by Marlon Crump/PNN

We’re not just members of the bar

Here in Familawt,

Familawt

We’re connoisseurs of the bizarre!

Best interests of the children is our watchword

We frown upon disparagement and blame

In short there’s simply not, a more congenial spot

For ending your relationship than here in Fam-i-lawt

Familawt.

Familawt…

(Sung to the tune of Camelot, written by David Fink.)

San Francisco Judge Marjorie Slabach was allegedly one of a
group of judges who performed in this caricature of Camelot about
family law. She played the part of a queen in the performance

"As an advocate for poor mothers and families in the court
system, I was shocked to witness Judge Slabach's flagrant anti-mother
and biased rulings," said Tiny, co-founder of POOR Magazine to a group
of single mamas vigorously shaking their heads in agreement.

Tiny is just one of many poor single mamas who has witnessed
the inappropriate, highly prejudiced behavior of Judge Marjorie A.
Slabach in San Francisco's Unified Family Court Division. A Family Law
Commissioner, Judge Slabach was appointed in 1997 to preside over
family law cases, including child dependency and custody cases. Since
then she has consistently ruled against mothers and mistreated them in
court by belittling or verbally insulting them and, despite a number of
complaints, she has been allowed to continue this inappropriate
behavior.

POOR Magazine writer and co-founder of the F.A.M.I.L.Y.
Project for the children of families struggling with poverty, Jewn
Strohlin is a mother who has directly experienced the overt prejudice
of Judge Slabach. Jewn was in court regarding a restraining order in
the 2007. In one of the hearings, Judge Slabach said Jewn was a
"vengeful glee" and told her she had been observing her "since she
walked into the courtroom."

Judge Slabach also consistently ruled in favor of the party
opposing Jewn although he failed to appear numerous times. "I found
Judge Slabach to be very biased and partial to my case by her showing
blatant favoritism to the opposing party," said Jewn. "She didn’t look
at the pattern of [her ex-partner’s] behavior and she continued to let
him manipulate the system."

Finally Jewn won her case after the opposing party failed once
again to appear in court. Judge Slabach told her she "won by default."

Another fellow POOR Magazine writer, poverty scholar, and
revolutionary poet, Kim Swan, (a.k.a Queenandi) experienced Judge
Slabach's bias and prejudice in February of 2008 during a visitation
hearing regarding Kim’s three-year old daughter and the daughter's
father.

Kim arrived at the courthouse unaware that the court had
decided to include a second hearing that day for her daughter’s father
to challenge the petition of the restraining order that Kim filed
against him three weeks prior.

Kim was very upset and shocked that she was never served with
a notice for this second hearing and didn't have sufficient time to
prepare for it. Kim attempted to explain to Judge Slabach the dangers
of giving her daughter’s father visitation rights.

Kim told Judge Slabach that her daughter's father had been an
irresponsible parent, who has brought their three-year-old daughter
around unsavory people and places, and that he used to have heated
disputes with her over very petty things, such as grocery bills,
utility bills, and paying for a car seat.

Kim spoke of his violent episodes and of the time he had come
to her job to harass her in front of staff. Kim asked the Judge to
consider this man’s violent history and the people he exposed her
children to. While Kim was speaking, she was interrupted with sarcasm
by Judge Slabach, who said, "Why don't you show some mental stability
and be quiet!"

When Kim tried to explain that her daughter was afraid of
visiting with her father and always started crying and begged her
mother not to go when it was visitation days Judge Slabach proceeded to
belittle Kim and overtly ruled in the father's favor.

Another mother, like Kim and Jewn, who has dealt with Judge
Slabach’s unjust rulings, is single mother Sandra Thompson. Sandra came
to POOR Magazine for help in a number of legal situations, one of which
was a restraining order against her ex-husband who had been extremely
violent towards her during their marriage.

Sandra appeared before Judge Slabach, on December 11th, 2007.
Sandra was accompanied by co-founder of POOR Magazine, Tiny a.k.a. Lisa
Gray-Garcia, and staff POOR reporters, Bruce Allison, Joseph Bolden and
Sam Drew.

In a similar instance to Kim Swan's situation, Sandra was
anticipating finalizing her restraining order against her ex-spouse. As
soon as Sandra's case was called, Judge Slabach "changed" the hearing
into a child custody case. According to Tiny, Sandra's lawyer, Ronald
P. St. Clair, did not talk with Sandra throughout the entire period
before the hearing commenced.

In fact, St. Clair not only didn't meet with his client, but
was actually interacting with the opposing side, and San Francisco
Unified School District Attorney Vicki Trapalis, Despite her
ex-husband's violent history, the ruling ordered by Slabach was for the
father to have temporary custody of the child, as recommended by
Trapalis.

Sandra was extremely shocked and devastated by this order of
Judge Slabach that placed her seven-year-old son's life in danger.
Sandra later learned that her lawyer, Trapalis and her ex-spouse had
agreed to an ex-parte motion, which is filed without advanced notice to
the opposing side and is decided by a judge without requiring all
parties to be present. (Ex-parte motions are suppose to be sharply
limited by the 5th and 14th Amendment of the U.S Constitution.)

A series of these motions were filed by Sandra’s ex-husband
throughout 2006, He even forged her signature on April 3rd 2006, so
that a stipulated request filed to the court, would be official, for
Judge Marjorie A. Slabach to sit and act as a Judge Pro Tempore,
(temporary) in a matter involving their seven year old son. Even more
astounding, a court hearing minutes document claimed that Sandra was
"present" at the April 3rd, 2006 hearing, although she soundly swears
that she was not.

Judge Slabach ignored all of these crucial factors when ruling against Sandra and endangered her son's life.

"You're very biased and corrupt for putting my son's life in
danger of an ex-abuser I want to motion, for you to recuse yourself as
the judge in my custody case," Sandra said in a recent hearing.

Of course, Judge Slabach swiftly denied her request.

Justice Fo' Da Mamaz on Mothers Day!!! Join the
welfareQUEENS, and Po' Mamaz in resistance at POOR
Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork as they speak truth to the Criminal Injustice
System.

For more information please call 415-863-6306 or email mothersagainstslabach@yahoo.com