Being a warrior-mom sucks sometimes

[Joods]

I am sorry you are having to go through this, Judi Lynn. I can't even imagine the type of pain.

I am sure that it's just because you have withheld information for personal reasons (smartly, I might add), but the skeptic in me has alarm bells ringing everywhere. It seems odd to me that a court would allow a mother and daughter to be separated and guardianship given to a non blood relative. There need to be some really serious problems in order for that to happen. I really struggled ethically as to whether I would even post this, because of the extremely vulnerable nature of your OP.

I don't want this to seem like me calling you out, Judi Lynn. As an often overly empathetic person, I feel strongly for you. I just felt I needed to say this.

SC, thank you for your honesty. Trust me, it makes me madder than hell to know this has been done. Here's the thing - I am dealing with a psychopathic narcissist. If anyone knows anything about the nature of how these individuals work, they will agree with me that there is a LOT of manipulation and mind fuckery involved. Couple that with the problem that the courts in PA are the 5th most corrupt in the United States and you see why there's a problem. Link
Throw in the fact that for 9 of those 10 years, I have had no attorney. I have been pro se in every custody hearing. I have only had an attorney for the guardianship hearing and he wasn't a good one, clearly. The judge who heard the case was new to the Orphan's court division. He had been a judge presiding over criminal cases for most of his career and was only seated in the Orphan's court because Judge Blackwell retired in Dec 2013. Our case would have been heard in front of her in Dec but we asked for a postponement due to the fact that my attorney came on late in the case and was trying to get additional information.

Add to this the fact that because this "new" judge wasn't familiar with the rules surrounding how a guardianship hearing works, my ex's attorneys were able to manipulate the hearing so that it was conducted in a fashion similar to a custody hearing. This should never have happened. My attorney is in his 80's, hard of hearing and doesn't ask the questions he should have.

An appeal to the Superior court was filed in Feb, the following month. The Superior court dropped the ball because they did not give me a timely appeal hearing. I will be contesting this should the Supreme court decide to honor my petition for review and grant me a hearing. If not, it's back to the lower court I go to try and get my ex's guardianship revoked.

My family is also a huge factor in this. Because they continued to support my abusive ex, I stopped speaking to them five years ago. Since then, they have happily funded his legal smear campaign against me, paying off custody evaluators and attorneys alike. This is truly a mess. They, along with my ex have blatantly lied on the witness stand in family court. They have paid off witnesses to lie as well. And because perjury isn't enforced in family law court in this wonderful state of Pennsylvania, they get away with it.

There is so much more to this and I appreciate the questioning that has come from my story. I realize that no one is interested in reading a novel about this, but I have ten years worth of dealing with lies, deceit, bullshit, mind fuckery, backstabbing, violations of my 4th, 9th and 14th amendment rights, that I could literally write a book. My file on the custody case involving my youngest is over five inches thick. I have never had Children and Youth Services involved in my life. I am not a drug addict. I don't drink. I don't have a criminal record. My kids are well mannered, polite, behave and don't get in any trouble. They have been raised with a loving hand and disciplined fairly. I don't put my kids through anything that is abusive. I have given the courts ZERO reasons why I should not have my girls with me.

So, what would compel a judge to take a child away from her mother and hand her over to a non-biological person you ask? Lies by him insisting that he has always been there for her - which I proved to be false in court. Lies by my family and lots of money and a court system that is corrupt and one that does not follow what is in the best interests of the child. I stood no chance. 18 years of love, devotion and dedication to my daughter meant nothing. It is something that I shake my head at every day. But I keep moving forward because my daughter needs me.

---

It happens and I am not the only mother out there who has been wronged by the justice system in this way. Sadly, my kind of situation is not unique. I belong to groups on Facebook where there are dozens of parents, both moms and dads alike who have been accused of horrific things, none of which have been proven, but because money makes the judges decisions, those of us who don't have much to work with are already on the losing end.

I am currently trying to figure out a way to get my 10 year long battle into some sort of condensed version to take to the media. It's a huge headache and dealing with depression and PTSD doesn't help matters any. But I plug on anyway, working hard to make a difference so that I can get my kids safely away from that man and home where they belong.