Posted on 06/14/2006 4:23:59 AM PDT by ProCivitas
Injured Reno judge popular target for angry parents By ANGIE WAGNER ASSOCIATED PRESS
A lot of people don't like Chuck Weller, and to some it was no surprise when he was shot Monday in the chest as he stood near a third-floor courthouse window.
As a family court judge in Reno, Nev., Weller decides how to split up families and who should pay the most child support. And when he rules against a parent in the volatile world of family court justice, he sometimes is regarded as the enemy.
Local businessman Darren Mack, who had recent court dealings with the judge after a divorce, was identified by police as a "person of interest" in the case. Weller, 53, remained hospitalized in serious condition.
A bully. Hitler. Abusive.
Weller was vilified on several Web sites critical of family court judges. Fathers, in particular, were harsh, with one calling him the worst judge in America.
Garret Idle went before Weller in May 2005 seeking to increase his visitation time with his two children. Instead, he said, Weller slammed him for more child support and didn't listen to any of his concerns about his son and daughter.
"Weller is very abusive. He's a monster," Idle, 48, said. "He's destroyed everything I've worked for."
Weller, a married father of two daughters, graduated from Georgetown Law in 1978 and moved to Reno in 1982. Two years later, he entered private practice and mostly handled divorce and custody cases.
He hosted a legal advice program for a few years on the radio and wrote a legal column for the Reno Gazette-Journal.
To Dan Mason, program director at KOH AM 780, Weller was easygoing and hardly controversial.
"Chuck is a fantastic guy. He was a very friendly guy, very easy to get along with, very warm on the radio," Mason said.
Weller ran for and was elected as one of three family court judges in Reno in 2004, saying he was a good communicator who could help move families through the legal system.
"You can do good work in the court," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal in October 2004. "There are a percentage of cases that are hopeless, but it's a small percentage."
Fellow attorney Ken McKenna, who has known Weller for more than 20 years, described Weller as an efficient, no-nonsense judge, qualities that some mistake for being abrupt or harsh.
"Family law is the most volatile, emotional area of law," he said. "People's lives are being affected to the core of their beings. Mothers are being taken away from the children. Children are being taken away from their fathers. People tend to lose their reasonableness and they act irrational. It is a very scary situation."
Bonnie Russell, founder of http://www.FamilyLawCourts.com , said family courts operate much like Halliburton, unregulated and out of control. Sometimes the consequence can turn deadly.
One emotional posting on the site http://www.courthouseforum.com said this about Weller: "I am not sure monster describes him accurately. Judge Chuck Weller in my belief suffers from 'God complex' and possibly other things as well."
Numerous Internet postings described how Weller makes decisions before he hears cases, is unsympathetic and rules like a tyrant.
The state Commission on Judicial Discipline accepts complaints on judges, but does not publicly acknowledge them unless it acts upon them. The commission has not acted against Weller.
But Idle has had enough of Weller and said he isn't sympathetic.
"I think karma finally came back to bite him," Idle said. "Hopefully Weller will have a change of heart in the way he deals with human beings."
Ping.
Do you know how the police were able to quickly to name Mack as a suspect?
This case was covered relatively extensively on several shows. But none said what led them to Mack. Mack and another guy had previously contacted a reporter regarding Judge Weller possibly ruling in favor of clients of lawyers who had made contributions for his election.
If the marriage doesn't work and hard decisions have to be made by courts because you couldn't handle your own business, it seems typical that such individuals would blame anyone other than their own pathetic selves.
Police link judge shooting with homicide...
...Mack and his second wife had been in Weller's court more than a year in a contested divorce, according to court records. In May 2005, Weller ordered Mack to pay $849 each month in child support and $10,000 a month in spousal support, records show...
Mack is/was a pawn shop owner. Not sure about his financial means. Personal experience tells me family court judges don't much care whether the divorced father lives in a "van down by the river" or not.
It sucks. I hope I make myself clear.
Juvenile and Domestic Relations is, most of the time, the most heavily bailiffed part of our court system. You got adolescents, you got families falling apart, jealousy, kids either being used a pawns or being frankly and dreadfully neglected or abused, drug abuse, craziness.
And then there are the so-called support personnel. I'm all for Victim Assistance and all that. But there certainly is a strong bias against people of the male persuasion.
