Court judges have a lot of power over people’s lives and that is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. Most judges take it very seriously, but some seem to take their power too far. One judge seemingly overstepped her bounds when she sent three children to a detention facility after they refused to go to lunch with their dad. According to the news report, the judge blamed the mother for brainwashing her kids into alienating their father. Oddly enough, the kids ended up taking the punishment which the mother deserved. The kids were simply doing what they were programmed to do.
When the judge asked the children why they did not want to see their father, the oldest boy (15) told her he was violent and he saw his dad hit his mom, which would be Assault in the Third Degree. Apparently, the judge did not believe what he said, because she told the mother this was the worst case of ‘parental alienation’ she had ever seen and decided to hold all three kids – ages 9, 10, and 15 – in contempt of court. During the hearing she likened the mother to Charles Manson and his cult. Why were the children punished and sent to juvenile detention for the mother’s conduct?
Crossing the Line – Who Should Be Punished With Detention or County Jail?
The children were told they were going to be held in the detention facility until they were 18 years old – 9 years for the youngest child. Seriously? A 9-year sentence for a child who does not want to see her dad? Is it just me, or is that beyond ridiculous? Let’s hope our Fort Collins and Larimer County judges would have more wisdom than that.
What about the well-being of the children?
Now, I don’t know if the judge was just trying to prove a point or what, but it seems like her issue was with the mother. If her intention was to hurt the mom, then taking her kids away was certainly a dramatic statement. But, what about the well-being of the children? If the judge truly felt the best interest of the kids was to remove them from their mother’s care, that is one thing. Send the mother to jail for Contempt of Court. Child protective services should have gotten involved and an investigation completed.
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If, after an investigation, the allegations were founded, then something appropriate should have been done to protect the children. If, the judge truly felt the kids were in imminent danger, then it would be understandable for the children to be taken from the home and placed in the care of another. But, to put the kids in a detention center! It’s punishing the child for the ‘evils’ of the parent, and that is truly not fair. Now, these kids will have to deal with the trauma of being ripped from their home and from each other. That’s right, in an added statement, the judge ordered the siblings not have contact with each other in the detention facility. All this begs the question, was more harm done than good?
Judges are People in Larimer County
This is a good reminder that judges are people too. They have bad days, they have opinions, and yes, sometimes they make questionable choices. You should never face a judge alone in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park! Make sure you have someone on your side, who has your best interest at heart. The criminal defense lawyers from the O’Malley Law Office care for you and your circumstances, and whether your kids end up in the Larimer County Hub Youth Detention Center. Whether you were charged with a misdemeanor like Harassment or a felony like Sexual Assault, you need a defense attorney you trust to fight for you.