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Solano Families United

Dedicated To Fighting Bias In The Solano County Family Court System

Connecting The Dots – Solano County’s Dishonest Use of DOJ Office on Violence Against Women Grant Money

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I’ve been going town a rabbit hole digging into this book. When reading the PDF of the table of contents, I came across an interesting passage:

On March 22, 2011, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) brought together twelve of the leading national experts on DV and custody, including many of the authors of chapters in Volumes I and II of Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody, to participate in a round-table discussion. This and other events led to findings by OVW that currently used custody court practices often work poorly for children. As we finish writing this volume, OVW has announced it is giving grants to four court systems for pilot projects to create the reforms discussed during the round table.

Civil Research Institute: https://www.civicresearchinstitute.com/toc/DVAC2_TOC.pdf

We’ve previously written about Solano County Family Court receiving hundreds of thousands in funds from the DOJ, only to routinely rule adversely against female litigants alleging domestic violence. I wondered if any of the Court grants were related to the 2011 decision. I dug deeper.

We previously obtained Solano County’s Grant Applications through a FOIA request. That led to receiving this copy. Looking at that document, I located the original grant solicitation.

Let’s go through it, shall we?

Page 3

The Court Training and Improvements Program (Courts Program), created by the Violence Against
Women Act of 2005 (VAWA 2005), recognizes that judicial education and specialized court
processes play an integral role in creating an effective response to the crimes of sexual assault,
domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

As knowledge about violence against women has grown, it has become clear that the most effective response is created when all parts of the justice system must coordinate and collaborate to respond to these crimes. Jurisdictions where courts have consolidated domestic violence calendars, developed specialized domestic violence courts, and increased both pre- and post-conviction supervision of defendants result in an increase in successful prosecution of domestic violence.

All parts of the justice system should work together to examine the system’s response to sexual and domestic violence and promote cooperation between the courts, other criminal justice agencies, and community programs through coordinated community response initiatives.

Page 4

In order to significantly improve internal civil and criminal court functions, court-based and court related personnel must be educated on sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and dating
violence. Research indicates that mandatory and ongoing training for judges in domestic violence
cases enables them to become more sensitive to the needs of victims and understanding of the
dynamics of domestic violence.

These model courts tend to be a more efficient structure for addressing the comprehensive issues
that face families dealing with abuse. Given that sexual assault often co-occurs within domestic
violence, there is an increasing need for courts with the capability to operate a centralized or
coordinated system for handling non-stranger adult-on-adult sexual assault cases. There
continues to be a need for stronger case coordination, specialized intake processes, judicial
monitoring, and ongoing training for judges handling sexual and domestic violence cases.

Through specific training, judges and other court personnel can work with their communities to develop specialized practices and utilize educational resources that will result in significantly improved responses to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking cases, ensure offender accountability, and promote informed judicial decision-making.

Before we move forward, there’s one more bit. The grant solicitation mentions three types of Family Court Models:

  • Unified Family Court model – all civil matters involving the same family are assigned to a single judge. Criminal matters are assigned separately.
  • Coordinated Court model – both criminal domestic violence and related civil matters are assigned to the same court division but not to the same judge.
  • Integrated Domestic Violence Court model – one judge handles criminal domestic violence cases and the accompanying civil matters.

It’s worth noting that in California, particularly Solano County, Criminal DV charges are handled in Criminal Court and Civil DV matters are handled in Family Court. Even though Family Court DV cases are quasi-criminal. This falls under the United Family Court model. Remember this.

This is important because Garry (Skip) Ichikawa notably spearheaded the concept of an Integrated Domestic Violence Court, something that never reached fruition (though, considering his rulings, we should be glad that it didn’t). So much so that he received an award for it.

In that time, Ichikawa has started or had a hand in shaping other specialized courts, most recently an integrated domestic violence court that combines the criminal and family law proceedings under one judge.

But he also points to other things Solano County’s courts are doing that help promote access, such as offering an expedited judgment program and a legal access center inside the courthouse, where self-represented litigants can get help with family law issues.

“Without these things people cannot get their cases through family court successfully. It delays things. It affects their lives,” Ichikawa said.

Ichikawa worked on the grant that helps fund the integrated domestic violence court, a specialized court that he is told is the first of its kind in the state.

“We’re just in the beginning stages, but so far, the feedback is very positive in the progress parents are making,” Ichikawa said.

He hopes it will become a model program for other courts.

https://www.thereporter.com/2015/08/08/solano-county-judge-with-long-history-of-public-service-recognized-by-state-for-increasing-access-to-courts/


You can also read more here: https://www.courts.ca.gov/32738.htm

This cements Judge Ichikawa’s posturing as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, even though he notoriously accused a litigant of “photoshopping” images of bruises and other injuries depicting abuse, refused to grant a protective order to a litigant after her ex threatened to kill her via text message, and was overturned on appeal for disregarding family code 3044.

Can you imagine how much worse it would have been for victims of abuse of the corrupt Family Court judges would have been allowed to preside over criminal DV cases? Let’s not forget that (allegedly) the reason Judge Ichikawa no longer has a license to practice law is because he signed court orders after he was no longer a sitting Judicial Officer.

He doesn’t care about following the law and had he succeeded with the Integrated Domestic Violence Court model, he would have obtained a frightening amount of unchecked power.

About These Models

Integrated Domestic Violence Court

Under many state court structures, a single family dealing with issues of domestic violence may have to appear in several different courts involving multiple judges, attorneys, and a myriad of different court-related agencies and service providers at the same time. As a result, each court learns only a piece of the story of the involved family. Decisions are made without all relevant information. And there is the potential for judges to issue inconsistent or conflicting orders. Moreover, each additional
action in separate courts creates inefficiencies for both the court system and the litigants. Ultimately, this system often produces piecemeal resolutions that may foster dangerous situations while not effectively addressing a family’s needs.

Building upon the principles embodied in domestic violence courts, more than sixty counties in New York have implemented an Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) Court; this approach—sometimes referred to as a “One Judge, One Family” model—places all the issues involving a single family before one judge. This innovation offers an opportunity to address inter-related family problems in a comprehensive manner, provide integrated service delivery and improve both court efficiency and informed judicial decision-making.

IDV Courts are specifically designed to promote: victim safety and defendant accountability; informed judicial decision making; consistent handling of all matters involving the same family; efficient use of court resources; and a concentration of social services that include domestic violence and child victim advocacy agencies.

Other Resources