized by his dad, who won custody. "It's the most helpless feeling," Jeff laments.

These are the raw extremes of custody law gone awry. The typical abusive parent is less severe or far less obvious, and abuse is always difficult to discern. Two adult men speak in "Children's Stories" with memories of their own abusive fathers to shed light.

One of them, Joe Torre, manager of the New York Yankees, who suffered in the care of a violent father, recalls why he never called police. "My father was the police," Torre says.

"It is never an event," says the other, Walter Anderson, CEO of Parade magazine. "It is a pattern of behavior." Abuse, he explains, is "the systematic diminishment of the child." This common sense can elude family courts.

Some facts are in order here. We're talking about a big but very narrow problem. Custody is not disputed in court in the overwhelming majority of divorces, as many as nine in 10 cases settle amicably, according to studies. In uncontested custody, mothers win out over fathers, taking custody about 2-1, although this is partly because some fathers see trying to win custody as futile.

Contested custody, about 10 percent of break-ups, clogs courts. In these disputes, some studies show, a mildly abusive, or brutally battering or seriously molesting parent lurks in three fourths of cases. It can be a mother, but mostly it tends to be a father, and recent studies show fathers winning these battles 2-1.

Do the math. It's a problem.

Custody case law in New York, as in many states, enshrines one of the most ridiculous legal principles ever to evolve, called "parental alienation."

Conceived by the late Columbia University psychiatrist Richard Gardner, "parental alienation syndrome" was a proposed name for a mental illness in which a mother, to punish her ex-mate, alienates kids against dad by coaching them to allege abuse.

The antidote for this alleged insanity, Gardner theorized, is to give the kids to dad, thereby counteracting mom's alienation by removing the kids from her control. It's the ultimate mind game in custody battles. We can almost never prove what's really true in an abuse allegation, and a bald abuse allegation, even if false or exaggerated itself, can be symptomatic of a deeper, less severe pattern that is true. The victim of abuse thus becomes the perpetrator and a villain can win. Gardner's ideas became a playbook for fathers using litigation to punish ex-lovers.

Gardner's colleagues rejected the addition of his theory to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the peer-reviewed handbook of mental illnesses. His work has been debunked by the American Psychological Association and others. Parental alienation syndrome is junk science.

Yet in a monument to ignorance, New York courts continue to recognize "parental alienation" as if it were some psycho-law of medicine and continue to give kids to oppressive, if not abusive fathers simply when mothers make accusations. It's as if judges are years behind in reading social science literature.

Father's rights groups have legitimate concerns about false abuse allegations, but given the nature of contested custody, these utterances should not trigger instant death for mothers. Yet, Gardner's remedy for alienation is etched in precedent in our state appellate law books. Judges continue to fall for it as medical dogma when it comes from court-appointed forensic psychiatrists. These experts, unregulated in the court system, are often ordered by a judge to evaluate parents, but they answer to no one. They must be right, judges are pressed to believe. After all, judges appointed them.

In "Children's Stories," a judge, who happens to be a social worker, as perhaps we should require of all our Family Court judges, tries to set the record straight. Maybe our Court of Appeals will get the message.

Also aired in this documentary are the problems with some law guardians, lawyers appointed for children. The documentary shows us how they can do more harm than good. They can be patronage-seeking pals of judges who authorize legal fees billed to parents for whatever the market will bear.

Law guardians may not listen to their clients, the children, and they inevitably end up taking sides, then avoid communication with the losing side. They can freely engage in what lawyers call ex-parte communication; they talk to one side without the other present. Judges do it, too. It's unethical and it deprives one party of a fair hearing. Yet, in our family courts, ex-parte exchanges, even hearings, can be standard operating procedure.

Dominique Lasseur, the producer of "Children's Stories," told me he expects to be sued, but I say he deserves a Nobel Prize for honesty for his work here. The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation, which financed this effort, deserves our gratitude. And this documentary should prove again the incalculable value of public broadcasting.

An annual event at Siena College became the setting for some of "Children's Stories." Mo Therese Hannah, a psychology professor at Siena, is already organizing the third Battered Mothers Custody Conference there, set for next January.

The judiciary in New York is aware of the problems you'll see on TV. A 32-member Matrimonial Commission, appointed by our chief judge, has heard from hundreds of citizens. Appellate Judge Sondra Miller of Westchester County, chairwoman, says her commission is preparing its report for release in December and it will recommend major changes.

"We hope that we can change the tenor of these proceedings," Miller said. She intimated her commission is considering some new court model for resolving custody, one based on principles of mediation and arbitration more than advocacy.

We'll all be watching.

This article can be found at:
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/port.html


PART II

PRESS RELEASE
Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories


New PBS Documentary Reveals Surprising Information about Child Abuse and the Shocking Inadequacies of Family Courts across the Country
Premieres Thursday, October 20 [2005] at 10 pm ET on most PBS stations (check local listings)

(Hartford, CT) – It is no secret that domestic violence has devastating, long-term effects on children. For the past two decades, the evidence has been mounting in psychological studies and academic journals. What is lesser known is that many domestic batterers are successfully using custody and visitation litigation to abuse their families further.

Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories — premiering Thursday, October 20 [2005] at 10 pm ET on most PBS stations (check local listings) — is a powerful new PBS documentary that chronicles the impact of domestic violence on children and the recurring failings of family courts across the country to protect them from their abusers. In stark and often poignant interviews, children and battered mothers tell their stories of abuse at home and continued trauma within the courts. Co-produced by Tatge-Lasseur Productions and Connecticut Public Television (CPTV), this one-hour special also features interviews with domestic violence experts, attorneys and judges who reveal the disturbing frequency in which abusers are winning custody of their children and why these miscarriages of justice continue to occur.

This program is made possible by funding from the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation. One of the most effective ways an abusive father can inflict pain and declare his domination is to take custody of his children away from their mother. As Joan Meier, an attorney and professor of clinical law, explains, “To win custody of the kids over and against the mother’s will is the ultimate victory...short of killing the kids.” While there may be a perception in society that the family court system has a maternal preference, statistics show that, in the past twenty years, fathers are more often being awarded custody. Furthermore, in family court cases where mothers allege battery, fathers are given custody two-thirds of the time.

Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories also explores a controversial theory called Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), which has been used in countless cases by abusive fathers to gain custody of their children. The theory states that the custodial parent (most often the mother) is alienating the child against the father by raising false allegations against him. Despite being discredited by the American Psychological Association and similar organizations, PAS continues to be used in family courts as a defense for why a child is rejecting the father.

The documentary profiles several shocking stories of abuse further complicated by the courts, including the story of Karen and her three children. Karen’s suspicions of her husband’s sexually abusive behavior were confirmed through a medical exam. However, when the custody case came to trial, a court-appointed psychologist, or evaluator, testified that Karen was using Parental Alienation Syndrome to turn her children against their father. The psychologist never read the medical and police reports of the case and never interviewed the children. All three children were awarded custody to their dad.

Karen’s son Jeff, who left his father’s custody when he turned eighteen, now serves as an advocate for children in similar abusive situations as a member of the Courageous Kids Network. His two younger sisters still live with their father.

Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories also features interviews with New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre, who dealt with domestic violence as a child, and in 2003, started the Safe-at-Home Foundation to help educate people about the issue; and Walter Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Parade magazine, who recounts the emotional and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic father.

Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories is a follow-up to the acclaimed 2001 PBS documentary, Breaking the Silence: Journeys of Hope, which focused on women and domestic abuse. “Journeys of Hope documented how much we, as a society, made progress to combat domestic violence and serve its victims,” explains producer Dominique Lasseur. “Children Stories reminds us that a lot needs to be done to better protect our children from the long term effects of living with violent abusers.” Both documentaries were funded by the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.

Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories is made possible by the generous support of the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation. Started in 1996, the mission of the foundation is two-fold: eliminating cancers affecting women by supporting top medical scientists who are searching for a cure for breast, uterine, cervical and ovarian cancers; and ending the epidemic of violence against women by providing grants to women’s shelters and supporting community outreach programs. The Foundation wholeheartedly supports education and awareness on the issue of domestic violence.

Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories is co-produced by Tatge/Lasseur Productions, and its principals, Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur. Tatge/Lasseur have a long and successful history of producing programs for PBS, including The Question of God: C.S. Lewis & Sigmund Freud, Dances of Life, Holo Mai Pele, CeCe Winans: A Gospel Celebration and Breaking the Silence: Journeys of Hope. Tatge/Lasseur have had close association with Bill Moyers on several projects. With Moyers, they co-produced Genesis: A Living Conversation and Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, the latter of which earned Tatge an Emmy Award.

The documentary is co-produced by Connecticut Public Television (CPTV), a nationally recognized producer and presenter of quality public television programming, including Barney & Friends™, Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers, Bob the Builder™, and Wounded in Action. Entering its 43rd year, CPTV remains committed to bringing the best in educational programming and services to Connecticut and the nation.

Co-Producers: Tatge/Lasseur Productions and Connecticut Public Television.
Underwriter: The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.
Producer: Dominique Lasseur.
Director: Catherine Tatge.
Executive-in-Charge (CPTV): Larry Rifkin.
Format: Closed captioned.
Publicity contacts:
PBS stations: Lee Newton, Connecticut Public Television, 860-275-7285; email,
lnewton@cptv.org.
National Press: Sharron McDevitt, Hill and Knowlton, 212-885-0393; email, sharron.mcdevitt@hillandknowlton.com.


PART III

*... At least 44 states have aired “Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories’’ since its October 2005 release; Virginia is not one of them … -VW in “ ‘THINK A DOMESTIC BATTERER COULD NEVER GAIN CUSTODY OF A CHILD? THINK AGAIN’ ... Virginia courts fail to protect children ” or http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/2007/01/think-domestic-batterer-could-never.html (Sat., Jan. 27, 2007)

G BTS:CS Flyer 1 G BTS:CS Flyer 2 G BTS:CS Flyer 3 G

Thursday, March 12, 2009

CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

______________________________
...
“I have opened up the process of re-

...
appointment to the public and unless
...
anyone comes to complain, the judges
...
usually get re-appointed.” -Dave Albo*
...
______________________________
The Listing of State Judges and Their Terms seen here was taken from the Virginia 2007 State of the Judiciary Report. It is subject to change with the release in mid-summer of the Virginia 2008 State of the Judiciary Report and as judges announce their plans to retire. All judges named below are incumbents slated provisionally for interview in the fall by the Courts of Justice (COJ), a committee comprised of general assembly members from the house and senate and vested with the power to qualify state judges for reappointment. Interested citizens should visit the Virginia General Assembly website for instructions on how to sign up to receive via email House and Senate Notices of Judicial Interviews (sample). -VW-**

____________________
Who's up in two thousand nine?
JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF INCUMBENTS YEAR 2009

__________
Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court Judges


Deborah V. Bryan, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
William S. Moore, Jr., 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Joseph P. Massey, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Alfreda Talton-Harris, 4/16/2004-4/15/2010
Charles A. Perkinson, Jr., 7/1/2004-6/30/2010
Ronald Everett Bensten, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
George C. Fairbanks, IV, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Marvin H. Dunkum, 4/1/2004-3/31/2010
Sharon B. Will, 4/16/2004-4/15/2010
Stuart L. Williams, Jr., 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
Larry E. Gilman, 4/1/2004-3/31/2010
George D. Varoutsos, 3/16/2004-3/15/2010
Teena D. Grodner, 4/16/2004-4/15/2010
Michael J. Valentine, 7/1/2004-6/30/2010
Dale M. Wiley, 7/1/2004-6/30/2010
Victor V. Ludwig, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Elizabeth Kellas, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010

__________
General District Court Judges

Teresa N. McCrimmon, 4/1/2004-3/31/2010
Gene A. Woolard, 6/1/2004-5/31/2010
Morton V. Whitlow, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
James S. Mathews, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
Robert B. Edwards, 7/1/2004-6/30/2010
Joel C. Cunningham, 4/16/2004-4/15/2010
Charles H. Warren, 4/16/2004-4/15/2010
Lucretia A. Carrico, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
David Eugene Cheek, Sr., 7/1/2004-6/30/2010
Thomas O. Jones, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Joi Jeter Taylor, 4/16/2004-4/15/2010
Edward K. Carpenter, 6/1/2004-5/31/2010
E. Robert Giammittorio, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
Becky J. Moore, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Thomas E. Gallahue, 4/1/2004-3/31/2010
Mitchell I. Mutnick, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
Julia Taylor Cannon, 4/1/2004-3/31/2010
Charles B. Foley, 3/16/2004-3/15/2010
M. Lee Stilwell, Jr., 3/1/2004-2/28/2010
Harold A. Black, 4/1/2004-3/31/2010
Gordon F. Saunders, 7/1/2004-6/30/2010
John A. Paul, 2/1/2004-1/31/2010
Randal J. Duncan, 5/1/2004-4/30/2010
Edward M. Turner, III, 3/1/2004-2/28/2010
Joseph S. Tate, 9/1/2004-8/31/2010
Craig D. Johnston, 8/1/2004-7/31/2010

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Circuit Court Judges


Stephen C. Mahan, 10/1/2002-9/30/2010
Charles E. Poston, 6/1/2002-5/31/2010
Westbrook J. Parker, 7/1/2002-6/30/2010
Thomas V. Warren, 2/1/2002-1/31/2010
Frederick G. Rockwell, III, 5/1/2002-4/30/2010
Beverly W. Snukals, 4/1/2002-3/31/2010
Walter W. Stout, III, 8/1/2002-7/31/2010
John R. Cullen, 7/1/2002-6/30/2010
William N. Alexander, II, 3/16/2002-3/15/2010
William D. Broadhurst, 11/1/2002-10/31/2010
Charles N. Dorsey, 7/1/2002-6/30/2010
Colin R. Gibb, 7/1/2002-6/30/2010
Ray Wilson Grubbs, 3/1/2002-2/28/2010
Michael Lee Moore, 4/1/2002-3/31/2010
Henry A. Vanover, 4/1/2002-3/31/2010

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Judges of the Court of Appeals of Virginia

Walter S. Felton, Jr., 9/1/2002-8/31/2010

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Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia

Cynthia D. Kinser, 7/1/1997 2/1/1998-1/31/2010

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*Any member of the public who wishes to speak on behalf of or against the reelection of a specific judge must contact me in advance to be added to the schedule.” -Mary Kate Felch

Mary Kate Felch
Senior Research Associate
Judicial Election Process Administrator
Virginia Division of Legislative Services
General Assembly Building
910 Capitol Street, Second Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
804-786-3591
MFelch@leg.state.va.us
MFelch@dls.virginia.gov
http://dls.state.va.us/pubs/legisguidejudicselect.pdf


**How to request Notices of Judicial Interviews:

Visit...
“Add to Mailing List”

Select (all 4)...
“House Courts of Justice”
“House Courts Subcommittee on Judicial Recommendations”
“Senate Courts of Justice”
“Senate Courts Subcommittee on Judicial Recommendations”

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______________________________
The Virginia Courts themselves know that Virginia’s judicial system needs to change. Every few years, after extensive studies, the Virginia Judicial System puts forth their “Strategic Plan” for the purpose of “identifying and assessing the challenges, opportunities, and expected demands that lie ahead” because “the future of the justice system is too important to be left to chance.” In the Strategic Plan the Virginia Courts share their vision of the judicial system and the steps needed to achieve that vision. To accomplish the Judicial System of Virginia’s 2002-2004 Strategic Plan’s mission of providing “an independent, accessible, responsive forum for the just resolution of disputes in order to preserve the rule of law and to protect all rights and liberties guaranteed by the United States and Virginia constitutions” the objective of ensuring “that the judicial system attracts and retains the most qualified persons for service on the bench” [ Objective 6.1/Page 19 ] must be completed. And one of the tasks to fulfill that objective is to “secure legislative adoption of merit selection of judges in order to recruit and to elect the most qualified judiciary” [ Task 6.1.1/Page 19 ]. In other words, in their Strategic Plan, the Virginia Courts put forth the need to reform the judicial selection system. And the system they recommend is the Missouri Plan.

-Donald D. Litten, Harrisonburg Attorney, in Let the People Judge the Judges: Reforming Virginia’s Judicial Selection Process and,
-Harry L. Carrico, Chief Justice, in Bringing the Future to Justice: Charting the Course in the New Dominion (“Vision 6”)
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Who's up in two thousand ten?
JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF INCUMBENTS YEAR 2010

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Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court Judges

Rufus A. Banks, Jr., 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Larry D. Willis, 5/1/2005-4/30/2011
Gerrit W. Benson, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
M. Randolph Carlson, II, 1/1/2006-12/31/2011
Thomas W. Carpenter, 2/1/2005-1/31/2011
Bonnie C. Davis, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Gerald F. Daltan, 5/1/2005-4/30/2011
Joseph J. Ellis, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Julian W. Johnson, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
David F. Peterson, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Susan L. Whitlock, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Esther Wiggins Lyles, 2/1/2005-1/31/2011
Constance H. Frogale, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
Pamela L. Brooks, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Kenneth W. Farrar, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Michael T. Garrett, 3/1/2005-2/28/2011
Paul A. Tucker, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Marvin C. Hillsman, Jr., 2/1/2005-1/31/2011
William H. Logan, Jr., 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
M. Keith Blankenship, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Marcus H. Long, Jr., 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
Henry A. Barringer, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
William Alan Becker, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Paul F. Gluchowski, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011

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General District Court Judges

Calvin R. Depew, Jr., 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
R. Bruce Long, 2/1/2005-1/31/2011
Phillip L. Hairston, 2/1/2005-1/31/2011
John Marshall, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
James Stephen Yoffy, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
Frank L. Benser, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
J. Overton Harris, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
Peter L. Trible, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Gordon A. Wilkins, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
Roger L. Morton, 2/1/2005-1/31/2011
Michael Joseph Cassidy, 2/1/2005-1/31/2011
Edwin A. Gendron, Jr., 3/1/2005-2/28/2011
M. Frederick King, 4/1/2005-3/31/2011
William D. Heatwole, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Jack S Hurley, Jr., 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Charles F. Sievers, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011
Peter W. Steketee, 7/1/2005-6/30/2011

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Circuit Court Judges

V. Thomas Forehand, Jr., 7/1/2003-6/30/2011
Mark S. Davis, 4/1/2003-3/31/2011
Everett A. Martin, Jr., 3/16/2003-3/15/2011
Carl Edward Eason, Jr., 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
Samuel E. Campbell, 6/1/2003-5/31/2011
David F. Pugh, 4/1/2003-3/31/2011
C. Peter Tench, 4/1/2003-3/31/2011
Christopher W. Hutton, 9/1/2003-8/31/2011
Wilford Taylor, Jr., 7/1/2003-6/30/2011
N. Prentis Smiley, Jr., 4/1/2003-3/31/2011
Richard S. Blanton, 4/1/2003-3/31/2011
Herbert Cogbill Gill, Jr., 9/1/2003-8/31/2011
Bradley B. Cavedo, 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
Theodore J. Markow, 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
Richard D. Taylor, Jr., 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
Timothy K. Sanner, 4/1/2003-3/31/2011
Randy I. Bellows, 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
Dennis J. Smith, 6/1/2003-5/31/2011
James H. Chamblin, 3/1/2003-2/28/2011
Martin F. Clark, Jr., 5/1/2003-4/30/2011
Robert P. Doherty, Jr., 3/1/2003-2/28/2011
Clifford R. Weckstein, 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
Brett L. Geisler, 4/1/2003-3/31/2011
Keary R. Williams, 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
John C. Kilgore, 7/1/2003-6/30/2011

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Judges of the Court of Appeals of Virginia

D. Arthur Kelsey, 2/1/2003-1/31/2011
Elizabeth A. McClanahan, 4/1/2003-3/31/2011

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Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia

None

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______________________________
The question of considering qualifications is a tricky one under the current Virginia system, and not even necessary under current Virginia law. Although “both primary legal associations in Virginia - the Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Bar Association - have issued general guidelines for judicial-selection criteria,” there are no specific guidelines established in Virginia law. What this means is that legislators can and do set their own criteria for determining whether a judge belongs in office…Giving the General Assembly exclusive selection and reselection power over the State’s judges gives them too much power over the whole justice system and even more importantly, it gives them too much power to abuse the system. “The ability to select and reappoint judges produces amazing personal clout. If you are a legislator, rich, ambitious attorneys who want to be judges or want their law partners to be judges come to you.” In addition, there is an innate conflict of interest when legislators, many of whom are lawyers, select the judges whom they might appear before in court. There must be a better way to select and sustain judges than by putting that whole power in the hands of a highly biased and politicized body such as the legislature.
-Larry O’Dell, Associated Press Writer, in Critics Target Va. Judge Selection Process
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Who’s up in two thousand eleven?
JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF INCUMBENTS YEAR 2011

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Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court Judges

Deborah M. Paxson, 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
Ramona D. Taylor, 4/16/2006-4/15/2012
Winship C. Tower, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Joel P. Crowe, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Jerrauld C. Jones, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
William P. Williams, 6/1/2006-5/31/2012
Robert S. Brewbaker, 5/1/2006-4/30/2012
Barry G Logsdon, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Michael M. Rand, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Valentine W. Southall, Jr., 10/1/2006-9/30/2012
Kimberly B. O'Donnell, 10/1/2006-9/30/2012
Ashley K. Tunner, 5/16/2006-5/15/2012
Margaret W. Deglau, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Denis F. Soden, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Richard S. Wallerstein, Jr., 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Edward DeJ. Berry, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Frank W. Somerville, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Nolan B. Dawkins, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Gayl Branum Carr, 8/1/2006-7/31/2012
Glenn L. Clayton, II, 10/1/2006-9/30/2012
Thomas P. Mann, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Sarah A. Rice, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Joseph P. Bounds, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
John B. Ferguson, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Charles L. Ricketts, III, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Ronald Lewis Napier, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
H. Lee Chitwood, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Charles F. Lincoln, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012

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General District Court Judges

Virginia L. Cochran, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
W. Edward Hudgins, Jr., 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
Roxie O. Holder, 10/1/2006-9/30/2012
S. Clark Daugherty, 5/1/2006-4/30/2012
William R Savage, III, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
J. Larry Palmer, 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
Richard C. Kerns, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Philip V. Daffron, 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
Thomas L. Murphey, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Thomas L. Vaughn, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
L. Neil Steverson, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
John R. Stevens, 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
Stewart P. Davis, 3/15/2006-3/14/2012
Lisa A. Mayne, 10/1/2006-9/30/2012
Donald P. McDonough, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Mark C. Simmons, 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
J. Frank Buttery, Jr., 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
George A. Jones, Jr., 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
Vincent A. Lilley, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
Joseph M. Serkes, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Louis K. Campbell, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
W. Dale Houff, 4/16/2006-4/15/2012
J. D. Bolt, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012
R. Glennwood Lookabill, 4/1/2006-3/31/2012
Sage B. Johnson, 2/1/2006-1/31/2012
Gordon S. Vincent, 7/1/2006-6/30/2012

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Circuit Court Judges

John C. Morrison, Jr., 4/1/2004-1/31/2012
Norman A. Thomas, 5/1/2004-4/30/2012
W. Allan Sharrett, 7/1/2004-6/30/2012
Aundria Deloris Foster, 7/1/2004-6/30/2012
Daniel T. Balfour, 4/1/2004-3/31/2012
John W. Scott, Jr., 7/1/2004-6/30/2012
James F. Almand, 2/1/2004-1/31/2012
Leslie M. Alden, 8/1/2004-7/31/2012
Michael P. McWeeny, 3/1/2004-2/29/2012
Michael S. Irvine, 7/1/2004-6/30/2012
Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo, 2/1/2004-1/31/2012
Larry B. Kirksey, 4/1/2004-3/31/2012
Lon Edward Farris, 7/1/2004-6/30/2012

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Judges of the Court of Appeals of Virginia

None

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Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia

Donald W. Lemons, 3/16/2000-3/16/2012


… I was very disappointed to see that the interviews were almost worthless … There were generally irrelevant questions. Judges were rubber-stamped. It was a horrible way to reappoint without scrutiny … -Robert F. McDonnell, Candidate for Virginia 2009 Governorship, Former Virginia Attorney General, Former Virginia Delegate and House Courts of Justice Chairman

. . .
ADDENDA

Read Here the Judicial Performance Evaluation program is DEAD--was Mr. McDonnell’s “baby” . . .

Friday, December 12, 2008
RIDDING Va. OF BAD JUDGES NOT GETTING EASIER. With Judicial Evaluations Stuck in Albo’s “Secret Safe,” Lawmakers Seek to Unseat Chief Justice Hassell.

More Related Links . . .

Friday, March 6, 2009
VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM GETS 'D' FROM HALT: Massive loopholes in laws “allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime.”

