This plaque was once at the Bayshore Mall next to the food court, but it's no longer there.  Neither is justice for children.  The Superior Court of Humboldt County has always been afflicted with unelected, retired (and some argue tired), Judges. While attorneys understand what this means to their case, many pro per parents don't have a clue.

The Judicial Council of California appoints retired Judges each year to travel the state and temporarily fill vacancies due to an overload of cases. They are called "Assigned Judges" and this program, in family court at least, has been the source of the destruction of the family but more specifically, it has emotionally devastated our children's lives.

Here is one example: A mother suspects that her ex-husband, the father of their child, has molested the daughter during a visitation. She brings the evidence to Court and an assigned Judge hears the evidence and transfers custody of the daughter, pending a trial and the father must have a supervisor if he wishes to see his daughter. One year later, another assigned Judge determines that the Mother made the whole thing up and removes the daughter from her custody; transferring custody to the father (the alleged abuser) and tells the Mother, who has been the children's primary parent from birth that she can only see her children 1 day per week and that she must be supervised.  What is wrong with this decision is that it violated her parental rights and is not consistent with California Family Code.  What does Family Code say about a parent who has been found to have made false accusations of abuse against another parent?  Well, first if a parent is not criminally charged by the D.A.'s office, then it remains a civil matter and Family Code Section 3027.5 applies which says that if a parent is found to have made a false allegation, that the court may order other custody arrangements, that is they may reduce your custodial time.  The problem here is that one 'unelected traveling judge' determined the Mother was telling the truth and the next 'unelected traveling judge' determined the Mother made it up.  What do you think the effect was on this little girl?

When a parent is represented by an attorney, they may have some protection against a Judge who does not follow decisional law and statutes because they can argue facts and law on the parent's behalf; they also have the advantage of knowing a Judge's history; that is how they tend to rule; what an attorney has to do to get a favorable decision.  In fact, any good Attorney will find out who the Judge is going to be on their case before they ever go to trial. A knowledgeable attorney will file to disqualify a Judge when they know his/her history in rulings on family law cases.

Family Code Section 3027.5 reads:

(a) No parent shall be placed on supervised visitation, or be denied custody of or visitation with his or her child, and no custody or visitation rights shall be limited, solely because the parent (1) lawfully reported suspected sexual abuse of the child, (2) otherwise acted lawfully, based on a reasonable belief, to determine if his or her child was the victim of sexual abuse, or (3) sought treatment for the child from a licensed mental health professional for suspected sexual abuse.

(b) The court may order supervised visitation or limit a parent's custody or visitation if the court finds substantial evidence that the parent, with the intent to interfere with the other parent's lawful contact with the child, made a report of child sexual abuse, during a child custody proceeding or at any other time, that he or she knew was false at the time it was made.  Any limitation of custody or visitation, including an order for supervised visitation, pursuant to this subdivision, or any statute regarding the making of a false child abuse report, shall be imposed only after the court has determined that the limitation is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the child, and the court has considered the state's policy of assuring that children have frequent and continuing contact with both parents as declared in subdivision (b) of Section 3020 .