Supreme Court Wife: A Wedding to Die For!

arts-dining — Hall of Springs at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

Administrator’s Note:

If you are a follower of Leon Koziol.com, you know that a book is being authored in connection with Leon’s ordeal in family court. Set to be published this year, it will include retributions for his reform efforts and reports of judicial misconduct now headed for the Justice Department. Today we take you back to where this all got started. It is a book excerpt that should captivate you.

A Wedding To Die For

By Dr. Leon R. Koziol

It was only days after my return from our honeymoon when the wife of a state Supreme Court Justice approached me at a local restaurant to render a ruling of sorts.

“Now that was a wedding to die for!”

She was referring to an all day affair culminating at the Saratoga Hall of Springs in upstate New York. A cathedral style ceremony, outdoor brunch, stretch limos, horse drawn carriage, elegant reception, and two weeks in Europe, I planned it for my children to cherish one day. And so it happened. Two precious girls came of this wedding, enough to justify every expense. None was spared.

You see, I was locked on tradition at the time, detesting the sort of “anything goes” culture we live in today. A woman is still a lady, one to be romanced over a lifetime, and although our marriage lasted only a few years, there was no reason we could not have kept our mutual admiration intact, for the sake of our daughters if nothing else.

But for that to occur, shared parenting was a must, something that could not be negotiated, coerced away or sold to a childless substitute. Unfortunately this was New York where the laws are still geared to lucrative custody contests. With ignorance and lack of conscience, the woman I married fell for everything when court corruption, gutter politics, and self serving lawyers got hold of her.

We separated amicably, getting along much better during that period than we did before and afterward. But an uncontested divorce turned into chaos the day I announced a run for Congress. The judge’s wife could not have imagined what would follow this wedding. Five years later, her husband would recommend me for a judgeship, and one year after that, he would organize my campaign committee in retirement for another public office.

Unfortunately as a candidate in the judicial district where my family issues were being litigated, and as a growing critic of the abuses which were occurring, I became a target of retribution. The goal was to discredit my complaints and reform efforts even if it meant using my own children in the process. My ordeal came to read like a John Grisham novel, and it bore striking resemblances to the abuses once faced by Dr. Martin Luther King.

It started when my application to move my case to another district was denied by a judge from my opponent’s political party. This egregious error was proven by more than 30 trial judges assigned to my family court deliberations over the next eight years with half of them stepping down of their own accord including the retired judge’s own son.

That something like this could even occur in a civilized court system is beyond comprehension but the damage to my children, career and support capabilities was irrevocable. Even worse, the mother was exploited to entice all sorts of false petitions to kill the messenger of reform notwithstanding my 23 unblemished years as a civil rights attorney.

A tremendous scorn on her part aggravated this harm particularly when a second marriage was being planned. If she could not have me, no one else would, not even our children. She easily spent tens of thousands of dollars in her spiteful quest and gained nothing near what she could have for our children had she simply agreed to shared parenting. I live a solitary life now helping others avoid the pitfalls of divorce and family court.

We expect qualified judges to pick up on scorn and court abuses when they rear their heads as brazenly as they did here. It left me with no choice but to defend myself from any order which comes from a corrupted family judge in Lowville, New York named Dan King. These book excerpts help establish a public record to avert tragedies such as the Walter Scott murder while promoting long overdue reform.

This wedding was in its earliest stages when I was just a boy watching Walt Disney do his magic. It really paid off as you may verify yourself by viewing the videos which follow. Everything from the weather to our dessert table fireworks was about as perfect as one could expect. The feature dance had a surprise ending, and after all the lessons we took, it’s the only time we got it right. They say a picture tells a thousand words. This one tells a whole lot more.

Readers’ Note: Leon is offering professional services to those who may wish to publish their own court ordeals. Call us for details and cost estimates at (315) 380-3420 (office) or (315) 796-4000 (direct).