Sunday, March 8, 2009
THE MISSOURI PLAN DOES NOT INVOLVE THE STATE LEGISLATURE ... And The People Decide in General Elections Whether to Retain Nonpartisan Court Judges

Sunday, March 8, 2009
VIRGINIA JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS IN SHAMBLES AS OUR LAWMAKERS SHUN THE MISSOURI PLAN: HERE’S THE SCOOP FROM CARL TOBIAS, TOM JACKMAN AND BRAD ZINN

Thursday, March 12, 2009
NO FORMAL JUDGE APPOINTMENT, RETENTION POLICIES, PROCEDURES EXIST IN VIRGINIA. TERM LIMITS WOULD PROTECT CITIZENRY NOVA MOTHER TELLS AP'S LARRY O'DELL

Tuesday, May 5, 2009
ReferendumTime! DUMB, DISGUSTING, DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS Va. JUDGE RESELECT SYSTEM SHIELDED BY STATE CONSTITUTION} PROPOSING 09 BALLOT QUESTION TO AMEND

. . .
ADDENDA

STATE JUDGES*} Glen A. Tyler _ Frederick B. Lowe _ A. Joseph Canada Jr. _ Edward W. Hanson Jr. _ Leslie L. Lilley _ Stephen C. Mahan _ William R. O'Brien _ H. Thomas Padrick Jr. _ A. Bonwill Shockley _ Patricia L. West _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Timothy K. Sanner _ Donald M. Haddock _ Nolan B. Dawkins _ Lisa Bondareff Kemler _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Thomas V. Warren _ Pamela S. Baskervill _ James F. D'Alton Jr. _ J. Michael Gamble _ James W. Updike Jr. _ John T. Cook _ J. Leyburn Mosby Jr. _ Mosby Garland Perrow III _ Richard S. Blanton _ Leslie M. Osborn _ William T. Newman Jr. _ James F. Almand _ Joanne F. Alper _ Benjamin N. A. Kendrick _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ James W. Updike Jr. _ John T. Cook _ J. Michael Gamble _ J. Leyburn Mosby Jr. _ Mosby Garland Perrow III _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Brett L. Geisler _ Colin R. Gibb _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Larry B. Kirksey _ C. Randall Lowe _ Isaac St. C. Freeman _ W. Allan Sharrett _ Samuel E. Campbell _ Patrick Reynolds Johnson _ Teresa M. Chafin _ Michael Lee Moore _ Henry A. Vanover _ Richard S. Blanton _ Leslie M. Osborn _ Michael S. Irvine _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ John T. Cook _ James W. Updike Jr. _ J. Michael Gamble _ J. Leyburn Mosby Jr. _ Mosby Garland Perrow III _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Charles S. Sharp _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ Gordon F. Willis _ Brett L. Geisler _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Colin R. Gibb _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Leslie M. Osborn _ Richard S. Blanton _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Timothy K. Sanner _ V. Thomas Forehand Jr. _ Marjorie T. Arrington _ John W. Brown _ Bruce H. Kushner _ Randall D. Smith _ Michael C. Allen _ Herbert Cogbill Gill Jr. _ Timothy J. Hauler _ Frederick G. Rockwell III _ John E. Wetsel Jr. _ John R. Prosser _ Dennis Lee Hupp _ James V. Lane _ Thomas J. Wilson IV _ Michael C. Allen _ Herbert Cogbill Gill Jr. _ Timothy J. Hauler _ Frederick G. Rockwell III _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Timothy K. Sanner _ Richard S. Blanton _ Leslie M. Osborn _ Joseph W. Milam Jr. _ Charles J. Strauss _ William N. Alexander II _ David A. Melesco _ Henry A. Vanover _ Teresa M. Chafin _ Patrick Reynolds Johnson _ Michael Lee Moore _ Thomas V. Warren _ Pamela S. Baskervill _ James F. D'Alton Jr. _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Gordon F. Willis _ Dennis J. Smith _ Leslie M. Alden _ Randy I. Bellows _ Gaylord L. Finch Jr. _ Stanley P. Klein _ Charles James Maxfield _ Michael P. McWeeny _ R. Terrence Ney _ Jane Marum Roush _ Robert J. Smith _ Jonathan C. Thacher _ Bruce D. White _ Marcus D. Williams _ Jan L. Brodie _ David Stanford Schell _ Jeffrey W. Parker _ James H. Chamblin _ Thomas D. Horne _ Burke F. McCahill _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Brett L. Geisler _ Colin R. Gibb _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Timothy K. Sanner GO TO TOP William N. Alexander II _ Charles J. Strauss _ David A. Melesco _ Joseph W. Milam Jr. _ John R. Prosser _ Dennis Lee Hupp _ James V. Lane _ John E. Wetsel Jr. _ Thomas J. Wilson IV _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ Gordon F. Willis _ Colin R. Gibb _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Brett L. Geisler _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Timothy K. Sanner _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Brett L. Geisler _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Colin R. Gibb _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Timothy K. Sanner _ W. Allan Sharrett _ Samuel E. Campbell _ Leslie M. Osborn _ Richard S. Blanton _ Wilford Taylor Jr. _ Christopher W. Hutton _ Louis R. Lerner _ Bonnie L. Jones _ J. Overton Harris _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ Gordon F. Willis _ Daniel T. Balfour _ Catherine C. Hammond _ Lee A. Harris Jr. _ Gary A. Hicks _ Burnett Miller III _ David V. Williams _ Martin F. Clark Jr. _ G. Carter Greer _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ W. Allan Sharrett _ Samuel E. Campbell _ Westbrook J. Parker _ Rodham T. Delk Jr. _ Carl Edward Eason Jr. _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Charles S. Sharp _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ Gordon F. Willis _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Gordon F. Willis _ Tammy S. McElyea _ Joseph R. Carico _ John C. Kilgore _ James H. Chamblin _ Thomas D. Horne _ Burke F. McCahill _ Jeffrey W. Parker _ Timothy K. Sanner _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Richard S. Blanton _ Leslie M. Osborn _ J. Leyburn Mosby Jr. _ Mosby Garland Perrow III _ James W. Updike Jr. _ John T. Cook _ J. Michael Gamble _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Timothy K. Sanner _ G. Carter Greer _ David V. Williams _ Martin F. Clark Jr. _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Richard S. Blanton _ Leslie M. Osborn _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Brett L. Geisler _ Colin R. Gibb _ Robert M. D. Turk _ J. Michael Gamble _ James W. Updike Jr. _ John T. Cook _ J. Leyburn Mosby Jr. _ Mosby Garland Perrow III _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Aundria Deloris Foster _ H. Vincent Conway Jr. _ Timothy S. Fisher _ David F. Pugh _ C. Peter Tench _ Everett A. Martin Jr. _ Karen J. Burrell _ Junius P. Fulton III _ Charles E. Poston _ Norman A. Thomas _ John R. Doyle III _ Mary Jane Hall _ Jerrauld C. Jones _ Louis Allen Sherman _ Glen A. Tyler _ Frederick B. Lowe _ A. Joseph Canada Jr. _ Edward W. Hanson Jr. _ Leslie L. Lilley _ Stephen C. Mahan _ William R. O'Brien _ H. Thomas Padrick Jr. _ A. Bonwill Shockley _ Patricia L. West _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Gordon F. Willis _ Thomas V. Warren _ Pamela S. Baskervill _ James F. D'Alton Jr. _ Daniel R. Bouton _ Cheryl V. Higgins _ John G. Berry _ Edward L. Hogshire _ Timothy K. Sanner _ James V. Lane _ Thomas J. Wilson IV _ John R. Prosser GO TO TOP Dennis Lee Hupp _ John E. Wetsel Jr. _ Martin F. Clark Jr. _ David V. Williams _ G. Carter Greer _ James F. D'Alton Jr. _ Thomas V. Warren _ Pamela S. Baskervill _ Charles J. Strauss _ William N. Alexander II _ David A. Melesco _ Joseph W. Milam Jr. _ James A. Cales Jr. _ James C. Hawks _ Johnny E. Morrison _ Dean W. Sword Jr. _ Kenneth R. Melvin _ Thomas V. Warren _ Pamela S. Baskervill _ James F. D'Alton Jr. _ Richard S. Blanton _ Leslie M. Osborn _ W. Allan Sharrett _ Samuel E. Campbell _ Lon Edward Farris _ William D. Hamblen _ Mary Grace O'Brien _ Richard Bowen Potter _ Craig D. Johnston _ Colin R. Gibb _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Brett L. Geisler _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Brett L. Geisler _ Colin R. Gibb _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Jeffrey W. Parker _ James H. Chamblin _ Thomas D. Horne _ Burke F. McCahill _ Beverly W. Snukals _ Bradley B. Cavedo _ Melvin R. Hughes Jr. _ C. N. Jenkins Jr. _ Theodore J. Markow _ Margaret P. Spencer _ Walter W. Stout III _ Richard D. Taylor Jr. _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Gordon F. Willis _ Charles N. Dorsey _ Jonathan M. Apgar _ William D. Broadhurst _ Clifford R. Weckstein _ Robert P. Doherty Jr. _ James R. Swanson _ Robert P. Doherty Jr. _ James R. Swanson _ Charles N. Dorsey _ Jonathan M. Apgar _ William D. Broadhurst _ Clifford R. Weckstein _ Michael S. Irvine _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ James V. Lane _ Thomas J. Wilson IV _ John R. Prosser _ Dennis Lee Hupp _ John E. Wetsel Jr. _ Michael Lee Moore _ Teresa M. Chafin _ Patrick Reynolds Johnson _ Henry A. Vanover _ Robert P. Doherty Jr. _ Charles N. Dorsey _ Jonathan M. Apgar _ William D. Broadhurst _ James R. Swanson _ Clifford R. Weckstein _ John C. Kilgore _ Tammy S. McElyea _ Joseph R. Carico _ Dennis Lee Hupp _ John R. Prosser _ James V. Lane _ John E. Wetsel Jr. _ Thomas J. Wilson IV _ Isaac St. C. Freeman _ C. Randall Lowe _ Larry B. Kirksey _ Westbrook J. Parker _ Rodham T. Delk Jr. _ Carl Edward Eason Jr. _ David H. Beck _ J. Martin Bass _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ Gordon F. Willis _ J. Martin Bass _ Charles S. Sharp _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ Gordon F. Willis _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ Carl Edward Eason Jr. _ Westbrook J. Parker _ Rodham T. Delk Jr. _ W. Allan Sharrett _ Samuel E. Campbell _ W. Allan Sharrett _ Samuel E. Campbell _ Teresa M. Chafin _ Patrick Reynolds Johnson _ Michael Lee Moore _ Henry A. Vanover _ Frederick B. Lowe _ A. Joseph Canada Jr. _ Edward W. Hanson Jr. _ Stephen C. Mahan _ William R. O'Brien _ H. Thomas Padrick Jr. _ A. Bonwill Shockley _ Glen A. Tyler _ Patricia L. West _ Leslie L. Lilley _ Dennis Lee Hupp _ John R. Prosser _ James V. Lane _ John E. Wetsel Jr. _ Thomas J. Wilson IV _ C. Randall Lowe _ Isaac St. C. Freeman _ Larry B. Kirksey _ Humes J. Franklin Jr. _ Michael S. Irvine _ Victor V. Ludwig _ Malfourd W. Bo Trumbo _ Harry T. Taliaferro III _ J. Martin Bass _ David H. Beck _ Joseph J. Ellis _ J. Overton Harris _ Horace A. Revercomb III _ Charles S. Sharp _ Gordon F. Willis _ Samuel T. Powell III _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long _ John E. Wetsel Jr. _ John R. Prosser _ Dennis Lee Hupp _ James V. Lane _ Thomas J. Wilson IV _ Tammy S. McElyea _ Joseph R. Carico _ John C. Kilgore _ Josiah T. Showalter Jr. _ Brett L. Geisler _ Colin R. Gibb _ Ray Wilson Grubbs _ Robert M. D. Turk _ Thomas B. Hoover _ R. Bruce Long GO TO TOP Samuel T. Powell III _ Croxton Gordon _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Frank W. Somerville _ Constance H. Frogale _ Uley Norris Damiani _ John Gregory Mooney _ Louis K. Campbell _ William D. Heatwole _ Gordon F. Saunders _ Laura L. Dascher _ Paul A. Tucker _ Anita D. Filson _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ Paul W. Cella _ Lucretia A. Carrico _ Valentine W. Southall Jr. _ James E. Hume _ Michael T. Garrett _ William R. Light _ Kenneth W. Farrar _ Philip Arthur Wallace _ A. Ellen White _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ Michael M. Rand _ S. Anderson Nelson _ Esther Wiggins Lyles _ George D. Varoutsos _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Anita D. Filson _ John Gregory Mooney _ Louis K. Campbell _ William D. Heatwole _ Gordon F. Saunders _ Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Anita D. Filson _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ Kenneth W. Farrar _ Philip Arthur Wallace _ William R. Light _ Michael T. Garrett _ A. Ellen White _ Edward M. Turner III _ Gino W. Williams _ J. D. Bolt _ Randal J. Duncan _ R. Glennwood Lookabill _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Louis K. Campbell _ John Gregory Mooney _ William D. Heatwole _ Gordon F. Saunders _ Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Anita D. Filson _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ Charles F. Lincoln _ Florence A. Powell _ Theodore J. Burr Jr. _ Kenneth Wilson Nye _ J. Larry Palmer _ Stephen D. Bloom _ Carson E. Saunders Jr. _ Jacqueline R. Waymack _ Jack S. Hurley Jr. _ Richard C. Patterson _ Henry A. Barringer _ Michael J. Bush _ Robert G. Woodson Jr. _ Joel C. Cunningham _ Charles H. Warren _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ Michael M. Rand _ S. Anderson Nelson _ Gordon F. Saunders _ John Gregory Mooney _ Louis K. Campbell _ William D. Heatwole _ Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Anita D. Filson _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ A. Ellen White _ William R. Light _ Kenneth W. Farrar _ Michael T. Garrett _ Philip Arthur Wallace _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Patricia Kelly _ David F. Peterson _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ R. Michael McKenney _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ Colleen K. Killilea _ Michael E. McGinty _ Jeffrey W. Shaw _ Richard Y AtLee Jr. _ Isabel Hall AtLee _ George C. Fairbanks IV _ S. Anderson Nelson _ Michael M. Rand _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Frank W. Somerville _ Larry D. Willis Sr. _ Rufus A. Banks Jr. _ Eileen Anita Olds _ Edward A. Robbins Jr. _ Lynn S. Brice _ Harold W. Burgess Jr. _ Bonnie C. Davis _ Jerry Hendrick Jr. _ Ronald Lewis Napier _ William H. Logan Jr. _ Elizabeth Kellas Burton _ Hugh David O'Donnell _ William W. Sharp _ Thomas L. Murphey _ Thomas L. Vaughn _ Philip V. Daffron _ Pamela O. Evans _ Edward A. Robbins Jr. _ Lynn S. Brice _ Harold W. Burgess Jr. _ Bonnie C. Davis _ Jerry Hendrick Jr. _ Louis K. Campbell _ John Gregory Mooney _ William D. Heatwole _ Gordon F. Saunders _ Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Anita D. Filson _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ Roger L. Morton _ Robert H. Downer Jr. _ William G. Barkley _ Edward K. Carpenter _ Frank W. Somerville _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Robert G. Woodson Jr. _ Joel C. Cunningham _ Charles H. Warren _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ Michael M. Rand _ S. Anderson Nelson _ Dale M. Wiley _ Sarah A. Rice _ Stacey W. Moreau _ Jack S. Hurley Jr. _ Richard C. Patterson _ Henry A. Barringer _ Michael J. Bush _ Paul W. Cella _ Lucretia A. Carrico _ Valentine W. Southall Jr. _ James E. Hume _ J. Larry Palmer _ Theodore J. Burr Jr. _ Stephen D. Bloom _ Kenneth Wilson Nye _ Carson E. Saunders Jr. _ Jacqueline R. Waymack _ Gordon A. Wilkins _ Frank L. Benser GO TO TOP Sarah L. Deneke _ Michael E. Levy _ John R. Stevens _ Peter L. Trible _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ Kimberly J. Daniel _ Gayl Branum Carr _ Glenn L. Clayton II _ Teena D. Grodner _ Helen Leiner _ Thomas P. Mann _ Janine M. Saxe _ Thomas P. Sotelo _ Dorothy H. Clarke _ Karen A. Henenberg _ Thomas J. Kelley Jr. _ Richard J. McCue _ Esther Wiggins Lyles _ George D. Varoutsos _ J. Gregory Ashwell _ Avelina S. Jacob _ Pamela L. Brooks _ Edward M. Turner III _ Gino W. Williams _ J. D. Bolt _ Randal J. Duncan _ R. Glennwood Lookabill _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Roger L. Morton _ Robert H. Downer Jr. _ William G. Barkley _ Edward K. Carpenter _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Frank W. Somerville _ W. Parker Councill _ William R Savage III _ James A. Moore _ Alfreda Talton-Harris _ Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. _ Sarah A. Rice _ Stacey W. Moreau _ Dale M. Wiley _ Elizabeth Kellas Burton _ William W. Sharp _ William H. Logan Jr. _ Ronald Lewis Napier _ Hugh David O'Donnell _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ J. D. Bolt _ Edward M. Turner III _ Gino W. Williams _ Randal J. Duncan _ R. Glennwood Lookabill _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ Gino W. Williams _ J. D. Bolt _ Randal J. Duncan _ R. Glennwood Lookabill _ Edward M. Turner III _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Isabel Hall AtLee _ Richard Y AtLee Jr. _ George C. Fairbanks IV _ Edward K. Carpenter _ Robert H. Downer Jr. _ William G. Barkley _ Roger L. Morton _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Frank W. Somerville _ Randal J. Duncan _ Gino W. Williams _ J. D. Bolt _ R. Glennwood Lookabill _ Edward M. Turner III _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ William G. Barkley _ Robert H. Downer Jr. _ Edward K. Carpenter _ Roger L. Morton _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Frank W. Somerville _ J. Larry Palmer _ Theodore J. Burr Jr. _ Stephen D. Bloom _ Kenneth Wilson Nye _ Carson E. Saunders Jr. _ Jacqueline R. Waymack _ Michael M. Rand _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ S. Anderson Nelson _ Jay Edward Dugger _ Robert B. Wilson V _ Deborah S. Roe _ Larry E. Gilman _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ William H. Logan Jr. _ Elizabeth Kellas Burton _ Ronald Lewis Napier _ Hugh David O'Donnell _ William W. Sharp _ Stuart L. Williams Jr. _ Margaret W. Deglau _ Denis F. Soden _ Richard S. Wallerstein Jr. _ Sharon B. Will _ Susan N. Deatherage _ Junius P. Warren _ John Gregory Mooney _ Louis K. Campbell _ William D. Heatwole _ Gordon F. Saunders _ Anita D. Filson _ Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ J. Larry Palmer _ Kenneth Wilson Nye _ Stephen D. Bloom _ Theodore J. Burr Jr. _ Jacqueline R. Waymack _ Carson E. Saunders Jr. _ Alfreda Talton-Harris _ Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. _ Frank L. Benser _ Gordon A. Wilkins _ Sarah L. Deneke _ Michael E. Levy _ John R. Stevens _ Peter L. Trible _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ George C. Fairbanks IV _ Isabel Hall AtLee _ Richard Y AtLee Jr. _ George C. Fairbanks IV _ Isabel Hall AtLee _ Richard Y AtLee Jr. _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ R. Larry Lewis _ Chadwick S. Dotson _ Jeffrey Hamilton _ Elizabeth S. Wills _ Anita D. Filson GO TO TOP Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ Avelina S. Jacob _ J. Gregory Ashwell _ Pamela L. Brooks _ Edward K. Carpenter _ Robert H. Downer Jr. _ William G. Barkley _ Roger L. Morton _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Frank W. Somerville _ Charles H. Warren _ Robert G. Woodson Jr. _ Joel C. Cunningham _ Michael M. Rand _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ S. Anderson Nelson _ William R. Light _ Kenneth W. Farrar _ Michael T. Garrett _ Philip Arthur Wallace _ A. Ellen White _ Roger L. Morton _ Robert H. Downer Jr. _ William G. Barkley _ Edward K. Carpenter _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Frank W. Somerville _ Junius P. Warren _ Susan N. Deatherage _ Isabel Hall AtLee _ Richard Y. AtLee Jr. _ George C. Fairbanks IV _ Michael M. Rand _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ S. Anderson Nelson _ Isabel Hall AtLee _ Richard Y AtLee Jr. _ George C. Fairbanks IV _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ Kenneth W. Farrar _ William R. Light _ Michael T. Garrett _ Philip Arthur Wallace _ A. Ellen White _ Barry G. Logsdon _ Ronald Everett Bensten _ Thomas W. Carpenter _ Judith Anne Kline _ Lauri D. Hogge _ M. Randolph Carlson II _ Joseph P. Massey _ William P. Williams _ Michelle J. Atkins _ Croxton Gordon _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ Paul W. Cella _ Lucretia A. Carrico _ Valentine W. Southall Jr. _ James E. Hume _ Edward K. Carpenter _ Robert H. Downer Jr. _ William G. Barkley _ Roger L. Morton _ Dwight D. Johnson _ Frank W. Somerville _ Susan L. Whitlock _ Edward DeJ. Berry _ William H. Logan Jr. _ Ronald Lewis Napier _ Elizabeth Kellas Burton _ Hugh David O'Donnell _ William W. Sharp _ Junius P. Warren _ Susan N. Deatherage _ James E. Hume _ Valentine W. Southall Jr. _ Stacey W. Moreau _ Sarah A. Rice _ Dale M. Wiley _ Alotha C. Willis _ Joel P. Crowe _ William S. Moore Jr. _ Paul W. Cella _ Lucretia A. Carrico _ Valentine W. Southall Jr. _ James E. Hume _ Robert G. Woodson Jr. _ Joel C. Cunningham _ Charles H. Warren _ Marvin H. Dunkum _ Michael M. Rand _ S. Anderson Nelson _ J. Larry Palmer _ Stephen D. Bloom _ Theodore J. Burr Jr. _ Kenneth Wilson Nye _ Carson E. Saunders Jr. _ Jacqueline R. Waymack _ Janice Justina Wellington _ William Alan Becker _ George M. DePolo _ Paul F. Gluchowski _ James Bailey Robeson _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Robert C. Viar Jr. _ R. Glennwood Lookabill _ Gino W. Williams _ J. D. Bolt _ Randal J. Duncan _ Edward M. Turner III _ Charles B. Foley _ Dean S. Worcester _ J. Frank Buttery Jr. _ Julia Taylor Cannon _ J. Gregory Ashwell _ Avelina S. Jacob _ Pamela L. Brooks _ Angela Edwards Roberts _ J. Stephen Buis _ Richard B. Campbell _ Marilynn C. Goss _ Ashley K. Tunner _ Gordon A. Wilkins _ Frank L. Benser _ Sarah L. Deneke _ Michael E. Levy _ John R. Stevens _ Peter L. Trible _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ Joseph M. Clarke II _ Joseph P. Bounds _ John B. Ferguson _ Joseph M. Clarke II _ Joseph P. Bounds _ John B. Ferguson _ Philip Trompeter _ Jack S. Hurley Jr. _ Richard C. Patterson _ Henry A. Barringer _ Michael J. Bush _ Vincent A. Lilley _ Jacqueline F. Ward Talevi _ Francis W. Burkart III _ J. Christopher Clemens _ M. Frederick King _ Joseph M. Clarke II _ Joseph P. Bounds _ John B. Ferguson _ Philip Trompeter _ R. Larry Lewis _ Chadwick S. Dotson _ Jeffrey Hamilton _ Elizabeth S. Wills _ William H. Logan Jr. _ Ronald Lewis Napier _ Elizabeth Kellas Burton _ Hugh David O'Donnell _ William W. Sharp _ Charles F. Lincoln GO TO TOP Florence A. Powell _ W. Parker Councill _ James A. Moore _ William R Savage III _ Alfreda Talton-Harris _ Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. _ Phillip U. Fines _ Patricia Kelly _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ R. Michael McKenney _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Julian W. Johnson _ David F. Peterson _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ Paul A. Tucker _ Laura L. Dascher _ Anita D. Filson _ Alfreda Talton-Harris _ Robert S. Brewbaker Jr. _ J. Larry Palmer _ Stephen D. Bloom _ Theodore J. Burr Jr. _ Kenneth Wilson Nye _ Jacqueline R. Waymack _ Carson E. Saunders Jr. _ J. Larry Palmer _ Stephen D. Bloom _ Theodore J. Burr Jr. _ Kenneth Wilson Nye _ Carson E. Saunders Jr. _ Jacqueline R. Waymack _ Henry A. Barringer _ Michael J. Bush _ Winship C. Tower _ Gerrit W. Benson _ Randall M. Blow _ Deborah V. Bryan _ Deborah M. Paxson _ Deborah L. Rawls _ Ramona D. Taylor _ William W. Sharp _ William H. Logan Jr. _ Elizabeth Kellas Burton _ Ronald Lewis Napier _ Hugh David O'Donnell _ Florence A. Powell _ Charles F. Lincoln _ Laura L. Dascher _ Paul A. Tucker _ Anita D. Filson _ Charles L. Ricketts III _ David F. Peterson _ Gerald F. Daltan _ Phillip U. Fines _ Larry E. Gilman _ Julian W. Johnson _ Patricia Kelly _ R. Michael McKenney _ William W. Sharp _ William H. Logan Jr. _ Elizabeth Kellas Burton _ Ronald Lewis Napier _ Hugh David O'Donnell _ Elizabeth S. Wills _ Jeffrey Hamilton _ H. Lee Chitwood _ Marcus H. Long Jr. _ Robert C. Viar Jr.

