Jaclyn Qirreh April 22, 2017 – 12:41 am
The reason so many gathered on Wednesday is to raise awareness of a crisis in Solano County. Family Court judges are not properly trained in domestic violence. They are ignoring documented evidence of abuse to women and children, and giving custody to proven abusers. Great mothers are even losing any and all custody of their children. The most important element is that these children are being deprived of their mothers at very young ages, and the mothers only “crime” was trying to protect their child, and alerting the court to the history of domestic violence or abuse of some kind. The candles that were passed out said, “Light a candle on behalf of a child whose voice has been silenced by a Solano County Family Court judge.” Judges will often refuse to speak to the children that their rulings drastically impact. It is known within the county that women, especially ones who have suffered domestic violence, do not fare well in Solano Courts. It is too much for even one child to lose a great mother due to the court’s lack of training in properly accessing abuse.
Judge: Carringer
Chiara Snell April 22, 2017 – 10:00 am
My son ran away from the abuse after nobody would listen to him. The judge stripped me from all of my parental rights without any reason except for the fact that he ran away. The mediator recommended that he be returned home where he felt safest and the judge dismissed the mediation report that was submitted by a court appointed mediator (This mediation was a child only interview and took place before he ran away) They’d rather watch a child be on the streets than allow the child to be where he feels safe. The police reports, CPS reports, they all meant nothing. When CPS was initially contacted by one of my son’s teachers after seeing severe bruising on his arm, they never contacted me. This CPS report happened before the court custody was even an issue.
I had custody and was allowing my teenage son to experience life on the other side of the fence by living with his father, which was something he desperately wanted. Once I did find out about the CPS report, I started paying more attention to his demeanor when I was taking him back home. His therapist that I was taking him to see (PTSD from an incident that took place in 2007) informed me that things weren’t going to well at his father’s house. Subsequentl, I told his father that at the end of the school year, he would be coming back home. The father went and got emergency full custody just like that; didn’t even have to serve me for the court date.
Once I got all of my evidence together for the abuse to explain to the judge why I said he was to return home, she had already made her order and refused to change it. I was given 4 days out of the month and if dad made any accusations, she was sure to reduce the time shared, threaten me with supervised visitation, etc. This judge even got upset with me for picking my son up on my scheduled weekend after his father told me that our son was in trouble and couldn’t come. He didn’t allow us to speak on the phone, and didn’t allow any additional time outside of the 4 days a week ordered by the judge; But I was suppose to skip my weekend whenever he requested that I do so.
The judge was his attorney on many court dates and only heard what she wanted to hear. Since all of this has happened, my son finally took mattersi to his hands. He ran away on 9/19/16. He had to run for his safety. He is now using drugs (he started while living with his father), and it didn’t help that that’s all he was around (several drug related cases are tied to the father…that meant nothing as well). The courts have refused to step in. Why don’t these children have a voice. I have proof that he was doing well with me. Why wouldn’t they want a child to do good? How can they take away a parent’s right to save their child? Take away a child’s right to be safe? This is a case that is happening right now. These things are true, and it is a horrible situation.
Judge: Unger
Tracie Gonsolis April 22, 2017 – 1:19 am
I am a victim of the gender bias Solano County Family Law Courts. I would love to share my story. These two Solano Family Court judges are women. The courts are not handling domestic violence cases appropriately. They are punishing mothers, taking their parenting rights away, not allowing reasonable visitation and penalizing and punishing these mothers financially. Our stories need to be told. Many are posted on the robingroom.com. There is judicial misconduct happening in Solano County and women are the victims.
Judge: Unger
Jaclyn Qirreh April 22, 2017 – 9:53 am
The judges have said that if a women does not press charges then the abuse never existed. Yet, anyone trained in domestic violence knows that the victim rarely ever wants to press charges. They protect the abuser for a number of reasons, including: fear, economic dependence, threats, lack of support from family or community, religious beliefs about a woman needing to submit no matter what… That is why the group is asking for training and experts in domestic violence to be involved. We love fathers, and many have sons that participated. Women are being called “mentally ill” when they show proof of abuse since the court uses the measure of whether or not charges were pressed as the indicator of whether or not there was abuse. There is a group of over 90 mothers that have experienced this first-hand, and many more come forward all the time. There are women that lie, but we are talking about when women provide proof… arrests, police reports, witness testimony. Its all being ignored, and then they are losing ALL custody of their children. This is not ok. Each case deserves to be evaluated appropriately, and domestic violence cases are being mishandled. Unfortunately, the trend has that this is happening to women. Maybe its the courts trying to over-correct for good fathers not having any custody. Not sure, but its too many for even one child to lose a good mother due to a court not understanding the dynamics of domestic violence.
Lizzy April 22, 2017 – 10:23 am
I have a friend who is going through this battle currently. She’s lost custody of both of her kids and is on supervised visits. She is an amazing mom who loves and takes care of her children. She was in a marriage where her husband abused her and her children. She had proof of this, yet the courts deemed her unfit and gave her precious babies to the man who had been abusing them. How does this make sense? Who is there to protect these innocent children? We need to stand up and allow these children to have a voice and be heard! They need to know there are people out there that care and want to help.
Melanie Jakovleva April 22, 2017 – 11:44 am
I know first-hand that a judge has taken young children from an incredible mother and placed them with a documented abuser, their father. Solano County judges are grossly mishandling cases involving abuse.
Sue Kristensen April 22, 2017 – 9:09 am
This injustice is not about male or female. Men have been onnthe receiving end of injustice also. These problems in the family law courts is about Judges abusing their power and it hurts the children. These real issues are not about jilted mothers these are documented cases of judicial abuse. For all the parents that are experiencing judical misconduct.