Sunday

Court's Ruling on a Child's Right to an Attorney.

The State Supreme Court for the first time recognized that children have "at least the same due process right to counsel as do indigent parents."

But that due process will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Should a child be granted the right to an attorney when his parents are accused of abuse or neglect?

Most states say the answer is yes, but in Washington dependency courts, it's been a matter of debate for years. Everyone agrees a lot is at stake: Children can lose not only their parents and their home, but also be separated from their siblings, their aunts and uncles, their school, their friends. They could bounce from one stranger's home to another in foster care.

The state Supreme Court took a big step toward answering that question in a 9-0 decision Thursday. Foster children "have vital liberty interests at stake and may constitutionally be entitled to counsel," Justice Tom Chambers wrote for the court.

Advocates believe the ruling will alter the landscape of dependency court, leading judges to appoint attorneys for more and more of the thousands of children entering the system. The state, which argued against the blanket appointment of lawyers, doesn't anticipate such a sea change.

The ruling came in the case of Nyakat Luak, a King County mother who was accused of serious neglect. In one instance, she went to work and left her 4-year-old twins at home, in charge of their baby sister, the court said. A fire broke out and a social worker took them into custody. Luak physically attacked the social worker as she escorted the kids from the hospital. On other occasions, she attacked a visitation supervisor and her boyfriend.

The courts never found that Luak had abused the kids. Yet when the Department of Social and Health Services told her she was at risk of losing them unless she underwent counseling, she declined, the opinion states. Her parental rights were terminated at trial.

On appeal, Luak's attorney argued that the kids, who were 10 by the time of the trial, should have had a court-appointed attorney.

Under Washington law, kids 12 and older must be told they have a right to ask for an attorney. (It's up to the judge to decide whether to appoint one.) Younger kids generally aren't given this option, although each county has its own rules.

Some 9,000 children are in foster care at any given point, according to attorney Casey Trupin, who wrote one of 20 friend-of-the-court briefs in the case. Yet no one keeps track of how many of them get lawyers.

Sometimes, a judge will appoint a Guardian ad Litem or a lay advocate to argue for what they believe are the child's best interests. A statewide group studying the issue several years ago found some children who are removed from their homes don't have anyone — attorney, Guardian ad Litem or lay advocate — to speak for them in court.

The Supreme Court for the first time recognized that children have "at least the same due process right to counsel as do indigent parents," Thursday's ruling states.

But that due process will be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to the opinion, which lays out for the first time criteria to guide trial-court judges.

"We do think as a result of this decision more and more parents, attorneys and judges will raise the issue, given the court has confirmed constitutional rights may be at stake," Trupin said.

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com

By Maureen O'Hagan - Seattle Times Staff Reporter
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Most Popular Comments:

I disagree that this is a "big step" or even any progress at all. The existi... (March 2, 2012, by mihusky)This is a tricky one. I can see the downside of now having hordes of lawyers in the cou... (March 2, 2012, by Dorboln)This actually makes sense. Somebody should be there to represent the children's best... (March 1, 2012, by Almost a Libertarian)

Thursday

Fighting False Allegations of Domestic Violence in Family Court

False Allegations Of Domestic Violence

When it comes to domestic violence awareness, most of the attention is paid to abused women. But readers of MensRights.com know all too well how prevalent domestic violence against men is.

You also know how false allegations of abuseare being used against you, primarily for strategic legal reasons. MensRights.com editor Matt Allen discussed the issue of domestic violence against men in divorce and child custody cases withCordell & Cordell mens divorce attorney Heather Biagi.

Men’s Rights: We’ve talked about the evidence needed to disprove false allegations or to prove that you were abused, but how can you preemptively prevent these from happening?

Heather Biagi: It kind of depends on what parties you’re dealing with. If you’re dealing with parties who don’t get along that are going through a divorce, but they’ve never had a history of violence and neither one of them is overly aggressive — and by aggressive I mean aggressively wanting one party out of the house or not — then I don’t advise my clients to worry too much about a false protection order being filed.

But in cases where I know what the posturing is going to be, if it’s a case where there’s a lot at stake – such as money or mom has it in her head that dad should not have any time with the children – then I tell my client, “if she starts a fight with you then you walk away. If she tries to say anything to you then you walk away. Be careful what you text her, she’s going to text you something awful. Be careful what you write because writing is so powerful and there’s no context to it, no tone.”