*SOURCE} Virginia’s Judicial System (retrieved 6/09)

NO FORMAL JUDGE APPOINTMENT, RETENTION POLICIES, PROCEDURES EXIST IN VIRGINIA. TERM LIMITS WOULD PROTECT CITIZENRY NOVA MOTHER TELLS AP'S LARRY O'DELL

...
CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE FALL/WINTER 2009 JIIJ........ It has become a little easier for the people of Virginia to find out when judges are up for appointment and when members of the general public can speak because that information is now posted on the Internet at http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/2009/03/confront-your-judge-at-judicial.html. My wish is to see another healthy turnout of concerned citizen-consumers of legal services at Judicial Interviews of Incumbent Judges (JIIJ) in the fall of 2009. House Room C of the General Assembly Building was barely big enough to accommodate the crowd of participants at judicial interviews on 11 December 2008. I think the Courts of Justice should prepare a larger space for this year’s JIIJ. Let this next turnout be even more evidence--Prof. Howard and Del. Albo think we lack--that the Virginia judicial selection process is creating a bad judiciary.” Comment by VW / Pitchfork Rebellion Blog / 8 Apr 09

Critics target Va. judge selection process

…too difficult to find out when judges are up for appointment and when [citizens] can speak…the committee might start posting that information on the Internet…

By Larry O’Dell
Associated Press Writer
March 20, 2009

RICHMOND, Va. -Nearly four decades ago, a commission that revised the Virginia Constitution decided not to reform the secretive back-room dealings that chose state judges because there wasn't evidence the process was creating a bad judiciary. .G Although the process has become more open in recent years, critics are demanding an overhaul--or at least a serious review--of the way Virginia chooses its judges. .G Some argue the system is too secretive and many legislators are lawyers who practice before the judges they select. Others cite the bitter feuds among legislators that have recently prevented some judgeships from being filled. .G "Right now most of the meetings are still going on behind closed doors," said Elizabeth Haring, founder of the Pitchfork Rebellion, an organization that wants term limits and a more thorough review of a judge's performance or a candidate's credentials. "The public has no way of knowing on what basis they are appointing these judges." .G Virginia and South Carolina are the only states where the legislature chooses judges, according to the National Center for State Courts. In other states, judges are elected by voters or appointed by the governor, sometimes with input from a nonpartisan judicial nomination commission. .G In Virginia, the party that controls the General Assembly chooses judges for the two statewide appellate courts and the State Corporation Commission in private caucus meetings. Approval on the floor in public view is typically a formality. .G Lower-court judges are chosen by their local legislative delegation, usually with input from the local bar association, then forwarded to the legislature for approval. .G Haring and her group said the local delegation meetings where judgeships are discussed aren't always open to the public. If they are, they're often hard to find. .G "The point they do make, which is something we need to improve, is that it's too difficult to find out when judges are up for appointment and when they can speak," said Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax, who chairs the House committee that interviews judicial candidates. .G He said the committee might start posting that information on the Internet, but he's not convinced a fundamental change in Virginia's system is necessary. In fact, he said it works far better than would a system that allowed voters to elect judges. .G "That system is ludicrous," Albo said. "The only people who usually contribute to those campaigns are lawyers and big businesses, then they go before a judge after they've contributed money to them. Compared to that, our process is a lot better." .G A.E. Dick Howard, a University of Virginia law professor, agreed. He presided over a commission that considered the same questions in 1971 when revising the state Constitution. The commission concluded there was no evidence the process produced a bad judiciary and left intact one of the legislature's most important constitutional powers. .G But he said the issue is again ripe for reconsideration. .G The process has become more contentious in a now-divided General Assembly. Once soundly Democratic, Republicans now control the House and Democrats the Senate. Last year when deadlocked legislators adjourned without appointing three statewide judges, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine had to step in and fill the posts. .G More than half the states now use some version of a selection process known as the Missouri Plan. In Missouri, the governor chooses a judge from a list of three nominees recommended by a nonpartisan commission. At the next general election, the public votes on whether to retain the judge. If the judge is ousted, the process starts anew. .G Critics said the Missouri Plan gives too much authority to prominent attorneys on the commission who are not accountable to the public. .G South Carolina also has a commission of lawmakers and citizens that screens judicial candidates and sends the names of the top three to the legislature. Citizen advisory committees help the commission vet the candidates, providing a level of public participation that is missing in Virginia. .G But even that system has come under fire from critics who said it has not produced enough black or female judges and that it gives too much said to attorneys who dominate the committees. .G Howard said that in theory, he likes the idea of a nonpartisan commission and would like to see a public debate on whether Virginia's system should be reformed. .G "At the base level, it's whether judges should be elected by the legislature at all," he said. "After that, it's about the process. People should have trust in the system that brings people to the bench."

Associated Press Writer Seanna Adcox in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.

This article can be found at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/21/critics-target-process-for-tapping-judges/

… legislators can and do set their own criteria for determining whether a judge belongs in office … -Donald D. Litten in “Let the People Judge the Judges: Reforming Virginia's Judicial Selection Process”

… I was very disappointed to see that the interviews were almost worthless … There were generally irrelevant questions. Judges were rubber-stamped. It was a horrible way to reappoint without scrutiny … -Robert F. McDonnell, Candidate for Virginia 2009 Governorship, Former Virginia Attorney General, Former Virginia Delegate and House Courts of Justice Chairman

[This post was originally published on 9 April 2009]

. . .
ADDENDA

Read Here the Judicial Performance Evaluation program is DEAD--was Mr. McDonnell’s “baby” . . .

Friday, December 12, 2008
RIDDING Va. OF BAD JUDGES NOT GETTING EASIER. With Judicial Evaluations Stuck in Albo’s “Secret Safe,” Lawmakers Seek to Unseat Chief Justice Hassell.

More Related Links . . .

Friday, March 6, 2009
VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM GETS 'D' FROM HALT: Massive loopholes in laws “allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime.”

Sunday, March 8, 2009
THE MISSOURI PLAN DOES NOT INVOLVE THE STATE LEGISLATURE ... And The People Decide in General Elections Whether to Retain Nonpartisan Court Judges

Sunday, March 8, 2009
VIRGINIA JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS IN SHAMBLES AS OUR LAWMAKERS SHUN THE MISSOURI PLAN: HERE’S THE SCOOP FROM CARL TOBIAS, TOM JACKMAN AND BRAD ZINN

Thursday, March 12, 2009
CONFRONT YOUR JUDGE AT JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF 2009. COJ SAYS UNLESS ANYONE COMES TO COMPLAIN, JUDGES USUALLY GET REAPPOINTED. SO WHO'S UP THIS FALL???

Sunday, March 8, 2009

VIRGINIA JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS IN SHAMBLES AS OUR LAWMAKERS SHUN THE MISSOURI PLAN: HERE’S THE SCOOP FROM CARL TOBIAS, TOM JACKMAN AND BRAD ZINN

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Carl Tobias wrote last October 888

Even though Governor Kaine skillfully navigated the obstacles described above, this judicial selection process is ineffective. A regime that intrinsically shrinks the number of eligible candidates and inherently allows protracted vacancies lacks efficacy. The SCC operated for nine months absent one commissioner, imposing pressure on the remaining two members and the Commission staff. The supreme court similarly functioned over two months with a vacancy. Both entities and the court of appeals will operate for five months with lingering uncertainty about the new appointees’ tenure. The circuit courts have employed substitute judges who are less familiar with the courts’ procedures, traditions, and staff, which delays case resolution and reduces efficiency.37 These developments have impaired judicial operations, undermining the delivery of justice and public respect. more

[SOURCE: “Reconsidering Virginia Judicial Selection” / The University of Richmond Law Review / October 29, 2008]


Tom Jackman wrote last Monday 888
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Va. Judge Selection Process Criticized
Group Challenges Lack of Public Input
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BY TOM JACKMAN
WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER
Monday, March 2, 2009; Page B01

A group of more than 200 Virginia residents, calling themselves the "Pitchfork Rebellion" and frustrated with the way the state selects judges, wants the public to have more say in who sits on the bench and for how long. Virginia is one of only two states, along with South Carolina, that empower their state legislatures to pick state judges, a process primarily conducted behind closed doors.

The citizens group is advocating term limits for judges and an overhaul of the state's process of evaluating judges. It also wants public participation in judicial selection from start to finish, hearings that are open to the public and anonymity or immunity for those who testify against sitting judges.

The group has organized over opposition to the reappointment of several circuit court judges, including Fairfax County Judge Gaylord L. Finch Jr., who was recently up for another eight-year term before the Virginia General Assembly. Finch also served for 19 years as a juvenile court judge.

Parents who had appeared before Finch in child custody cases and litigants on the losing side of a Fairfax school district case felt that the judge hadn't followed the law or given serious consideration to their cases. Eventually, the dissatisfied parties found each other.

The group became particularly frustrated trying to find out when legislators would meet to discuss judgeships. On Friday night, in response to an e-mail from Elizabeth Haring of Leesburg, Sen. Henry L. Marsh III (D-Richmond) wrote that his "Senate Courts of Justice [committee] is not meeting regarding Judge Finch."

Then, on Saturday, the committee did meet, discuss and vote on Finch and refused to let Haring testify. Marsh has declined repeated requests to discuss the process. An agreement has been reached in which Finch will be reappointed to another eight-year term and then retire at the end of this year.

"This is a travesty of justice," said Haring. She questioned why Northern Virginia legislators, led by Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, "think the general public will be okay with cutting a deal and putting an unqualified, unfit judge on the bench for any length of time?"

Finch declined to comment.

The District and more than 30 states, including Maryland, use a process that does not involve the state legislature, called the "Missouri Plan." A nominating commission of lawyers and non-lawyers reviews candidates for new judgeships and submits a final panel to the state's governor or, in the case of the District, the president. After the chief executive selects a judge, the judge must then run for retention -- a yes or no from the voters -- at the end of each term.

Other states, including Texas, have public elections, complete with fundraising, advertising and politics. Most judges find that prospect highly distasteful.

In Virginia, local delegations for each judicial circuit select or reappoint their judges, but decisions about who will sit on the state appeals court and Supreme Court are decided by the entire General Assembly.

A Prince William County Circuit Court judge who had not applied for a vacancy on the state appeals court was recently added into the mix the night before the legislature interviewed candidates. The judge, Rossie D. Alston Jr., got the job as part of a trade in appointments between Democrats and Republicans. The move angered some lawyers, who said Alston was the fifth such candidate in recent years to bypass the evaluation process.

"This method of selection, conducted in secret, threatens to undermine public confidence in the judiciary and, in fact, the entire legal system," said Joseph A. Condo, a former Virginia Bar Association president. "It's also discouraging and demoralizing to candidates for judgeships."

The Pitchfork Rebellion, a term for a populist uprising, formed after disgruntled litigants in Fairfax, Chesterfield and Gloucester counties and the Hampton Roads area found one another on the Internet and shared their disdain for the judicial selection process. The group plans to incorporate as a nonprofit association and try to ensure citizen involvement in every stage of picking judges.

"Overall, our goal is to take back our courts," Haring said, "and achieve some measure of judicial accountability in Virginia and weed out bad jurists. No man should be above the law. However, we have a judiciary with absolute, unfettered power."

Haring, who lost rulings by Finch in a child custody matter, recently found other people who think Finch should go. Then she found pockets of people unhappy with other long-serving judges, and the movement gained steam.

"People across the state are hooking up where we have seen defective judging taking place," said Bruce Bennett of the Reston area. Bennett was part of a group in Fairfax that tried to challenge the school district's plan last summer to redraw some high school boundaries. After stacks of legal briefs were filed, followed by a lengthy hearing and then more briefs, Finch issued a short letter, with virtually no explanation, ruling in favor of the school district. Parents challenging the district were stunned -- and out more than $120,000 in legal fees.

When legislators asked Finch about the case at an interview in January [LISTEN NOW], the judge told them that he'd been assigned the high-profile case only 10 minutes before taking the bench and that he was shocked to find a packed courtroom, according to a tape of the interview. "I had no preparation on it," the judge told legislators.

But during the court hearing, Finch told the attorneys at the outset: "I am familiar with the case. I went through the issues, as I saw them." And the court's own docket reflects that Finch had been assigned to the case at least three weeks before the hearing. Not counting the background explanation of the case, Finch's written ruling on the issue amounted to one paragraph. He told the legislators that he spent "several hours" on the case.

"We talk all the time in this delegation," state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R-Fairfax) told the judge, "about how important it is for people to leave the courtroom having felt like, whether they won or lost, they were fully heard. And you don't get that when you don't have some explanation of why a decision is made."

The joint Courts of Justice committees held Finch back from the initial round of approval, along with Chesterfield Circuit Judge Timothy J. Hauler. As opposition grew to Finch, with other unhappy litigants contacting legislators, Finch submitted his retirement Feb. 2, effective at year's end.

But Hauler was later approved by the committees, despite concerns raised by some opponents, including the fact that he filed a libel suit against his circuit clerk when she opposed his last reappointment. In a Feb. 4 letter to the judge, Sen. Stephen H. Martin (R-Chesterfield) wrote that Hauler was reversed or remanded 44 percent of the time, compared with a 16 to 21 percent rate for the other circuit judges. The senator also said that he had received 46 letters from lawyers on Hauler's behalf but heard from more than 100 residents who opposed Hauler.

"I'm just very frustrated about what [the process] is now coming to be," Martin said in an interview, noting that some lawyers opposed the judge privately but praised him publicly.

This article can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030101882.html or,
http://www.box.net/shared/85x7o1svkh


Brad Zinn wrote last Wednesday 888

As the gavel sounded Saturday night, ending the General Assembly's 2009 session, there were no names put forth by the Joint House and Senate Courts of Justice Committee from four local nominees, one of whom it was hoped would fill the seat of retired Judge A. Lee McGratty. more

[SOURCE: “Laws, But No Order. No Permanent Judge for Courts in Staunton, Augusta County” / The News Leader / March 4, 2009]

Related Links . . .

THE MISSOURI PLAN DOES NOT INVOLVE THE STATE LEGISLATURE ... And The People Decide in General Elections Whether to Retain Nonpartisan Court Judges

VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM GETS 'D' FROM HALT: Massive loopholes in laws “allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime.”


. . .
ADDENDA

Bickering in Va. General Assembly Leaves Judicial Posts Open

By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 11, 2008; C08

RICHMOND -- The task of selecting judges for Virginia's courts led to an unprecedented level of squabbling this year in the General Assembly, dividing legislators by political party, chamber and geography.
Virginia and South Carolina are the only states with legislatures that pick their judges, which sometimes leads to conflicts such as those in Virginia, where the legislative session was filled with one impasse after another over the appointments. On many days, all other business ground to a halt.
Del. David B. Albo, a Fairfax County Republican and chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, which assists with judicial appointments, called this year's selection process a "total disaster."
The General Assembly completed its two-month session in March without filling three dozen judicial vacancies. Legislators returned for one day in April, working late into the night to fill some of the openings.
Still, a dozen seats were left open... more

This article can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002531.html


. . .
ADDENDA

A Legislator's Guide
to the
Judicial Selection Process


Courts/Terms
Virginia’s judicial system is made up of three
levels of courts; appellate, trial, and limited
jurisdiction courts. These levels consist of five
jurisdictionally distinct courts: the Supreme
Court, the Court of Appeals, the circuit courts,
the general district courts, and the juvenile and
domestic relations district courts. The Supreme
Court of Virginia consists of seven justices who
serve for terms of twelve years. The ten judges
of the Court of Appeals serve for terms of eight
years. The judges of the circuit courts also
serve for terms of eight years. Judges of the
general district courts and judges of the juvenile
and domestic relations courts serve for terms of
six years.

Selection/Certification
Judges in Virginia are selected for the bench by
a process of legislative election. The judicial
selection process begins when a vacancy
occurs in the judiciary or when a new seat is
created by the General Assembly. The
Supreme Court (circuit and appellate levels)
and the Committee on District Courts (district
level) advise the General Assembly whether or
not a vacancy should be filled based primarily
upon caseload statistics. Certification by the
Supreme Court of vacancies occurring in the
circuit court and appellate courts is not binding
on the General Assembly; however, certification
of district court vacancies by the Committee on
District Courts is required prior to the filling of
any vacancy in a district court.

Nomination
Once the vacancy is “certified” by the
appropriate body, the House and Senate
Committees for Courts of Justice begin taking
nominations from General Assembly members.
In some areas of the state, most notably
Northern Virginia, the local bar associations
have established extensive procedures for
screening candidates. These procedures
include a series of interviews prior to a vote to
choose the most qualified candidates for
recommendation to the General Assembly
delegation by the local bar. Members of the
General Assembly from Northern Virginia follow
a similar process for the consideration of
individuals recommended by these local bars.
By and large, however, most members of the
General Assembly do not become directly
involved in the local bars’ process. The majority
of local bar associations has informal
procedures for evaluating judicial candidates for
recommendation to the General Assembly.

In the last couple of years, some delegations have
moved toward local screening or nominating
committees made up of citizens, attorneys, and
local officials. The committees review candidates’
qualifications and recommend to the delegation
the best qualified individuals.

Qualification of Candidates
Names of candidates are then submitted by
General Assembly members to the House and
Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.
These Committees determine whether or not
each individual is “qualified” for the judgeship he
or she seeks. They make no determination as
to the rank of each candidate, only that the
candidates are qualified to hold judicial office.
The hearings held by the Courts' Committees
are open to the public and the public is given an
opportunity to appear before the Committees, if
someone so desires.

Voting
Following the Courts Committees’ determination
of qualification, a report listing qualified
candidates is made to each house of the
General Assembly. The House of Delegates
and the Senate vote separately, under a
procedural resolution, and the candidate
receiving the most votes in each house is
elected to the vacant judgeship or new seat.
Incumbent judges standing for election to a
subsequent term must go through the same
process. The election does not require action
by the Governor.

The Senate’s rules require all senators, both
Republicans and Democrats, representing each
circuit to unanimously nominate a candidate for
each vacancy or new seat. That person is
normally supported on the floor by the rest of
the senators. In the event that no one is
nominated by the circuit senators, any senator
may make a nomination on the floor.

Powers of the Governor
During those months when the General
Assembly is not sitting, the Governor has the
power to fill judicial vacancies which occur in
the appellate courts and the circuit courts.
District court judges can be appointed by the
circuit court if the legislature is not in session
and a vacancy has occurred in one of those
courts. Nevertheless, these pro tempore
appointees are subject to legislative election
at the next session of the General Assembly
following their appointment.

Process Administrator
Mary Kate Felch, a senior research
associate with the Division of Legislative
Services, administers the judicial election
process for the General Assembly.
Each
member is encouraged to contact Mrs. Felch
to determine whether there are incumbent
judges to be elected, vacancies, or new
seats to be filled within their districts.

Division of Legislative Services

General Assembly Building
910 Capitol Street, Second Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219



THE MISSOURI PLAN DOES NOT INVOLVE THE STATE LEGISLATURE ... And The People Decide in General Elections Whether to Retain Nonpartisan Court Judges

.....
“The results of these judicial performance evaluations then are distributed to the public via the media, the League of Women Voters and the Internet.”

Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan

During the 1930s, the public became increasingly dissatisfied with the increasing role of politics in judicial selection and judicial decision-making. Judges were plagued by outside influences due to the political aspects of the election process, and dockets were congested due to time the judges spent campaigning.

Then, in November 1940, voters amended the Missouri constitution by adopting the "Nonpartisan Selection of Judges Court Plan," which was placed on the ballot by initiative petition. The adoption of the plan by initiative referendum resulted from a public backlash against the widespread abuses of the judicial system by the "Boss Tom" Pendergast political machine in Kansas City and by the political control exhibited by ward bosses in St. Louis.

The Missouri nonpartisan court plan, commonly called the Missouri Plan, since has served as a national model for the selection of judges and has been adopted in more than 30 other states.

Scope of the Nonpartisan Court Plan

The nonpartisan plan provides for the selection of judges based on merit rather than on political affiliation. Initially, the nonpartisan plan applied to judges of the Supreme Court; the court of appeals; the circuit, criminal corrections and probate courts of St. Louis city; and the circuit and probate courts of Jackson County. In 1970, voters extended the nonpartisan plan to judges in St. Louis County, and three years later, voters extended the nonpartisan plan to judges in Clay and Platte counties. These changes are reflected in the Missouri Constitution, as amended in 1976.

The Kansas City Charter extends the nonpartisan selection plan to Kansas City municipal court judges as well. Under the constitution, other judicial circuits may adopt the plan upon approval by a majority of voters in the circuit. Most recently, in November 2008, Greene County voted to extend the nonpartisan plan to its judges.

Nonpartisan Judicial Commissions under the Plan

Under the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan, a nonpartisan judicial commission reviews applications, interviews candidates and selects a judicial panel. For the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the Appellate Judicial Commission makes the selection. It is composed of three lawyers elected by the lawyers of The Missouri Bar (the organization of all lawyers licensed in this state), three citizens selected by the governor, and the chief justice, who serves as chair. Each of the geographic districts of the Court of Appeals must be represented by one lawyer and one citizen member on the Appellate Judicial Commission.

Each of the circuit courts in Clay, Greene, Jackson, Platte and St. Louis counties and St. Louis city has its own circuit judicial commission. These commissions are composed of the chief judge of the court of appeals district in which the circuit is located, plus two lawyers elected by the bar and two citizens selected by the governor. All of the lawyers and citizens must live within the circuit for which they serve the judicial commission.

Filling Judicial Vacancies under the Nonpartisan Court Plan

Regardless of the commission handling the applications, the constitutional process of filling a judicial vacancy is the same. With any vacancy, the appropriate commission reviews applications of lawyers who wish to join the court and interviews the applicants. It then submits the names of three qualified candidates -- called the “panel” of candidates -- to the Missouri governor.

Normally, the governor will interview the three candidates and review their backgrounds before selecting one for the vacancy. If the governor does not appoint one of the three panelists within 60 days of submission, the commission selects one of the three panelists to fill the vacancy.

The People Retain a Say over Nonpartisan Court Judges

The nonpartisan plan also gives the voters a chance to have a say in the retention of judges selected under the plan. Once a judge has served in office for at least one year, that judge must stand for a retention election at the next general election. The judge's name is placed on a separate judicial ballot, without political party designation, and voters decide whether to retain the judge based on his or her judicial record. A judge must receive a majority of votes to be retained for a full term of office. The purpose of this vote is to provide another accountability mechanism of the nonpartisan plan to ensure quality judges. If a judge retires or resigns during or at the end of his or her term, a vacancy is created, which will be filled under the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan as described above.

To inform voters about the performance of nonpartisan judges, judicial performance evaluation committees, made up of both lawyers and nonlawyers, evaluate objective criteria including decisions written by judges on the retention ballot as well as surveys completed by lawyers and jurors who have direct and personal knowledge of the judges. The judges are rated according to judicial performance standards, including whether they: administer justice impartially and uniformly; make decisions based on competent legal analysis and proper application of the law; issue rulings and decisions that can be understood clearly; effectively and efficiently manage their courtrooms and the administrative duties of their office, including whether they issue decisions promptly; and act ethically and with dignity, integrity and patience. The results of these judicial performance evaluations then are distributed to the public via the media, the League of Women Voters and the Internet.

The success of the plan in selecting qualified judges is evident from the fact that, since its adoption, the public has not voted any appellate judge out of office, and only two circuit judges have been voted out of office. Judge Marion D. Waltner of Jackson County was voted out in 1942. The other, Judge John R. Hutcherson of Clay County, was voted out in 1992 after receiving failing reviews from lawyers in the judicial evaluation survey.

This article can be found at:
http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.asp?id=297

Related Links . . .

VIRGINIA JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS IN SHAMBLES AS OUR LAWMAKERS SHUN THE MISSOURI PLAN: HERE’S THE SCOOP FROM CARL TOBIAS, TOM JACKMAN AND BRAD ZINN

VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM GETS 'D' FROM HALT: Massive loopholes in laws “allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime.”

Friday, March 6, 2009

VIRGINIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM GETS 'D' FROM HALT: Massive loopholes in laws “allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime.”


"[F]irst comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Virginia 45th in the nation"

PRESS RELEASE
Virginia's Judicial Accountability System Receives D on National Report Card
Watchdog Group Says Reform is Needed to Hold Judges' Feet to the Fire

May 12, 2008

Contact: Rachel Decker, Media Coordinator, HALT
RDecker@halt.org or 202-887-8255

Washington, DC - Today, the nation's first comprehensive study of the systems that hold state and federal judges accountable ranked Virginia 45th in the nation and issued the state's program a D grade. To shine a light on the typically secretive and toothless systems that often fail to remove abusive and incompetent judges from the bench, legal consumer watchdog group HALT, Inc. (Help Abolish Legal Tyranny) released its 2008 Judicial Accountability Report Card, analyzing programs in all 50 states, D.C. and the federal circuits.

"Virginia's system of judicial oversight is one of the most secretive in the country," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder. "In an era that embraces principles of sunshine and transparency, it's shameful that the system for monitoring some of the state's most powerful government officials is designed to shut out the public."

HALT's study noted that unlike rules in most states, Virginia rules "gag" citizens from disclosing information about their ethics complaints against judges. "Individuals should have the right to speak freely about a judge's misconduct and the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission's response to that misconduct," explained Blonder. "Virginia's gag rule prevents citizens from coming forward and denies the public critical information about a judge's abuses."

Virginia judges may not be fined or suspended, and frequently receive a free pass for transgressions. In 2004, the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission turned a blind eye when Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge James Michael Shull of Gate City called a teenager in his courtroom a "mama's boy" and a "wuss" and advised a woman to marry her abusive boyfriend. Dismissing the complaint, the Commission simply admonished Shull to chalk it up as a learning experience.

But apparently Shull didn't learn. Just last year, he ordered a stabbing victim to drop her pants in his courtroom and decided a custody dispute by flipping a coin. This time, the commission finally removed Shull from office. "By issuing little more than a slap on the wrist for the first violations, Virginia's Commission gives judges license to exploit some of the state's most vulnerable citizens," stated Blonder.

HALT's Report Card also noted that the Virginia Supreme Court fails to place meaningful limitations on the reimbursement and compensation that judges may accept in connection with trips funded by corporate and special interests. "Virginia's laws include massive loopholes that allow members of the judiciary to be wined and dined on the corporate dime," noted Blonder.

None of the top five states-Washington, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Arizona and California-scored higher than a B average on the Report Card. More than half of the states received grades in the C range and HALT issued D's to 14 jurisdictions. Two states-Maine and Mississippi-flunked outright.

"At a time when the American public has lost faith in the impartiality and fairness of the nation's judiciary, it's critical that we have an effective system of oversight for judges," stated Blonder. "We hope that Virginia's chief judicial officers will work to transform a mechanism marred by secrecy into a system dedicated to upholding the integrity of the judiciary."

