About a dozen dedicated FACE members and supporters braved snow, sleet, and temperatures in the 20s to march in a picket line outside Atlantic County family court judge Vincent D. Segal's Cherry Hill house on Superbowl Sunday, January 30th. Carrying signs with slogans like "Give Family Court Back To The People" and "Take A Bite Out Of Crime - Impeach A Judge," the demonstrators offered information on anti-father bias in family court to his guests, neighbors, and passers-by who slowed down to see what was going on.
Some of you may remember Segal from Camden County, where he was well known for taking good care of his favorite lawyers and psychologists. Some of them have since left their professions; at least one is now in jail (for stealing millions of dollars from his female matrimonial clients). Largely because of complaints from FACE members and others, Segal was transferred to Atlantic City.
Segal used to be known for his flashy red Mercedes-Benz convertible. Well, its gone, replaced in his garage by a Honda. Now that he has to drive an extra fifty miles each way to work, even with his $115,000 a year (soon to go up to $140,000) paycheck, he must have gotten tired of gassing up the Mercedes.
We had about ten inches of snow earlier in the week, and Segal didn't shovel his sidewalk. We were concerned that someone might slip and fall, and get hurt, and have to sue. Rather than risk that, we walked in the street close to the snow bank. Even so, one of Segal's arriving guests tried to intimidate the demonstrators with his vehicle while parking.
It started snowing again, so we decided to end the demonstration early. About ten minutes before we left, two Cherry Hill Police cruisers arrived. The officers asked about FACE. We told them that we help family court litigants. We gave them FACE brochures, asked them to tell divorced officers about us, and invited them to come to our meetings. They were concerned because the road was getting slippery and cars were driving by. We pointed out Segal's snow covered sidewalks, and asked them to issue a citation for failing to shovel them, but they declined.
We're surprised that Segal called the police. The only way we were hassled there during past demonstrations was a few years ago, when Segal's wife Linda threatened to turn the in-ground lawn sprinkler on us. We guess that wouldn't have worked in the snow.
As we were packing up the picket signs, a police sergeant arrived, and we had a philosophical discussion about First Amendment Rights to Freedom of Expression.
The game was about to begin, so we adjourned to Champp's sports bar to warm up, have dinner, and watch the game.
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