HAYDEN, Idaho – A recent task force meeting for Child Custody and Domestic Relations gave the public a chance to speak about their experiences in family court.
Family attorney Kacey Wall was among those who testified on Thursday. Wall said that she spoke to provide a different perspective to the meeting: a lawyer’s perspective.
Wall said that at both meetings the task force has organized, they only heard of negative outcomes from trials.
“My concern was with the legislators only hearing these extreme examples of the ways that people feel that they got a negative outcome from the trial,” Wall said.
She explained that litigation information is confidential, which limits what lawyers can share to correct the record.
“Those were not the facts that were presented,” Wall said. “The judge actually made the right decision.
Several individuals used the meeting to voice grievances about their cases and suggest improvements for the family court system.
William Cathers, who does not have custody of his child, expressed his feelings about the process.
“It felt like tremendous bias from the overall process,” Cathers said.
In his testimony, Cathers highlighted the overwhelming nature of the court process and the need for more education on what to expect.
“Oh man, you just get filled with this fear of like, Am I making the right choices?” Cathers said.
Idaho Senator Tammy Nichols addressed the task force’s goals, emphasizing the importance of assessing the current laws. “Is there a way we can make the system better?,” Nichols said. “Because the goal is to do what is in the best interest of the child.”
She stressed the need to identify areas requiring improvement to ensure the welfare of children.
There are a few more task force meetings scheduled this year, and Nichols also said there is a possibility that another meeting could be added to give more individuals a chance to speak.
Several lawyers in attendance said they hoped that the Task Force committee would reach out to them to get a more complete idea of the issues with family court.
