Clearly this honorable judge is displeased
      by the testimony he is hearing in this case.

      Why the Judge Nearly Always Seems Wrong

      Judges in Family Court cases about child custody and visitation often have to decide between two sides that are so close to being equally unsatisfactory that no one is satisfied by the judge's ruling. Far too often, on the one hand, credible evidence is presented that the mother is not suitable to take care of a young child. Often the testimony shows that she has abused alcohol and/or drugs, run around to night clubs, left the child in question for days at a time with friends or with grandparents, and had loud violent fights with the child's father. It is also often shown that the mother has been irresponsible with family finances and that she has insufficient education or training to earn enough on her own to take care of a child properly. On the other hand, unfortunately, the judge then has to listen to equally believable evidence that the child's father is also unsuitable as a custodial parent. Too often he also has substance abuse problems, too often he too has wasted the family's financial resources, too often he has neglected the mother and the child for days or weeks or even months at a time, and too often the father of the child has been an active participant in knock-down, drag-out fights with the mother of his child. Of course, he also usually has such a low level of training and education that he too would be unable to care for a child properly without assistance from somewhere. If one side were clearly right and the other side were clearly wrong, Family Court judges might occasionally please someone; but these typical cases where both sides are pretty equally to blame and equally weak in character make it very hard for the judge to please anyone.

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