Information about the Judicial Accountability Report Card, including Virginia's Report Card and a detailed grading scale, can be found at www.halt.org. Founded in 1978, HALT, Inc. is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group that challenges the legal establishment to increase accountability in the civil justice system.

This article can be found at:
http://www.halt.org/about_halt/press_releases/2008/jarc2008_va.php

Related Links . . .

http://finchunderfire-virginia.blogspot.com/2009/03/pitchfork-rebellion-new-blog-in-va-is.html

http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/2008/12/ridding-va-of-bad-judges-not-getting.html

http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/2008/12/haring-and-hayward-reasonable-voices-of.html

http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/2007/11/scott-county-judge-james-michael-shull.html

http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/2008/12/looking-for-leniency-in-cases-of-va.html

http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/2008/12/farewell-tour-for-finch-unpopular-judge.html

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

MARSDEN MUTE on Issue of Remaking Va. Law Affecting Family Dissolution, Children to Curb Litigation, Protect the Rights of Caring and Involved Parents

.....
Hello Mr. Albo.... I am writing you because I have had no reply from Mr. Marsden. Legislators must get a lot of emails. Never easy to read and then answer every bit of it. I know because I get a lot of emails too. Most of the people who write me are parents, most are mothers, a few fathers. The message, however, is always the same. I hear over and over again that *BIOC* isn't working. But I think Virginia legislators know this. I think if Virginia legislators were more diligent about reading and responding to mail from their constituents who are innocent, and honest, parents in difficult legal situations because *BIOC* isn't working, my own mailbox would see less of it. People find me because I blog on the issue...I am hoping you might be open to considering, and pushing for, a new approach. This new approach is discussed below in my email for Delegate David Marsden. It's called THE APPROXIMATION RULE.
-Veronique Wyvell wrote Dave Albo on Dec. 7, 2008


----- Original Message -----
From: Veronique WYVELL
To: DelDMarsden@house.state.va.us
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 11:57
Subject: THE APPROXIMATION RULE (1 of 2)

Re: THE APPROXIMATION RULE

Section 2.08. Allocation of Custodial Responsibility

(1) Unless otherwise resolved by agreement of the parents under Sec. 2.06, the court should allocate custodial responsibility so that the proportion of custodial time the child spends with each parent approximates the proportion of time each parent spent performing caretaking functions for the child prior to the parents’ separation or, if the parents never lived together, before the filing of the action, except to the extent required under Sec. 2.11 or necessary to achieve one or more of the following objectives:

(a) to permit the child to have a relationship with each parent which, in the case of a legal parent or a parent by estoppel who has performed a reasonable share of parenting functions, should not be less than a presumptive amount of custodial time set by a uniform rule of statewide application…

{Source: The American Law Institute, PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF FAMILY DISSOLUTION: ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, Soft Cover Edition 2003, Chapter 2, Page 178} [FN1]

Attn: Dave W. Marsden
Virginia House of Delegates 2008
41st District - Fairfax County (part)
9322 Jackson StreetBurke, VA 22015
Phone: 703.323.4733
Email: DelDMarsden@house.state.va.us

Dear Delegate Marsden,

Good morning.

We met last December outside House Room C in the General Assembly Building the day of Judicial Interviews. You asked me, “What do you want?” Before I could answer, however, you told me to put it on ONE piece of paper. I said to you that it was too late now to propose legislation (for the 2008 session). And you shrugged your shoulders. I had traveled to Richmond that day to join a small group of parents who share a concern about how child custody gets done in Virginia, and why it gets done that way. Some of us were standing in front of you that day in December, outside Room C. You might remember. I hope you remember.

At the very top of this email message for you, please see the legislation that I hope you still can and will consider, and deliver, to the 2009 session on behalf of the many, many parents in Virginia who know that *BIOC* isn’t working. Many, many reputable people in reputable places have been writing and speaking on “The Best Interest of the Child Standard”--specifically, on the need to replace it with “a better way” because it isn’t working.

The legislation I would like proposed is taken from page 178 of PRINCIPLES [FN1]. I read that The American Law Institute devoted 10 years to compiling the information contained in this study and this presentation of model codes and “restatements” [FN2].

Relevant Virginia officials, however, appear to be paying absolutely no attention to this wonderful work, and effort, by ALI. I had no answer from Delegate Teri Suit when last year I invited her to join me for “State of the Family 2007.” The University of Richmond / School of Law / National Center for Family Law was hosting in September, 2007, its first ever national family law symposium. Elizabeth Scott and Robert Emery presented. Both scholars spoke at sessions devoted to making the case for an “approximation” standard, devoted to making the case for doing away with the “best interest of the child” standard [FN3].

Although Professor Scott is no longer at the University of Virginia, Dr. Robert Emery is still there as professor of psychology and director of The Center for Children, Families, and the Law. You can find his personal, professional, and contact information on his UVA web pages [FN4].

I think the Virginia General Assembly would benefit from listening to Dr. Emery speak on the value of The Approximation Rule, especially if repealing *BIOC* is too scary for them [FN5]. My own calculations show that it is possible that at least 7000 Virginia children each year join the thousands upon thousands of children already caught in never-ending “abuse & custody” cases (high-conflict separations and divorces almost always contain histories of family abuse). NOT repealing *BIOC* is too scary for me. The number of Virginia children in foster care is fixed at about 7000, I believe. Good attention, after all, is given to the foster care “crisis” afflicting so many, and so why should we not think about giving some “good attention” to the custody “crisis” afflicting so many more?

The presumptive amount of custody time mentioned in 1(a) in the above proposed legislation can be easily satisfied with Utah’s Minimum Schedules for Parent-Time [FN 6]. My own research has confirmed that the Utah Minimum Schedules follow the recommendations of our most respected experts on age-appropriate and developmentally-appropriate residence and parent-time arrangements for children with parents who live apart. Mr. David Levy of CRC told me way back that the Utah schedules were actually designed by a female administrator with CRC. The schedules are not new in Utah.

Section 2.06, which is also mentioned in the above proposed legislation, is referring to parental agreements. PRINCIPLES, the complete volume, can be viewed on Westlaw and in most law libraries. I have found it convenient to own my own softbound copy, however. You may look at it, if you wish.

I think it might take up to 3 years to pass The Approximation Rule in Virginia, that is, if we begin to introduce the concept during the GA session coming up, in 2009.

There has simply been far too little organized activity and far too little organized focus on the very real Racket that *BIOC* has now become. The hidden victims? Children [FN7].

Thousands upon thousands of Virginia’s children.

Can you and will you still help?

Thank you.

Veronique Wyvell
VWyvell@patriot.net
Private citizen
McLean, Virginia

[FN1] “ALI Publications Catalog: Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution: Analysis and Recommendations” found at,
http://www.ali.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publications.fpage&product_code=1FAMDISOTS

[FN2] “Press Release: AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE PUBLISHES PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF FAMILY DISSOLUTION” sent by VW as separate email message

[FN3] “State of the Family 2007 brochure” found at, http://law.richmond.edu/news/NCFLBrochure.pdf

[FN4] “Robert E. Emery biographical information” found at,
www.virginia.edu/ccfl/emery.php

[FN5] “Custody Disputed: The guidelines judges and psychologists use to decide child custody cases have little basis in science. The system must be rebuilt on better research by Robert E. Emery, Randy K. Otto, and William O'Donohue” found at,
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=custody-disputed

[FN6] “Utah Code Section 30-3-35.5. Minimum schedule for parent-time for children under five years of age” found at,
http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE30/htm/30_03_003505.htm
and,
“Utah Code Section 30-3-35. Minimum schedule for parent-time for children 5 to 18 years of age” found at,
http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE30/htm/30_03_003500.htm

[FN7] “A Critical Assessment of Child Custody Evaluations: Limited Science and a Flawed System by Robert E. Emery, Randy K. Otto, and William T. O'Donohue (Editorial by Eleanor E. Maccoby)” found at,
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/index.cfm?journal=pspi&content=pspi/6_1


----- Original Message -----
From: Veronique WYVELL
To: DelDMarsden@house.state.va.us
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 11:57
Subject: THE APPROXIMATION RULE (2 of 2)

[FN2] “Press Release: AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE PUBLISHES PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF FAMILY DISSOLUTION” sent by VW as separate email message

PRESS RELEASE

IMMEDIATE

Michael Greenwald
800-CLE NEWS, ext.1626

AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE PUBLISHES PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF FAMILY DISSOLUTION

(Philadelphia) – The American Law Institute (ALI) has published its first comprehensive work in the field of family law: Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution: Analysis and Recommendations. With this innovative and groundbreaking new volume, the Institute completes more than a decade of work on the legal consequences of family dissolution, including those involving domestic partners. These Principles cover such vital issues as the allocation of custodial and decisionmaking responsibilities for children, child support, distribution of marital property, compensatory payments to former spouses, and the legal effect of agreements between the parties.
.....
Responsive to the enormous changes in society that have taken place over a half century during which divorce rates climbed and the traditional roles of men and women were challenged, this innovative volume moves beyond the traditional formulations that were often framed in such general terms as to give nearly unbounded discretion to the decisionmakers charged with implementing them. The Principles provide family law with the conceptual clarification and improved adaptation to social needs that has long been the ALI’s hallmark. It makes a major contribution to the better administration of justice in an area too often marked by inequity.

The work is described as "Principles" rather than "Restatement" because "Principles" is the better designation for a project that carefully explores and clarifies the fundamental assumptions—about the best interests of children, fairness to divorcing wives and husbands, and the legitimate economic claims of unmarried partners—upon which the legal rules must rest. Many of these Principles, nevertheless, restate and clarify present law, while others recommend directions for implementation by courts, legislatures, and other appropriate decisionmakers. The result is a coherent legal framework, sensitive to both the traditional value systems within which most families are formed and the nontraditional realities and expectations of other families, a framework the earlier drafts of which have already begun to influence both courts and legislatures...

continued...


----- Original Message -----
From: Veronique WYVELL
To: DelDMarsden@house.state.va.us
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:51
Subject: The Approximation Rule...

Hello Mr. Marsden,

On 11 November 2008, I sent you:
THE APPROXIMATION RULE (1 of 2),
and,
THE APPROXIMATION RULE (2 of 2).

If you did not receive those two email messages,
I can re-send them.

If you received my messages,
I would like to know that you received them.

If you received them,
and if you are not interested in supporting such legislation,
please let me know you are not interested.

If you do not answer this message,
I will re-send the original two.

I understand that you might be very busy,
the 2009 session will be here soon.

Thank you.

Veronique Wyvell, RN
Private citizen
Fairfax County, Virginia

Cartoon at top} by David Klein,
Wall Street Journal, Jan. 26, 2009, Text added

. . .
ADDENDA

West Virginia passes the Approximation Rule:
§ 48-9-206. Allocation of custodial responsibility.

Iowa Supreme Court in Hansen v. Hansen (2007) acknowledges, validates the Approximation Rule:
http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/Supreme_Court/Recent_Opinions/20070615/06-0191.pdf

GEORGE WILL: Today, rights increasingly are offensive weapons wielded to inflict demands on other people, using state power for private aggrandizement

.....
Outlook
Litigation Nation

BY GEORGE F. WILL
THE WASHINGTON POST
Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009; B07

[Excerpt] ...Time was, rights were defensive. They were to prevent government from doing things to you. Today, rights increasingly are offensive weapons wielded to inflict demands on other people, using state power for private aggrandizement. The multiplication of rights, each lacking limiting principles, multiplies nonnegotiable conflicts conducted with the inherent extremism of rights rhetoric, on the assumption, Howard says, "that society will somehow achieve equilibrium if it placates whomever is complaining." But in such a society, dazed by what Howard calls "rule stupor" and victimized by litigious "victims," the incentives are for intensified complaining. Read Howard's book, and weep for the death of common sense.

Philip K. Howard is vice chairman of Covington & Burling LLP and founder of Common Good, a national bipartisan coalition organized to restore common sense to American law. With the cooperation of a number of nonprofit organizations, including Public Agenda, Mr. Howard founded NewTalk.org in 2008. NewTalk.org presents focused discussions by experts on the most important domestic topics shaping American society today. Mr. Howard advises leaders of both parties on legal and regulatory reform issues, and wrote the introduction to Vice President Al Gore's book, Common Sense Government. He is the author of the bestselling book The Death of Common Sense (Grand Central Publishing, 1996) and The Collapse of the Common Good (Ballantine Books, 2002) and a periodic contributor to the op-ed pages of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post; Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law (Norton, 2009) is his third book.

... Mr. Howard proposes specific steps to end "the tyranny of the angry individual" and rebuild law "to protect freedom in our daily choices" ... -American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research on January 27, 2009, in Washington DC

law must affirmatively define an area free from legal interference
-pkh-

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Your Court Transcript Inaccurate, Erroneous, Incomplete AND Unaffordable? Would You Prefer Plastic? Help Make Digital Records Legal, Email Mr. Bartee

...
_____VW wrote the Courtroom Technology Officer*

Subject: FW: Digital Courtroom Records (Voice)
Sent: Thu 4/23/2009 9:12 AM
From: CCR CrTO Mailbox
To: Bartee, David

Auto forwarded by a Rule

Subject: Digital Courtroom Records (Voice)
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 9:11:53 AM
From: [VW]
To: Courtroom Technology Officer [CCR CrTO Mailbox]

Do you make it possible for litigants to purchase CD records of courtroom proceedings? I would rather not use court reporters. Maryland and DC courts charge $10 for a CD. What is cost in Va.?

Submitted By: V Wyvell RN
____________________

Subject: RE: Digital Courtroom Records (Voice)
Sent: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:10:49
From: David.Bartee@fairfaxcounty.gov
To: CCRCrTOMailbox@fairfaxcounty.gov
Cc: [VW]

RESPONSE: At the present time the Fairfax Courts DO NOT provide or charge for copies of court recordings. However, this service has been and continues to be a point of discussion between the Courts, Virginia Legislators and Fairfax Bar Association. In anticipation of this possibility, the technology infrastructure has been put in place in our newer courtrooms to adopt this capability in the future if required to do so. The Fairfax courts appreciate your interest and will continue to reassess this subject.
____________________

Subject: RE: Digital Courtroom Records (Voice)
Sent: Mon 4/27/09 4:10 PM
From: [VW]
To: David.Bartee@fairfaxcounty.gov

Hello Mr. Bartee ... This is good news: The fact that digital records are an issue before the legislature, and the fact that the infrastructure is already in place in the newer courthouse to accommodate the change-over. I appreciate this update and will pass on to my friends. We also pressure legislators to modernize the courts in this direction.

~Veronique Wyvell, McLean (Victim of adulterated/doctored transcripts that were hurtful to my position)
____________________

*The Courtroom Technology Office (CrTO) coordinates research and facilitates automation and technological enhancements throughout the court system; to include the Circuit Court, General District Court, Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Office of the Sheriff and the Bar Association. The CrTO is a Department of Information Technology function supporting all three Courts, managed by a Courtroom Technology Officer, under the direction of the Chief Judge, Clerk of the Court and the Fairfax County Chief Technology Officer.

The primary objectives are to improve citizens access, internally and externally, to the Courts; facilitate trials and hearings in the most effective and efficient means possible; allow for all three Courts to share common resources and provide for flexibility and adaptability to incorporate future changes in technology and court proceedings; and assist the Courts to keep up with increasing demand and docket backlogs.

Related Links…

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/contact/MailForm.aspx?agId=100794

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/living/legal/

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts/crto/

[This post was first published on 26 May 2009]

Saturday, December 27, 2008

WILLIAM 'Bill' ZUCKERMAN PhD / Burke Va LICENSED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST DEFECTIVE and DANGEROUS DOCTOR PERPETRATOR of CHILD CUSTODY FRAUD

.....
.....
Reviews
Defective and Dangerous Doctor
.....
William B. Zuckerman, the child custody evaluator, is unsafe for women and children in post separation custody litigation when family abuse is a factor. This PhD has a history of identifying with and aligning with fathers who are abusive, violent, and dangerously controlling men, narcissists, and sociopaths. Furthermore, his testimony can be bought. Zuckerman is not a good person. He is without conscience. And he appears to suffer from Tic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive tendencies. More information is found at the Mommy Go Bye-Bye blog...
.....

Perpetrator of Child Custody Fraud

.....

His recommendations almost killed my two-year-old.

Brigitte's story starts HERE.

-VW-

Friday, December 26, 2008

HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Mommies "keep their heads below the firing line" and "wait for the system to change"



[Mommy Go Bye-Bye, January 2008] WHAT ONE 'PRETEND MOMMY' IS DOING ABOUT MAKE-BELIEVE MOTIONS AND THE PETTIFOGGING SHYSTERS WHO DREAM THEM UP / BARRATRY OF NO BENEFIT TO OUR CHILDREN. Please know that you can file with the magistrate a Commonwealth of Virginia “DC-311 Criminal Complaint” form against the offending lawyer barrator. Or you can just put up with the pain in your neck and wait for the system to change. -VW-

Miscarriage of Justice
By awarding custody and visitation rights to abusive men, family courts transgress the rights of women and children

BY KARIN KIEWRA
HARVARD PUBLIC HEALTH REVIEW
Winter 2005

The 40 women came from towns across Massachusetts and from all walks of life, yet their stories were the same -- shocking tales of battering and harassment at the hands of abusive ex-partners. Long after separation or divorce, the women said, their torment continued, aided and abetted by judges who gave unsupervised visitation and custody of their children to violent and controlling men.

continued...

Thursday, December 25, 2008

RAOUL FELDER Esq, Children’s Rights Advocate, Author 'Encyclopedia of Matrimonial Clauses'--a must for divorcing women fighting for fairness, finality


With today’s post, I would like to recommend a book. It is a book I wish I had known about ten years ago at the start of my own legal dealings. A bad beginning is quite possibly the worst thing that can happen to any domestic case. For me, custody litigation began spiraling out of control a decade ago with my initial court event that produced, on February 3, 1999, a piece of slop I have since renamed “Temporary Order for Lasting Impact.” I know now that a proper lawyer could have put some reasonable fairness and finality into that horrible event. Two more improper lawyers followed my first and, after ten years, still no reasonable fairness and still no reasonable finality for me, just a new and endless blogged reality and life without my only child.

Do not let this happen to you.

If you have no lawyer, you need this book. In fact, you need this book even if you have a lawyer, unless, of course, your lawyer happens to be Raoul Felder. Chances are good that divorcing women and divorcing mothers in Virginia will not find and hire a lawyer who works with the precision of Mr. Felder. I know. This blog attracts their stories of fighting in vain for fairness and finality even when they have a lawyer, especially when they have a lawyer.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MATRIMONIAL CLAUSES is a must for every divorcing woman and every divorcing mother in Virginia.

Raoul Felder’s Encyclopedia of Matrimonial Clauses can be purchased for less than the cost of an hour’s consult with a domestic relations lawyer. Find it priced at $259 (CD included) on LawCatalog.com or $159 on Amazon.com and Target.com. You can preview the Encyclopedia at Books.Google.com. See the Table of Contents. Run your finger down its list of clauses. Learn what good lawyering, and good judging, should look like.

Just who is Raoul Felder?

“Raoul L. Felder is perhaps one of the best-known divorce lawyers in the country today--and not merely for his many celebrity clients. Mr. Felder, a graduate of the NYU School of Law, has practiced law for more than forty years, including several as a federal prosecutor. Mr. Felder, who has written and lectured widely, is the author of seven books. He has also served as a legal commentator on CNN and the BBC, hosted the Felder Report, as well as hosted a weekly syndicated radio show, and two series on Public Television. Mr. Felder writes a monthly column in The Washington Times and frequently contributes to nationwide publications. He was named by The National Law Journal as ‘one of America’s 100 Most Powerful Lawyers.’ He has been a stalwart advocate of children’s rights, and was a member of the Governor’s Commission on Child Abuse. He was also a member of the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission of the City of New York and a member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. He also served as the Chairman of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Currently Mr. Felder practices law in New York City.”
[SOURCE: LawCatalog.com]

“He has been a stalwart advocate of children’s rights.”

Raoul Felder wrote the Foreword for From Madness to Mutiny: Why Mothers Are Running from the Family Courts -- and What Can Be Done about It by Amy Neustein and Michael Lesher. Here is a sample of that foreword: “What I have seen as a practitioner, this book reveals in punishing detail…Neustein and Lesher...believe that until the system is reformed and rethought at every level, it will continue to be a dangerous one--dangerously malfunctioning, dangerously betraying its critical task.” [SOURCE: Books.Google.com]

(“From Madness to Mutiny offers an overview of family court malfunction and the parental mutiny that results from it. The authors outline the new legal landscape that makes the madness possible and show how the system has failed to react to severe criticism from media and legislators…” SOURCE: GoogleBooks)

Raoul Felder also co-wrote Getting Away With Murder. You can preview this book at Amazon.com. An article bearing the same title appears on his website. Here is a sample of that article: “According to a survey done in 1995 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, somewhere in the United States a woman is battered every even seconds. The problem is that every time a woman suffers this kind of abuse, there are very few people--even among those who are otherwise enlightened, respectable, intelligent, and sane and who consider themselves politically correct and nonviolent--whose first questions when they hear about a case of spousal assault or murder is not, ‘Why didn't she just leave?’ Tragically, what this particular type of violent crime usually does not provoke is questions that are far more relevant and lucid and that would provide much more useful and concrete solutions to stopping it, questions such as: ‘How can that man get away with that?’…”
[SOURCE: RaoulFelder.com]

The Encyclopedia of Matrimonial Clauses was originally published in 1990. It has been updated over the years. 2004 saw Release 28.

Here is one of my favorite clauses in the Encyclopedia:

Children; Preventing Repetitive Litigation Involving
.....The parties hereby stipulate and agree that neither party shall file any motion regarding any issue related to the children prior to ____ __, 20__ unless there is clear and convincing proof that such a motion is required to address circumstances having such a significant adverse impact on the health or safety of either child that judicial intervention is necessary prior to such date. As required by Paragraph __ herein, the parties shall first discuss all issues relating to the children with Dr. ________.
.....No such motion filed by either party prior to ____ __, 20__ shall be heard by the court until there is a preliminary hearing and finding that there is clear and convincing evidence that the issue raised by the motion involves a significant adverse threat to the health or safety of either minor child and that judicial intervention prior to such date is necessary.
.................................-------------------------
.....COMMENT: When divorcing parties are litigious and there is nothing else left to fight about, there are always, sadly, the children. The children, after a divorce, are under the continuing protection of the court which allows access to it for reasons pertaining to a child’s welfare. Belligerent parents may take advantage of this to cause the other party grief. This clause is intended to prevent parents with private agendas from continuously coming back to court, at least for some period of time. The problem that then arises is that children are wards of the court and there should, in principle, be nothing to prevent bringing a situation affecting a child’s welfare before the court. No separation agreement may inhibit or disallow resort to the court system.
.....In this clause, when there is a suspected private agenda by parents, the problem is circumvented by providing for a two-step procedure that immediately brings the situation before the court. Before there can be full fledged litigation on the issue, “clear and convincing” evidence must be shown. Of course, “clear and convincing” evidence is much closer to the criminal standard (“beyond a reasonable doubt”) than the civil standard (“a preponderance of the evidence”). It is to be noted that the court must further find a “significant adverse threat to the health or safety,” thereby even raising the bar further, and yet providing protection for a child at risk. { C-57 to C-58 in Rel. 28 }

... The whole thing is a train wreck waiting to happen ... -Raoul Felder in 'These Folks Spell Divorce 'M-O-N-E-Y': When Couples Split, It's a Bonanza for Court-appointed Guardians. They Make a Fortune as Advocates for the Children Involved.' [New York Daily News, May 30, 2004]

Veronique Wyvell, RN
Member, Fairfax County Network Against Family Abuse
Founder, MOMMY GO BYE-BYE: Mothers Against Unjust Law
7831 Enola Street, #TA7, McLean, Virginia 22102
VWyvell@patriot.net

MAUL (Mothers Against Unjust Law) Goals:
Rebuttable PRESUMPTIONS Against Custody for Batterers
PPAs (Parenting Plan Agreements) before Litigation
Moratorium on CCEs (Child Custody Evaluations)
MINIMUM Parent-Time Schedules (UTAH Code)
JURY Trials (in Domestic Relations Cases)
PROTECTIVE Parent Reform Acts
DIGITAL Courtroom Records
ALI's Approximation Rule
TERM LIMITS for Judges

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

JOHN BAUSERMAN PRESIDENT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS COUNCIL v LUNDY BANCROFT PROMOTER CHILD CUSTODY JUSTICE: CRC "both parents best" leader needs reality check


In the matter of JOHN BAUSERMAN PRESIDENT of CHILDREN’S RIGHTS COUNCIL versus LUNDY BANCROFT PROMOTER of CHILD CUSTODY JUSTICE it is resolved this CRC "The Best Parent is Both Parents" leader is in need of a reality check

State supreme court study of judges’ decisions in child custody disputes confirms CRC leader John Bauserman Jr not in touch with reality*

''When you are dealing with equally fit parents, four out of five times the mother will be awarded physical custody of the children with the father sometimes sharing the legal custody,'' says John Bauserman Jr., a family lawyer in Northern Virginia. Bauserman has noticed that dads often lose custody battles and end up just writing checks for child support without so much as access…
-john bauserman jr in divorced dads

Perhaps the most widespread myth is the belief that mothers are favored by courts in custody disputes, which stopped being true decades ago. It is true that for roughly the first half of the 1900's the "Tender Years Doctrine" was influential, and mothers had some advantage in gaining custody of young children. (Prior to about 1900, mothers had no rights regarding custody at all.) But in the 1970's the tide was turning back, for various reasons, and by the 1980's fathers were winning at least joint custody in a majority of the custody battles they undertook, and winning sole custody more often than mothers, a situation that remains today…
-lundy bancroft in child custody justice

*Judges surveyed for Influences on Judges' Decisions in Child Custody Disputes in the Commonwealth of Virginia reveal that children over 5 go to fathers more than they go to mothers when cases go to court...
-vsc executive secretary in influences on judges' decisions


Veronique Wyvell, RN
Member, Fairfax County Network Against Family Abuse
Founder, MOMMY GO BYE-BYE: Mothers Against Unjust Law
7831 Enola Street, #TA7, McLean, Virginia 22102
VWyvell@patriot.net

MAUL (Mothers Against Unjust Law) Goals:
Rebuttable PRESUMPTIONS Against Custody for Batterers
PPAs (Parenting Plan Agreements) before Litigation
Moratorium on CCEs (Child Custody Evaluations)
MINIMUM Parent-Time Schedules (UTAH Code)
JURY Trials (in Domestic Relations Cases)
PROTECTIVE Parent Reform Acts
DIGITAL Courtroom Records
ALI's Approximation Rule
TERM LIMITS for Judges

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

QUESTION FOR JUDGE LYNN TOLER: Are judges trained to recognize and deal appropriately with Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

.....
.....
Are judges trained to recognize and deal appropriately with Narcissistic Personality Disorder?
.....

