The Reform Artists: A Legal Suspense, Spy Thriller (The Reform Artists Series Book 1) (26 page)

“Explain the enforcement aspect, would you, Bev?” Judge Farnsworth said.

“Sure. Judge Farnsworth initially suggested that each attorney should pay a $2,500 fine for each instance of failing to show up for their RAP assignments. I felt that might still threaten the program’s integrity. I think the court needs to set a standard that will ensure zero tolerance for noncompliance. So, at my recommendation, Judge Farnsworth changed the penalty for failing to appear to a sixty-day license suspension.”

A gasp went through the crowd.

A thin, tall African American man, in the second row, quickly raised his hand. He wore a natty, olive summer-weight suit, a crisp blue button-down oxford shirt and a matching blue, black olive and gold patterned tie.

“You, sir,” the judge said. He pointed at the reporter and nodded.

“Reggie Fox, of the Baltimore Sun,” the reporter said. “Judge, in your prepared statement, you said, and I quote: ‘“My own experience on the bench has convinced me that some attorneys are now routinely using domestic violence charges as a strategy to help their clients gain the upper hand in divorce proceedings.’

“Your Honor, would you care to elaborate on that statement and, in particular, tell the public the specific incidents, in your experience, that convinced you this problem is now getting out of hand?” 

Judge Farnsworth drew in his chin and stiffened his neck. “I do not care to,” he said. “The people are just going to have to trust me on this one. Those involved in the specific incidents have been disciplined, and all of the state’s family law attorneys have been put on notice.”

The judge recognized a female reporter. “Cindy Kimball, WTTZ News,” she said. “Judge Farnsworth, women’s groups and, in particular, the leadership of NOW, say that your RAP program will set women’s rights back fifty years. They say they will do everything in their power to unseat you in the next judicial election. Your official response, sir?”

“If keeping the courts fair, by protecting the rights of innocent men being tried in absentia, could set the women’s rights movement back fifty years, Cindy, then I simply don’t understand what that movement now represents. When it started, if I recall, the Women’s Rights movement was all about ‘equality.’ Women wanted equal treatment in employment, and generally, under the law. To oppose the RAP program is to favor preferred treatment for women. The women I know want true equality not an unfair advantage. Tell NOW to ‘bring it on,’ and I’ll take my chances that reason will prevail with the electorate.”

The next question came from a slovenly looking, male reporter. “Biff Cartier, Internet Radio. Isn’t this just another example of an activist judiciary overstepping its bounds, Your Honor? What makes you think the state legislature goofed, when they set up this program, and why should you be second-guessing them now?”

“Do you mean, aside from the fact that their program doesn’t work?” Judge Farnsworth asked, to laughter from all sides. “At best, they thought judges would step in and cross-examine the petitioners, but that goes against our training. At heart, we are supposed to be impartial observers, not advocates. At worst, the legislature’s failure to provide some form of in-court representation during ex-parte hearings was a huge oversight. My role, as chief administrative judge of the court, includes making sure it functions properly. I feel I’m fulfilling my mandate, nothing more.”

Judge Farnsworth next selected an older, female reporter standing several rows back. “Sally Donleavy, the Washington Post,” she said.

“Judge, if you were going to defend this program before the Supreme Court, what would you tell them was your legal basis for taking matters into your own hands in this way?”

“Excellent question,” Judge Farnsworth said. “The current system, which allows people to press charges against others unchallenged and in ‘absentia,’ undermines many long-held, cherished principles of western jurisprudence. While some might argue that those principles apply ‘strictly’ to criminal cases, I think we’re splitting hairs here, as the type of charges being brought in these civil cases are actually ‘criminal’ in nature.

“The rights I’m referring to are protected by the Bill of Rights, specifically the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. They include the guarantee of “equal protection under the law;” the right to “face our accusers,” the right to “due process.” and our right to be “secure in our persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

“All of us also have the right to expect that we will be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But for those tried, unfairly, in absentia, just the opposite is true. When these falsely accused individuals finally get their day in court, they already have been declared guilty and penalized in some way. They now must prove to the court that found them guilty, in absentia, that it made a mistake.”

The judge glanced at his watch. “We have time for just one more question.” Hands went up everywhere. “The young man in the middle of the back row,” the judge said.

“Me?” shouted the reporter. He was a young man, who appeared to be in his early twenties.

“Yes, you,” Judge Farnsworth said.

“I’d like to know in what specific ways you hope this program will make things better?”

“I’m assuming you mean in addition to the points already cited?” the judge asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, I cannot think of a way in which these changes could possibly make the system work any worse than it does right now. But specifically, I think it could make many things better.

“For instance,” Judge Farnsworth continued, “this one-sided, unfair treatment of people sends two very different messages to the parties in a divorce. In my opinion, it tells women they can expect preferential treatment from the courts and it invites them, to some extent, to stretch the truth, if not out-and-out lie, to get the outcomes they desire.

“At the same time, it tells men they will not get a fair shake. This realization can either encourage men to give up the fight to remain a constant, meaningful presence in their children’s lives—in which case the children lose—or it can make a man want to get even with his wife, particularly if she has brought false, scurrilous charges against him. That just ratchets up the conflict in the divorce case and makes the attorneys rich.

“Once we start treating both parties fairly, I think everyone will act better and divorce cases will become less of a circus. I also think this new approach will take away the incentive attorneys presently have to try and ‘game the system’ on behalf of their clients. That should translate into fewer trumped-up, ex-parte domestic violence cases altogether.

“Finally, by making the petitioners accountable in court, I think the number of questionable cases will decline dramatically. That will benefit the true victims of domestic abuse. The courts will be able to hear their cases faster and should be able to assign them to experienced judges, rather than deputized district court commissioners. As a society, we’ll also get a truer, more accurate picture of the nature, and extent, of this very real, very serious problem.

“Thank you.”

Thanks for Reading!

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The Reform Artists
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About the Author

Jon Reisfeld
was born in Baltimore, MD, the second of three children. He attended Northwestern University, where he graduated with a B.S. degree from the Medill School of Journalism. After college, Jon wrote for magazines and newspapers in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan areas before starting his own successful marketing-consulting practice. In 2012 Jon co-founded a New England writer’s retreat, where he coached emerging authors. Today, he writes fiction and science fiction inspired by important social issues of our time.

Acknowledgments

No work of fiction is written in a vacuum. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who read this manuscript in its various drafts, offered their encouragement and suggestions and helped make the final product stronger
.
 
While I gratefully acknowledge their input, I have taken license to add flourishes of my own in the presentation
.
In particular, I wish to thank Andrew J. Felser, Esq. for his thoughtful notes and corrections about certain aspects of the legislative process and for his insights on courtroom procedure; Tom McKeon, Esq. for his professional help in a time of great need; Lynn Bacharach, for her graciousness and encouragement; Lisa N. Farrell, for her help proofreading an early version of the manuscript, author Susan Setteducata for her notes, Caroline Jurney for her in-depth and extensive notes and Zachary S. Reisfeld, for his ongoing encouragement and his many helpful story edits and scene suggestions.

Read: The Last Way Station:
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