Often times, participants in a family law case will feel as though the deck is stacked against them. They may feel the judge seems hostile and consistently rules against them. But claiming judicial bias is a very serious charge, as most judges view questioning their impartiality as an attack on the very core of their role as a judge.
For the individual litigant, it may be difficult to grasp some of the legal technicalities of court process and procedure. Sitting down with your attorney and asking them to explain why the court ruled the way it did, or why something happened during a hearing, is the best way to understand what is going on in your divorce case in a St. Louis Country family court.
But some cases can become extreme, with bitter fights between the parties spilling over to become attacks on the integrity of the court. In Michigan, an awful child custody case has done just that, with the mother demanding the removal of the family law judge assigned the case. The chief judge of county ruled that there was no evidence of bias and turned down the motion.
Last summer, the judge ordered the three children to be sent to a juvenile detention facility in order to prevent the mother from continuing to interfere with the custody order, which give the father full custody.
This acrimonious divorce case, which has seen the mother go through 12 attorneys since 2009, involved accusations of the mother “brainwashing” the children to the point where they would not see their father for lunch. This prompted their removal to the juvenile facility for “deprogramming” and that resulted in the mother’s motion to remove the judge for bias.
The father has had to deal with this bizarre behavior, and if you are involved in such a case, you will need experienced legal help to enable you to protect your children from their other parent’s actions.
Source: patch.com, “New Judge: No Bias in Bitter Child Custody Dispute,” Beth Dalbey, November 19, 2015