So while you might say something that’s a joke or something you’ve been saying for years, your wife could take it to the judge and say, “Here’s where he threatened to do this to me” when in fact that’s not really what happened.

Men’s Rights: If you have successfully proven that the allegations of domestic violence against you are false, what do you get out of it? Is the alleging party punished or are you just happy the charges were dropped?

Heather Biagi: It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and is also very dependent on what judge you’re in front of, but there are a couple of things you can potentially get out of it such as your attorney’s fees paid.

You can always request the judge to order your wife to pay your attorney’s fees since she was the one who filed a frivolous action against you.

Probably the most beneficial thing that you can get out of it is ruining the other party’s credibility. I tell my clients every time I speak with them that anytime you’re going to go to court do not embellish and do not shade it to your favor. Just tell the truth.

You don’t want to get stuck in a lie because when you lose credibility with the judge or you’ve proven that you are not an honest person in front of that judge, the judge will remember it and there is nothing an attorney — I don’t care how good they are — can do to rehabilitate their client once the client has lied to the judge.

As a mens divorce lawyer, I would consistently bring up a party’s previous lies at every hearing or motion filed.

I would say, “Judge, you remember when she filed the order of protection and it was unfounded? Do you remember when she made these allegations of abuse and they were completely unfounded? At what lengths will this person go to get what they want?”

So realistically, the benefit to you is the loss of her credibility and the ability to use that lie to your advantage in future hearings.

Losing the trust of the judge is the worst possible thing that could happen to a client.

Men’s Rights: So credibility is everything?

Heather Biagi: Absolutely. Credibility is everything. Watch the DadsDivorce Live interview with attorney Heather Biagi on domestic violence

SOURCE: 29 MAR 2012 / BY MATT ALLEN / IN ABUSE

Family Court News: Dad Initially Labeled Abuser Wins Appeals Case on Custody

The Economics of Marriage and Divorce

Address Poverty & Crime

With 24 million children in America living daily without their biological fathers—one in three children— there is a father factor in poverty and crime.

Sadly, sometimes moms think dad's just a child support payment...we created the Moms Involving Dads Bundle filled with tools to help mom, dad, & child.

For example:

Children from father-absent homes are four times more likely to be poor

A child with an incarcerated father is 7 times more likely to become incarcerated himself

Father absence and poverty are strongly related. Data shows that it’s more difficult to get fathers to provide financial support when they are not married to the mother and when they lack an emotional connection to their children.

Further, the “story behind the story” of a violent crime committed in America reveals a “crime of fatherlessness.” Good fathers serve as regulators of aggressive behavior, particularly for young boys. But it’s not just boys, the fastest growing prison population is young girls and women, many of whom have grown up in father-absent homes.

By engaging fathers in the lives of their children, we can work to reduce poverty and crime.

Related Resources

24/7 Dad®

Doctor Dad® Workshops

InsideOut Dad®

FatherTopics™ Workshops

5 Graphs below from the award winning Director of WHAT BLACK MEN THINK, and MEN II BOYS, comes the next installment of the urgent and necessary dialogue to heal the hearts, minds and souls of a wounded nation...GUPI (Guility Until Proven Innocent)

The Hidden Story of Male Victims of Domestic Violence

Post by Stop Abusive and Violent Environments - SAVE.

The SAVE Domestic Violence Legislative Project (DVLP) is a network of state-level groups working for domestic violence policies that protect victims, safeguard families, and respect due process.

Posted by Children's Rights on Saturday, August 22, 2015

Complaint Filed Against Marin County Superior Court Family Law Judge Bev Wood & Court CEO Kim Turner for Evidence...
Posted by Children's Rights on Thursday, August 20, 2015

Dad We Need To Talk

Post by We Need To Talk.

WHAT IS WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT?

We Need To Talk is a feature length documentary about the life long effects of fatherlessness on women.

The film follows the dramatic journeys of ten women from city of Chicago as they struggle find healing and reconciliation, after haven been dealt the most difficult of circumstances… the absence of their fathers.

We Need To Talk is not only about the struggles to survive and navigate as a woman of color, but at its core, it’s about the importance of a father’s role in the lives of their daughters.

Post by We Need To Talk.

SHARE YOUR STORY

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