Family Court

WILMINGTON, Del. -- A couple charged with abandoning their 10-year-old disabled son have been ordered by a Family Court judge to undergo psychological evaluation. As social workers continue to look for a temporary home for the child, Richard and Dawn Kelso of Exton, Pa., told the court Tuesday that they would not immediately try to regain custody of their son, Steven, from the Delaware Department of Family Services. "We will retain custody," said department spokeswoman Trish Hearn. "It was an uncontested position."

About a dozen legislators spent a morning in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on Friday getting a firsthand look at the practical effect of the laws they pass.Though this was the fifth year the delegations were invited to informal talks with local judges and a whirlwind tour of court cases, it was the first time that so many of the elected officials chose to come in the weeks before the General Assembly opens."It's good to see how our acts are put into action here," said Sen. Philip C. Jimeno, a Brooklyn Park Democrat.

A woman waits in a Towson courtroom for a judge to hear her custody case, sobbing, "I can't believe they want to take my son away." Another holds a dozing baby on her shoulder, moments after nearly losing her parental rights.In Baltimore County and elsewhere, the dockets are full of cases with names such as "Mullaney vs. Mullaney" and "Forman vs. Forman" -- dead giveaways to the most acrimonious of lawsuits, involving divorce, custody and visitation rights.This month, in an effort to better deal with family disputes -- nearly half of the state's civil docket -- Maryland began operating a new family court division, hearing cases in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

Maryland's highest court is poised to create a family division in the state's five largest circuit courts to consolidate everything from child-support to life-support matters.Proponents, including Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Court of Appeals, say a family division is needed to efficiently manage the TC family cases, which have swelled to half the civil cases on any given circuit court docket, and to get appropriate services for the families.Because the emotionally explosive cases often sprawl across juvenile and adult courts, coordination is difficult.

YONKERS, N.Y. -- Concluding the latest chapter in a tortuous saga of family suffering, Malcolm Shabazz, the 12-year-old grandson of Malcolm X, pleaded guilty yesterday to the juvenile equivalent of second-degree manslaughter for starting a fire that killed his grandmother, Betty Shabazz.Malcolm's lawyers, Percy Sutton and David N. Dinkins, the former New York City mayor, said after a hearing in Family Court that, in consultation with the boy and his mother, Qubilah Shabazz, they had decided to accept a plea bargain to avoid an intimate description of Malcolm's troubled childhood in open court.

WILMINGTON -- Ronald Limberry, 14, charged with killing his mother, was ordered held without bail yesterday.He was charged as an adult in Superior Court, but the trial could be held in Family Court if he is indicted, said Ferris Wharton, chief prosecutor of New Castle County.Mary Ann Limberry, 34, was found dead Thursday in her Wilmington apartment with a bullet wound to each temple. Neighbors said Ronald, an eighth-grader who surrendered to police Saturday, and his mother often were seen arguing outside their apartment.

IF THE AMERICAN family were in healthier shape -- fewer divorces, fewer custody cases to resolve, fewer child support payments to collect, fewer children in need of foster care or adoption -- Maryland's current judicial structure might not prove such a heavy burden on so many of its citizens.But the fact is that 50 percent of many court dockets in Maryland involve domestic cases and, all too often, the families have to stand in a long line for judicial attention -- thus stringing out what is already a painfully extended and confusing crisis.

Family CourtThank you for your March 25 editorial in support of a family court for Maryland.I chaired the subcommittee of the Governor's Task Force on Family Law investigating the need for such a court.I, together with other members of the task force, traveled throughout the state listening to citizens' concerns regarding family law and the process available to them for resolving their issues.We heard repeatedly, and without solicitation, their unhappiness with our present system.The only opposition we heard then, and have ever heard since, has been from judges.

There may have been a time when lawmakers could look at the price tag on a piece of legislation and yawn. If so, it's ancient history now. With citizens demanding effective government at an efficient cost, the fiscal note can make or break a bill.For several years, the price tag has helped stall attempts in the General Assembly to create a family division within the state's circuit courts. Legislators would take one look at the inflated fiscal note, and everyone knew the legislation was doomed -- despite evidence that a family court would vastly improve the effectiveness of Maryland's judiciary in dealing with domestic matters.

Any courtroom, however tedious its routine may seem, contains countless untold dramas. Not all of them arise from sensational crimes. In fact, fully half of the caseloads before many Maryland judges relate not to murders or muggings or thefts, but rather to domestic problems. From protection orders against abusive family members, to attempts to collect child support, to the hearings required by law when children are removed from their homes or put up for adoption, family matters are big legal business.