01/23/98

Justice, American Style

In response to Justice, American Style

Little did I know that readers can be soothsayers, too, when one person wrote, "This time, I'm sure you have opened a huge can of worms!" So true, so true. As expected, I heard from many people for whom the justice system seems to have run amok, but some of what goes on in the name of justice (as readers tell it) sounds positively criminal!

• I was put out of my home illegally by a landlord who was a pathological liar. A Fair Housing officer encouraged me to take him to court for compensation to reestablish my home. My lawyer was not prepared for the case. I knew what laws he should be bringing up, but was too nervous to know how to handle the situation. The landlord told an outrageous story which the judge believed. The unprepared attorney sued me for his fee and the State Bar Association rejected my complaint about his poor handling of my case.

  Finally, the attorney took me to Small Claims Court. At the second court date it was obvious to me that he and the judge had talked beforehand and the attorney won a judgment against me. But I went to the office in the judicial system that oversees Small Claims court and convinced a lady there, based on a question in the court transcript, that the judge and attorney had spoken to each other in advance. I never heard from the attorney or the court again.

  The whole experience from illegal eviction to the nightmare in court affected my life for five years. -- Lies can Convict

• On Christmas Eve in 1996, I was home recovering from surgery to my cervical spine and awaiting dinner. About 5:30 p.m. my son called, extremely upset, because he had hit a pedestrian who "just fell out of the sky." My wife drove to the scene. You cannot imagine my anxiety as I waited for their return. Shortly after they arrived, a call came from the hospital that the man had died at the scene. My son was totally exonerated of any blame and no charges were pressed. It had been a dark windy night and the old man was jay walking many feet from the crosswalk, dressed in dark clothing and not paying attention to what he was doing. He walked right in front of my son's car.

  Regardless of the situation there was a law suit. The man's family sued for damages and was awarded $250,000. But who was the victim? I believe my son was. Now and for the rest of his life he must live with the remembrance of that night, something that haunts him continually. He has no compensation for his pain and suffering and mental anguish. I have great sympathy for the man's family and their loss, but I cannot in good conscience condone their monetary gain, especially when no one was convicted of a crime. --- More than one Victim

• Shortly into a new relationship I was followed and harassed by my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. We informed a state trooper of her actions. The harassment escalated. She came to a dinner/dance we attended and threw a tray of dessert dishes at me and smeared food on me. I did not fight back. We called the state trooper who helped us handle the case correctly.

  To speed the story along, I will tell you that it took two and a half years from issuing a warrant for a disorderly conduct charge to resolution of the case. I was in the courthouse twice as much as she was, to make sure all my rights were exercised. I missed work and school, while she went to court at her convenience. She was arrested a few more times during the two and a half years, once for breaking the protective order against her and twice for failure to appear.

  She began to make reverse, false claims against me, that I was stalking her. I was called in for questioning several times for totally bogus stories and she was never arrested for perjury. She continued to make my life hell and knew just how far she could push the protective order. She also made false claims against my boyfriend to try to get him in trouble at work. Thankfully, they did not believe her.

  I should have been commended for my self-restraint. Even though she was sentenced in the end, it was not worth everything I went through. The court system has no respect for the victim and I think that's a shame. -- Support Victim's Rights

• In some situations, people assume you are guilty until proven innocent. Eight years ago we took in, as foster parents, a disturbed seven year old boy who had suffered at the hands of abusive, neglectful, drug and alcohol addicted parents. After a few years of making significant progress helping him cope with his fears, anxieties and other emotional issues, we adopted him.

  When he hit puberty and junior high school, all hell broke loose. He became more and more uncontrollable, abusive and rebellious. He wanted freedom to go where he wanted, use any kind of language, get poor grades and use illicit drugs. The more we cracked down on him the more he actually took revenge and finally turned me in to authorities for "abusing" him. I did slap him, but don't think that resulted in the black eye he had. (He ran away after I slapped him and came home with a bruise by his eye.) I was arrested for child abuse.

  A few weeks later, he went after my wife because she wouldn't let him run away again. I intervened and wrestled him off her while she called the police. I was arrested again, because he said I punched him (which I did not.) The police and State child protective agency involved would not even listen to me, let alone believe me.

  The court prosecutor wouldn't hear of anything except a plea bargain. A few thousand dollars and dozens of court dates and court ordered "anger management" sessions later, I'm still not out from under the charges.

  The State has had him (our son) for the past ten months. During that time he has been thrown out of four shelters and a foster home because of lying, stealing, abuse, going AWOL, disrespect, and blaming everyone else for his troubles.

  The system found me guilty because of the words of my angry, emotionally disturbed son, before I even got to court. I was arrested without just cause or bona fide evidence of a crime. The State gave us no chance to explain what was happening with this boy who they knew was emotionally disturbed when they brought him to us. Now they tell me that if he checks himself out of their care when he turns 16 in a few months, they will forfeit their custody of him and leave us responsible for his care and criminal actions again. State child protective agencies and family court judges should be helping parents in our situation, not punishing us. -- Parents Falsely Accused

• I was in a marriage with an abusive alcoholic. I hired an attorney for $250 an hour, obtained a restraining order, a divorce and rights to the title of our house. My ex-husband refused to give the title to me. It took six months and another $600 in legal fees to get what the judge had awarded me as part of the divorce. If it takes $25,000 in legal fees with a good lawyer, what happens to the poor in such situations? -- No Justice Without Money

Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.