A Stain on Massachusetts
Or the Top Fifty
Lessons Learned from Plymouth County Probate...
"In general, the
powerful and influential in our society shape the laws and have great influence
on the legislature or the Congress. This creates a reluctance to change
because the powerful and the influential have carved out for themselves or have
inherited a privileged position in our society, of wealth and social prominence
or higher education or opportunity for the future. What can we still do
to restore equity and justice or to preserve it or to enhance it in this
society?"
By J.M. Hamilton 12-25-13
After a thirteen year child custody
battle, and more than a half million spent on legal fees and child support,
here's what I have learned about the Massachusetts Probate Courts (specifically in Plymouth County):
1) If you nine year old comes to
you and asks if you, " Is mommy trying to kill me (?)," if
you're a caring father, your life is about to be turned upside down.
2) Further supporting the medical
evidence showing inexplicable weight loss, your son can black out in
front of the school twice, and in front of an entire church congregation as an Altar Boy, due to lack of proper nutrition, and
the Judge won't do a damn thing.
3) A mother can underfeed her
nine year old, as documented by medical records, to the tune of fifteen pounds,
and she will not be held accountable by the Plymouth County Probate courts, particularly Judge Menno.
4) A mother can lock her son out
of her home, at least three times that I'm aware of, and she will not be held
accountable by the Plymouth County Probate courts (aka Judge Menno).
5) A mother can under-cloth her
son, so that he is sick for six consecutive weeks in the dead of a
Massachusetts winter, and the Plymouth County Probate Courts will not grant a
change in custody.
6) You can present pictures of
yours son's bleeding hands, as a result of exposure, and the professionals and
the judge will dismiss the evidence as a "rash."
7) The mother can abuse pets and
animals, and in some instances make them disappear over the course of a
weekend, and the Court appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Wolman (Boston), will
dismiss this, as "improbable."
8) Mom can remarry, and bring
into your son's life a stepson, who abuses your son, beats on him, and has a rap
sheet on Google the length of your arm, and the Plymouth County Probate court
doesn't care.
8.3) Mom can call your son an
"idiot" and "hyper, “and drag him from professional doctor to
psychiatrist in the effort to have him diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, or the
childhood disorder de jour - Autism, all throughout your son's
elementary school years (with every doctor repeating that there is ‘not a
problem’); and when your son turns out to be the straight A student - in
his middle school years- you maintained your son would always be, the
Judge Menno will give your Ex full credit.
8.5) If you think your Ex has Munchhausens syndrome, because she squanders
$33,000 in child support on attorneys and doctors -annually, and your son asks
you why he is "poor," you are probably right, she does have
Munchhausens.
8.7) If your son misses
thirty-one homework assignments, and your Ex might be a teacher within the Marshfield school district, the school
administration, and the Plymouth County probate Judge Menno will give mommy a
passing grade.
9) Your son can be suicidal, under
the care of his mother, for the duration of an entire Summer, and the Plymouth County Probate court will NOT grant a
change of custody, but they'll blame the father.
10) If your Ex is smart, she'll
hire the local State Rep, Jim Cantwell, who has come out of
retirement from his law practice, to represent her.
11) It will be painfully clear to
everyone in the courtroom why the State
Rep. Jim Cantwell retired from the practice of law, and went into
the politics; and yet, he will prevail because cronyism, politics and
corruption trumps the rule of law and prima facie evidence in Plymouth
County, Massachusetts.
12) A prominent Boston attorney, Sandy Durland III,
told me that my Ex had underfed my son, by sending him to bed without dinner –
over the span of weeks.
13) Judge Menno will see to it that only long
established "friends/cronies" of the court are appointed to the key
roles of parenting coordinator and guardian ad
litem (i.e. court appointed
investigator).
14) The courtroom proceedings are
a charade, the real decision making goes on in the star chamber within the
judge's office.
15) A "parenting coordinator," Attorney Michele Dorsey (Scituate MA), is a
surrogate for the court, and has the "ex-officio" powers of a judge,
w/out being required to practice the rule of law or due process. Avoid the hiring of a parenting coordinator at all costs.
16) If there is an obvious
conflict of interest and you have signed a mediation agreement with a Plymouth
County attorney, and this same attorney, Michele Dorsey (Scituate, MA) is
dispensing legal advice to the mother in this case..... the Plymouth County
probate judge, Menno, will still appoint this same attorney as a surrogate to his
court, and assign her to be a "parenting coordinator."