The short answer is probably not, but that's not the whole story. Each state has its own judicial training courses and requirements, so I can only speak generally. But for the most part, in the beginning judicial training usually dealt exclusively with legal issues. These days, however, judges are increasingly trained to deal with difficult people, extreme personalities, and the mentally ill. While we have always done so, we now more readily bring our collective recourses to bear on these issues.

As for training with respect to any one specific disorder in the civil context, it's unlikely. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders identifies hundreds of mental disorders of varying degrees and severity, many of which affect behavior both in an out of the judicial system. Judges must deal with manipulative and disordered people all of the time, regardless of the genesis of their behavior. Our job is not to diagnose but to make a legally and factually appropriate decision and do our best not to allow any party to abuse either the system or the other side in a dispute. Just like with any other profession, some of us are better at it than others. That is why training in this area is now more common, and I think the judicial system will be the better for it.

Judge Lynn Toler, a graduate of Harvard and The University of Pennsylvania Law School, served as a municipal court judge for eight years. She presides over the courtroom on the nationally syndicated television show Divorce Court and is the author of the book My Mother's Rules, a guide to greater emotional control. We invite you to send in your divorce-related questions to editors@divorcemag.com with the subject line: "Question for Judge Toler".

Long before she started issuing rulings from the bench of daytime TV's Divorce Court, Judge Lynn Toler had to navigate what she describes as a difficult childhood. She talks to Farai Chideya (National Public Radio, April 2007) about her bipolar father, her mother's saving wisdom, and her new book, My Mother's Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius.

[This post was first published on 24 February 2009]

THE WOMEN’S CENTER IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA OFFERS NEW SEPARATION & DIVORCE CLASS: ‘LEGAL ASPECTS OF CHILD SUPPORT AND CUSTODY IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES’


We see and hear many stories from individuals who must co-parent or follow court-mandated visitation schedules with batterers. Abusers often employ manipulative tactics...to continue to threaten or harass the non-abusive parent. This workshop is designed to help non-abusive parents...
-thewomenscenter.org

Let’s Talk…
The Women’s Center in Northern Virginia
Education: Program Offerings
Separation & Divorce

NEW Legal Aspects of Child Support and Custody in Domestic Violence Cases

K. Leigh Taylor, Attorney at Law, The Susan Hicks Group, PC

$45 Registration Fee / $35 Center Circle Donors (Members)

There are unique custody and visitation issues when domestic violence (also known by some as family abuse) is present during and after a divorce. We see and hear many stories from individuals who must co-parent or follow court-mandated visitation schedules with batterers. Abusers often employ manipulative tactics, such as using the children as messengers, to continue to threaten or harass the non-abusive parent. This workshop is designed to help non-abusive parents learn about their rights and responsibilities within the legal system so that they are better able to make decisions from a position of empowerment rather than fear or lack of knowledge.

Reduced fees available based upon financial need. For authorization, call the Center: 703-281-4928 ext 242.

WHEN:
Monday, 23 February 2009, 7-9pm

WHERE:
The Women’s Center In Northern Virginia
133 Park Street, NE, Vienna, Virginia 22180
Tel 703-281-2657 / Fax 703-242-1454
Email programs@thewomenscenter.org

The Women’s Center Event Calendar can be found at:
http://www.thewomenscenter.org/calendar_list.asp

Monday, December 22, 2008

MICHAEL DONNER PhD: Pathological narcissism, envy, disavowal, perverse attitude toward reality produce unending conflicts over visitation and custody


Dr. Michael B. Donner (pictured) is the Chair of the California Psychological Association Ethics Committee, the Ethics Chair for the Alameda County Psychological Association, and a member of the Ethics and Impairment Committee of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Center for Psychoanalysis. He has been on the faculty at a variety of educational institutions teaching Law and Ethics for mental health professionals. He has a forensic practice and has served as a court appointed Special Master, Chemical Dependency Evaluator, Child Custody Evaluator, and as an expert witness for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences and expert reviewer for the California Board of Psychology. “Tearing the Child Apart,” by Dr. Donner, was published in the Summer 2006 issue of Psychoanalytic Psychology. Here is a summary of that article.

Tearing the Child Apart: The Contribution of Narcissism, Envy, and Perverse Modes of Thought to Child Custody Wars
Fighting over seemingly insignificant matters can manage aggression and ward off psychic collapse

[ABSTRACT] This article takes a psychoanalytic approach to questions usually considered to be matters of the family court system. The psychological effects of high-conflict divorce on children are well known, but what motivates their parents is less understood. Pathological narcissism, pathological envy, disavowal, and a perverse attitude toward reality can produce unending conflicts over visitation and custody. Fighting over seemingly insignificant matters can manage aggression and ward off psychic collapse. These families are frequently referred to co-parenting counseling or psycho-educational groups; however, the author proposes that psychoanalytically oriented treatment can best address these parents' unconscious wishes to damage or destroy their own children and the perverse character structure that enables parents to negate their roles in tearing their children apart.

Psychoanalytic Psychology. Vol 23(3), Sum 2006, 542-553.

This article can be ordered at:
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=main.doiLanding&uid=2006-09622-006

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Dr MO HANNAH BMCC CHAIR: "The ONLY thing keeping this Potemkin village-like fiasco going in our family courts is the secrecy that cloaks the misdeeds"


[READER COMMENT] Jennifer Collins speaks about her family's case.

Brava for this great expose and to the courageous individuals, such as Dr. Joy Silberg, who are speaking out about this systematic horror show in our family court system. Everything claimed by these young people, who were "raised by the courts," is 100% accurate. I personally receive calls, e-mails, and letters from protective mothers all over this country, as well as overseas, begging for help with their cases. The overriding theme is that their abusive ex-partner already has won or is about to "win" custody of their children.

Ladies, think this could never happen to YOU? All you need to do is have a biological child with someone who is psychopathic, narcissistic, abusive, or otherwise sick enough to be willing--in his efforts to harm you--to cause massive harm to your child, as well. His task is simple enough; all he has to do is lie and manipulate the court system, making wild claims that you are a "fabricator," "crazy," "addicted," or an "alienator." He can then pay off all the court agents who are willing to do his bidding and take everything he says as the gospel truth, in exchange for his right to exercise power, control, and abuse over you and your kids until they reach majority age.

The family court system, as it seems to currently operate, amounts to little more than a black market that gives children and babies to the highest bidder. The ONLY thing keeping this Potemkin village-like fiasco going in our family courts is the secrecy that cloaks the misdeeds. We need a deeply serious and impartial investigation of the family court systems of all 50 states, conducted by authorities with the will and the power to massively reform this corrupt machine.

See www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org for additional documentation about the family court fiasco.

-Posted by Dr. Mo Hannah, Chair, Battered Mothers Custody Conference, August 11, 2008

Reporter's Notebook: Jennifer Collins speaks about her family's case

BY BETH WALTON
MINNEAPOLIS CITY PAGES
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Jennifer Collins says that her father beat her as a child. She says that she told court officials and therapists several times during a tragic and lengthy custody trial that she did not feel safe with him. Nonetheless, Hennepin County Family Court put her and her older brother Zachary in his custody when they were just 7 and 9. It was believed that their mother was unstable and coaching the two children. Despite findings of spousal abuse, her father, Mark Collins of Crystal, Minn., was seen as the more fit parent…

Unfortunately, experts and advocates in the area of abuse say what happened to the Collins family is a widespread problem within the American judicial system. There have been several studies done around the country that show the difficulties family courts have in protecting women from domestic violence and children from abuse, says Dr. Joyanna Silberg, clinician and Executive Vice President of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse & Interpersonal Violence.

Every week the organization's website is flooded with people in similar situations needing help. It is astonishing the number of custody cases where domestic violence is present in which the courts award the children to the abuser, she says.

continued…

This article can be found at:
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/07/reporters_noteb_15.php

… an impressive façade or show designed to hide an undesirable fact or condition -definition Potemkin village

Friday, December 19, 2008

BEAT BARRATRY / DEMAND A JURY TRIAL Wyvell jailed when she stopped showing up for vexatious attacks, no Fairfax judge willing to dismiss, sanction...


[READER COMMENT] 75 jury trials only might be a sign litigants in Texas are not informed of all options. Juries would certainly correct for the nonsense inherent in litigated divorces. I say to Prof. Meyer the opposite will happen: contested divorces would become LESS expensive, SHORTER & more BUSINESS-LIKE. Juries to correct for chicanery, cronyism, collusion & corruption? Where is the harm? Nine of ten litigants would rather negotiate--all it takes is one unscrupulous lawyer to create a conflict where there is none. I was jailed when I stopped showing up for vexatious attacks, no judge was willing to dismiss & sanction when appropriate. Judges instead seized the $7862 bail my brother posted on my behalf & gave it to the sub-judge/lawyer to pay her churned legal fees--the money my child's father spent in one summer to maliciously prosecute me. A jury would have protected me from such nonsense. ~Veronique Wyvell, RN, McLean, Virginia, wrote on 2/19/2007

New legislation: Divorce juries
If passed, couples would have the option

BY LAURA CAMPER
STATE CAPITOL BUREAU
Saturday, February 3, 2007

Divorcing couples may soon have more options in settling their differences if recently introduced legislation allowing jury trials in divorce proceedings passes...

continued...

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Children Who Attempt or Complete Suicide Are More Likely To Have Changed Residences Frequently New Study Shows

...
____________________
Frequent Household Moves Raise Kids' Suicide Risk


By Ed Edelson
U.S. News & World Report / Health Day
Monday, June 1, 2009

And the reasons why families move frequently may help explain the association with pediatric suicide attempts, said Alan L. Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology. Those reasons include "pathology of a parent, unemployment of a parent and divorce--all of which are related to suicidal behavior," he said. more

This article can be found at:
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/06/01/frequent-household-moves-raise-kids-suicide-risk.html

____________________
New Study Highlights a Surprising Risk For Teen Suicide: Family Moves


By Dr. Gwenn
The “Dr. Gwenn Is In” Blog
Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Kids are typically thought of as being rather pliable and flexible when it comes to new situations. With time, parents and experts alike used to think that kids will adjust to a move. However, a new study rocks that theory to its core and suggests otherwise in a very significant way. more

This article can be found at:
http://www.drgwennisin.com/2009/06/new-study-highlights-surprising-risk.html

____________________
Moving Frequently May Increase Teen Suicide Risk


By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
Psych Central News
Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A dose-response relationship was observed for both attempted and completed suicide, meaning that the more often a child changed addresses, the more likely he or she was to have attempted or completed suicide. more

This article can be found at:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/06/03/moving-frequently-may-increase-teen-suicide-risk/6286.html


[This post was first published on 5 June 2009]

JUDGE CHARLES MAXFIELD SENTENCES 15-MONTH-OLD McLEAN GIRL TO 23 TRANSFERS IN 29 DAYS FOR 14 OVERNIGHTS PER PARENT. HOW LONG COULD YOU LIVE LIKE THAT??

‘WHY DO ABUSIVE MEN
TURN UP DISPROPORTIONATELY
IN CUSTODY DISPUTES?’*

[Letters, 14 July 1999] Dear Ms. Kelly,

My beautiful little fifteen-month-old baby girl was forced by court order to live that outrageous and very dangerous visitation routine described by the grandmother in your 14 July column [Handling Shared Custody, Washington Post, July 14, 1999, C4] when, on 3 February 1999, Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge Charles Maxfield ruled in favor of her father’s wishes in a brief twenty minute motion. The father picked up our daughter at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday and dropped her off at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He picked her up again at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and dropped her off at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. On that same Friday he would pick her up at 5:30 p.m. and return her 62 hours later at 7:30 a.m. on Monday. He picked her up the next day at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday and returned her at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He picked her up the following day at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and returned her in the morning, at 7:30 a.m. on Friday. My life with my small child was reduced, by law, to a physically grueling, punishing, and emotionally tortured existence for both of us. The father had been absentee, virtually uninvolved in her daily care, and minimally financially supportive during the first fifteen months of my daughter’s life. [He bought a swing. I shopped for and paid for all baby-care essentials, formula, cereal and jars of baby food, diapers, car-seat, mattress and crib. My own father provided the highchair and playpen.]

In a matter of minutes, a father had been deemed fit, while a mother had been deemed not more fit, and their child was cut in half. In the month of March, my little girl changed homes 23 times to spend 14 nights with one parent and 14 nights with the other. After four months, in late May, a proper trial would make me the sole physical custodian when it was determined that my daughter had bonded with her mother, that she was attached to her mother. Her father and I were never married but lived together for the first fifteen months of our child’s life.

My meticulous records kept over all these months describe the debilitating impact on daytime and nighttime sleeping patterns, eating habits, behaviors and personality from excessive shuffling of a young child between two homes. Within three days, and after just the first overnight, my daughter’s sleep/wake cycle was permanently disrupted so that no two days were ever alike. Irregular and interrupted daytime napping and shortened nights led to what is still now a state of chronic sleep deprivation and with this a lowered ability to cope with stress generally.

She immediately protested her crib and still now mostly sleeps with her mother in a queen bed, wrapping herself tightly around my torso and at times gripping me by the neck, choking me with her little arms.

By the end of the second week, she became extremely hyperactive and agitated, especially after returning to me on those mornings from her father’s home; this increased dramatically with fatigue and exhaustion. She still now has great difficulty in falling asleep, needing from one to two hours in the bed before finally drifting off. Her sleep was fitful, she awakened often and looked for me to hug me tightly; disorientation on waking was common. Regression set in, with the sucking reflex in her sleep, for example. Excessive irritability with crying spells not usual for her became routine. By the end of February all of these changes had happened and were so obvious in the child because she had once been so steady and happy, and so easy and secure.

By mid April, aggressiveness and acting out behaviors emerged. She threw stools and chairs down to the floor, she pulled at and yanked off vanes from vertical blinds, she poked forcefully at my eyes and ears, she bit frequently. She became easily frustrated. And she began to cling, excessively. There was a week in April when I saw despondency, a flat affect, no verbalizing, no laughing. As the weeks passed she babbled less and less. Twice, I noticed that she was especially aloof and distant towards me, this after returning from runs of four nights away at her father’s home. She had missed me, simply, and was showing her anger at my absence by ignoring me until after a few hours when trust was restored.

The father refused to recognize or address these problems or share my concerns about our daughter’s negative response to his schedule with its potential harm to healthy emotional and intellectual development at such a delicate time in her life. You see, nine years ago, the mother of his son, also born out of wedlock, left the country with the newborn, and he was also unable to know the boy. He, too, was now adamant that his daughter would be a part of his life. So much so that when I did not allow a scheduled visit to take place one Tuesday evening because my daughter was sick and asleep for the night at the 5:30 p.m. pick up time, he summoned the police. Within three weeks, this angered, controlling, demanding, and moneyed man had me back in the courtroom for an emergency hearing to gain temporary custody of my baby [by having me incarcerated] pending the May trial because, he claimed, I impeded visitation without good cause on that night in March.

[UPDATE: Judge Maxfield’s choppy and sloppy visitation schedule made my toddler sick. Beginning in March, she required two 10-day courses of antibiotics. She had been treated just weeks before, in January, with one 10-day course of antibiotics when she returned ill from a holiday with her abusive, violent, and dangerously controlling father. My two-year-old almost died when she would succumb to pneumonia while in the care of her custodial-father a year later, in 2000, after APA-Ethics-Code-Violator {see pic} William Zuckerman, PhD, stripped me of my toddler, committing her to full-time institutionalized care by strangers, AND put back a near-copy of Judge Maxfield’s asinine schedule. My infant had never been sick. Before Judge Maxfield and father entered the life of this child, mother and daughter visits to the pediatrician had always been for well-baby checks.]

If the law could allow a man to force a woman, using a restraining order or some other type of legal tool, to not bring her baby into the world, to abort her pregnancy, the man who fathered my child would have exercised that right. When he found out that I was pregnant, he opened the yellow pages of the phone book to the abortion clinics listing, put this under my nose and urged me to “at least call and get information.” He said that he “would be there for me every step of the way.” He never wanted [his daughter] to be born and urged me to abort for three months. During my emergency room visit for severe nausea and vomiting, he reminded me that “it wasn’t too late” to abort; I was in my twelfth week.

Recently, an elderly male neighbor observed, “I don’t know how they could take a baby from a mother who treats her like a piece of gold and give her to a man who acts like she is nothing but a piece of trash.”

Our May trial, two months ago, while eliminating the Tuesday and Thursday overnight stays and reducing them to two-and-one-half-hour-long evening visits, only shaved twelve hours from those 62-hour-long marathon weekends so that my daughter returns to me at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday instead of 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning. The new schedule, however, was simply an outgrowth of that original and flawed temporary order; it is really nor an improvement, nor a rectification of that first order. For example, sleep disorders of another kind have emerged. Currently, I find that I must wake her up more than half the time to give her to her father for evening visits; some of those times she is still napping, but some of those times she has fallen asleep for the night. I know that my daughter will not adapt to anything [other] than your very fine and impeccably researched recommendations. I am still seeking regularly spaced visits, for reasonable lengths of time, and during non-stressful times of the day. I would like to see morning visits during the week and weekends, with pick-ups at 9:30 a.m. and drop-offs at noon or at 5:00 p.m. at the latest and on the same day. Overnights are simply too risky at this stage of a child’s development.

During the hasty, twenty-minute motion last February, I was falsely accused of moving out of the family’s home with the baby and without notice, not telling the child’s father where we were going, and denying the father access to the child after we had gone. I had simply returned to my old address. The father and I live in separate condos on the same street, on the same floor of the same building. We are separated by just two neighbors. How could there be a more perfect opportunity to follow the advice of the experts for what is best for our child and so well summarized in your response? Overnights are of no benefit whatsoever to young children and our own child’s condition attests to this. How then did this opportunity to do what is in her best interest get missed?

These very young children thrive on the reassurance from their primary caregiver that they have not been abandoned. My little girl is too young to understand that the law says that her mommy must give her away to get her back and do this often and over and over and over again and because her father, who himself was voluntarily abandoned by his own mother as a newborn and raised in foster care, wants it to be this way.

In these past six months of her life, my 21-month-old child has spent about 75 nights away from home with her nonresidential parent when the average, more mature child on a standard visitation schedule to include an every other Saturday night might spend about [50] nights with a nonresidential parent in an entire year. I do not know how to save my daughter from her father, courtrooms and misinformed judges, lawyers who do not do their job well, and the mindset that overnights must accompany any visitation schedule. Legal and other related expenses have now passed the $ 20,000.00 mark, and my little girl is still not well.

Sincerely,

Veronique Wyvell
Devoted mother of Brigitte Deel,
Former girlfriend of Troy A. Deel,
Mr. Deel, barratrous father of Brigitte

... You're the victim of an over-correction.
-Dr. Joseph Novello (and Esq. Thomas Sotelo) to
Ms. Veronique Wyvell**

Family Almanac
Handling Shared Custody

BY MARGUERITE KELLY
THE WASHINGTON POST
Wednesday, July 14, 1999; C4

Q..My daughter has just separated from her husband of less than four years and she and their 26-month-old son have come to live with us for a time.
.....Lately our grandson has become quite apprehensive if he isn’t with or near his mother. I think he is upset by the separation and, of course, so is his father.
.....He had a very bad experience with a first divorce and was unable to see his daughter for years. She is just now, as an adult, in his life again and he is adamant that this will not happen with his son.
.....We all agree that my grandson needs to spend time with his father but how much? He wants the boy from Friday night through Monday morning every other weekend as well as every Tuesday and Thursday night. I think the child needs more consistency now and that every other weekend from Saturday morning to Sunday evening is about right, perhaps adding one night in the middle of the week when he gets older.


A..Father and son are experiencing real separation anxiety, but the needs of the child come first. After all, he lost his dad and his home and he doesn’t know how or why or what will happen next. Your grandson acts as clingy as he did as a toddler because trauma makes children regress. Also, the apprehension that shows on his own mother’s face also may be making him apprehensive: Children mirror their parents’ concerns.
.....In the next few months he will probably get over his clinginess only to turn defiant, pitch fits, mope, get scared or play sick, partly because he’ll be 2 ½ , but mostly because he’ll be sure he caused the whole mess.
.....Your concern about the effects of shuffling on a young child is well-placed. Even one overnight a week with the nonresidential parent is considered too much until a child is 2 ½, but daily contact is terrific if it’s at all possible. A mother--or a grandmother--is no substitute for a father.
.....Ideally, your grandson would be with his dad all day on Saturday and maybe again on Sunday, so they could have big chunks of time together, and they would visit together every day, so their relationship stays strong and steady. His dad might pick up his son for breakfast and take him to day care, or pick him up after work and take him to the park or even go over to the child’s house at night to bathe him and put him to bed, which could work if you daughter didn’t hover around.
.....By 2 ½, your grandson should be able to handle one overnight a week with his dad, working up to three overnights a week by the time he’s 5--a schedule that should be acceptable for years as long as his father gets a healthy share of vacation time with his son and knows that every aspect of his child’s life is as open to him as it is to the mother. He may not want to go to every school performance, teacher conference, soccer game or pediatric check-up, but he has the right to be as involved as he can be, in his own way and in his own style.
.....The father who takes part in his child’s development not only experiences the joys of parenthood, but he also guides his child more deftly and even pays child support more willingly.
.....Your daughter will find good information in “Mom’s House, Dad’s House” (Fireside, $13), by Isolina Ricci, and “What Every Woman Should Know About Divorce and Custody” (Perigee, $14.95), by Gayle Rosenwald Smith and Sally Abrahms, and you’ll profit by reading “Helping Your Grandchildren Through Their Parents’ Divorce” (Walker, $12.95), by Joan Schrager Cohen. Custody issues are too tricky to handle alone.

Questions may be sent to advice@margueritekelly.com or to Box 15310, Washington, D.C. 20003.

*... Why do abusive men turn up disproportionately in custody disputes? First, abusive men don't do well at separating their own needs from those of their children, so they don't consider how injurious it could be for the children to be taken away from the primary care of their mother, where they feel secure. Second, the abusive man is focused on power and control, and may ignore the harm he causes the children in his desperate race to settle old scores. And his lack of respect for the mother's humanity, a centerpin of the abusive mentality, can permit him to believe that she is the one who will harm the children, not him. Occasionally, the abusive man's main reason for seeking custody seems to be a desire to avoid having to pay child support. -Lundy Bancroft in Child Custody Justice

**[SPECIAL NOTE BY VW] Watch Out Mothers! Custody Evaluator William Zuckerman is an "over-corrector." And the 19th Judicial District/Circuit (Fairfax, Va.) is a "Zuckerman-friendly" bench.

Veronique Wyvell, RN
Member, Fairfax County Network Against Family Abuse
Founder, MOMMY GO BYE-BYE: Mothers Against Unjust Law
7831 Enola Street, #TA7, McLean, Virginia 22102
VWyvell@patriot.net

MAUL (Mothers Against Unjust Law) Goals:
Rebuttable PRESUMPTIONS Against Custody for Batterers
PPAs (Parenting Plan Agreements) before Litigation
Moratorium on CCEs (Child Custody Evaluations)
MINIMUM Parent-Time Schedules (UTAH Code)
JURY Trials (in Domestic Relations Cases)
PROTECTIVE Parent Reform Acts
DIGITAL Courtroom Records
ALI's Approximation Rule
TERM LIMITS for Judges
william zuckerman troy deel carmen shimer jeffrey shimer
. . .
ADDENDA

Related Links . . .

MRS. BROWN, BILL AND HIS BARNYARD BULLSHIT: He showed them a horsey, said draw the crayon to which barn horsey should go to, daddy barn or mommy barn


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

DEBORAH S OLIN JD GUARDIAN AD LITEM FAIRFAX ARLINGTON COUNTY COURTS} Was your child hurt by her actions? Olin victims please join us for class action!

...
Fit-Loving-NonOffending-Mothers-Abused-By-Judges in Northern Virginia courtrooms would like to hear from more victims of lawyer and guardian
ad litem Deborah S. Olin.

Please email va.justlaw@live.com.

POLLING READERS: Which parent belongs in jail? Ara? or “Nowzari”? Reply please to DLevy@CRCkids.org, DaveAlbo@aol.com, Mitra_Ara@msn.com. Thank you.

.....
In your opinion, is John Bauserman, Esq., “completely intransigent” in his pursuit of the children’s passports (versus justifiably intransigent, for example)?

