Appeals Are Not Very Appealing

As far as the legal system is concerned, temporary orders in divorce cases are black holes that don't exist. All the information we have received indicates that you CANNOT appeal against temporary orders. This makes them perfect for slipping in the kinds of injustices and denial of rights that are happening in Venessa Mills' case. Judge Mangum and the attorneys know this full well, and are taking advantage of it.

It could be years before a permanent order is in place and an appeal can even be started. In the meantime, Judge Mangum can get away with whatever ruling he chooses to issue, for whatever reasons, with no consequences to himself. By the time Venessa Mills has the means or opportunity to appeal these judgments, her children will already be uprooted, placed in public school, and bounced back and forth between both parents in a damaging custody schedule.

Some people have said that Venessa should appeal this decision. Don't worry, we'll be fighting this in whatever way we can. But we need to understand the fundamental flaws of our legal system that this case so effectively highlights.

The appeal process is, in itself, an acknowledgment that the system is defective. It is a dodge for judges to hide their bad or lazy decisions behind, a way of shirking responsibility by saying, "I could be wrong, but someone else can deal with that while you suffer under my bad judgment." In the medical field, there are no "appeals." If a surgeon makes a bad decision or is incompetent in his job, people can literally die. No-one would tolerate the kind of "if you don't agree, just appeal" attitude that prevails in the legal system. Whatever happened to getting it right the first time? Whatever happened to basic accountability?

If the appeal system was actually fair, the state would have to pay for all the costs of the first trial if the judge was proved to be wrong. After all, by the time people pay for attorneys and court costs for a long, drawn-out trial, where are they supposed to come up with the money for a probably-even-more-lengthy appeal process??

If, after reading 50 affidavits, Judge Mangum can't make conclusions of law based on the findings of fact; if, after hearing testimony from Venessa Mills and reading all the submitted evidence, Judge Mangum cannot determine that she is not "brainwashed" and has to order a mental evaluation "just because the issue was brought up," then what is he doing on the bench? Isn't the job of a judge to make judgments? Isn't his job to make judgments based on the facts rather than legislating his own opinions from the bench?

Some might say that judges have tough jobs. True enough, but there are already over 200 years of legal precedent to guide judges in their responsibilities - basic things like "due process," "probable cause," "innocent until proven guilty," "reasonable doubt," etc. If all of these things can be ignored by a judge in a divorce case issuing temporary orders, then what is the hope for an appeal? Slavery was "appealed" for years - and it eventually took a civil war to settle the matter.

If judges, attorneys, law-makers, senators, and governors are not prepared to stand up NOW for Venessa Mills and put right this injustice, then what hope does she have of winning an appeal. The facts and the truth do not change. If Judge Mangum can so easily ignore them, then so can others.

Someone with authority needs to take action NOW before this travesty of justice is allowed to continue any longer. If nothing is done, and Venessa Mills' children become unbalanced in public school, or fall victim to drugs, crime, or other abuse, then Judge Mangum needs to be held fully accountable.

The job of judges and attorneys should be to polish justice and make it shine, not leave it in their closet to get rusty while they go to the office.

We will keep fighting for justice, and we ask you to join us.