17) When you point out the obvious ethical issues of the Judge's
parenting coordinator appointment to the Massachusetts Bar, they
will side with the Judge Menno's decision; that is to say, your Ex's
attorney/mediator/court appointed parenting coordinator, Michele Dorsey.
18) If the parenting coordinator
divides the payment of her fees in a disproportionate manner, say 70%
father/30% mother.... BEWARE! Your former spouse has absolutely no
incentive to work things out with you; but rather, has every incentive to drag
you before the parenting coordinator on every single issue, monthly.
19) The parenting coordinator
(PC), Michele Dorsey (Scituate MA) will not rein this behavior in, because
after all, she is being paid, every time your Ex drags you into another meeting
with her.
20) You and your son are
"scrod," when the parenting coordinator is meeting with your Ex on
the side, via phone and personal meetings. Ignore the fact - at your
peril - that you are being charged for these meetings, which you are not a part
of, and when you ask for information or records concerning these meetings - you
are denied.
21) The
divorce rates in the country is 50% for first time marriages and higher for
second marriages. If you have children, there is a higher
probability than not that your divorce will not be amicable and that you will
end up going through a probate court.
22) Probate courts have some of
the broadest powers of any other court in the land, that is to say,
discretionary, arbitrary, and capricious power. These probate court powers are inimical to the rule of law
and are likely unconstitutional, as they deprive persons of property, liberty,
and the right to freely associate with family.
23) Family law attorneys do not
work on Fridays, and they take off the month of August, along with the Plymouth
County Probate Court - Judge Menno - even if your son is suicidal while under
his mother's care.
24) If you are looking for a
Hollywood ending to your court room proceedings, where truth and facts triumph
over local politics and cronyism, particularly in Plymouth County,
Massachusetts, well... forget about it.
25) When you report your Ex to
DCF - the Marshfield Independent School District Principal, Mrs. Hubbard, will lie and cover up for your Ex, even though you've just
been chewed out by this same school administration because your son missed 31
homework assignments, and are told your son is having a terrible year - while
under mommy's care.
26) When you tell the District school Superintendent, Mr. Scott Borstel, that
the principal lied to DCF - the Superintendent will "conduct an
investigation" and tell you it was okay that she lied.
28). The GAL, Dr. Wolman, will threaten your son if he
asks to live with his father.
29). The GAL, Dr. Wolman (Boston) will tell the mother
it is okay for her to conduct her own personal investigation on the father's
property in the middle of a trial.
31). Despite all the horrific acts your
Ex has committed against your son, the GAL will say the key point in the trial
is when you filed a restraining order against the mother for conducting an
investigation on your property.
32). Everyone acknowledges the obvious
double-standard: that had I conducted an investigation on mother's property I
would be arrested or worse, shot.
33). Your son's doctor in Pembroke, MA, Dr. Stanley, can lie
about your son's weight loss, alter medical records, and the Massachusetts
board of medicine will not hold your son's doctor accountable.
This Dr. Stanley will lie and say your son must have had "rocks in
his pockets" to account for the fifteen pound weight loss.
34). When any of the professionals
involved in this case say they are looking out for the interests of your son,
you know some highly self-serving SH!T is about to come down.
35). The stated
goal of he State Rep, Jim Cantwell, was to drag these proceedings out for three
years -completely contrary to the interests of my son, and against
the ethical rules governing attorneys in the State of Massachusetts.
36). After four years in the Plymouth
County probate court, I'm completely convinced the goal of the probate Judge Menno was to keep you tied up
in his courtroom so that you generate fees for the local counsel, therapist and
psychiatrist.
37). The Psychiatric profession is
under fire in this country as President Obama's appointee - and the lead psychiatrist
- has pointed out that the profession and the DSM is not backed by science or
biology. In short, the profession is a fraud.
38). If you witness child abuse and the
beating of children at a scouting event in Marshfield , MA --- don't report it
to the parenting coordinator, Michele Dorsey, Judge Menno, the Boy Scouts, or
the GAL, Dr. Wolman (Boston) because they will not investigate it and you will
pay the price for reporting same.
39). Doctors, lawyers, teachers,
parenting coordinators, mediators, school principals.... Apparently, nobody is
a "mandated court reporter" in Plymouth
County, w/ no obligation to report child abuse.