PLEASE SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO:
DLevy@CRCkids.org , DaveAlbo@aol.com , Mitra_Ara@msn.com

----- Original Message -----
From: Veronique WYVELL
To: dlevy@crckids.org
Cc: DaveAlbo@aol.com ; Mitra_Ara@msn.com ; weijianwilson@gmail.com ; Mark.Rubin@governor.virginia.gov
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 11:35
Subject: Misters "Nowzari" and Bauserman in matter of children's passports
Attach: transcript 12.17.08 , arrest 2004 (a) , arrest 2004 (b) , criminal hx

ATTENTION: David Levy
Co-Founder and CEO
Children's Rights Council
8181 Professional Place, Suite 240
Landover, Maryland 20785
301.459.1220
CRCkids.org

Dear Mr. Levy,

I hear from many parents for the reasons explained below in that email for Delegate Dave Albo.*

Mitra Ara of Ashburn, Virginia, is one of them.

The turning of my back to people in difficult legal situations who write in with their stories is something I will never find possible to do.

Two times now, however, you have hung up the phone on Ms. Ara.

I wish I could do that.

I wish that I could believe that Ms. Ara is "completely intransigent" as CRC president John Bauserman claimed in court last December (see attached transcript).

If it is true Ms. Ara is displaying an attitude and a position, in this matter of delivering passports to the document-fraud-addicted father of her 7-year-old twin daughters, that are extreme, as "both parents best" co-leader Mr. Bauserman has stated, I think you would be "completely intransigent" too if you were in this mother's shoes.



Mr. Levy, please think about how you would react if those arrest records (again, please see the attachments) and that criminal history outline (also attached) described your ex-wife and the mother of your children.

When your partner and CRC's president John Bauserman presses to have Ms. Ara jailed, in front of Judge White on February 13, 2009, in Fairfax Circuit Court, it is true that "both parents best" co-leader Bauserman will be seeking to enhance visitation but not by increasing the amount of time and number of hours the girls spend in the company of their father.

On the other hand, "both parents best" co-leader Mr. Bauserman is taking the unreasonable risk that the girls will know decreased time and hours with their mother and see much less of their mother.

Now, Mr. Levy, you have a website. And on this website, I see "Social Goals" for your organization:

--Advocate increased opportunities for access to non-custodial parents; and


--Decrease the nature, burden and expense of legal disputes and court
interventions caused by persistent parental conflict. [SOURCE: http://crckids.org/about-crc.htm]

If "Bruce Nowzari" (or whatever his name is at the moment) wants his children to know their paternal grandparents in Canada, then the grandparents in Canada need to come to Virginia.

Let me tell you what the court told me many years ago. The court told me my French relatives living in France needed to come here to America if they wanted to see my daughter Brigitte. The judge took her passport away from me. My crime was that my own mother resides in France. I have not seen my child in nearly five years. Brigitte is 11.

Brigitte's father is a pathological narcissist and dangerous sociopath just like "Mr. Nowzari" (or whatever his name is at the moment).

If you would like, I can introduce you to the mother of Grace. The judge took Grace's passport away from her mother too. Wei Wilson's crime was that her own mother resides in China. Ms. Wilson has not seen her child in nearly two years. Grace is 12.

Grace's father is a pathological narcissist and dangerous sociopath just like "Mr. Nowzari" (or whatever his name is at the moment).

In keeping with the second of those two social goals mentioned and the overall mission of the Children's Rights Council as described by its slogan "The Best Parent Is Both Parents", I would like for John Bauserman, lawyer hired by document-fraud-addicted "Mr. Nowzari" (or whatever his name is at the moment), to curb his unreasonable urge to litigate and to STOP RIDING MS. ARA'S BACK.

Laws were never meant to be used as weapons against people.

Perhaps "Bruce Nowzari" (or whatever his name is at the moment) should look for better ways to manage his aggression than to obsess over putting the fit, loving, non-offending mother of his children in the brig.

And perhaps Mr. Bauserman should think about how to better represent the mission of your organization than to obsess over putting one more fit, loving, non-offending mother behind bars.

I would like to see some “common sense” finally applied to Ms. Ara's situation.

Thank you.

~Veronique Wyvell, RN, McLean, Virginia
http://mommygobyebye-virginia.blogspot.com/

P.S. I hope you can get to know the new book by Philip Howard, Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law (Norton, 2009).


*----- Original Message -----
From: Veronique WYVELL
To: DaveAlbo@aol.com ; DelDMarsden@house.state.va.us
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 08:46
Subject: 1 of 3} The Repeal of *BIOC* by 2010

Hello Mr. Albo,

I am writing you because I have had no reply from Mr. Marsden. Legislators must get a lot of emails. Never easy to read and then answer every bit of it. I know because I get a lot of emails too. Most of the people who write me are parents, most are mothers, a few fathers. The message, however, is always the same. I hear over and over again that *BIOC* isn't working. But I think Virginia legislators know this. I think if Virginia legislators were more diligent about reading and responding to mail from their constituents who are innocent, and honest, parents in difficult legal situations because *BIOC* isn't working, my own mailbox would see less of it. People find me because I blog on the issue.

I am hoping you might be open to considering, and pushing for, a new approach. This new approach is discussed below in my email for Delegate David Marsden. It's called THE APPROXIMATION RULE.

~Veronique Wyvell, RN, McLean, Virginia

… characterized by refusal to compromise or to abandon an extreme position or attitude … -definition intransigent

[This post was originally published on 9 February 2009]

Friday, December 12, 2008

RIDDING Va. OF BAD JUDGES NOT GETTING EASIER. With Judicial Evaluations Stuck in Albo’s “Secret Safe,” Lawmakers Seek to Unseat Chief Justice Hassell.

.....
LISTEN NOW to how the 2009 Judicial Performance Evaluations ended up still sealed and stuck in Del. Albo’s “secret safe” (digital voice record of House Courts of Justice Chairman Dave Albo in his opening remarks for Judicial Interviews)

Mr. Albo!! Why not just set term limits for ALL state judges and scrap the JPE program?? -VW*

THE VIRGINIA LAWYERS WEEKLY
Term limits for the Chief Justice?

By Paul Fletcher
January 23rd, 2009

Those of you who relish a good old-fashioned separation of powers dustup will enjoy this item.

Those of you who hate to see the courts, especially the Supreme Court of Virginia, pulled into a smashmouth political battle won’t be so happy.

A number of legislators didn’t like it when the Supreme Court tried to tell them how to handle the judicial performance evaluations of judges up for reelection. And some legislators really didn’t like it when the court entered a pair of orders threatening to hold them in contempt if someone besides a member of the General Assembly got copies of the evaluations. The evaluations were returned unopened and weren’t used this year.

But after the episode was over, a delegate and a senator did what legislators do: they wrote bills. Paybacks can be hell. You decide if this one’s personal.

Two different bills, House Bill 2527 and Senate Bill 1434, would limit the term of a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia to two consecutive four-year terms.

Current Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. is in the middle of his second term as the court’s leader. Neither bill contains a grandfather clause that would make an exception for the current occupant of the head seat.

Del. Bill Janis, R-Glen Allen, is the chief patron of HB 2527, which has been referred to the House Courts of Justice Civil subcommittee.

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, introduced SB 1434, which is in the Senate Courts Civil subcommittee.

This article can be found at:
http://valawyersweekly.com/vlwassembly/2009/01/23/term-limits-for-the-chief-justice/

and,

THE VIRGINIA LAWYERS WEEKLY
Judicial evaluation program still in limbo

By Alan Cooper
January 15th, 2009

The judicial performance evaluation reports of the first five judges to go through the process remain sealed today after the House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees were unable to decide how to handle them.

The Supreme Court of Virginia has given the evaluations to the chairmen of the committees but issued an order that they could not release the reports to anyone other than legislators.

Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, said that created the possibility that he could be held in contempt or even jailed if the reports circulated more widely.

Some committee members sharply questioned the authority of the court to order legislators to do anything.

House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and Del Terry G. Kilgore, R-Scott, met yesterday with Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell, and he said they assured him that legislators had nothing to fear from citing the reports in evaluating judges for reappointment.

His concerns were abiding by assurances to judges that the reports would be confidential and ensuring that they would not be circulated and used to create comparisons among individual judges, Griffith and Scott said.

Del. William H. Fralin Jr., R-Roanoke, said the legislature might have made a mistake in delegating the evaluation program to the judicial branch. Legislators, not judges, select judges and should develop their own information, he said.

Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, noted that the enabling legislation says nothing about confidentiality. “The statute doesn’t limit access to the information,” Stolle said. “I want it.” He said it was unfortunate that the court had intruded on legislative prerogatives and just as unfortunate that the General Assembly appears to be allowing the intrusion.

The meeting ended with Albo’s comment that he was returning the evaluations to the court. “Anyone who wants to pursue this further will have to deal the Supreme Court themselves,” he said.

This article can be found at:
http://valawyersweekly.com/vlwassembly/2009/01/15/judicial-evaluation-program-still-in-limbo

*Please Urge
DaveAlbo@aol.com to Institute Term Limits for ALL State Judges. -VW

[This post was first published on 25 February 2009]

. . .
ADDENDA

Judicial evaluation program is dead

By Alan Cooper
March 16, 2009

The Supreme Court of Virginia’s judicial evaluation program apparently is dead.

The General Assembly cut the money for the JPE program from the 2009-10 budget, and Virginia Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr. says the court system is “in the process of winding up” the work remaining... more

This article can be found at:
http://www.valawyersweekly.com/weeklyedition/2009/03/16/judicial-evaluation-program-is-dead/

LOOKING FOR LENIENCY in the Cases of Va. Mothers Lowell, Lewis/Deal-Striking Delegate's Newest Charitable Cause Has History of Risky, Reckless Rulings

.....
“Albo noted that under this arrangement essentially the judge will serve five more months on the bench than he would have had.” -Virginia Lawyers Weekly on Feb. 20, 2009

[READER COMMENT Feb. 5, 2009] Hey, well, let's try this: try reviewing the many cases where the VA Court of Appeals and VA Supreme Court have over-turned Judge Finch for errors of law, blatantly ignoring the statute or being ignorant of it. Try also Lewis v. Hyman, a public record - Judge Finch gave custody of a small child to a man with a live-in drug addicted girlfriend who also had a DUI. Why? He thought the mom had diabetes and 4 kids and therefore, the dad's house would be more "structured" and the dad could spend more individual time with the kid than the mother could. Ergo, Judge Finch gives the child to the dad and she lives in the home of a drug addict. My guess is Judge Annunziata's crazy opinion upholding the Lewis v Hyman decision at the Court of Appeals will be carefully reviewed by the COJ Committee next time she is up for re-appointment. She had a little trouble last time with her re-appointment, one would think she might have learned but I guess not.

SHARP STICKS
UPDATE: More pitchforks against Judge Finch
POSTED February 5, 2009 / 12:05 AM

More people are speaking out about the treatment they received at the hands of Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Gaylord Finch, who is up for reappointment by the Virginia General Assembly. The following statement was sent to members of the Virginia Courts of Justice Committee by a former Fairfax County resident who now lives in Chicago:

Please vote against Judge Gaylord Finch when you cast your vote. My husband and I lost our infant son to the SARS viral infection in 1975. We were devastated. In November 1983, we lost our five-year-old daughter Rebecca to Judge Gaylord Finch’s judicial tyranny.

When a parent's parental rights are terminated, it is the equivalent of the death sentence. It is also the most cruel and unjust punishment to both a parent and a child. When it is done to a parent, it is as good as saying the parent is dead in the eyes of state, even when there is no death certificate issued with our names on it. To the child, it really is cruel. Because the state is creating essentially a "legal" orphan.

Judge Finch ignored the recommendation of the child development experts who had evaluated our little girl. Judge Finch violated our due process rights, terminated our parental rights, and allowed the state to put her up for adoption.

This was against the law since we were fit parents and it was also contrary to Rebecca’s best interests. The child developmental specialists recommended that under no circumstances should Rebecca ever be placed up for adoption and removed from her "natural" family. They stated that if this happened, most likely Rebecca would never be accepted or able to live up to what her adoptive parents would expect of her. Their prediction came true.

Rebecca was placed in her adoptive home at the age of five. Even at that time, she knew who her mother and father were. She constantly asked where her mother was, but her adoptive parents tried to reprogram her thinking, saying they were her parents - not Roy and me. She suffered many psychological problems as a result.

Shortly after Rebecca turned 21, she contacted me after she was placed in a live-in campus program for learning disabled students by her adoptive parents. She first called me in September of 1999; she was crying and I had to calm her down. A year later, on September 27, 2000, I took a Greyhound bus to Des Moines, Iowa and I was reunited with Rebecca after 16 long years.

We got our pictures taken and the next thing we both did was send a letter to Judge Gaylord Finch of the Fairfax County Circuit Court and the two social wreckers who destroyed our happy home lives and ruined my marriage. Our letter stated: “You thought you could keep us apart. You thought you won, but you won nothing. We are back together and nothing will ever separate us again.”

We signed our names and I also sent them the picture of Rebecca and I together after 17 years of being separated. When a parent's rights are unjustly terminated, the parent will never get over the loss of the child. It is worse than death.

I beg you, please vote against Judge Gaylord Finch when you cast your vote.

-Karissa Anne Lowell
Chicago, Illinois

… Gaylord Finch is a Horrible Judge who frequently closed his eyes and appeared not to pay attention during my appeal. He is incapable of making and independent decision. His decision was based solely on the GAL’s recommendation (which was biased) and the original Juvenile Case Judge, who is now Gaylord’s colleague in the Civil Court. Furthermore, the former GAL is now a Juvenile Case Judge. I wonder if they are golfing buddies. Ultimately, my daughter was placed in an environment where doing drugs and drinking regularly are acceptable behaviors. The live in girlfriend, of her father, was convicted of a DUI and possession of marijuana, at age 46. The appeal was denied contingent upon the girlfriend submitting to randomized drug testing. Am I missing something? Isn’t the girlfriend a third party? I am a loving mother and pray daily that nothing horrible happens to my precious daughter …
-Amanda Lewis in Reader Comments on Feb. 12, 2009

This article can be found at:
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/SharpSticks/UPDATE-More-pitchforks-against-Judge-Finch39100007.html

[This post was first published on 23 February 2009]

. . .
ADDENDA

Letters to the Editor
February 18, 2009

Re: “Judicial hot potato: Is Judge Finch fried?” [Feb. 2]

Thanks for including my case in your article. Judge Finch placed my 9-year-old daughter in an environment where doing drugs and drinking alcohol are acceptable behaviors. I have been heartbroken over this verdict and worry about my daughter's welfare daily. Gaylord Finch is a horrible judge who frequently closed his eyes and appeared not to pay attention during my appeal. His lazy decision was based solely on the recommendations of another Fairfax County judge and the guardian ad litem, who is now a juvenile judge, too. I support my family as a registered pediatric nurse free of government assistance. I also became a foster parent to a teenage boy, now grown. The irony is that I am good enough to be a foster parent and a pediatric nurse, but according to the Fairfax court system, I am incapable of raising my own child! Thank you so much for exposing this corrupt judge. If something does happen to my daughter, I will hold him accountable.

-Amanda Lewis
Locust Grove, Virginia


OPINION
Judicial hot potato: Is Judge Finch fried?

By Barbara Hollingsworth
Examiner Columnist / February 2, 2009

A rare pitchfork rebellion has derailed the reappointment of longtime Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Gaylord Finch, one of just two judges among 60 incumbents who were not reappointed to new terms by the Virginia General Assembly.
Finch supporters say that complaints lodged against him are just sour grapes by bitter people who lost in court. Of course, the corollary is that beneficiaries of a rigged process seldom complain.
It takes a pretty powerful sense of grievance to drive down to Richmond and face public ostracism for criticizing a veteran judge. The inherent difficulties tend to weed out most of the frivolous accusations.
And the accusations made by litigants who stepped up to condemn the former Domestic and Juvenile Relations Court judge at two recent public hearings were anything but frivolous.
They told members of the Courts of Justice Committee that Judge Finch did not follow basic legal procedures or consider their cases with due diligence, violated their constitutional rights on occasion and even failed to obey state statutes.
Taken as a whole, the accusations go far beyond individual angst over adverse rulings and speak directly to arrogant and injudicious behavior on the bench.
Elected legislators appoint judges in Virginia and can block reappointment of those who don’t measure up. However, this legislative check on the judiciary is seldom exercised. Most part-time legislators are full-time attorneys who have little incentive to anger judges they may someday have to appear before.
For a veteran judge like Finch, the General Assembly holds hearings – described by one observer as a “five-minute lovefest” - before certifying the incumbent as qualified. After a simultaneous majority vote in both houses, the judge is approved for another term. But the Northern Virginia delegation held back Judge Finch’s certification after hearing from angry citizens on December 11 and January 10:
* Judge Finch was recorded telling committee members that he was assigned to Pascale v. Fairfax County School Board - a controversial school redistricting case – just “ten minutes” before trial although court records show that he was assigned the landmark case on June 12, 2008 – a full three weeks earlier.
Angry parents claim that Judge Finch “rubber-stamped the decision of the School Board...without providing any reasoning or analysis for his decision” – as required by state law.
* An Arlington man says Judge Finch denied him due process by not allowing him to present evidence to the jury during his trial on trespassing charges, which were later dropped on appeal, for attending a 2005 party at his disabled son’s Fairfax County school. All of the defendant’s motions were mysteriously missing from the official record of action, even though they appear in a list sent to the appellate court.
* A Herndon man says Judge Finch ordered him to hand over more than $60,000 to a former Fairfax Bar Association president acting as a guardian-ad-litem and refused to issue a final ruling in his case for more than three years, instead of the required 21 days, forcing him to pay more than $200,000 in legal fees. After complaining to the chief judge, his case was finally settled on January 8.
* Court records also show that in 2007, Judge Finch took a six-year-old girl away from her single working mother and four siblings and awarded custody to the first grader’s father - "contingent" on his live-in girlfriend, who had previous drug and DUI convictions, passing random drug testing.
When another former litigant requested a copy of Finch’s Judicial Performance Evaluation, the state’s Division of Legislative Services told her via email: “Judge Finch is not one of the judges for whom the legislature received a JPE this year.” So on what basis are committee members considering his reappointment?
Citizens deserve to know before they’re subjected to Judge Finch’s questionable judgment for another eight years.
Barbara F. Hollingsworth is The Washington Examiner’s local opinion editor. She can be reached by email at: bhollingsworth@dcexaminer.com.
. . .

FAREWELL TOUR FOR FINCH? Unpopular Judge Says He Will Quit Bench in 6 Months. Iffy Reappointment Hinges on Gentlemen’s Agreement, Supreme Court Writs.

.....
The Virginia General Assembly votes Wednesday on whether to confirm the reappointment of Judge Gaylord Finch for another eight years on the Fairfax County Circuit Court bench. The Courts of Justice in a joint house and senate committee meeting set for today is expected to certify Judge Finch for reelection despite fierce opposition (Haring and Hayward and Lowell and Lewis) from members of the electorate. Writs were filed in the Supreme Court of Virginia just two days ago in protest of an iffy reappointment that would appear to hinge on a gentlemen’s agreement between Judge Finch, House Courts of Justice Chairman Dave Albo and Senate Courts of Justice Chairman Henry Marsh.

In a statement issued on February 2, 2009, incumbent judge Gaylord Finch announced his plans to leave the bench by January 1, 2010. Page 10, however, in the Petition for Writ of Prohibition and Writ of Mandamus (petition and memorandum) submitted by Ms. Liz Haring (speech) of Leesburg reads:

“On February 11, 2009, Del. Albo chaired a meeting of the local delegation in Richmond, VA. Del. Albo read a letter dated February 2, 2009 by Judge Finch stating he intends to retire on December 31, 2009. Del. Albo made a motion to certify Judge Finch with the understanding that Judge Finch would retire six months into his new term. Del. Albo’s motion was seconded and passed.”

Ms. Haring further asserts,

“Del. Albo’s motion was unlawful and procedurally defective insofar as the Virginia Code and Virginia Constitution do not allow for a conditional re-appointment of a circuit court judge nor do they allow for a term shorter than eight years.” [emphasis added]

On December 14, 2008, Del. Albo received an inquiry on the subject of judge removal and retirement benefits: “Would any judge not reappointed under the authority of the General Assembly 'Courts of Justice' lose retirement benefits?”

Click to read Mr. Albo’s answer. Hardly “clear and convincing.”

A “conditional reappointment” would merely serve the purpose of preserving the dignity and resources of an undeserving judge.

Therefore, victims of wayward judging in Virginia remain firmly opposed to a Farewell Tour for Finch.

. . .
ADDENDA

SHARP STICKS
UPDATE: Finch flap now before VA Supreme Court
POSTED February 19, 2009 / 11:33 AM

The pitchfork rebellion over the reappointment of Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Gaylord Finch to another eight-year term is not over, despite a thumbs up by the Northern Virginia delegation and an almost certain vote in his favor by the Courts of Justice Committee chaired by Del. Dave Albo, R-Springfield.

Liz Haring, a Leesburg mom who is currently appealing Judge Finch’s ruling in her custody case, filed a petition with the Virginia Supreme Court Wednesday, asking the commonwealth’s highest court to stop legislators from proceeding with Finch’s reappointment process.

In documents filed with the court, Haring points out that state law requires that “the Supreme Court, or its designee, shall transmit a report of the evaluation in the final year of the term of each justice and judge whose term expires during the next session of the General Assembly to the chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.”

Haring alleges that Linda Birtley, who heads the Judicial Performance Evaluation office at Virginia Commonwealth University, submitted JPEs for other judges on Aug. 28, 2008 – but curiously not one for Judge Finch. The petition argues that absent Finch’s JPE, which is required by the Virginia Code, Albo and his fellow COJ members have no legal authority to recertify him.

Haring also asks that the evaluation done by the Fairfax Bar Association, which is not required by state law, be made a matter of public record since it was discussed during Finch’s Jan. 10 judicial interview – and none of the legislators present made a proper motion to hold a closed meeting as required by Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.

Finally, Haring argues that Albo had no constitutional authority to accept a letter submitted to the Supreme Court by Finch himself – which states that he intends to retire at the end of 2009 – as a condition of the judge’s recertification. There is no provision in the Virginia Constitution to appoint a judge for less than eight years or make his/her reappointment conditional on a promise to retire, Haring claims, so there is no way to enforce Finch’s promised retirement if he gets back on the bench.

The petition asks for relief in the form of a complete JPE to be submitted to the members of Courts of Justice and another public interview of Finch - with more public testimony allowed. It’s hard to see how the Virginia Supreme Court can say no to what amounts to a citizen’s insistence that the court follow its own procedures.

This article can be found at:
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/SharpSticks/UPDATE-Finch-flap-now-before-VA-Supreme-Court-39849982.html

[This post was first published on 20 February 2009]

‘HARING AND HAYWARD’ THE REASONABLE VOICES OF TWO FIT-LOVING-NONOFFENDING MOTHERS URGE GA TO DEBENCH JUDGES WHO FAIL TO APPLY THE LAW Finch Under Fire


[READER COMMENT] Pitchfork Rebellion Against Judge Finch. Mr. Albo (Delegate Dave Albo of Albo & Oblon LLP) should step down as Chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee. Or he should close down his trial law practice. I am not suggesting that he is a bad chairman and that he is a bad attorney. I am only insisting that the conflict of interest created when the same person is in both roles is clear and should no longer be tolerated by the people of Virginia: A litigating legislator should not control judicial hiring and firing. (Nor should lawyers make laws.) Virginia will see improved judging--and better laws on the books--when it finally prohibits litigating legislators from picking people to occupy the bench. (At least South Carolina has an independent merit selection committee too.) -VW-

By Veronique Wyvell
MGBB Blogger
Friday, December 12, 2008

Finch under fire? Yes. And he is not the only judge feeling the heat. Citizens arrived early yesterday and stayed. Most people came to observe, but many came to confront their judge. Some presenters were lawyers, most were not.

Mothers spoke. Mothers spoke of wayward judging. They spoke of feeling robbed of their right to parent. They spoke of feeling robbed of their right to parent well.

The General Assembly Building saw a stubborn crowd of dedicated observers and forceful speakers yesterday in House Room C. Senate and house members of the Courts of Justice Committee saw challenge from a very patient citizenry eager to participate in this year’s “Judicial Interviews of Incumbents.” Citizen-consumers of legal services had things they wanted say about judges they deemed unfit, and the day was barely long enough to accommodate them all. The event lasted until almost 7:00 p.m. We normally go home by 3:30 or 4:00; I know because I am a “regular” at this event.

“Judicial Interviews” is a component of the judicial re-appointment process. Interviews are annual and often scheduled for December. They are open to the public, a fact that is not so open to the public. I have attended “Judicial Interviews” every year since 2006. Four events in all. Each event has rarely attracted more than about four members of the general public.

Not so, yesterday.

From the contingent of fit, loving, non-offending mothers who traveled to Richmond on December 11, 2008, we heard an especially poignant presentation delivered by the mother of Chrissy. Elizabeth “Liz” Haring of Leesburg, Virginia, testified before Chairman Delegate Dave Albo and his Courts of Justice to oppose the re-appointment of Judge Gaylord Finch for another term.

Ms. Haring was joined by Wei Wilson of Merrifield, Virginia. Aggrieved mother Ms. Wilson also voiced her concern that Judge Finch is both incompetent and unprofessional.

Readers may listen now to the speech by Ms. Haring urging the removal of Mr. Finch from the Fairfax County circuit bench:

Please simply click on a mother’s appeal.

And from the same contingent of fit, loving, non-offending mothers, we have testimony from Sherry Hayward of Stafford, Virginia. Her message is written:

Please find it here…

What can I do to help?

