How the Courts Fostered a Family Crisis

Corrupt judicial systems and widespread human trafficking haunt the nation's family and child welfare policies.

By Kimberly Lowe

The average American family is struggling under the current economy and policies that erode our autonomy and strength. Economic policies designed to force Americans to rely on the government just to make ends meet hasten our country's descent into a Marxist dystopia. Removing God from all aspects of public life, especially education, indoctrinating students over generations in government-run schools, and a family civil court system created to weaken and separate the family all work to further unravel the country's natural resilience.

According to the American Psychological Association, between 40 and 50 percent of first-time marriages end in divorce. Second marriages have an even higher failure rate, with upwards of 70 percent of those unions dissolving. A marriage contract is signed by the couple, but the state determines divorce outcomes, from the division of assets to when and how you see your children and even when grandparents are allowed to see their grandchildren.

In effect, the courts have been weaponized to harm American families, leading to the rise of a $50 billion divorce industry. The statistics 10 years ago revealed that more than 22 million American families had been separated due to poor family court decisions (meaning a mom or a dad or grandparent never got to see their children or grandchildren again) and almost 1,000 children have been murdered across the country after a judge ordered children be placed back with an abusive parent.

Horrors are also unfolding in military courts, where the chain of command to get help in rape and sexual abuse cases is too cumbersome. Children have died because the bureaucracy was too slow to remove at-risk kids from their abusers. In both the civilian and military courts, judges have overlooked or misapplied the law and flouted the Constitution. Parents lose their rights, families lose their property and children, and there is no accountability.

Callous and ill-conceived policies result in children being ripped from their parents' arms by the state. We are currently losing one child per minute to the government through false accusations to Child Protective Services. Laws such as the federal Adoption and Safe Family Act provide financial incentives to remove children from their homes.

State and local governments spend more than $29 billion annually removing children from homes, with little or no due process, and based in far too many cases on false or uncorroborated claims. That is money better spent addressing housing stability, generational poverty, mental health treatment, and combating opioid addiction.

Just because children are removed from their homes does not mean they are going into a safer environment. Children removed from their homes are statistically more likely to be abused, sexually assaulted, and even trafficked. In fact, 98 percent of children who are sex trafficking survivors have had previous involvement with child welfare services. An average of 55 foster children disappear every day. Many states don't even know how many children are in the foster care system or where they're located, even as parents fight diligently to have their children returned.

Fathers have been removed systematically over time from the home. The government offers a financial incentive if men are not present in the raising of children. Equally troubling, moms are being removed at a high rate in family courts across the country. Separating American families results in lasting trauma, which is correlated with higher crime rates, higher incarceration rates, poorer educational outcomes, and chronic illness while costing the public billions of dollars.

We need to make the American family as strong as possible. By reforming our courts to be constitutional courts with oversight and by reallocating funds from policies that do more harm than good, we can create happy and strong families with less child abuse and child trafficking.