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Is FACE Being Effective Yet?

About FACE Staff, September 2000

On July 19th to 22nd, FACE participated in the Burlington County Farm Fair. This was our first time at the fair, and we made many new contacts. The fair was so successful that we will be looking into participating in other county fairs in future years.

FACE’s second quarter, 2000 newsletter featured an article on our Worst Family Court Judge in New Jersey survey, and listed the ten worst judges. It was mailed in late June.

The Gloucester County Times’ headline on July 26, 2000 read "Judges Shuffled to New Assignments." Three Vicinage Number 15 (which includes Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties) judges were on our top ten list. One of them was transferred out of Family Court. When the Times asked Assignment Judge George H. Stanger if FACE’s survey had any effect on his judge-shuffling, he said he was unaware of FACE, our newsletter, or any of our complaints. This seems unlikely since Judge Stanger is on our mailing list.

On July 31st, Supreme Court Chief Justice Deborah Poritz announced her judicial assignments in both the New Jersey Law Journal and New Jersey Lawyer. Three more of the ten worst were transferred out of Family Court in other counties. Chief Justice Poritz also gets our newsletter. Coincidence? Maybe, but 40% of our worst judges are gone.

Or are judges being transferred out of Family Court toward the end of their initial terms in hope that their victims will forget about them by the time they have to go through the reappointment process? FACE remembers, and we will remind our members.

On Tuesday, August 8th, FACE participated in the American Coalition of Fathers and Children’s national child support protest. The protest took place simultaneously at over 150 locations nationwide.

FACE, the New Jersey coordinator, held its protest at lunchtime in front of the Camden County Hall of Justice. FACE members and other supporters burned their child support orders, and spoke of Family Court’s injustices and anti-male bias, and errors made by child support enforcement agencies and how hard they are to correct.

FACE thanks The Times of Trenton and the Courier Post (of Camden/Cherry Hill) for print coverage, and WPVI (channel 6 in Philadelphia) and CN-8 (Comcast cable) for broadcast coverage of this event. Audience response was very positive.