It may sound strange to read that headline: An American in Manhattan. Clearly a contradiction in terms because Manhattan is in America, but in this post, it has a far greater meaning. With all the government monitoring and controls being imposed upon Americans today, we are looking more like a foreign country every day. From NSA spying for non-defense purposes to IRS targeting of conservative groups to the abrupt dissolution of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption, we are finding the people losing control and accountability over their own government.

To be sure, we are at the core a self-governing nation. But for that to be the case, free speech, open association and the filing of complaints must be allowed to occur without the kind retributions inflicted upon civil rights advocate Leon Koziol when he exposed public corruption in our family courts. So severe were the threats of contempt and orchestrated support incarceration that Leon was forced to seek protection from human rights agencies in Paris.

Fortunately, a major donation materialized back home to facilitate his return home this past weekend. We would like to thank that donor but she insisted on anonymity. Undaunted by the oppression here, Leon continued his family law reform efforts by delivering copies of his federal mandamus petition to New York City supporters who in turn made them available to reporters for NBC news and the New York Times, among other interested parties. A relevant segment of that petition is provided here:

Extraordinary relief is further justified by an overwhelming public interest in the proper functioning of our court systems and a limit upon escalating state infringements of our parenting liberties and family privacy. Family courts have routinely exceeded federal and state constitutional limits without accountability due to the same deference practices. Analyzed from a functioning standpoint, these courts are operating today as executive enforcement agencies in violation of separation of powers doctrine. At the same time, attorney codes are being legislated to censor all manner of speech with recourse limited to the same entity which legislated them.

Due to lack of meaningful oversight and limits, domestic judges have morphed into super-parents scrutinizing every aspect of private behavior including the lodging of father, fiancée and children at a hotel in contrast with the state’s custodial mother and no support of any kind behind the subject order. They are empowered to jail the violator on a mere preponderance standard of proof with no jury right. Simply because children are asserted as their justification, these investigatory and supervisory tribunals have become more powerful than the NSA, CIA and IRS. It gives pause to reflect upon one state leader who understood this power:

“The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.” Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, Publ. Houghton Miflin, 1943, pg. 403.

During his second week in Paris, Leon reports progress with his efforts to bring attention to abuses in America’s domestic relations courts. Today he is emphasizing our service men abroad who return to empty homes, alienated children and felony support warrants, see i.e. second class citizen.org: Purple Heart Soldier.               

After completing his first impromptu job interview with a world rights organization, Leon met with another French tabloid to share his mandamus petition and personal ordeal caused by state retributions for his long overdue reform efforts. He was even able to spend time with a fellow tourist he met during his office visits. The weather has turned cold and drizzly but it hasn’t dampened his spirits with all the colorful holiday lights and music along the shopping avenues and world class sites.                                     

As fate would have it , Divorce Corp producer Dr. Joseph Sorge was also in Europe doing interviews with fathers rights groups in Denmark. He is working on a second movie documentary and will try to do a piece on Leon’s efforts in Paris if an opportunity arises. This is part two in our Paris series, and we need your financial support. Please assist our common cause by making a donation, purchasing a court program or sharing our reports with social and mainstream media. The mandamus petition is a must- read especially if you like John Grisham novels. United we stand!

Parental advocate Leon Koziol has been in Paris this past week seeking protections for his reform efforts under United Nations treaties and protocols applicable to free speech and parenting rights. His ordeal is well known in New York courts but state retributions for his public criticisms, whistle blower activity and long overdue reform efforts peaked in recent months with threats of arrest from a Family Court judge and inquiries opened by a state lawyer panel in Albany.

In family court, the state has exploited Leon’s children to suppress his criticisms without any finding of unfit parenting. In the state’s capital, ethics lawyers have threatened contempt citations to censor the same criticisms. Although the originating ethics lawyers were discharged last year for ethical misconduct, their replacements have continued to target Leon’s speech, including a 2014 documentary interview by Divorce Corp, a 2010 civil rights forum and other opinions given to news organizations over the years. (Click Here to Watch)

Ongoing persecutions necessitated his trip to Paris where he hopes to collaborate with other human rights groups on a common cause to promote liberty. When contacted today, Leon stated that he has met with Paris news reporters and international agencies to shed greater light upon a serious travesty occurring to parents, children and families in America’s domestic relations courts:

“The people here have been very accommodating and sympathetic to family interests. From the cafés to the local pubs, their stories are similar: a member of the French Foreign Legion denied access to his family in South Africa, two women lawyers from Belgium and England looking to reform family injustices and tourists from all parts of the world concerned that our basic human rights are eroding. The weather has cooperated on my office visits throughout this vast city. It’s been sunny, fifties and October-like with a lot of things to see and do. Paris is so beautiful during the holiday season.”

Leon has been distributing copies of an extraordinary mandamus petition prepared for a federal appeals court in Manhattan. It was filed hours before his flight to Europe after eight years of growing abuses that defy the American conscience.

Although it sounds like an Edward Snowden scenario, Leon has never been accused of any crimes. He has only sought protections for free speech, equal rights for fathers and an end to lucrative abuses of our families and children in these courts. To make such missions a success, however, he requires extensive financial support. So we ask all of you to donate on this site. Leon has sacrificed everything for our joint cause. Now we need to do our part. Please help us get this message out, for the sake of your children and families if nothing else. Leon’s ordeal is summarized in his petition, a truly fascinating read. (Click Here to Read)