This is the second in a series of reports by the Independent Gazette chronicling the judicial systems and child custody practices of Lackawanna, Luzerne, and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania. The Gazette, through exclusive interviews, begins to paint a picture of a legal — not justice — system run amok, fueled by greed, kept intact through intimidation, and veiled in secrecy. A complex web has evolved in which the abuse of power is rampant, and lawyers routinely close their eyes to misconduct to avoid being blackballed. The fear of being severed from the “money feeding tube,” as one court insider observed, is a very real dynamic.

Jurisprudence victims, court officers, police, lawyers, and civil employees will often come forward only under the protective cloak of anonymity, out of concern of retribution directed at themselves and their families from the powerful and well connected. Reports of bizarre behavior unbecoming of judges are kept under wraps, lest swift and damaging retaliation befall the whistleblower. Theirs is a legal system run afoul, where justice is often based not on facts, but on “who you know,” and delivered only to a select few, it would seem.

Read the rest at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Independent Gazette.