By Sherry Hayward
MGBB Contributor

Dear Members of the Virginia House of Delegates, Members of the Senate of Virginia, and Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia Timothy Kaine:

I write to you all seeking your assistance, guidance, answers and solutions. As you all are aware Virginia's Juvenile and Domestic Relations court is severely broken, which is why I suspect the judicial interviews went about two hours over schedule. Not that this process of reappointment was highly publicized but people still seemed to come out of the woodwork to speak in opposition of these judges being reappointed to the bench. I agree with all of you, this was an extremely long day and for most of us who came to speak and observe, a mentally exhausting one. We too had two plus hours of driving time ahead us. Delegate Albo, I too would have preferred to be at home with my spouse, however, this process was just too important to miss, as it was for the many others who made that long trip to Richmond. As those of you who attended all saw this is not just a small handful of people, but many who are and have had the misfortune of experiencing the blatant judicial misconduct by Virginia judges. Who knows how many there really are. It shouldn't really matter how many or how few for someone to stand up and put a stop to this injustice. Many victims are unaware of who and where to go to for help. Many more are so severely beaten down and maimed by these judges and barratrous attorneys that they have simply given up. They have lost all faith in this system. I ask you, How could this system that was put in place to protect destroy and shatter so many? Protective, non offending parents are being slaughtered everyday in Virginia's courtrooms.

I have to question a parent's true love for their child when that parent alienates and severs all contact with the other parent and is willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so. Shouldn't a well-educated judge question the same? Shouldn't you all question the judgment of that presumably well-educated judge who does not?

I read in Virginia Code Section 20-124.3, Paragraph 6, where it is stated: "The propensity of each parent to actively support the child's contact and relationship with the other parent, including whether a parent has unreasonably denied the other access to or visitation with the child." When a judge pretends to not see the obvious and allows one parent to, without evidence, viciously attack the other parent time and time again in the courtroom as an attempt to slander that parent, is that judge not ignoring Paragraph 6? I ask you, Is such a judge really acting in the best interest of an innocent child? I realize the financial motivation in attorneys who repeatedly orchestrate these ambushes of the other side, the financially weakest side that often has no attorney and therefore cannot properly defend against the false accusations and outright barratry.

Enough is enough! Innocent children are being destroyed and protective parents are being slaughtered and Virginia judges are allowing it to happen. These judges are jailing innocent, honorable parents who are simply unable to pay the absurd amounts of child support imposed on them. They are being jailed for not having enough money to pay the awarded attorneys fees, fees of up to one thousand dollars for five minutes in a courtroom, imposed on them. I have seen bail money seized to pay attorney fees. These people are not criminals, they're just parents. Parents fighting for their children, fighting for their right to just be a parent. Who would have ever thought that in this "GREAT NATION" anyone would have to fight for that. Our Virginia state flag, displayed in all of our courtrooms and in so many of our government agencies, proudly bears the message: "Sic Semper Tyrannis." I ask you, Who are the real tyrants here?

I lost my right to be a parent five years ago in front of Circuit Court Judge Ann Hunter Simpson, a cohort of the sleazy Tandy B. Rinehart of Rinehart, Lowery, Strentz and Butler, PLC, based on nothing but false allegations about my parenting ability and slanderous fabrications made by both the father of my child and his attorney Tandy Rinehart. I have fought since then not to deprive my daughter of her father but to simply have equal parenting time. At one point in my fight I even lost my right to work and in the same hearing Judge Gerald F. Daltan increased my child support by more than three times. I ask you, Does $ 477.00 per month sound right for someone earning $ 29,000.00 per year. Not to mention I still had another child at home to care for. Yes, a sixteen-year-old whose own world, by the way, came crashing down with the emotional trauma from losing her baby sister. Since Judge Simpson's decision, in 2004, to remove my youngest from my care, transferring custody to her narcissistic father and the 65-year-old nanny hired by him, my once well-adjusted, bright, happy child now struggles in school and has had to attend summer school just to pass elementary school. Now that she is in middle school, she has deteriorated even more. She currently has four Fs and one C. She has been prescribed a wide variety of ADD drugs, but, despite this, she continues to fail. Five of her friends were just expelled from school for drugs. These are 7th graders, these are 12-year-olds! I think you can see where I'm going. Something has to change before it's too late. Despite my efforts, I see my child four days a month only during the school year because judges have placed her with a father they deem "the better parent." A trial eighteen-months-ago to modify custody due to changed circumstances failed. In that trial, my judge, Stafford County Judge Daltan, did not apply the law in the same way that Fairfax County Judge Finch did not apply the law in the custody modification case of Ms. Liz Haring. Ms. Haring is one mother who testified on December 11, 2008, during the interviews of judges up for re-appointment conducted by house and senate members of the Courts of Justice.

Nor do the lawyers I hire thoroughly and aggressively apply the law. For example, I only recently became aware of "§ 18.2-49.1. Violation of court order regarding custody and visitation; penalty":

A. Any person who knowingly, wrongfully and intentionally withholds a child from either of a child's parents or other legal guardian in a clear and significant violation of a court order respecting the custody or visitation of such child, provided such child is withheld outside of the Commonwealth, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
B. Any person who knowingly, wrongfully and intentionally engages in conduct that constitutes a clear and significant violation of a court order respecting the custody or visitation of a child is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor upon conviction of a first offense. Any person who commits a second violation of this section within 12 months of a first conviction is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor, and any person who commits a third violation occurring within 24 months of the first conviction is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.


A friend who is not a lawyer told me about § 18.2-49.1. My own attorney had never even mentioned it, preferring instead to file civil show causes that really are worse than useless and very expensive. Whereas, a criminal filing for the same offense is free and, I understand, very effective.

The father of my child is guilty of numerous violations of the visitation order. The father of my child is guilty of derelict and defective parenting: my daughter has become dangerously withdrawn. Her grades are down. I have married again. But in the eyes of the court it would appear nothing is enough to qualify as "material changes in circumstances." Here, where I live in Stafford County, where barratrous substitute judge and trial lawyer Tandy Rinehart and friends reign, justice is nothing short of tyrannical.

Again, I write you all and ask for guidance, answers and solutions. I ask for intervention. Specifically, What do you need from me that will help you change these outcomes and help you fix the problem? What do you need from me to help you investigate my case and the cases of all the other mothers similarly aggrieved?

What can I do to help?

Respectfully yours,

Sherry Hayward
Stafford, Virginia
703-655-2223
http://staffordcountyvirginiacourts.blogspot.com

Monday, December 1, 2008

AJA Suggests Evidence Clear and Convincing Mothers Weaver and Wilson Victims of 'Myth of Epidemic False Allegations of Sexual Abuse in Divorce Cases'

.....
“Mothers of sexually abused children experience many conflicts and difficulties in our present system.”

--Merrilyn McDonald for Court Review, a publication of the AMERICAN JUDGES ASSOCIATION*

It is commonly believed that false allegations of sexual abuse in the context of divorce are epidemic, that most allegations made in the context of divorce are made by vindictive mothers and that these allegations are almost always false. These beliefs are not supported by scientific evidence…

Read more 8

Cynthia Weaver appeal “without merit” said the Virginia Court of Appeals in July 2006

“Cynthia Weaver (mother) appeals an order of the trial court changing custody of the parties' twin children to Richard Lloyd (father). She contends ‘the trial court erred in determining that when [mother], in good faith reported allegations made by her children that their father had sexually abused them, a material change of circumstances had occurred and [mother] had alienated the children's affection from their father.’”

…we affirm the trial court

Read more 8

Tina Wilson appeal “lacks merit” said the Virginia Court of Appeals in December 2007

“Tina Wilson, mother, appeals from the trial court's decree modifying child custody and visitation. On appeal, mother contends the trial court abused its discretion in awarding James O. Epley, father, sole legal and physical custody of their minor child. Mother also argues the trial court improperly considered certain evidence.…Much of the evidence presented addressed allegations that father had sexually and physically abused the child….[I]n their opinion the child was being coached.”

...we affirm the judgment of the trial court

Read more 8

*The American Judges Association: "The objective and purpose of the Association is: to promote and improve the effective administration of justice; to maintain the status and independence of the judiciary; to provide a forum for the continuing education of its members and the general public; and for the exchange of new ideas among all judges."

… Another study looked at 96 custody and visitation cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse from 33 states … No father lost custody to a mother when the father alleged that someone in the mother’s household was the alleged abuser …
-Eileen King of Justice For Children

and,

... Among false allegations, fathers are far more likely than mothers to make intentionally false accusations (21% compared to 1.3%) ...
-ABA in 10 Myths about Custody and Domestic Violence

[This post was originally published on 11 February 2009]

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

STAFFORD COUNTY JUDGE J. MARTIN BASS AWARDS 9-MONTH-OLD TO FATHER WHO TESTIFIED ‘I DON’T WANT THE KID, I JUST DON’T WANT [THE MOTHER] TO HAVE HER’*

__________
____________________
______________________________
The full story from Ms. Sherry Hayward,
at Judicial Corruption:

http://staffordcountyvirginiacourts.blogspot.com/2009/05/stafford-county-judge-martin-bass.html

*Judge Gerald F. Daltan, Judge Julian W. Johnson, Judge David F. Peterson, Judge Phillip U. Fines, Judge Larry E. Gilman, Judge Patricia Kelly, Judge Michael McKenney for the Stafford Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and Judge J. Martin Bass, Judge Charles S. Sharp, Judge David H. Beck, Judge Joseph J. Ellis, Judge Overton Harris, Judge Horace A. Revercomb, Judge Harry T. Taliaferro, Judge Gordon F. Willis for the Stafford Circuit Court

[This post was first published on 12 May 2009]

The JUDICIAL CORRUPTION Blog Reports: Judge Laura L. Dascher Denies Observers Access Into Courtroom, Leaving No Witnesses To Her Massacre

...
Stafford County - On April 2nd, 2009 in the Waynesboro Juvenile & Domestic Relations courtroom of Judge Laura Dascher observers to the proceeding were forbidden entry. Dascher said "juvenile proceedings are closed." Neither side objected to the presence of an observer, only Judge Dascher. She wanted no witnesses to her treacherous conduct while she jailed a pro se litigant, a mother from Waynesboro… more

This article can be found at:
http://staffordcountyvirginiacourts.blogspot.com/

[This post was first published on 3 April 2009]

Thursday, November 6, 2008

M. KEITH BLANKENSHIP CONVICTED NEW RIVER VALLEY JUDGE WHO RESIGNED AFTER SEVEN MONTHS ON PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE OPENS LAW OFFICE IN WYTHEVILLE

...
The judge ruled Blankenship pay a $100 fine and suspended his driver’s license for a year. In the meantime, defense attorney Mike Barbour says he’ll remain on paid administrative leave until all legal matters are resolved. Barbour is also representing Blankenship in a separate hit and run case in Powhatan County. [SOURCE: NRV judge’s DUI charge reduced to reckless driving]

Former convicted judge opens new law practice in Wytheville

BY NATE HUBBARD
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICES
February 9, 2009

M. Keith Blankenship may no longer have a seat on the bench at the Wythe County Courthouse, but he’s not tossing aside his law expertise just yet.
Blankenship, who resigned his position as a 27th Judicial District juvenile court judge on Dec. 31, 2008, after pleading guilty to multiple driving-related offenses last year stemming from two separate incidents, has opened up a private law practice in downtown Wytheville.
According to town of Wytheville Treasurer Michael Stephens, Blankenship submitted his business license paperwork Thursday afternoon after requesting an application in late January.
Blankenship, 44, is operating his practice at 275A W. Main St., in an office adjacent to Counts Drug and the local headquarters of state Del. Anne Crockett-Stark, R-Wytheville, who coincidentally is at work in Richmond this month to appoint a replacement to Blankenship’s vacated judgeship.
On Thursday afternoon, the 275A W. Main St. office had Blankenship’s name and a law scales logo painted on the storefront and an “open” sign hung on the front door.
When contacted last week, a woman who answered the phone at the office said Blankenship didn’t wish to comment on his new practice.
Prior to becoming a judge in July 2005, Blankenship served as an assistant prosecutor in Wythe and Smyth counties and then as Wythe County’s commonwealth’s attorney beginning in 2000.
Despite his legal troubles last year, Blankenship voluntarily resigned his judgeship and a search of Blankenship’s name in public disciplinary records on the Virginia State Bar’s Web site returned no infractions.
In an Enterprise story in November 2008 regarding renovations to downtown Wytheville, Richlands attorney Shea Cook said he was planning to open a satellite office at 275 W. Main St.Cook said Friday morning that he instead decided to lease the space to Blankenship and may consider purchasing additional property in Wytheville for his own practice, which often brings him to the Wythe County Courthouse.
“I’ve known Keith for a number of years,” Cook said. “My expectation is that he’s going to have a thriving practice there before too long.”
Although Cook is leasing the space to Blankenship and 275 W. Main St. was listed on Cook’s Web site Friday morning as one of the two locations of his law practice, he said his practice and Blankenship’s business are separate entities. Blankenship’s name wasn’t listed anywhere on Cook’s Web site.
“I’m his landlord,” Cook said.
Like many Southwest Virginia lawyers, Cook operates a general practice and he said he expects Blankenship to do the same, although he added that Blankenship hasn’t discussed the exact nature of his business plans with him.
Stephens also said Blankenship’s business license does not reference the details of his law practice.
According to an October 1999 Enterprise story featuring Blankenship’s Wythe County commonwealth’s attorney campaign as the Republican candidate, he is a Tazewell County native and graduate of King College and the University of Virginia Law School.
An online UVa Law School newsletter lists Blankenship as member of the Class of 1993.
“I’ve always known Keith to be a very effective and competent attorney,” Cook said, adding that he’d say that even if Blankenship wasn’t his tenant. “My hope and my expectation is that he will do well.”
Cook said all attorneys face challenges in starting their own practices, but he said Blankenship is well-connected in the Wytheville area and should be able to quickly build up a client base.
Multiple Wytheville-based attorneys either declined comment or failed to return messages seeking their opinion on Blankenship’s new business or their insight into the process of developing a private law practice.
Current Wythe County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald Mabe, who also serves as president of the Wythe County Bar Association, said a private law practice takes plenty of business skills along with legal aptitude.
“Running a law practice is a lot like just running any other business,” Mabe said.
The Wytheville-Wythe-Bland Chamber of Commerce lists eight Wytheville-based law firms, many with more than one attorney. A phonebook search also shows many other attorneys with offices in the area who are not Chamber members.
Blankenship hadn’t submitted paperwork to join the Chamber as of Thursday afternoon, said Jennifer Jones, the business group’s executive director.
State Del. Bill Carrico, R-Grayson County, said Wednesday morning that the 27th Judicial District juvenile court judgeship vacancy has been certified, but that the General Assembly has not yet appointed anyone to Blankenship’s old seat.

Nate Hubbard can be reached at:
228-6611 or nhubbard@wythenews.com

This article can be found at:
http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/new_river_valley/article/former_convicted_judge_opens_new_law_practice_in_wytheville/27196/

Previous stories:
NRV judge’s DUI charge reduced to reckless driving 20 May 08
DUI charges sometimes reduced to guarantee convictions 20 May 08
Local judge in trouble with State Police again 5 May 08
Judge charged with DUI gets in more trouble in his car 3 May 08
Local Judge Charged with DUI 5 March 08
Judge charged with DUI 4 March 08

Blankenship saga begins on MGBB at:
SCOTT COUNTY JUDGE JAMES MICHAEL SHULL BUMPED FROM BENCH /Errant child custody-visitation jurist becomes fourth judge removed by Va. Supreme Court

[This post was originally published on 23 March 2009]

Monday, November 3, 2008

*December 11* is MOTHERS-PUT-THRU-THE-GARBAGE-DISPOSER-BY-WAYWARD-JUDGES-OF-THE-COMMONWEALTH-OF-VIRGINIA *AWARENESS DAY* ... Meetup in GA Building

!! Mothers-abused-by-judges !! Meetup on Thursday, December 11, 2008, in Richmond, General Assembly Building, House Room C, at 9:30 a.m.

Annual Event: Judicial Interviews of Incumbents

On 10 November 2008, in a Special Message from Ms. Felch: Any member of the public who wishes to speak on behalf of or against the reelection of a specific judge must contact Mary Kate Felch in advance to be added to the schedule.

On 12 November 2008, in a Special Message from Delegate David Albo: I have opened up the process of re-appointment to the public and unless anyone comes to complain, the judges usually get re-appointed. -Dave

Dear Mothers-abused-by-judges,

Did you know Virginia law promises “[t]he procedures for determining custody and visitation arrangements shall insofar as practical, and consistent with the ends of justice, preserve the dignity and resources of family members” (in § 20-124.2A)?

What shape is your dignity in today? How about your resources? Were your resources preserved by the judges who passed through your family case? Your dignity preserved by those judges?

12/11 The Perfect Forum for Mothers Mauled in the Virginia Judicial System. Please gather, whether or not your judges are slated for re-appointment, in Richmond for Judicial Interviews on Thursday, December 11, 2008, at 9:30 a.m., in House Room C of the General Assembly Building, because ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

{read a mother's letter addressed to House Courts of Justice Chairman Dave Albo...}

for your Courts of Justice Committee meeting notices...
MFelch@dls.virginia.gov for your meeting agendas...
ADDENDA

Who’s up in two thousand eight?
JUDICIAL INTERVIEWS OF INCUMBENTS YEAR 2008

Judge R. Larry Lewis
Judge Jerrauld C. Jones, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Louis A. Sherman, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge John R. Doyle, III, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Gwendolyn J. Jackson
Judge Bruce A. Wilcox
Judge Edward W. Hanson, Jr.
Judge Pamela E. Hutchens
Judge Robert L. Simpson, Jr.
Judge Deborah L. Rawls
Judge Louis R. Lerner
Judge Alfred O. Masters, Jr.
Judge Gary A. Mills
Judge Bryant L. Sugg
Judge Judith A. Kline
Judge David L. Williams
Judge Timothy S. Wright
Judge Rodham T. Delk, Jr.
Judge Samuel T. Powell, III
Judge Isabel H. AtLee
Judge C. Randall Lowe
Judge Gino W. Williams
Judge Robert C. Viar, Jr.
Judge James R. Swanson
Judge Jacqueline F. Ward Talevi
Judge J. Christopher Clemens, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Philip Trompeter
Judge Joseph W. Milam, Jr.
Judge Stacey W. Moreau
Judge J. Leyburn Mosby, Jr.
Judge William R. Light
Judge Donald M. Haddock
Judge Uley N. Damiani, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Benjamin N. A. Kendrick
Judge William T. Newman, Jr.
Judge Dorothy H. Clarke
Judge Gaylord L. Finch, Jr.
Judge Jane M. Roush
Judge David S. Schell, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Jan L. Brodie, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge William J. Minor, Jr.
Judge Thomas P. Sotelo, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Colleen K. Killilea
Judge Jeffrey W. Parker
Judge James V. Lane
Judge David S. Whitacre
Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr.
Justice Leroy F. Millette, Jr., Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Harry T. Taliaferro, III
Judge Charles S. Sharp, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Michael E. Levy, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge S. Anderson Nelson
Judge Jacqueline R. Waymack
Judge Pamela S. Baskervill
Judge James E. Hume
Judge Melvin R. Hughes, Jr.
Judge Gregory L. Rupe
Judge Birdie H. Jamison
Judge Cleo E. Powell, Pro Tempore Appointee
Judge Timothy J. Hauler
Judge Harold W. Burgess, Jr.
Judge Edward A. Robbins, Jr.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Mommies "keep their heads below the firing line" and "wait for the system to change"


[Mommy Go Bye-Bye, January 2008] WHAT ONE 'PRETEND MOMMY' IS DOING ABOUT MAKE-BELIEVE MOTIONS AND THE PETTIFOGGING SHYSTERS WHO DREAM THEM UP / BARRATRY OF NO BENEFIT TO OUR CHILDREN. Please know that you can file with the magistrate a Commonwealth of Virginia “DC-311 Criminal Complaint” form against the offending lawyer barrator. Or you can just put up with the pain in your neck and wait for the system to change. -VW-

Miscarriage of Justice
By awarding custody and visitation rights to abusive men, family courts transgress the rights of women and children

BY KARIN KIEWRA
HARVARD PUBLIC HEALTH REVIEW
Winter 2005

The 40 women came from towns across Massachusetts and from all walks of life, yet their stories were the same -- shocking tales of battering and harassment at the hands of abusive ex-partners. Long after separation or divorce, the women said, their torment continued, aided and abetted by judges who gave unsupervised visitation and custody of their children to violent and controlling men.

continued...

Friday, October 24, 2008

ABUSER UNDER PROTECTIVE ORDER GAINS CUSTODY IN Va. /Judge Robbins isolates, estranges toddler of credible mother for 'trying to excise the father out'

.....
For fit, loving, non-offending mothers in Virginia, learning to lie is key. Repeat after me, “He’s a fine person, a good man, and a wonderful father.” Write it in your interrogatories, say it in court, tell it to the child custody evaluator and the guardian ad litem. It’s the trick that will keep you in your child’s life when a narcissistic ex doesn’t want you there.

Think of it as passive resistance or protective parenting a-la-boycott. (more from WIKI)

Another honest mother in Virgina speaks out...


When I walked through the courtroom doors on October 20, 2008, I had no idea how my life was about to change forever.

A few months prior to this date I petitioned the court for an increase in child support. My child had begun attending a very expensive day care so the extra money was needed. In addition to my request to increase support, I filed a motion for sole custody. At the time I had FULL physical custody and joint legal custody, but it seemed impossible for me to keep up with the guidelines involved within the custody order because I had also been granted a protective order against my son’s father.

I also filed a motion for his current visitation schedule (which was every other weekend) to be changed to supervised visitation. I wanted the visitation to be supervised because of the repeated minor injuries my son would come home with weekend after weekend! I didn’t think he was being abused, but I did feel as if he was being neglected.

After receiving my motions in the mail, he went to the courthouse and filed a motion to lower the child support, a motion to increase visitation to where he would get him for a week and then I would get him for a week, and a motion for joint physical custody. I thought I was prepared for what the outcome of my case could possibly be. I had all of the documents I needed, including pictures of my son’s injuries that Nancy Stephens-White (my LAWYER) told me to bring. The pictures of the injuries included:

-Two busted lips (on 2 separate occasions)
-Approximately 50 flea bites covering his body
-Unexplainable deep/bloody scratches on his feet
-A rather large human bite mark on his arm
-Splinters in his feet
-Numerous bruises & bug bites


I thought that the worst thing that could happen would be that we end up with joint physical custody where he gets our son for 1 week and then I get him for 1 week. Even with that, I thought there was NO way any judge would order that because that’s unhealthy for the child. On October 20, 2008, a date that I will remember for the rest of my life, I lost complete custody of my beautiful 2 year old baby boy! My life, my best friend, my everything was just taken away from me after a brief two hour hearing.

Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Chief Judge Edward A. Robbins Jr. said I was trying to “excise” the father out of our son’s life--but that wasn’t true at all! I was trying to PROTECT the most precious thing to me on this earth. But when this manipulative sociopath gets up on stand and lies start pouring out of his mouth, Judge Robbins believes every word of it!

My son’s father got up on stand and fed Judge Robbins lie after lie!! He said that we did not answer the phone when he called my mom’s cell phone to get our son on Easter and Father’s Day (we share holidays upon mutual agreement). The thing is, he NEVER even tried to call on those days, or the days and weeks before these holidays. I have the Verizon phone records to prove that he never called. He also said that when our son was sick, I would call him and tell him that even though it’s his weekend to get him, he cannot get him because he is sick. Again, a lie! There were 2 times when my son had an illness that was very contagious to other young children for example, one time he had Croup…I called my child’s father and told him that he was very contagious and since he also has a 4 year old daughter by another woman, I wanted to let him know ahead of time so she wouldn’t get sick also! I was looking out for his daughter by giving him the option of getting our son, and risking getting his daughter sick also and then having 2 sick children at home, or just leaving him with me for the weekend. He thanked me for letting him know, and decided (both times) that he would just let me keep our son for his visitation weekend so his daughter didn’t get sick also. But, the judge believed every word that came out of his mouth. He and his parents both got up on stand and lied about almost everything! After he told these lies, my lawyer didn’t even object or anything! I sat there and listened to these bold faced lies and had NO CHANCE at all to rebut them! Why not? Why wasn’t I allowed to get back up on stand and tell my side (the TRUTH) of the story as to what really happened? He provided no evidence at all to prove that he tried calling on those holidays, he made up lies about me not letting him get his son for his visitation weekend because he was sick…and Judge Robbins believed EVERY WORD that came out of his mouth! IF I hadn’t let him get our son for his weekend, then he would have filed a show cause against me…but he never did! The judge apparently didn’t even think about that!

There are about 9 factors that describe the “best interest of the child” and 8 out of the 9 factors prove that the best interest of our child is to be with his mother. Factor #6 which states, “the propensity of each parent to actively support the child’s contact and relationship with the other parent, including whether a parent has unreasonably denied the other parent access to or visitation with the child,” is what Judge Robbins based his ruling on!!!

Judge Robbins NEVER took into consideration the fact that the father was restrained by a protective order because of the numerous violent attacks he has put me through, including attacks while I was pregnant.

When my son was about 3 weeks old, my whole family had gotten very sick with the stomach flu and I decided to let my child’s father keep him over night for 1 night, only because I was so sick I felt too weak to even carry him up and down the stairs. The next day when I went to pick him up, we got into a small argument and he THREW me onto the ground in front of my baby boy! Although he was too young to realize what was going on, I let my child’s father know that this was it! It was over, I was done with him! From that day on, my baby was with me every day and every night. I was up with him every time he woke up in the middle of the night to be fed, I changed every diaper, and I gave him all of the tender, loving care any baby could possibly need. Every time he fell asleep in my arms, I just let him there sleeping on my chest because I couldn’t put him down, I didn’t want to…I wanted to hold him all day…every day! We went to mediation when he was about 6 months old (up until then, my child’s father only saw him maybe once or twice every other week) and we agreed on me having full custody and us sharing legal custody, and a monthly child support payment of $400.

