KidsMatter Supports Landmark Lawsuit Challenging Violations of Parental Rights in California

San Diego, CA – October 3, 2023 – On behalf of the thousands of California families we serve, KidsMatter strongly supports the new class action lawsuit, D’Souza v. Guerrero, that seeks to enforce the constitutional rights of fit parents in court proceedings. For too long, decent, loving parents have been stripped of custody rights without any findings of parental unfitness. This draconian practice is harming far too many children and families.

This lawsuit alleges that entrenched practices and policies in California’s courts are systemically violating the fundamental rights of parents guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. All parents have a constitutional right to the care, custody and control of their children, as well as a right to private familial association, absent findings of unfitness. Yet everyday, courts impose near-total bans on custody and parenting time against fit, non-abusive parents.

So-called “supervised visitation” are highly profitable to the State, frequently and arbitrarily ordered with no justification for such draconian restrictions. This deprives parents of any meaningful time with their children or ability to fulfill their role. Worse, temporary orders depriving parents of equal access to their children can drag on for several years without a trial. These policies claim to serve children’s best interests, but nothing could be further from the truth. Children need and have a basic human right to the care and companionship of fit, loving parents.

KidsMatter calls upon the California Legislature to step in and protect the parent-child relationship. Legislative hearings must be held to investigate widespread reports of corruption and collusion between judges, appointed experts and attorneys in family law cases. Emergency action is urgently needed to enforce the constitutional rights of parents in all custody proceedings. When Judges are not trained on Constitutionally guaranteed fundamental and civil rights protections, courtrooms disintegrate into lawless profit centers for unscrupulous professionals.

Families turn to the court system expecting impartial justice. Yet too often, they encounter a system that profits from prolonging conflict, and where Constitutional rights only exist on paper. It is time for systemic reform to uphold the rights of parents and children alike. KidsMatter remains committed to advocating for all parents targeted in overreach, corruption and negligence in California’s family courts.

The systemic violations outlined in KidsMatter’s June 2022 press release, 13 unethical and unlawful violations in the San Diego family courts further underscore the urgent need for reform alleged in the new D’Souza v. Guerrero lawsuit. For years, advocacy groups like KidsMatter have been sounding the alarm about widespread abuses of power and due process in California courts. Yet the judicial oversight bodies meant to address such misconduct have utterly failed in their duties.

Now, this class action suit seeks to compel statewide judicial reform by enforcing the baseline constitutional rights of parents in all custody proceedings. Without such reform, thousands more children are at risk of being unjustly separated from fit, loving parents in proceedings rife with conflicts of interest and corruption. The Legislature must act where oversight bodies have failed, and enforce the rights of parents and families through legislative hearings and reform. 

About KidsMatter:  KidsMatter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reuniting children with loving, fit parents unjustly deprived of custody and parenting time. For more information, visit www.kidsmatter.charity

Or Media Contact Robert Emert at 760-612-9328 cl3@kidsmatter.com