In follow-up to our August 4, 2014 post, today we bring you Part Two of our trilogy concerning a prior test case brought by parental rights advocate, Dr. Leon R. Koziol in Parent v New York. As explained, the United States Supreme Court recently handed down a ruling which showed that the test case was properly litigated, both in the lower federal court (yesterday’s post) and on appeal before the Second Circuit federal appeals court in New York City.

On June 15, 2012, a large gathering of parents and civil rights advocates rallied at Foley Square outside a federal appeals court in lower Manhattan in support of Parent v New York. This was a case designed to secure constitutional rights and fair treatment for parents routinely abused in New York’s domestic relations courts. Meanwhile, inside the court house, a decision was being made without public argument. We have included video clips of that rally here.

On June 18, 2012, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a summary order affirming lower court dismissal of the Parent case on grounds of Younger abstention. However, the recent unanimous Supreme Court ruling in Sprint Communications v Jacobs now verifies the erroneous nature of that order. Because Koziol’s constitutional challenges were wrongly declined, no decision on their merits has ever properly occurred. Hence the new case, Koziol v King, was filed last week with its added First Amendment claims, including disciplinary and Family Court retaliation for Koziol’s testimony at the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.

A relevant excerpt from Dr. Koziol’s memorandum of law in support of a preliminary injunction in the new case is attached. As stated, we are dedicating this trilogy to all parents abused in our nation’s divorce and family courts. We would like to especially thank all those volunteers who rallied behind our cause two years ago. It turns out, you folks were correct as well in this movement to restore integrity and justice in our states’ third branch of government. Kindly share this post with others. We continue to rely on donations, additionally offering a Court Program to assist self-represented parents or those anxious to reduce costly litigation.