New York City - The world's leader in finance is painfully behind the rest of the world when it comes to children & families, according to one Attorney who has worked in the courts there for years. Linda Kushner, a Family Law Attorney and Court Appointed Law Guardian, can't take it any more. This past Monday Kushner took the system to task on FM radio calling upon all other honest Law Guardians to join her.

"I've been a law guardian for 10 years, I have not had one case where the child has not told me they want both parents involved in their life....I have made a commitment...not to take any more matrimonial cases at all under the present law....there is no way to help people under the current law in the Supreme Court....You could understand why those Judges want to get out of the part as soon as possible, because there is no way to help people." (Full audio of the 2 hour expose is available online at www.silentmajority.info/smontheair.htm).

New York State courts must order sole custody in the absence of mutual consent, even when both parents are excellent. Judges have ordered shared parenting arrangements that were working for kids only to be overturned on appeal. This untenable situation encourages custody battles, lining the pockets of attorneys and alleged "expert" witnesses with college funds and the equity in people's homes. Average middle class cases can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to litigate—the only limit is the asset base.

Judges often appoint their "pals" as Law Guardians and forensics at the parents’ and thus the child’s expense. Outcomes rarely vary because these "pals" won’t go against the temporary orders the same judges made without a hearing at the beginning of the case.

New York's convoluted judicial system needs repairs, says Judith Kaye, the Chief Judge. A bill to that end did not see the light of day during the recently closed legislative session.

Unlike most states, the New York Supreme Court is the entry level for civil cases involving any significant dollar value. Thus, matrimonial actions requiring division of property end up there, while all other domestic relations & child issues are handled in Family Court. The courts cannot be consolidated and streamlined without amending the constitution of the state which itself requires passage of the bill by two consecutive legislatures and a general referendum.

According to Legislators who favor a statutory rebuttable presumption of shared parenting/joint custody, mom still wins 95% of the time. Shared Parenting would eliminate frivolous custody fights. Legitimate cases of danger or incompetence are excluded. 

A joint custody bill that recently passed the State Senate unanimously is a paper tiger. While it adds the words Joint Custody to the statute, it enumerates the same outdated criteria already used as an excuse for the present sole custody law to be considered by courts prior to ordering joint custody. A tiny band-aid on a huge cancer, perhaps that bill should be scrapped in favor of a cure such as A2767/S7402.  Kids are the suffering every day in the meantime.

A recent meta-analysis of 33 studies over the last 20 years proves that children in joint custody situations face similar futures to those of intact families, while those from sole custody arrangements have higher incidences of negative social pathologies. Other studies indicate that voluntary child support compliance is highest (using responses of payers and recipients) when joint custody is ordered over the objection of the mother (which is not allowed in NY). States have an incentive to discourage voluntary compliance because they only receive federal matching funds for monies collected through their bureaucracy. Mandated shared parenting states have seen lower divorce rates and fewer custody battles.

Links to studies, research materials and legislative information can be accessed at www.silentmajority.info


David Friedman