Do You Feel Your Judge Was Biased?

Posted to House Bloggers by Rachel Small on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 7:28am

I'm wondering if any female readers, while going through the divorce process, thought the judge was biased against her. I've heard of a few cases where women had the perception the divorce judge favored the husband.

In Hong Kong, an appeals court banned a judge from hearing a divorce action because they seriously believed that the Justice would be biased against the wife.

The husband's attorney, writing to the judge, alleged that the wife would have his client killed if he returned to Hong Kong from a London trip.

Justice John Saunders said, "I do not consider that the father's fear of physical injury, is either irrational or a sign of instability." Apparently both the husband, his attorney and the judge took this alleged threat seriously.

Unfortunately this judge put his foot in his mouth when he expressed a biased conventional opinion, that the husband's fear may be "described as being akin to a fear, for personal safety, held by someone married to a person of Italian extraction."

To me this expression was shockingly outlandish and inappropriate for someone who should be fair to both sides. Why would a judge in Hong Kong refer to this Italian stereotype? Maybe he fell under the influence of "The Sopranos."

With courts dominated by male judges, no wonder some women feel they are ripped off in divorce settlements due to male prejudice. I don't think this is necessarily true, but often perception of those going through the system, becomes reality.

I choose not to believe all male judges have a female bias, but what is your experience?

Comments

Yes, it sometimes happens

Submitted by Philosophia (not verified) on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 8:59am.

Yes, my judge was biased against me. I came out of a spiritually and mentally abusive situation. I had documentation of this, and the fact that my X was hiding assets and income, that he had threatened me in many ways, that he had orchestrated the children's alienation, that he had lied about me in public. I had never worked outside the home, but managed a growing real estate business and took care of a large household. When we came to came to court the attorneys pressured us to settle before we saw the judge. I just wanted the war to end, and gave him custody and let him buy out the property for 30% less than it was worth. (He was making roughly $250k per year at that time) All I wanted was temporary support to finish college, so that I would be employable. His attorneys (he had TWO) said we would put that to the judge. To make a long story short, because none of the evidence of why we were divorcing was presented, the judge actually threatened to have me pay child support, even though I had never worked and had no income. My sister (an attorney in another state) and I left the courtroom in tears. I am still struggling to finish college, and not employed. Since that day about a year and a half ago, he has already made back the entire amount he paid to me in the settlement and has found a new fiance in the Philippines. I won't graduate until 2012, and could only make minimal wages if I worked. This sort of thing is rare, but it does happen.

...And it's not just the men

Submitted by Anna (not verified) on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 3:26pm.

I'm not sure if we are just incredibly unlucky or if this sort of thing is really much more common. My judge was a woman and was EXTREMELY biased against me. I am still in the process of divorce and am currently homeless as a result. My husband was physically and sexually abusive (like you- I had documentation of this as well), but when I finally told him I wanted out, he was manipulative enough to go to the court first. HE went and got a restraining order against ME saying all sorts of proposterous lies and without providing a single shred of evidence to back it up. The lies were quite serious, namely that a doctor had diagnosed me with being "homicidal" and I was shocked that the judge would grant it without even the hint of proof. (I had documentation and declarations from my doctors that not only is this not true, it's outrageous that anyone would claim this.) The most shocking part was that he asked for me to be evicted from my house which I bought with my pre-marital money (he didn't pay a cent) and the judge actually granted it. We were only married for two year and we do not have any kids. Also, he makes $300K, which is almost 4 times what I make. It's ridiculous that the judge thinks he should get to live in a house that I bought! Two weeks later, we had our hearing. Of course, I submitted my medical records, numerous third party declarations, financial records... you name it... a mountain of evidence proving that everything he said was a lie. To my total shock, she threw me out of the house, AGAIN and granted HIM the restraining order against me. What she didn't do was grant me any protection from him, even though I had proof of his violence towards me. I didn't just leave the courtroom crying; I collapsed in the hallway with a seizure from a condition I'd had all my adult life. Now, I just don't know what I can do anymore... I worte about it in my own blog if anyone is interested in reading: http://lyingwithstrangers.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/elizabeth-castilleja-...

You have got to be kidding

Submitted by Steve (not verified) on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 8:23am.

You have got to be kidding me? You believe women get the short end of the stick in courts? please. Most times half of what the guy owns goes to the woman regardless if she worked a day or not, not to mention alimony and child custody. This reminds me of a story where a guy in the U.S. could no longer pay child support was placed in prison for 1 year, only to find out the kid was not his, yet still had to pay back what he was unable to.

Do You Feel Your Judge Was Biased?

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