It's explosive, it's hard to tell what "fair" or "just" might be if we ever got a chance to see them.
It used to be that people wondered about whether they could afford kids and that having kids was not viewed as a right so unalienable that one was entitled to the money of others if one managed to produce offspring. It used to be that fornication (that is, intercourse outside of marriage) was a crime, as was getting bastards.
I can't help but think (a) that there's a connection between between the idea of an inalienable right to screw (and to screw whatever and however and whenever and damn near wherever you want) and the current increase of business for family court judges; (b) that the effort to involve the state in making things perfectly just and equitable in family life has led to a destruction of the very concept of family.
L
Sometimes it just dosnt pay to get up in the morning.
If more states were to enact 'Shared Parenting Guidelines' requiring a rebuttable presumption of 'shared physical custody'of kids in divorce cases, and the equal treatment of fathers and mothers in Family Court, -- a lot of this violent sort of thing could be aleviated.
No fault divorce laws allow people (especially men) to be dragged into divorce court and shorn like sheep against their will. A common tactic is to falsely accuse someone of child abuse in order to secure custody of the children. These accusations are often accepted without proof.
I thought the comment very strange but now I see.......
A common tactic is to falsely accuse someone of child abuse in order to secure custody of the children. These accusations are often accepted without proof.
***
I've seen both sides -- deadbeat dads skipping town to avoid support and I've seen greedy, vindictive women ruin their ex-husbands/boyfriends over child support and custody. My cousin (living in Kansas at the time) was dragged out of a meeting at work in handcuffs when his miserable ex-wife accused him of abusing their son. Presumably, he was exonerated of the charges, but his visits with his son had to be monitored by family social services. Really sad the lengths some people go to hurt each other...and the children are the ones who really suffer. The bitter divorce and child support/custody fight left my cousin and his son estranged for a long time. Now that the son is an adult, he and his father are finally starting to get along. But there is still a lot of residual damage and it's a question mark as to whether any of it will heal.
And yes, it seems that fake child abuse allegations are common enough in these proceedings, but the court's hands are tied. Child abuse allegations need to be investigated by law - it would be irresponsible for the court not to investigate and it would be irresponsible to not suspend custody during the investigation.
How do you solve the dilemma? Criminal charges against people who bring false allegations will discourage people from bringing lots of legitimate allegations that are difficult to prove.
But what's the bottom line? - we have husbands who have either (1) married women who are insane or who have no moral compass or (2) managed to treat a woman so poorly that she is willing to accuse him of abuse in order to get him out of her and her children's lives.
90% of these cases would never happen if the husband was more careful and less stupid in choosing a spouse or, alternatively, was able to stay faithful to the spouse he chose.
I have zero sympathy for any husband who cheats on his wife. He deserves pretty much any outcome he gets. And I absolutely consider unfaithfulness to a child's mother child abuse.
"Bonnie Russell, founder of http://www.FamilyLawCourts.com , said family courts operate much like Halliburton, unregulated and out of control."
Stupid lying liberal b*tch alert.
Read my post #411 here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1647993/posts?page=411#411
Fellow attorney Ken McKenna, who has known Weller for more than 20 years, described Weller as an efficient, no-nonsense judge, qualities that some mistake for being abrupt or harsh.
A bit of Reno trivia here: Ken McKenna is the lawyer that brought the wrongful death suit against the rock band Judas Priest some years ago (early 90's?).
"I have zero sympathy for any husband who cheats on his wife. He deserves pretty much any outcome he gets. And I absolutely consider unfaithfulness to a child's mother child abuse."
Today it's just as likely the woman will be cheating on the man... Do you consider that child abuse as well? (I thought not)
"If more states were to enact 'Shared Parenting Guidelines' requiring a rebuttable presumption of 'shared physical custody'of kids in divorce cases, and the equal treatment of fathers and mothers in Family Court, -- a lot of this violent sort of thing could be aleviated."
You got that right.
"A common tactic is to falsely accuse someone of child abuse in order to secure custody of the children. These accusations are often accepted without proof."
This happened to me in my recent divorce. Ended up being dropped, my ex and her attorney were warned in open court not to ever try anything like that again, and in the end, Court Services made the recommendation to the Judge that I be given primary custody, she was to pay child support, and have 7 days a month visitation.
There is justice when you have a fair judge.
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