LD 953 HP 656 An Act To Implement Changes in the Family Division To Improve the Experience of Pro Se Litigants

An Act To Implement Changes in the Family Division To Improve the Experience of Pro Se Litigants

CONCEPT DRAFT SUMMARY


This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.

This bill proposes to make changes to the practice, procedures and administration of the Family Division of the District Court in order to improve the experience and effectiveness of Prose litigants in matters before that court.

This bill will be before the Judiciary Committee and when it comes up for testimony we will post the event.

What you say as Pro se

Forget law terms - what we have found is that the Family Court judge just wants to know what kind of parent you are. The kind of Mother or Father you will be.

How you state your case is more important that what it is that you say to the judge.

Chief Justice Saufley on the Pro se Litigant before Maine Judicial Committee.

Chief Justice LeighI. Saufley recently spoke before the Judiciary Committee of Maine. Among many topics she mentioned Pro se representation. Presented here is the sound bite dealing with Prose. Below is the transcription of the sound bite:

"To many people who have to come to court without lawyers - and that is a very long conversation, but we have all kinds of innovations we are working on. We're watching other states to see what's working there. The bottom line is that  people should have an attorney to help them when something in their life has gone so wrong that they have to be in a court room. Its not a good idea to not be represented, so we're working on plans to help improve all of that... ummmm..."

The sound bite may be found here: Chief Justice Leigh Saufley.

We would like to ask Chief Justice Saufley if she could gave us an example of some of those "innovations" she mentioned. How will they make the court system better? Are some of these "innovations" simply a euphemism for more money for Maine courts? The problems that the Judicial Branch have - go beyond the mantra of more money and innovations. Our Judicial Branch is the foundation to our system of justice here in this state and the structure that they are trying to patch is beyond mere cosmetic changes for which they have proposed before in the past.

Take for example the Family Court system that the Chief Justice has admitted is in trouble. Guardians ad litem that practice psychology, social work and law without a license but sanctioned and encouraged by the court to do so. On a regular basis we see the use of Consumers have been subjected to Judicial Out Sourcing; Junk Science; Psycho-eugenics; Legal Abuse Syndrome and Moral Equivalency. There is no scientific basis or history for these ideas - yet - the courts fully embrace these ideas.  There is no management of the various parts and no oversight. 74% of the parents entering the Family Court system who do so Prose and for the vast majority they have no idea how to conduct them selves. We have court officers who provide the bare minimum of help to the 74%. What "innovations" will help these customers of Family Court services? More money will not help. Money has poured into finding a solution and so far the investment has bared no fruit. Why are we "watching" other states? Are we looking for a patch that is less painful for customers? Once those solutions are found will the Judicial Branch even be able to implement process and systems change? I mean we are talking about a bunch of lawyers here. They know how to find innovative ways of charging their clients - but do they know anything about systems and process improvement?

As a foundation upon which the various courts stand - the Judicial Branch cannot afford to continue to make decisions that harm their consumers to the benefit of the 26% who are not Prose. It may be time to stop patching the building(s) and bring in an outside contractor for help. Someone who is not embedded in law, knows systems analysis and can identify issues and ways to improve them so that we have a world class court - as we did in the past.

Please contact us if you need help in filling out forms for Family Court. We are not able to provide legal advice (we are not lawyers) - just help. Contact us at MeProseWay@gmail.com. Also find us on Facebook.

Non-Custodial Parent Rights of Contact

Most people go Prose because of the huge cost of hiring a lawyer who may or maynot work for you. Listened to a case online where the lawyers were going back and forth regarding the rights of contact.

The judge had ruled that the non-custodial parent had rights of contact but did not take the step of setting up a basic schedule that the divorcing family could use as a guide. As a result the parents and their lawyers were back in court - again - fighting over what could be considered an acceptable schedule. The outcome does not matter for the purposes of this post. What does matter is that you as a Prose litigant should make sure there is a basic visitation schedule hammered out by all parties and the judge before leaving court. Otherwise you will find yourself right back in court.

Some other things to consider. All ways be thinking of the future:

1. Make sure that you are involved in the caring of your child as the non-custodial parent. You may not be able to bring your child to the doctor - but make an effort to find out what happened at the visit. Do not rely on the ex to provide the information.
2. Get involved with your child's school and his/ her teacher(s). This can be something as simple as emailing on a regular basis with the teacher.
3. Keep a diary of events and or things you have done with your child(ren) in a bound notebook. This is useful as it documents what you have done. It can also be used to show if there are any problems which you may have had to face with visitation.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate in contacting us at MeProseway@gmail.com or find us on Facebook.