Court action as domestic abuse?

Courtesy of the Fathers Resources Blog an article from Iowa with a curious subtext. It is as much what is not said as what is said that interests me. Superficially, we have a man who has made a large number of court motions in a divorce, custody & child support case, and, surprise!, lost. A quick reading of the article and he comes across as the bad guy. But there is more going on.

Tucked away at the end of the article, we find that she "has two convictions for domestic violence involving the children and has violated probation", but he has been unable to get a hearing for a change of custody. That sounds distinctly fishy to me.

The case is so "notorious" that she cannot find a lawyer to represent her. Now why would that be? Could her behavior have something to do with it? We aren't told. We hear only that he "has abused the judicial system to the point that" she cannot find counsel. Does that make sense? Do lawyers turn down clients because they're under attack, or perhaps because they don't like what they're being asked to do...?

The finger is pointed at him for domestic abuse, apparently on the basis that he has "abused the system" which, by all appearances, we can interpret to mean "fought too hard". Like many before him, he can't win: if he fights, he's abusive, if he gives in, he abandons his children to someone who is at best suspect. If he'd won the custody, I'm sure the tale would be quite different - he would be a valiant and brave fighter for the well-being of his children. He lost, so he's a bad guy.

Technorati tags: Father's Rights, Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, Acrimonious Divorce.