Problems in Minnesota's family court system, and specifically its mishandling of domestic violence cases (ignoring safety concerns and placing children in harm's way) have been reported for at least 20 years and has involved multiple lawsuits filed by parents, two separate audits conducted on the Guardian ad Litem program, many public complaints and news articles exposing family court, and several cases that have received nationwide attention due to the extreme actions of the judges, and outcomes that have devastated families.
My own case began in 2007 and is another story of the custody sham in Minnesota :(
In my own case, the family court awarded custody to the abusive father despite a large volume of evidence showing abuse happened, and showing that the children suffered from PTSD as a result. My child attended therapeutic preschool before learning to read due to the abuse, and was reporting to therapists, the GAL, the reunification therapist, supervisors etc - all ignored. The father had a lengthy criminal history, history of substance abuse, failed the psych exam and did not have a proper home for the children to live in. Multiple calls to CPS, reports of abuse made by the therapists treating the children. Yet was abuser awarded sole custody in a situation similar to SGR - it was a pre planned effort by the court professionals, nothing I could have done could have changed the outcome. I have seen the same pattern repeated time and time again, even to fathers but for different reasons.
After my children were transferred into abuser father's home, the abuse continued - but none of it seemed to matter to the family court or to CPS. After another incident of abuse, my child (at 6 years old!) fled the house and ran for help, was found wandering down a highway. The response of the family court was to suppress the abuse allegations, squash the CPS investigation, and after a bogus emergency ex parte hearing, ordered that I have no contact with my children outside of supervised visits. While I was in supervised visits, my child attempted to run away on 3 separate occasions again due to abuse. Eventually my child realized that no one would help and has completely shut down mentally, and after court ordered "therapy" stopped talking about the abuse. The child has severe amnesia and does not remember much about childhood.
The family court is purposely placing children into the custody of abusive, unfit and dangerous parents. The children are being destroyed not only mentally and physically but it causes lifelong damage when a loving, nurturing parent is removed from their lives. The system is so corrupt that there seems to be no legal protection or way to stop the injustice. All I can say is please keep speaking out. Keep sharing stories. Expose the problems so it can no longer be ignored and we can demand justice.
Problems in Minnesota's family court system, and specifically its mishandling of domestic violence cases (ignoring safety concerns and placing children in harm's way) have been reported for at least 20 years and has involved multiple lawsuits filed by parents, two separate audits conducted on the Guardian ad Litem program, many public complaints and news articles exposing family court, and several cases that have received nationwide attention due to the extreme actions of the judges, and outcomes that have devastated families.
ReplyDeleteMy own case began in 2007 and is another story of the custody sham in Minnesota :(
In my own case, the family court awarded custody to the abusive father despite a large volume of evidence showing abuse happened, and showing that the children suffered from PTSD as a result. My child attended therapeutic preschool before learning to read due to the abuse, and was reporting to therapists, the GAL, the reunification therapist, supervisors etc - all ignored. The father had a lengthy criminal history, history of substance abuse, failed the psych exam and did not have a proper home for the children to live in. Multiple calls to CPS, reports of abuse made by the therapists treating the children. Yet was abuser awarded sole custody in a situation similar to SGR - it was a pre planned effort by the court professionals, nothing I could have done could have changed the outcome. I have seen the same pattern repeated time and time again, even to fathers but for different reasons.
After my children were transferred into abuser father's home, the abuse continued - but none of it seemed to matter to the family court or to CPS. After another incident of abuse, my child (at 6 years old!) fled the house and ran for help, was found wandering down a highway. The response of the family court was to suppress the abuse allegations, squash the CPS investigation, and after a bogus emergency ex parte hearing, ordered that I have no contact with my children outside of supervised visits. While I was in supervised visits, my child attempted to run away on 3 separate occasions again due to abuse. Eventually my child realized that no one would help and has completely shut down mentally, and after court ordered "therapy" stopped talking about the abuse. The child has severe amnesia and does not remember much about childhood.
The family court is purposely placing children into the custody of abusive, unfit and dangerous parents. The children are being destroyed not only mentally and physically but it causes lifelong damage when a loving, nurturing parent is removed from their lives. The system is so corrupt that there seems to be no legal protection or way to stop the injustice. All I can say is please keep speaking out. Keep sharing stories. Expose the problems so it can no longer be ignored and we can demand justice.
M