NOTE: For legal reasons, the names of judges in this video have been blurred out. I am keeping the discussion general so it is not possible to ascertain who the judges were.
St. Louis has a dark history of corrupt family court judges. It got so bad that we put up a 48-foot billboard on I-170 naming four of them. It was top story on all three TV stations for at least the next two nights. In the end, two of the judges had to resign the bench and the third, who was a commissioner, was passed over for a full judgeship. We got more bad judges off the bench than anybody else in Missouri history.
Family Courts in St. Louis County (and elsewhere) are notoriously corrupt. Guardian Ad Litems (GALs) supposedly represent the "interests" of the children but most often are gumshoe operators doing the judges work at extremely high prices. False allegations of abuse are rampant. Fathers are regularly falsely accused of sex abuse despite the fact that natural fathers are the lowest risk for child sex abuse.
All sorts of wild allegations are thrown around to get sole custody of children. None of this gets reported to the Division of Social Services (Child abuse and neglect must be reported, by everyone in schools and counselors, but in the confines of the court case it becomes a private war. A custody battle involving kids starts at $100,000 cash, costs escalating for two attorneys and the GAL at the rate of $1,000 to $1,600 per hour.
Kickbacks are rampant. Judges get funding (donations) for pet projects from GALs. Judges often do little except sign an order. The GAL, who is an independent operator, runs around "interviewing " kids and parents, applying very messed up assessments. Making a kid clean up their room before dinner is abusive. In my case, a gay GAL who knew I opposed gay marriage deep-sixed me. Psychologists interview kids and sent "findings" to the GAL. Very little is often heard in court, except in cases infolving wealthy parents. The GAL often draws up the order for the judge.
St. Louis family courts are very corrupt, with the blessings of the Missouiri Commission on Retirement and Removal of Judges, who rarely disciplines judges or lawyers. I have seen the husband's lawyer sleeping with the divorcing wife with no disciplinary action. I have see spouses practice in front of judges. Lesbian judges are GALs are notoriously unfair to men.
in 1998, I got a law passed in Missouri. RSMO 452.423 allowing for an automatic disqualification of the GAL for no cause stated. I litigated it to the MO Supreme Court and won it. That threw a monkey wrench on bad GALs. But it seems that corruption is now endemic so disqualfication just results in higher bills.
There are lawsuits and stories about massive corruption in the family courts right now (March 2021). I have had 30 years working on family law cases and can smell a skunk a mile away. I see everything going on here. In one case we have a mother making wild allegations of sex abuse, which the judge did not buy. Feminist activists have lined up behind her claiming that the judge is condoning child sex abuse. They have a gutsy conservative writer fooled, and who has done several articles that are misinformed. She has not responded to my analysis showing why the allegations are false (if they were true, the psychologist and teachers would be required to report it to Social Services, who would take care of things real fast). I also believe that GALS, who "represent the interests of the child" but do not represent the child, are probably also mandated reporters. II have not had time to look into the other cases.
We do agree on one thing. Family courts are corrupt and horrendously overpriced.
