04-08-2024 Reunification is not the problem. Poor Judgements are!

Reunification is not the problem.  Poor Judgements are!

04-08-2024

When a bad judge ignores evidence of true abuse convictions, this is not a failure of reunification therapy. This is a failure of the court system to have oversight on family court judges. This does not mean that reunification therapy should be banned. Quite the reverse. It means that judges need to be held accountable for violating due process violations under the 5th and 14th Amendments and ignoring solid verifiable evidence. If a parent was truly convicted of abuse or found to be an unfit parent, this is NOT alienation. And if a judge decides to ignore this evidence, this has nothing to do with reunification therapy. And everything to do with a corrupt or dysfunctional family court judge or system. In fact, as this is not a case of alienation, the treatment protocol is much different than if there was no conviction.

A single case or two of judicial impropriety does not mean you get rid of the process. You fix the cause of the failed process, which was a judge ignoring evidence. Reunification therapy has nothing to do with lousy poor judges violating parents due process rights. Stop trying to get rid of reunification therapy, which is helping all the other families. Stop blaming the science or Parental alienation and claiming it is only used by abusive men. Let's try putting the blame where it belongs. With the judge who ignored the criminal conviction for abuse or finding of a parent being unfit as the cause of that family’s problems. A diagnosis of parental alienation is not appropriate were a conviction for abuse or being unfit parent exists.

Joan Kloth-Zanard, MFT, ADA, RSS, ABI, GAL, MDCF LC