Family Law Courts are the most unconventional amongst the rest of the institutions of justice in the United States. Certain rights awarded by the constitution are not applicable in the family law system. For instance, you are not entitled to an attorney, if you can't afford one. In most cases you will not get a speedy trial. Average litigation lasts for years. There is no jury of your peers who are assessing preponderance of evidence in order to arrive at a final and hopefully fair verdict. Once you are under the jurisdiction of one judge, chances are you will be choking on his or her "grapes of wrath" for a long time to come unless you appeal.
Want to replace a judge who presides over your case? You have better chances winning a jackpot in Las Vegas. You do have the right not to not to choose a particular commissioner(judge pro-tem) before the commencement of your litigation. But is a judge a better choice than a commissioner? Not necessarily. Both may or may not know or be willing to exercise the law. Both may or may not find you credible. More importantly, both may or may not like you for some reason forever unbeknownst to you. And in family courts that is more important than the law itself.
There are judges that are intuitive and equipped with ability to read between the lines. However, there are those who see everything based on how it is packaged and presented to them. I prefer the ones who can see beyond the presentation packages.
It is a known fact that most judges are challenged in areas of psychology and psychiatry. So, when making decisions let's say on Parent Alienation or custody more often than not they make wrong decisions.
If you know in which jurisdiction your case will be heard and by what judge, it may not be a bad idea to visit that judge's court room to see how he decides cases before him/her.
In my case, I had two Gods presiding over my fate. God #1 was trying somehow to resolve issues that dominated my case while believing some false allegations made by the opposing counsel that I was a violent and abusive father without any evidence whatsoever. He did order a minor's counsel, supervised visitations monitor, Solution Focused Evaluation etc. While I was pro-per, he did not harass me about it all that much. Then, he was transferred to another department in the middle of my trial. And that's when my life was changed by God #2, an incompetent zealot who destroyed in one month what had been built for years. He even tried to punish me for not being represented by an attorney when making decisions that were detrimental to the best interests of my children. I have since appealed my case.
Judges may be more omnipotent than God when presiding over a divorce case. At least you may replace your God by following a different religion. But try to replace your judge...
In conclusion, I'd like to say that during my litigation I did encounter some courtrooms "players" that silently cheered for me when I prevailed on issues of Parent Alienation even though this form of child abuse has not as yet been recognized by the court system. I am convinced that there are "players" in our family law court system that genuinely care about what happens to litigants and sincerely try to resolve divorce and custody issues for the best interest of parents and children. If you know of any, please, write your reviews on our website thereby helping others in your community learn what to expect when facing the same judges, minor's counsel monitors, therapists and the rest.
Gary K.