Court-ordered religious classes raise concerns

[rug]

By Kim Holland
Published: September 14, 2015, 10:03 pm | Updated: September 15, 2015, 6:27 am

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) — Holly Salzman was hoping to get some help co-parenting her 11-year-old twin boys with her ex-husband. Instead she says she got 10 court-ordered religious sessions that she did not want.

“It’s very inappropriate,” Salzman said.

District Court ordered 10 classes through it’s Family Court Division. Family Court provides services in child custody cases to reduce conflict.

“To help us with our co-parenting as well as communication skills,” she said.

http://krqe.com/2015/09/14/court-ordered-religious-classes-raise-concerns/

The family courts are broken beyond repair. 5:21 video at link.

[dorkzilla]

1. This is getting nuttier by the day

What are these people thinking? Actually, I realize they are not really thinking at all...

[rug]

2. Ms. Pepper sghould be bounced immediately.

The underlying problem with the family courts is that, under the guise of the best interests of the child, they order parents and guardians yo go through all sorts of hoops, many of the dubious or inapt.

[dorkzilla]

3. Indeed

Having been through the system myself as a child I can tell you its always been incredibly bad, but I don’t remember it being quite this awful.

[rug]

4. Yup, what happens to the parents is bad enough.

What happens to the children is unspeakable.

[dorkzilla]

5. I can’t even begin to tell you

...in my case a request for emancipation was granted without much (read: any) consideration by the courts. Thus a 16 year old was forced to fend entirely for herself without a second thought by the judge. Just saw the request, and I am sure prompted by the constant bickering my parents were doing via the courts and hoping to get one aspect of their idiocy to go away, granted the request of a child.

I hold no grudge against my parents (they were young assholes, I’ve told them that to their faces, but they did the best they could do at the time with the tools they had and I completely forgive them and have a wonderful relationship with them now) and it was the making of me. I graduated from high school a year early, worked several jobs while I was doing it, and I’ve taken absolutely nothing for granted. I do sometimes wish the judge wasn’t so quick to give me what I thought I wanted and put more pressure on my parents to be parents...it would have made them grow up instead of me having to.

[rug]

6. I'm sorry you went through that.

Many judges handle these case "without much (read: any) consideration". Probably overwork. It leads them to punt many cases like the charlatan Ms. Pepper.

[dorkzilla]

7. You know what? It made me a better, stronger and very hard working person

Of course I couldn’t see that at the time (hindsight of clarity and all that) and I’m sure most of the cases like mine didn’t turn out so happily. I tend to be a look forward not behind person anyway, and the only reason I shared that was because your post brought to mind my own experience with Family Court.

And I’m sure you’re right, its probably down to overwork more than callousness or disregard. I lived (and still do) in a large suburb of NYC so I’m sure it had a lot to do with case loads.

[rug]

8. I've been to Family Court many times in each of the five boroughs.

The only thing missing was cattle prods.