How to Change a Broken System

by Andrew J Thompson

40 years ago, our system of family law was made up of local courts dealing with local families, and children that lived in their communities.  True, there was corruption in the system then too.  There always has been.  But things are very different today - and not so much for the better. Truly, how good can a system be that, in some states, collects as little 40% of outstanding child support obligations?

How did we get to the disaster that we now face?  All we really need to do is to look at what we've allowed to happen.  In 1986, the Bradley Amendment was passed into law.  Strange, to remember Bradley and 1986 for me - I was a young tax accountant in Chicago and I recall Sen. Bradley as the leading voice among Democrats to pass President Reagan's Tax Reform Act to simply the Internal Revenue Code.  Amazingly, however, in the midst of the most sweep tax reform of our lifetimes - the entire Internal Revenue Code was rewritten - Sen. Bradley and his allies were able to finagle this seemingly helpful provision into another bill pending before Congress at the same time. 

But that wasn't where it ended - VAWA, Welfare Reform, Title IV-D, we continued to allow the national government to seize more power to regulate the lives of people in little towns across America.  In short, family law went from a very imperfect system where local systems governed the affairs of local people, to an utterly nationalized system that is designed to take funding printed, printed at the behest of Congress and the federal reserve, and use it to control state and local tribunals handling cases for every cul de sac in America.

As an attorney, I have much to say about how to effect change in the law - and that's coming.  But I want to frame this for everyone reading to understand - the corruption in our monetary system, in the federal reserve, enables the corruption we witness in all other areas of government.  There could be no $1.8 Trillion stimulus without the federal reserve's license to print money.  Any government program you don't like exists because it can be funded with impunity by the federal reserve.

You want change - before we get into what we can do via the law - truly we should start by reining in the federal reserve and creating a stable, honest money supply.  Go to the Campaign for Libertywebsite and sign the petition to bring the federal reserve under control.  Without this step, other reforms will continue to be defeated by new legislation, new spending, and more bureaucracy.

Closer to home, somewhat, is what we can do through the judicial system itself.  The problem is that thanks to the heavy handed laws passed by Congress, local courts feel it is no longer necessary or even relevant to consider individuals's Constitutional rights in a courtroom.  Mary Johnson is such a classic example of this.  Not once, but twice, she was charged with a crime she plainly did not commit, and lost custody of her daughter, and nearly all contact with her daughter because of it.

Fundamental rights are ignored in family law courts.  No jury, no due process, no equal protection - nothing that someone charged with a violent crime is afforded - it's just wrong.

So what do we do?  There are tools in an attorney's bag that are rarely used - Class actions, declaratory judgments, Writs of Mandamas - these are three vital means of reasserting individual rights in our courts.  But it takes the movement working together.  Case by case activity will eventually yield some victories, but pooled resources will accomplish much more and sooner.

Join us in the fight.  Together we can make a real difference and for the better.  But we need everyone who has been harmed by the system to lend their voices to be heard!

Comments

[Carolyn J. Middleton BABSc]

Recently I had an idea for a spin off television show that might earn producers yet another honorarium, in their Law & Order series. One might very well call it, "Law & Order CPS", the, "CPS" representing,
"Child Protection System"

Carolynn J. Middleton BABSc

[Drew Thompson]

I love the idea, Carolyn, it's a powerful forum.

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