40). Some Marshfield parents still
believe it is acceptable to hit, beat and strangle their children.
41). When I found out my son was
suicidal under the care of his mother, and the professionals in this case
continued to do nothing, I published a blog about my experiences with the
Plymouth County Probate court.
42). After the trial was over, I wrote
a book entitled Mrs. Marshfield, which was written largely based
upon actual court room testimony and court room evidence. I believe the
book should be required reading for any parents with children, considering
divorce, or any parents considering having children within the institution of
marriage.
43) Judge Menno ruled that I had a first amendment
right to publish the book; however, as he deemed the book to be harmful to my
son - he suspended visitation for over a year.
44). To date, no medical or psychiatric
evidence has been presented that my son ever saw the book or was in any way
harmed by the book. In fact my son is thriving and a straight A student....
exactly as I foretold.
45). The parties enraged by the book, Mrs. Marshfield, are the cadre of
"professionals" who make up the probate industrial complex; that is
to say, the star chamber.
46). In Fall 2013, the judge also
reasoned that since I did not continue to litigate in his courtroom, I did not
deserve to see my son. The definition of insanity is for my family to
attempt and continue to litigate in Plymouth County Probate.
47). Judge Menno conveniently forgot that my State
Senator had requested that this same judge, Menno, be investigated, which
resulted in an investigation spanning over six months, and I had asked the
judge to recuse himself.
49). The same prominent Boston attorney, Mr. Sandy Durland
III, who told me that my Ex systematically underfed my son, also told me that
the judge in this case used to be competent but that he now took shortcuts with
the law to reach his desired outcome. This prominent Boston attorney is
the brother in law of the State Rep, Jim Cantwell, who represented my Ex. I
guess he would know.
50). The behavior of Judge Menno and
the professionals in this case is arguably criminal, likely unconstitutional; but like some of the more unsavory actions and recent
revelations of the NSA, may be possibly legal and permitted by law. At least for now.
Back in 1974, Jimmy Carter, then Governor Carter, gave a famous speech at the University of Georgia attacking our corrupt legal system, dominated by legal elites, the rich and the powerful. Today, little has changed and it probably has grown worse. Lady justice has lifted her blindfold, and with a wink and a nod, her scales of justice have been piled high with loot and tilted in favor of the elite and backroom/crony dealings. The two trials that I have been a part of in Plymouth County were little more than playacting.
The majority of our judges are not
elected in this country but are appointed for life, which essentially means
their power is nearly absolute. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, just as we saw in this
case. And the war of attrition and endless delays-that is
often the core strategy of our modern day courts- perverts justice at every
turn. That, and it is widely known that justice is all too often for sale
in this country.
"Justice delayed is justice
denied." Mr. Gladstone told us that.
Our family law courts damage, and in
some instances, destroy young lives, as many lawyers and many professionals
play their games and take money away from families that can ill afford to pay
or play their game. The Plymouth County Probate court is a stain on the State of Massachusetts, and state bureaus and boards responsible for
overseeing the “professionals” further damage the state's reputation. I
believe there is a special place in hell for medical and psychiatric
professionals, teachers and judges who abuse, and/or aid and abet, the
manipulation of children. It's the tenth ring of hell or Plymouth County
Probate by any other name.
Ultimately, as we live in a democracy -
Americans get the government we deserve; that is to say, as long as we tolerate
tenured judges and politicians, a crony system of elites running our courts and
government for their own personal enrichment - U.S. citizens should expect to be preyed upon and sustain
continued injustice on a monumental scale.... especially at the expense of our
children.
As for myself, I have never missed a
support payment, never missed a scheduled visitation, remained gainfully
employed for in excess of thirty years, have no criminal record, and have never
entered rehab for the abuse of drugs; and I am eminently better able to provide
and afford a better life and care for my son, than the current circumstances my
son finds himself consigned to.
While I am not going to publish the
names of the individuals involved in this case - for fear of the continued
abuse of power and reprisals against me and my son - I am publishing the docket
numbers, which are a matter of public record. Perhaps some enterprising
reporter, or lawyer or a politician with a conscience, would like to take a
look at the corruption within the Plymouth County Probate court?
Should you visit Plymouth County
Probate, please send the Judges my warmest regards.
Docket Number: PL02D
1047-DR
Docket Number: PL02D
1047-FM1
Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2013