Today is February 4, 2009, and it has been 3 ½ months since this NIGHTMARE began; I have spent a total of 9 days with my son. There is no explanation for this considering the fact that during the 10 months prior to this nightmare, he spent approximately 235 days with me! Now, when I see my son every other weekend, I see just how much this really is affecting him. As we turn into the neighborhood we live in, he just keeps saying, “HOME!” And when he sees our house, he gets this huge smile from ear to ear that lights up his handsome little face! When he gets out of the car he looks at me, opens his arms up wide and says, “Hug Mama-HUG!” He then does the same thing to his Pop, Gram and his 2 uncles. He misses us so much and it kills me to see him this way! He knows when it’s time for him to go back to his father’s house on Sunday because he does the same thing every time; he says, “Bye bye?” And I say yes baby you’re going bye bye. He says, “Dada?” And I say, “Yes baby you’re going to your dada’s house,” and he says, “NOOOO! Mama!” he then wraps his arms around me and begins to cry! On the way home to his fathers house, he only says a few words and looks very depressed. I never thought a 2 YEAR OLD could be depressed…but he is. He has been ripped away from everything he has ever known since the day he was born. He was in a great routine with what day care he went to (he only went part time). His Grandma would pick him up from day care and take care of him the rest of the day until his Mommy got home. He was used to being around me, his grandparents and his uncles because that’s who was around him all day every day. It’s just not right to tear a 2 year old away from that…away from what he has known his whole life…what he knows as “home.” Judge Robbins seemed to have thought differently. Because of this mistake that has been made in Chesterfield County Juvenile & Domestic Relations court, my son and I--along with our whole family--are suffering tremendously!

Mothers: DO NOT let this happen to you! Before you hire a lawyer, find out as much information as you can about this person. Ask them about the cases they have won in the past, how much of their practice is within family law and any other questions you may have for them! I originally had a lawyer named Doug Weatherly, and as he was very busy at the time, he turned me over to one of his associate lawyers by the name of Nancy Stephens-White. I didn’t like her at all and I should have found a new lawyer before going to court, but the court date kept getting closer and closer. We got into little arguments because we disagreed on so many things and I felt as if she wasn’t there for ME! She pushed and pushed for me to bring in all these pictures of my son’s small “injuries,” she let me file 3 different motions on my child’s father including one for supervised visitation. I’ve been doing a lot of research ever since I lost custody and I have found out that the #1 thing that judges hate is for one parent to come in and talk about how the other parent is a worthless parent, and when they talk about these minor injuries! Unless it’s a broken bone, I wouldn’t risk showing pictures like these! My lawyer should have let me know that the judge would not like that, but she didn’t! She also should have let me know that me filing a motion for supervised visitation makes it look like I am trying to “excise” the father out of my son’s life…but she didn’t! She didn’t let me know any of these things. Instead, I read the many different websites that all tell you the exact same thing about what not to do while in court! Those 2 small pieces of advice would have helped me out in court tremendously if only I had a lawyer that was there for me, and was on MY side! Instead, it almost seemed like Nancy Stephens-White had partnered with Mary-Leslie Duty, the lawyer hired by the father of my son, to facilitate the change of custody.

If there is ANYONE out there who has any advice that would help me out, PLEASE contact me!

Thank you,
A.L.
Chesterfield, Virginia*

*Judge Edward A. Robbins, Judge Lynn S. Brice, Judge Harold W. Burgess, Judge Bonnie C. Davis, Judge Jerry Hendrick for the Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and Judge Michael C. Allen, Judge Herbert Cogbill Gill, Judge Timothy J. Hauler, Judge Frederick G. Rockwell for the Chesterfield Circuit Court

… resistance especially to a government or an occupying power characterized mainly by non-cooperation … -definition passive resistance

[This post was originally published on 7 February 2009]

Monday, October 13, 2008

HOW DO YOU EXPOSE NARCISSISM IN COURT DURING A CUSTODY BATTLE? WIKI ANSWERS

...
WikiAnswers.com

Question:

How do you expose narcissism in court during a custody battle?

Answer:

You don't.

For fit, loving, non-offending mothers in Virginia, learning to lie is key. Repeat after me, "He's a fine person, a good man, and a wonderful father." Write it in your interrogatories, say it in court, tell it to the child custody evaluator and the guardian ad litem. It's the trick that will keep you in your child's life when a narcissistic ex doesn't want you there.

Think of it as passive resistance or protective parenting a-la-boycott.

VW / Blogger / Mommy Go Bye Bye / McLean Virginia / 6 Apr 09

Answer:

Here are a few of the things the narcissist finds devastating, especially in a court of law...

Answer:

I found it best not to expose/accuse my ex to be Narcissistic and hence a bad father...

Answer:

Absolutely they can be exposed in court...

[click on pic for complete answers]

Friday, September 19, 2008

“my two boys lost their relationship with their father, not something I see as the best possible outcome, and not even what I was asking for” c.s.

.....
I spent almost 6 years and over $100,000 trying to protect my children from an angry, wealthy, vindictive sick ex who was diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, a fact which the judge decided was irrelevant to the entire case... As with anyone who has suffered almost unbelievable injustices, I want my experiences to make a difference somehow.

Dear Veronique,

I stumbled upon your "mommy go bye bye" site yesterday and want to share my story with you at some time. Will need to gather all relevant documents, but in a nutshell I spent almost 6 years and over $100,000 trying to protect my children from an angry, wealthy, vindictive sick ex who was diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, a fact which the judge decided was irrelevant to the entire case. From what I read on your site, you are certainly all too aware of what sorts of trauma this type of man can inflict upon his kids in order to punish his ex-wife. I was shocked at the failures of the legal system in my city - Newport News - to do much of anything to be proactive in figuring out the source of the problem - it took things getting to a critical state - meaning the physical and emotional abuse of my oldest son, before anyone wanted to take me seriously, and this only because my son was 17 and able to articulate finally for himself what the "real deal" was.
.....
“In the case of contentious divorce and custody situations
like that of Mark Castillo, the safety and well-being of children -- not the rights of parents -- should be paramount. Supervised visitation that assures the children's protection should be ordered when there is any margin of doubt.” more
.....
I have been wanting to become active in making changes to the legal system to protect women and children from having to go through what I went through. Many women do not have the financial resources - or the intestinal fortitude - to continue to fight endlessly, and I hate to think of what would have happened to my children if I had just given up and walked away. In May of 2007, the judge finally declared my ex "unfit to parent", much to my surprise, and terminated all visitation. But the fact that no counseling or further intervention was ordered left me a bit stunned, as essentially my two boys lost their relationship with their father, not something I see as the best possible outcome, and not even what I was asking for. I think it is imperative that they still have some sort of relationship with him, but he does not have the mental capacity to figure out how to do that and how to "fix" the problems that he himself has created; as with anyone with NPD, he is unlikely to seek help, and will continue to portray himself as the victim here - of both me and the legal system. So I am left to care for both boys 24/7, which has been a really good thing for them and for me (although exhausting!), but it seems that in some ways he is just off the hook with no repercussions for all he put us through. And who helps the family unit now? No one.

I also have a very shocking story about a GAL - and I see his name listed on your site. His name is Robert Long, and he was court appointed after my ex succeeded in having the first GAL (that I had requested) terminated abruptly via one phone call to the judge. After my first meeting with Mr. Long, I immediately contacted my attorney to report what had happened, and I filed charges against him with the Bar Association. However, I was told that because he wasn't MY attorney, I had no right to file charges against him. This man has no right to make decisions involving the best interest of the children - he is a frightening male chauvinist pig who I suspect was paid off by my ex-husband's very wealthy and influential family. Based on one conversation with me, and armed with "facts" given to him by my ex, he wrote a scathing report slamming me and recommending to the courts that the children be taken away from me and given to my ex. He was never asked to appear in court - just to submit his recommendations. I can send you the detailed report that I filed with the bar - I was stunned that this man was able to get away with his behavior - and I was left with a bill for over $2000 for that report! I tried to get a hearing with the judge to inform him of my experience with Mr. Long, and he refused to hear me. The good old boys network is indeed alive and well and THRIVING in Newport News.
.....
“‘He told me what would be worse is if he killed all of us.
Then he said actually worse than that would be if he killed the children and not me so that I would have to live without them,’ Ms. Castillo told Judge Joseph A. Dugan Jr. in an unsuccessful bid for an order of protection.” more

The other ridiculous thing that needs to be reviewed in Virginia is the use of written proffers regarding the best interest of the children. I got screwed from the start because of that stupid document. My ex-husband enlisted the help of his very vicious attorney to write his proffers; I had an attorney from Virginia Beach who was not even familiar with the document as it is not even used in his city. He encouraged me to be brief and sincere - needless to say, my ex-husband's was filled with lies and a total rewriting of history, extremely negative to say the least. I was a stay at home mom, kids making straight As in private school, I was on the PTA, the Board of Directors at the Synagogue, perfect wife and mom in every way - but I was nowhere to be seen in his proffers. I was stunned when the judge made his pendente lite decision based solely on what was written - no hearing took place, and that colored everything that happened for many years to come. There must be a better way to get the truth into a courtroom and surely judges know that relying on the written word as the first basis for decision-making is ludicrous.

Anyway, the good news is that my boys - now almost 19 and 16 - are doing well. Oldest is now in college at UNC Wilmington and youngest is making straight As at private school. They went through hell for years with endless custody battles, child protective services, police (that was a joke!), lawyers, court appearances (the youngest never had to testify thank goodness). I know that I am not the woman portrayed in court over and over again, that I have been unfailing in my devotion to these children, despite the vicious allegations of my ex-husband. The most frightening thing was that the judge on more than one occasion threatened to put the children in foster care rather than choose the "lesser of two evils", a ridiculous but nonetheless frightening (and insulting) thought.

As with so many of the stories I am sure you hear, I could go on and on about the injustices I suffered - and all at my expense, despite the fact that I haven't had a job since my first child was born and have had to deplete my property settlement in order to continue the fight (which is exactly what my ex wanted but why doesn't a judge see that? Why is he allowed to get away with it????). Court-ordered parenting evaluation at a cost of $1000 - plus an $850 appearance fee by the psychologist - and then the judge decided he didn't really want to give much weight to her report (which said in no uncertain terms that my ex has significant issues in parenting and that there was no doubt I was a good mother, etc etc).

What can I do to get involved with reform in the state of Virginia? Who will listen to my story and take it seriously? One other good thing - my sister was so appalled at my experiences that she is now a family law attorney in the state of North Carolina! So a few good things have come out of it.

As with anyone who has suffered almost unbelievable injustices, I want my experiences to make a difference somehow. The worst thing is feeling like you don't have a voice, and that is how I felt for so long, until the judge finally “got it”. He did have to get in a jab at me though as he made his ruling, stating that I came across as "unstable" - this because I struggled to hold back my tears in the courtroom during the hearing when my son recounted his latest episode of abuse at the hands of his father while my youngest listened from the other room ... weeks of trying to get someone to take this seriously had taken its toll and it was indeed an emotional and draining time. No one would issue a protective order because there weren't visible injuries - even the CPS worker who testified that my youngest was in her opinion, clearly "traumatized" by what he witnessed - but no protective order! She recommended I turn him over to my ex for visitation the following weekend - yeah right! I risked being in contempt rather than turning him over to a very sick man.
.....
“In October, [Judge] Mason found Amy Castillo in contempt of court for violating the July 2 visitation order and imposed a $2,500 fine, along with the possibility of a $500 fine for any future day when she denied the children's father visitation, court records show.” more

So when do women get applauded for fighting for their children, instead of having to be humiliated publicly for being "unstable"? When are men going to stop telling us to be "nice" in the courtroom, regardless of how unfairly we are being treated? My elderly but very experienced lawyer was continually trying to coach me to soften the edges a bit, which can be valid advice, but I explained to him that he was seeing a mama bear trying to protect her cubs, and that is rarely pretty if she has any strength at all.

Thank you for allowing me to share my story with you. Please let me know what you think I can do to help change things for other women in the state of Virginia, and especially here in Newport News. And thank you for your efforts. I am eager to learn more about what it is that you are doing.

Sincerely,
Newport News, Virginia*

PS - I have a bachelors degree from UVA in psych and religion, and am considering going back to school to get a Masters in Counseling so that I can "make lemonade out of my lemons". I am a voracious reader now of anything having to do with domestic abuse, mood disorders, etc.

*Judge Barry G. Logsdon, Judge Ronald Everett Bensten, Judge Thomas W. Carpenter, Judge Judith Anne Kline for the Newport News Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and Judge David F. Pugh, Judge H. Vincent Conway, Judge Timothy S. Fisher, Judge Aundria D. Foster, Judge Charles P. Tench for the Newport News Circuit Court.

... But what shocked me is in, as recently as October of '07, you were actually held in contempt and fined by the courts for keeping these children away from him. And it is -- it's -- as a professional, it's astounding to me that he could have such a psychiatric history, make the comment that he made to you at Christmas about hurting you -- hurting you by killing the children and then yet here you are getting fined by the court ...

... This domestic violence can wind up with these children being seriously injured or killed. And this is one of those cases where it just took place ... -Dr. Phil on CNN LARRY KING LIVE

[This post was originally published on 16 February 2009]

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

NOT TO MOTHERS LIKE US

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mailto:MomsHelpingMoms

Mary Galie*} I have discovered your blog and was wondering if you have faith in any of the lawyers in the system? Would you be able to suggest the name of one in FFX County. Seems there are many listed that mistreat women and favor abusers. Who do you suggest we approach in order to be taken seriously? My ex is still abusing me and the lawyers just keep it going. They want to keep you tangled up in the system and don't care. GAL is completely bought over by x. What does one do when they hit rock bottom with no money to fight any longer. Have you had any luck with going to the media? What do you suggest in stopping an x from alienation? Thanks.
fieldpainter@gmail.com / “Any Good Lawyers?” / 31Oct08
*Mary Galie is a lawyer, a father, a jurist or quite possibly an agent of the FBI. Mary Galie is not a mother-abused-by-judges. BE VIGILANT! Anyone can hide behind an electronic message. Use email to exchange telephone numbers only. -VW

Tessie Lipes} Hello, please tell me how I can help or get some justice…one of the judges, Jacqueline R. Waymack, took my daughter and I am a very fit mother and gave her to her father...my daughter has endured sexual assault, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and so much more. This judge has a history of doing this to fit mothers. I lost the case because the judge was previously engaged to my ex-husband's lawyer. I have proof of this and so much more. Please advise on what I need to do…
tlipes@gmail.com / “We need help” / 06Jul09

B} I just read your article/blog on Virginia judges, lawyers, Dr. Lane…I've been through it all…There are 4 children involved (now teenagers but still needing love, care, attention)…I just recently was attacked again (now financially) and may lose our little townhome. Would you be able to advise me, maybe, just give some suggestions on who I can turn to for help? I am so torn apart I can’t think straight anymore…All I ever hoped for was to be a good mom to my children. [Chris Lane PHD]
Ksca4stars@aol.com / “Desperate mother” / 18Jun09

K.M. Sykes} Good day, I have an ignited interest in the shared cause and fight relative to the horrid experiences that viable mothers encounter throughout [Norfolk] Virginia Court Systems when forced into litigation matters of dependent children by fathers and relatives that only posse’s self-righteous rhetoric. The ghastly nature is further expanded by those “judicial reps” that did not adhere to the best interest of the child, advocate for children, nor perform a bias and impartial nature that their duties entail. However they blatantly and without apology do quite the opposite, all while allowing the other party to abuse the judicial system by which officers of the court engage in practices of the same statue with minimal to no exposure or consequences...
ksykes6@cox.net / “MGBB” / 20May09

Sandy Hoffman} Hi, Where do I begin? I lost my daughter to my ex-boyfriend in 2002. He is a lawyer and a very rich man. I didn’t want to marry him. My first trial was in Sept., 2002. He got sole custody. I recently found out the judge [Susan M. Souder] in my case not only hates women, but Jewish women. I’m a Jewish woman. I hate to think I lost my case because of the judge. I have another trial coming up on August 4th, 2009 for one week. My daughter is now nine. My ex was recently evaluated as a narcissist, and he is also vindictive. There is so much more to this story. I have a woman that is at my house twice a week to watch me with my daughter for two hours each time. My ex has broken the original court order from day one. I have never done anything wrong to my daughter. I love her, and I try so hard to be with her. He even had me barred from her school for almost 2 years… [Towson MD]
SandyLHoffman@comcast.net / “My judge was biased!!” / 19May09
...
...
Lori Cole} Hi, I would appreciate talking some time as I have had a horrible court outcome and will be appealing. [Vienna VA]
LoriCole@cox.net / “i have a horrible court outcome” / 12May09

Melissa Barker} Mrs. Hayward, My name is Melissa Barker. I got your name from Tracy Via. She has been an adopted mom to me for the last few years, and in turn she is also an adopted grandma to my children. My oldest is why I am writing to you. You see, I had a custody hearing September 22, 2003, in which her father told the judge [Martin Bass], “I don’t want the kid, I just don’t want Miss Barker to have her.” He also was allowed to slander my parents stating that my mother was a member of the pagans motorcycle gang, and my father was a convicted murderer, therefore they are a danger to my daughter. Not once was he asked to provide proof of his allegations. He has had physical custody of my daughter since she was 9-months-old. He had nothing to do with her in those first 9 months. During the hearing, his witnesses were allowed to testify, mine were not. His attorney [Catherine Saller] believe it or not was allowed to subpoena my attorney, leaving me without counsel…
cowgirl19_1981@yahoo.com / “stafford corruption” / 11May09

Emily M. Pemberton} Hello [Abby Ludgate]--I hope this email finds you closer to being back with your son. I have been in and out of court for the past 2 years with my son’s father in Judge Robbin’s courtroom and have often left there wondering what, if anything, he heard me or my attorney say. Like you, in the beginning I had sole physical custody and we shared joint legal custody. His father had him every other weekend and could see him one evening out of the week. From April of 2007 to this date he NEVER once game to see him during the week. From April 2007-January 2008 his father lived with his parents and would get Nathan every other weekend and take him to his parents house, where I felt a little more comfortable allowing him to go. In January 2008 his father got his own place and then things started getting a little strange. His father did not have a car seat or bed for him so when he came home he would want to sleep in my bed with me. On one occasion he came home with a small green pill which turned out to be a sleeping pill, at that time he was only 2. His father blamed the pill being in his bag on me. In March of 2008 his father all of a sudden stopped showing up for his visitation. He showed up in April 2008 for Nathan’s ear tubes surgery and then did not see him again until August. He would call him and “talk” to him on the phone, but often times he would go several days with no contact. Nathan was diagnosed with leukemia on August 7, 2008. His father came to the hospital often times as late as 9pm to see him. He left the hospital on August 13, 2008 telling Nathan he would go get him pizza and would come back. We have not seen or heard from him since. I have filed numerous motions for failure to pay child support, failure to pay his part of Nathan’s medical bills, change in custody, and change in visitation. In October Judge Robbins ordered Nathan’s father to get a job in order to pay the $5000.00 in back child support and medical expenses. He also ordered us to come back to court ONCE A WEEK until he did. This went on for 5 months until his father was put in jail for possession of cocaine. I had told the Judge this on several occasions and he just kept telling me it is a process, there was nothing he could do about it. He finally sentenced him to 150 days in jail or he can purge himself by paying the money he owes me. I was JUST giving full custody of Nathan on April 13, 2009 after a nasty drawn out battle. We have a pending court date in June for visitation because he is insisting on seeing Nathan even though he has no clue what to do with a child who has cancer and has not seen him since August. Whatever you do please do not give up hope. Keep fighting to bring your baby home. My attorney is Jeff Oppleman. He is great, he listens to you and will fight for you tooth and nail. Please let me know, from one mother to another, if there is anything I can do to help you.
epemberton@marksandharrison.com / “Custody/visitation” / 27Apr09
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Cindy Weaver} Hello!…I am Cindy Weaver from Hanover County, Virginia. Proud mother of two wonderful children who are now eight-years-old! I am still in the court system and still trying to regain custody of my children…
cindy.weaver01@yahoo.com / “Mommy Go Bye Bye” / 02Apr09

Steve Warterman} [To Sherry Hayward] Came across your story on the web. I have run up against the VA system (Russell County), which took away my mom's rights and appointed a corrupt relative without due process, despite massive evidence of elder abuse. I opposed them, and as a result I am broke and homeless, and my mother died in horrible conditions. I don't know what can be done, if anything, as it seems the state of Virginia isn't really a part of the US at all. They just do whatever they want, and to hell with the law. I just wanted to say, I've seen their blatant corruption, and I believe you, for whatever that's worth. These people are truly evil, I won't even set foot in Virginia again, if I can help it.
warterman@gmail.com / “judicial corruption in VA” / 28Mar09

Elaine Roulidis} Hello, My name is Elaine Roulidis, and my husband’s attorney’s name is Ann Wood Mische. I would like to talk to you about my situation with the custody battle of my children. Maybe there is someone who can help me with what I am going through.
nvec@verizon.net / “custody battle w Ann Mische” / 19Mar09

Janice Rogers} Hi, I thought (wrongly) that perhaps I was done with Sandy, that my son Alex and I could move on with our lives, that most importantly, Alex could move on with his life. He is now 14, almost 15. Alex has been back in Massachusetts with me, enjoying life, truly thrilled to be back, making honor roll, great friends, captain of his hockey team. It is truly amazing that he has settled back in as if he had not left. Thanks to Sandy Havrilak, Alex missed 5 1/2 years of his life here. He was sent to live with his abusive father in NY. I don't need to detail the entire story. Alex's Dad, my ex-husband, passed away suddenly in July (2008). Alex was returned to me in Massachusetts by a NY judge immediately. When Sandy found out that her client had passed away, she tried to get hired by the estate to further harass me. Well she has succeeded. She has been hired by the estate to represent them against me. There is now a court date in Fairfax on March 19, 2009. Even though there is not the possibility of jurisdiction in VA, she has convinced the estate to waste my son's meager inheritance on her fees. I am at a complete loss as to what to do to get her out of my life! What is left of Alex's college fund is now going to Sandy Havrilak!!! How do I stop this??? Is there somewhere I can take this??? Her client is DEAD! Why can't she let go??? Any advice???…
rogers_jd@hotmail.com / “Sandy Havrilak satan” / 16Mar09

Jennifer Mahnke Daigle} Hi [Abby Ludgate], I'm Jen, and I know exactly how you feel. My husband and I separated over a year ago and fought for custody. I was a stay at home mother to our 2-year-old son and my son Lucas who is now 4. My husband had a very good attorney and lied to the guardian ad litem. He had the money and I didn't. He received sole legal and physical custody. I raised my son EVERYDAY of his life while my husband worked alternating shifts as a police officer. I know the heartache that you feel everyday. I know that you think to yourself, "I never thought that I wouldn't be an everyday part of his life." I cry everyday and every night for him. I lost him on August 5, 2008, and I appealed the decision immediately. I STILL have not been back for the appeal because his attorney keeps postponing the trial date. The date is scheduled for March 16th, but I'm sure that it will be moved again. To make matters worse, my husband isn't even raising him. His sister is! My four-year-old asks me everyday where his brother is. How do you separate brothers? I know how horrible and crooked the courts are here in Virginia. Have you had any luck with anything? Do you think that you will be able to get him back? I will pray for you, as I pray for us every night. I want you to know that your story instantly made me cry and sick to my stomach because I hate seeing another good mother who has been screwed by Virginia's disgusting court system. There are MANY, MANY of us out there. I have met 2 at the courthouse waiting for docket calls for appeal dates. Someone needs to be informed, someone important needs to know. This is horrible, and it is ruining our children's lives…
helokiti54@msn.com / “Your Blog” / 06Mar09
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Abby Ludgate} Hi Veronique, On October 20, 2008, I lost full custody of my 2-year-old beautiful baby boy! I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest. Every day I find myself researching a million different websites to get helpful information regarding other GOOD mothers who have lost custody of their children. Mommy Go Bye Bye is the only site that has really stuck in my head, and I visit almost every day. I was wondering if I could post my story to your Mommy Go Bye Bye website…
aludgate@dupontcu.org / “Lost custody-PLEASE help!” / 28Jan09

Stephanie Fisk} Hello, I have been searching two years for someone like you. I could cry as I write this letter after learning that there are other mothers out there like myself. I need help. More importantly my two young daughters need help. I divorced an abusive man in January 2008. After six days of trial the [Missouri] judge, Rick Zerr, awarded custody of the girls to their father. This despite her therapist diagnosing one of my children with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the hands of her father. I could go on, but to be brief, my ex-husband is a police sergeant…
vegas194@hotmail.com / “maul” / 31Dec08

Jean Trogdon} My name is Jean Trogdon, I’m a victim of domestic violence and have been trying to get my divorce for almost 3 years now. I live in Washington County, Virginia, in Abingdon. I stumbled on your blog while searching info on my lawyer on the net. My husband forced me out of my home by holding me down and raping me repeatedly. I filed spousal support not long after I left, around November 2006. Then my husband filed for spousal support and for child support for our 17-year-old who stayed in the home to finish high school. I lost my spousal support, he got child support of $270.00 a month which the judge, Paul Greer, based on a job I no longer had or could hold. My lawyer, Faith Dillow Esposito, said nothing to the judge. My husband has Nancyjean Bradford as his lawyer. For the next 2 years or so I’ve been trying to get my part of the marital property and my divorce. Faith is impossible to contact, NEVER returns calls and has lied to me on many occasions about court dates…
Jtrogdon44@wmconnect.com / “divorce problems” / 28Dec08

Mike} Hi, For the past few months I have read your web site/blogs with much interest. My fiance is here in Stafford, Virginia, and she is going up against the most corrupt and compromised JDR and circuit court legal system I have ever seen. Her ex-Husband of 8 years is a well documented dead-beat who lives in the basement of a flophouse, is over $15k in arrears, has limited no-overnight visitation