How Can a Judge Take Away Your Child? What REALLY Happens Inside Family Court

Are family courts putting children and parents at risk? In this episode of Cults, Culture, and Coercion, Dr. Steven Hassan interviews attorney and investigative journalist Karen Winner about family court secrecy, custody battles, psychological evaluations, parental alienation, financial abuse, lawyer misconduct, judicial accountability, and the commercialization of divorce court.

Karen Winner is an attorney, investigative reporter, and policy analyst who previously led an investigation at New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs into the financial abuse of women by their own divorce attorneys. Her investigation led to the creation of a statement of clients' rights that became law in New York and established important consumer protections for divorce clients.

In this conversation, Dr. Hassan and Karen Winner examine:

- Why family courts are allowed to exercise extraordinary power over families and children

- How family court proceedings can operate behind closed doors with limited public scrutiny

- Why evaluations by court-appointed psychologists can be kept secret from families and the public

- How cronyism, profiteering, and conflicts of interest can undermine confidence in legal systems

- The lack of consistent national standards for state family courts

- How the vague “best interest of the child” standard can leave enormous discretion to individual judges

- Financial abuse, excessive legal fees, bill padding, and lawyer misconduct in divorce cases

- Why complaints against lawyers are often kept confidential even after multiple people have complained

- Karen Winner’s investigation into lawyer misconduct and the creation of New York’s Statement of Client Rights

- The dangers of wrongful custody determinations and miscarriages of justice

- How allegations of parental alienation can arise in custody disputes involving allegations of child abuse

- How to distinguish between parental alienation vs. the reality that parents can influence children against another parent

- The role of court psychologists, judges, lawyers, and evidence in determining custody

- The need for greater judicial accountability, transparency, and public participation

- Why journalists need greater access to family court records to shine a light on the system

- How court watchers can observe legal cases and help hold judges accountable

- Why protecting children must be a central priority of the justice system

Dr. Hassan also discusses his own experience as an appointed expert in a custody case involving a parent who had joined a Bible cult, raising questions about religious freedom, coercive control, and who is capable of determining what is in the best interests of a child. Karen Winner shares equally disturbing examples from her own work, including cases involving alleged lawyer misconduct, secretive custody evaluations, wrongful custody decisions, and several other harrowing tales of judicial overstepping.

The conversation broaches a fundamental question: Who is watching the people who have the power to decide the fate of children and their families? Karen Winner argues for greater transparency, accountability, and court watching, while Dr. Hassan emphasizes the importance of understanding psychology, coercive control, and human behavior within these influential public systems.

Karen Winner is currently working on a new book about wrongful custody determinations and miscarriages of justice. She also discusses the need for court watchers and points to the potential value of independent observers in family court proceedings.

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Chapters:

#FamilyCourt #ChildCustody #DivorceCourt #CustodyBattle #KarenWinner #StevenHassan #CultsCultureAndCoercion #ParentalAlienation #FamilyLaw #JudicialAccountability #CourtReform #LawyerMisconduct #ChildWelfare #CoerciveControl #MindControl #Brainwashing #Psychology #LegalReform

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