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By Dr. Leon Koziol

Parenting Rights Institute

After more than thirty years litigating in federal, state and appellate courts, I gained valuable insights on the widespread corruption occurring to parents, children and families in our nation’s domestic relations courts. As a civil rights trial attorney, I won numerous awards for victims of government abuse, set legal precedent for many of those victims, secured a restraining order on a $30 million high school project right out of law school, and even won a judgment in New York Supreme Court invalidating a billion dollar casino compact on constitutional grounds.

Today, after taking a stand against corruption in divorce and family courts, I am unable to get a simple order giving me access to my daughters despite no finding of unfit parenting or even an accusation of abuse. My court filings are suddenly “rambling, vitriolic or frivolous,” my unblemished professional record over 23 years suddenly unethical. It’s a classic John Grisham story but with no fiction attached, an innocence project awaiting fulfillment, and a potential martyrdom that I never asked for. It remains a vital cause impacting every aspect of modern day life.

Over the years I had occasion to witness or investigate needless deaths and human carnage in divorce and family courts across the country. Thomas Ball went so far as to burn himself alive in front of a family court in Keene County, New Hampshire to protest draconian enforcement practices relating to child protection, yet little media attention was given to this horrific event. Imagine if an African-American mother did the same to protest domestic violence.

I addressed national media at the 2015 funeral of Walter Scott, an unarmed black father fleeing a child support warrant at a traffic stop in South Carolina. He was shot dead five times in the back by a white cop. Among the black lives news reports, the Walter Scott murder continues to get the least attention despite an argument that family courts are now killing for money. Had this horrific event not been captured by a concealed by-stander on his i-phone, no one would have believed the cop setting an object on the “suspect’s” body to make it appear that it was an act of self-defense.

And the list goes on: a deranged mother who dismembered her two year old daughter rather than give her up to a custody order, veterans committing suicide at a rate of 22 per day with no study that tracks the number relating to family court, and the harm to worker productivity and health costs due to these recurring, lucrative court proceedings. Many victims are forced to give up parenting rights to avoid a debtor’s prison for so-called “child support” that lacks accountability. They quietly fade away to a death caused by grief, stress and depression. One such parent, Michael Brancaccio, suffered such an outcome only three months ago.

On tonight’s conference call, one mother expressed sympathy for my ordeal with the question of whether anyone can overcome a family court lobby that is so powerful. The answer lies in our collective resolve in a nationwide crusade for justice such as the Parent March on Washington which I sponsored in 2019. It would include lobbying efforts in Congress for a reform of Title IV-D funding and an investigation by the Justice Department. This will require large scale funding, but there are wealthy victims who can be contacted for this purpose.

As irony would have it, I testified at Governor Cuomo’s Moreland Commission on Public Corruption in 2013 which has relevance to this week’s calls for nursing home accountability. There I exposed family court judges who were fabricating evidence and engaging in judicial misconduct. It received widespread publicity. Three months later I was deprived all contact with my daughters based on more fabrications by Kelly Hawse-Koziol. Desperate to replace me with a wealthy, childless substitute, she acted without conscience to destroy something that was so precious and promising.

The latest chapter in my ordeal was published earlier today and can be read by clicking here. You can also contact me directly at leonkoziol@gmail.com or ((315) 796-4000.

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