Many experts believe the Justice Department faced with prosecuting the unprecedented insurrection of January 6th went overboard with its case against the President’s son, Hunter Biden. That is, in an attempt to show an even-handed, pari passu, approach to the January 6th lawbreakers, the DOJ used “selective prosecution” in their case against Biden’s son for lying on a firearms application form about his drug addiction and his pleading guilty to tax evasion – even though he paid back the owed taxes in full, which included late-payment penalties as well. To make matters worse, looming threats made by President-elect Donald Trump to use the Justice Department to pursue additional open-ended charges against Hunter Biden portended an incoming vendetta-laced administration that could have resulted in a draconian sentence of 42 years behind bars for the president’s son. No parent in such a predicament would have done anything other than to quickly grant mercy to their child via the constitutionally protected provisions of presidential pardons, which were specifically written by our Framers for such instances when ill-fated politics hijack any sane judicial process.
There is perhaps a silver lining to the brouhaha over Biden’s pardon of his son. Taking such extraordinary actions to pardon Hunter of current charges, as well any future charges that may be brought against him for actions or inactions during the past ten years, has made crystal clear that one cannot trust the justice system to mete out fair punishment. Biden, whether intentional or not, shined a spotlight on the political forces operating inside the Justice Department and court system, which would undoubtedly have been exacerbated by the incoming administration whose all-too-public mantra is “vendetta justice.” In short, Pandora’s Box has now opened. And there must be a public outcry for redress of a tainted justice system.
I’ve been writing in Women’s eNews about a horrid scandal in America’s family courts that has afflicted mothers and children. I have repeatedly sought the help of the Garland administration to go after the tormentors who have torn children away from mothers: MOTHERS FACE CIVIL RIGHTS CRISIS IN THE FAMILY COURTS – UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MUST INVESTIGATE – Women’s eNews. I’ve shown with copious supporting documentation how American children of divorce have been targeted by sex-traffickers who’ve penetrated the family court institutions and have manipulated judges and law guardians to place innocent children with child sex offenders. This pattern is, not surprisingly, most pronounced in the regions of the county where there is a high amount of illegal drug-trade: Schumer’s ‘No Kings Act’ Challenges the Sacrosanct Judiciary – While Giving Hope to Mothers – Women’s eNews
I am not the only one writing about the family court scandal and trying to seek a Justice Department investigation. Pikesville, MD resident Michelle Etlin, co-author (with Leora Rosen, Ph.D.) of The Hostage Child (Indiana University Press, 1996), tried to get Garland’s attention on this matter. Midway through his term, Washington Jewish Weekpublished Etlin’s letter in fall 2022 under the heading “Call for a DOJ Investigation.” She described how the nation’s family courts – acting in concert with self-serving court-appointed visitation centers – have deliberately covered up the sexual exploitation of children. Making a behest to Garland’s administration, she declared “this cries out for the full force of the Department of Justice.” Letters to the Editor | September 8, 2022 – Washington Jewish Week
Though Etlin’s pleas were ignored, Dr. Mark Mills, a well-known forensic psychiatrist and legal scholar who has consulted for the Department of Justice over the past three decades, would later echo these sentiments. In a formal letter sent in April 2023 to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Mills requested an investigation into the “bad actors who appear to have penetrated various court institutions … [and] pose a serious hazard to children throughout the country.” However, Garland’s office, often accused of shielding the Attorney General from communications originating from outside the department, was swift to deny Mill’s request for a Justice investigation. Nary a response at all, Mills received brief communication from Garland’s criminal division but the signature line was noticeably absent a name. It coldly read: “Correspondence Management Staff” followed by “Reference Number: NM301947555.”
Several months later, New York lawmakers, both on a federal and state level, sent an 18-page memorandum addressed to Garland. The memo, titled “Family Courts as Conduits to Child-Sex Trafficking in the Active Drug Trade Hubs in the U.S.,” cited relevant federal statutes for commencing an investigation: Author Spearheads Drive to Investigate Family Court System After Suicide of Young Mother. The response was nil. A reprise of this cold-blooded dismissal of the seriousness of these complaints would rear its head once again. In late summer 2024, New Jersey appellate specialist and author Michael Lesher wrote to Garland about the sex-trafficking of children through family courts. Receiving no response at all, Lesher resent his letter sometime later. He was stonewalled once again.
Unfortunately, family courts serving as a haven for child-sex traffickers working in concert with drug operatives is nothing new. In 2006, former University of Indiana criminal justice professor, Hal Pepinsky, wrote in a Johns Hopkins University Press peer-reviewed journal: “The problem is deeper in that I see evidence, time and again, indicating that many of the horrendous decisions [in family court] reflect pedophilic, sometimes even state-sponsored…rings of abuse and mutual cover-up” pepinsky.pdf (amyneustein.com).
Clearly, this scandal digs deep into the entrails of the American family court and legal system. An exposé of the family courts for serving as conduits to child-sex traffickers would risk toppling the very institutions so critical to our society. Yet, children who are caught in this quagmire of child-sex trafficking have suffered dearly. In fact, some have taken their own lives. Many are found to suffer from depression, eating disorders, self-mutilation, poor school performance, and so forth: “Mothers’ Vote” May Be Key to Kamala Harris Winning Nomination – and Defeating Trump – Women’s eNews
Biden’s troubles and his constitutional use of pardon privileges has brought into focus the perilous vagaries of the justice system. He acted quickly in the face of the impending doom of the next administration. We must do the same. We must get Garland’s ear post-haste. He must call up the local US Attorneys in the various districts where child-sex traffickers have penetrated the family courts. A roadmap has already been defined in the copious documentation supplied to his office. He must take the administrative lead to activate the local authorities to investigate these egregious wrongdoings, placing children in extreme peril. In the last analysis, let’s learn a lesson from Biden. We must similarly act quickly to preserve justice at this eleventh hour. We have no other choice. Mothers and children depend on us.
About the author: Amy Neustein, Ph.D., author of “From Madness to Mutiny: Why Mothers are Running from the Family Courts –and What Can be Done about It, 2nd Edition” and “Moral Schisms,” both to be published by Oxford University Press. She is the co-editor of Forensic Speaker Recognition: Law Enforcement and Counter-Terrorism (Springer, 2011). She resides in Fort Lee, New Jersey.