GUARDIANS AD LITEM IN PRIVATE CUSTODY LITIGATION: THE CASE FOR ABOLITION

 
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/DucotearticleJuly2002.pdf

GUARDIANS AD LITEM

IN PRIVATE CUSTODY LITIGATION: THE CASE FOR

ABOLITION

by Richard
Ducote
Copyright © 2002 Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law; Richard
Ducote

On July 17, 2000, the San Francisco Daily Journal published an editorial written by then sixteen-year-old Alanna

Krause, an honor student and the daughter of a prominent and wealthy California attorney. [FN1] The essay

poignantly brought a very rarely seen 'consumer's' perspective to the issue of guardians ad litem in private custody

cases. She began her articulate discussion with accurate observations:

*107

Hundreds of years of legal history have lead the United States to implement a system that ensures that every party

in a legal proceeding gets a voice. We rest assured that, unlike in other nations, we cannot be incarcerated, so well

thought out: God Bless America.

But there is a forgotten minority that is not afforded those basic rights. They are not criminals or foreign aliens. In

contrast, they are a group we hold dear- one innocent and well meaning, with no hidden agendas or twisted motiveschildren.

Instead of being actually represented, children get their 'best interests' represented by adults. We children have no

choice and no recourse when those adults have their own agendas. A case in point? Mine. [FN2]

Ms. Krause explained that during her parents' nine year custody case in Marin County, California, she was forced to

live against her will with her father, who she described as 'an abuser' against whom she herself filed over nine

reports with the county child protection agency and the local police. [FN3] According to Ms. Krause, life with her

father was 'Hell,' as he was a substance abuser who violently mistreated her and eventually intimidated her mother

away from the expensive and frustrating litigation. [FN4] Of the attorney appointed to represent her interests, [FN5]

the equivalent of her guardian ad litem in other states, Ms. Krause complained:

The lawyer appointed to represent my 'best interests' . . .

*108 spent her allotted time with me parroting my father's

words, attempting to convince me that I really wanted to live with him. She ignored my reports of abuse. . . .

I wrote the judge letters, called her office and did everything I could to make myself heard. She ignored my pleas. I had

no rights. I couldn't replace my lawyer with one who would speak for me nor could I speak for myself in court. I

couldn't cross-examine the court evaluators or therapists and their claims were thus untouchable. I felt like I was

witnessing the proceedings from the wrong side of soundproof glass. [FN6]

After she eventually ran away from her father's home at age thirteen, Ms. Krause was taken under the jurisdiction of

the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court, where she was an actual party, unlike in the private custody case in Marin


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