The answer is always “discretion.” We all know it when we see it. When mixed with immunity- it is the most dangerous weapon.
Discretion is what your parents used when raising you without formal rules or scripts. It’s what teachers relied on when they always chose the AV kid to run the projector or make copies for the class. It’s the gray area a criminal judge leans on when sentencing two people for similar crimes. And it’s what we see in family court when one parent loses custody of their children—and no written law explains why a judge made such orders relying on their discretion and immunity as they did.
It’s also what police officers exercise every day. Sometimes it’s giving a buddy a pass, or deciding to arrest someone who dared to talk back. It’s whether to make an arrest in a domestic violence case, or simply tell a couple in a bitter breakup to cool off at a friend’s house instead of sending them down a path that ends in court.
Having covered California family courts for more than a decade, we know: these cases rarely end well. The longer people spend in court—and the more attorneys that get involved—the worse it gets. Add court-appointed minors’ counsel, therapists, and other so-called “experts” billing hours on the pain and suffering of families, and the outcomes are devastating. At the center of the devastation- immunity and discretion.
Take the Los Gatos case we’ve been reporting on since 2020. An immigrant mother lost full custody of her son to a man she married overseas who was not the child’s father. The case began in 2012, when neighbors called the police for a domestic disturbance. She was arrested, and the case landed in family court. Eventually, her son was placed with the ex-husband—again, not the child’s father—who moved him to Hawaii. Court-appointed attorneys claimed this was in the boy’s “best interest.”
The result? The was never enrolled in school, never obtained a green card, and remains in limbo to this day with his mother praying the feds will deport him so he can escape the harm done by a California court and a judge who did ride-alongs with Los Gatos police as he was assigned these cases.
One bad police call. One officer’s “discretion.” The result: a mother losing her child, and years later still begging authorities for help.
Most Americans believe the U.S. has the best courts in the world—fair, just, where due process prevails. Many think injustice only happens in so-called “third world” countries. But anyone who has spent time in a California family courtroom knows better. There are no cameras allowed. Police body cams aren’t always turned on during domestic violence arrests. And when discretion and immunity mix where no body cams exist - justice is the first thing to disappear.
Susan Bassi
The answer is always “discretion.” We all know it when we see it. When mixed with immunity- it is the most dangerous weapon.
Discretion is what your parents used when raising you without formal rules or scripts. It’s what teachers relied on when they always chose the AV kid to run the projector or make copies for the class. It’s the gray area a criminal judge leans on when sentencing two people for similar crimes. And it’s what we see in family court when one parent loses custody of their children—and no written law explains why a judge made such orders relying on their discretion and immunity as they did.
It’s also what police officers exercise every day. Sometimes it’s giving a buddy a pass, or deciding to arrest someone who dared to talk back. It’s whether to make an arrest in a domestic violence case, or simply tell a couple in a bitter breakup to cool off at a friend’s house instead of sending them down a path that ends in court.
Having covered California family courts for more than a decade, we know: these cases rarely end well. The longer people spend in court—and the more attorneys that get involved—the worse it gets. Add court-appointed minors’ counsel, therapists, and other so-called “experts” billing hours on the pain and suffering of families, and the outcomes are devastating. At the center of the devastation- immunity and discretion.
Take the Los Gatos case we’ve been reporting on since 2020. An immigrant mother lost full custody of her son to a man she married overseas who was not the child’s father. The case began in 2012, when neighbors called the police for a domestic disturbance. She was arrested, and the case landed in family court. Eventually, her son was placed with the ex-husband—again, not the child’s father—who moved him to Hawaii. Court-appointed attorneys claimed this was in the boy’s “best interest.”
The result? The was never enrolled in school, never obtained a green card, and remains in limbo to this day with his mother praying the feds will deport him so he can escape the harm done by a California court and a judge who did ride-alongs with Los Gatos police as he was assigned these cases.
One bad police call. One officer’s “discretion.” The result: a mother losing her child, and years later still begging authorities for help.
Most Americans believe the U.S. has the best courts in the world—fair, just, where due process prevails. Many think injustice only happens in so-called “third world” countries. But anyone who has spent time in a California family courtroom knows better. There are no cameras allowed. Police body cams aren’t always turned on during domestic violence arrests. And when discretion and immunity mix where no body cams exist - justice is the first thing to disappear.
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 356