seeking legal wisdom

I have an extremely awful case and would like for the time to remain unknown. My two children I recently lost custody. My ex was a registered sex offender, convicted felon, and more I can not say for fear of someone able to recongize my case and limit what I could ask. I was and am a very fit parent. I was the primary custodian previously and was not found unfit in court. Only months after he became a registered sex offender I filed for full custody. I ended out finding after I lost that the judge was friend of the family, we filed for divorce in my ex's home state where my ex locally grew up and a place where I knew almost no one since jurisdiction was established I filed my modification there and it has never been changed. It is a clear case of bais. I have appealed but so far my ex has had the children a year and the appeal case is barely starting. My lawyer thinks I have a good case but says appeals cases are hard to win even with a good case. I still don't understand how this can happen in America? My children are miserable and want to know when they can come home? If my I lose my appeals case which I shouldn't I can't afford to continue and if I could how long would it take? Years! Is there anything I can do that I am not doing? Are there any lawyers out there that would be willing to take on a case like this for free considering the possible politics involved? The facts in my case are outstanding and it is a shame I can't say them so you can get a much better picture but I figured a vague but honest outlook might be able to get me some advise. I know it is horrible but should I lose my appeal is there any country that would be more compelled to help me considering the childrens best interest are not being the primary factor but more of a good ol boys network going on? I am interested to hear your thoughts or suggestions! I am trying to do the legal thing here but so far that hasn't allowed me to be a good parent or protect my children.

[randalljd]

legal aid will help if you have lost all custody and visitation

The most powerful tool in America is the media... go to a newspaper, tell them about a "crooked judge" and they'll be all over the story. They'll out him, get him kicked off the bench or at the very least, the court will move your case to a different judge.

I had the same situation when I attempted to get a private investigator watch my ex to see if he drinks and drives with the child in the car. They live in this little tiny town in the South, and as soon as I told the PI his name, he said, "Oh, yeah, that's Bill's boy, ain't it? I can't do that..." so I know how it is dealing with good ol' boys and they'll protect their own till the end.

I already went to the media two months after I lost custody it came out in the biggest newspaper in the state and this judge is still a judge. I can not get legal aid my ex called them during our divorce knowing he made too much money because if they talk to him they can not take my case. I even had dr.phil and montel show call my lawyer but ended up not wanting to do a show because my ex refused to go on the show. Even he isn't a idoit what can he say?I will venture to give you a better picture and hope they don't read this site. My ex's stepdad was working for the local dhs office and grew up with the judges. During a visitation the children said and did some things to cause me concern. I refused to give them back and called both state child protective services and both refused to even talk to the children. My ex filed all kind of paperwork we went to court due to a habeous corpus (so misspelled) but anyhow we filed an ex parte order asking for emergency temp. custody based on the allegations. The judge placed the children in foster care pending investigation which turned out to be a farce. A buddy of my ex's stepdad's at a different office did the case and was extremely rude to me the first time we meet yet she was overly friendly with my ex's family. It was apparent they knew each other. I called the state office of cps so many times for so many things it was unreal. An attorney for the children was ordered by the judge but picked out by my ex husband's attorney. She did nothing. They returned the children two months later I have never called social services over anything again. They full details in this case are horrible but I realize there are worse out there it just so hard when it is your children. I have tried to research so many things and I realize there is little advise you can give me. The CPS's report to the judge was that the children should be returned to the dad, even though he is a lifetime registered sex offender and in their own procedures on their website it states that if a parent is a registered sex offender a child does not have to be given back to that parent and no reason has to be given if the child is in the system. But that was months ago and I appealed that case with the Cps almost as far as it could go and the denyed all wrong doing and stood by their decision stating the judge made the decision not them. They used each other so the judge and the cps could blame each other for the decision and no one being in fault. I get one weekend a month and 30 min. phone contact a week and 6wks during the summer. If I fled the us sometime during my visitation will my appeals case continue or be thrown out? Is it likely I could apply for citizenship in another country and filed custody preceedings there even though this matter is pending in the us and we all are US born and it has been an ongoing case since 2005? I know that I have read in some things that if you fear for the safety of your children sometimes that will justify some things depending on the circumstances. Please tell me as honestly as you can Is my only real alternative to fight this out in appeals court and leave my small children in this situation or visit somewhere and never come home and should I hide or try to be smart and chose a country who might take pity on the situation and give us citizenship and refuse to send us back or does such a place on exist in my dreams? Any suggestions,advise, tips, or knoweldge would help me make better decision. This is not some spur of the moment random though nor would you be favoring anything I choose to do I will make my own decisions regardless of the answers found on this site however wisdom, knoweldge, or advise can provide a better overall view of a situation so all is welcome.

oh I forget to say after the media the judge did remove himself from the case with another of his buddies same small town and now the judge in our custody case is the same judge that agreed to my ex's sentencing in his felon charge. It orginally was 3 counts of rape and a few other charges and it got plead to sexually battery and five year suspended sentence no jail time. My ex decide to make a porn video with a 14 year old girl he was 25 year old and his buddy filmed it and the DA had the video along with several witness ready to testify about the ongoing relationship and a previous underage relationship my ex had with another girl. oh and when he got arrested he had the kids for his weekend at the 14 year old girls mother's house. The mother thought the relationship was fine and went out of town with her boyfriend and the cops knocked on the door and arrested my ex and took the underage girl to their station for questions and left my children with a relative of the girls it states all of that in a police report but the judge refused to allow into evidence, I on the other hand had no idea that is where he had my children. And according to his probation officer because he has custody he can go to any school function unaccompanied and unsupervised, any park or any where else everyone else takes their children unsupervised and has to notify no one.