Dads Surviving Divorce

I recently discovered the YouTube series Dads Surviving Divorce  (DSD) which offers tips on dealing with a toxic divorce. I wish I had know about this site earlier. I encourage you to check it out. 

Interestingly DSD has been around about as long as DivorceInjustice.org has. 

The Purple Wall Of Silence

In the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin's killing of George Floyd there are currently many media reports about cracks in the "blue wall of silence" due to several police officers testifying against Chauvin. Historically, police officers have been reluctant to testify against or report misconduct by fellow officers. 

There is another wall of silence which exists in our society. It is what I have termed the "purple wall of silence" which is when lawyers knowingly turn a blind eye to crimes and ethical actions committed by other lawyers. (Why purple? Because it is the traditional academic color for law as well as the color for royalty - royalty often being considered above the law.)  

The Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB) is the attorney run entity tasked with enforcing the lawyers rules of professional conduct in Minnesota. The reality is the LPRB operates mostly for show as it only takes action in a minute fraction of the complaints it receives and has never as far as I can tell disciplined a lawyer for lying in family court. The county attorney has stated in writing that lawyers only commit fraud when they are under oath and the term "fraud upon the court" does not exist in Minnesota statues. Both are not only false but outrageously false. Despite my repeated attempts the county attorney's office has refused to clarify their statements. 

Furthermore, In my case many lawyers have seen the evidence agaisnt Nelly Wince but none has reported it as is required by their professional rules. They chose silence over duty. To my knowledge no lawyer in the state's history has ever been disciplined for failure to report a violation of another lawyer. 

Not only is the purple wall of silence similar to the  blue wall of silence but it is intimately intertwined with it. Police officers also have a duty to report crimes by fellow officers but failure to do so is rarely if ever prosecuted. One of the primary colors that make up purple is blue. 

Although there are many good police officers and lawyers when a defined group becomes above the law in practice, it will attract bad people to the group. Once members, these unsavory people are not easily removed because the group acts to protect their own, no matter how abhorrent or even outright criminal their behavior is. 

The Chauvin trial will hopefully begin the process of tearing down the blue wall. I can only hope the purple wall goes with it.

Well Said

A very articulate and well-informed father confronted the California judicial council on corruption in family court. Wow!

Here is the quote he gave at the end:

The Myth Of Justice

There is a myth perpetrated by many people in the legal and divorce industries that the court system is just. Here is an article on NOLO which would lead one to believe that lying in court has negative consequences.  It is just not so. Even lawyers believe it is common and call family court a court of lies.  My case certainly support this. And one only need to look at the statistics. It is exceedingly rare that perjury is prosecuted in family and, at least in Minnesota, a lawyer has never been disciplined for committing fraud upon the court in family court despite it being considered so serious it has no statue of limitations.  

Here is the reality:

1. Perjury by litigants is common. 
2. Fraud by litigants and lawyers is common. 
3. Rarely if ever are either of the above prosecuted. 
4. Crime has become so endemic in family court that judges rarely hold it against you. Indeed, they often openly reward it as they did in my case. 
5. In short - crime pays in family court. It is at best naive and more often disingenuous to state otherwise. 

Everet v Williams

Corruption in the legal system certainly is not new. Just take a look at the English case of Everet v Williams in 1725. John Everet and Joseph Williams were two highwaymen (in other words robbers) who had entered a partnership to rob people and split the gains equally. Shockingly Everet believed Williams was not sharing equally. So what did Everet do? He took him to court of course. 

Now the judge seemed to be an honest sort and decided that both defendants should be arrested and hung. Which was done. Interestingly he also had both lawyers arrested as well. 

So in 1795 corrupt lawyers existed and at least in the case of Everet v Williams were held accountable. It is sad that today there is far less accountability for lawyer malfeasance. 

My Case Has Been Finalized

It was ugly but my case had been finalized. I went back to court but the judge, somewhat unsurprisingly to me given all I have been through, basically doubled down on rewarding crime and corruption. Regarding the evidence agaisnt Nelly Wince he, without denying her actions or even that they constituted fraud, stated they did nor rise to the level of intent. Seriously? She repeatedly committed one of the only crimes without a statue of limitations by accident? The prevalence of crime in the the legal system is truly incredible. 

In the end, however, I did agree to a buyout so I am free. I am out an additional $165,000 which brings the total non-present cost since Spring took more than half the money at the time of the divorce to a little over $700,000. Do not forget that the custody evaluator determined she was not the primary parent during the marriage, the vocational evaluator determined she could make as much money as me and she has never used a dime of her earned income to benefit the kids, Oh, yeah there are also the clear crimes her and her lawyer committed. So much for justice. 

The worst thing about the buyout is that I have a nagging feeling that I am enabling crime and in doing so makes it more likely that crime will be committed agaisnt others. To counter that feeling, I intend to continue the battle for legal reform. 

Although I am still in the planning phase, at this point I believe I will keep this site going, possibly start a separate site aimed at litigants, lawyers, judges, and others in the legal industry who want to act ethically, and increase my lobbying of the legislature (which might be easier now that I have nothing to personally gain from an new legislation) 

I am free but it is a bittersweet freedom. 

People In Prison Are Not Always Criminals

Since 1973, over 167 people who were on death row have been determined to be not guilty. That is only people in the 30 states plus the federal government and military that have people on death row. How many other innocents are on death row as well as in the general current or former prison population is unknown. In addition to this are people who had to pay fines or other costs yet were innocent. 

How does this happen? The number one reason is prosecutorial misconduct. Yep, bad lawyers. 

The framers of the U.S. Constitution put citizen participation at the very heart of our criminal justice system in the form of jury trials. With coercive plea bargaining, prosecutors have ripped that heart right out of that system and made sure that ordinary citizens have almost nothing to do with the administration of criminal justice in America.