New Resources for Non Profits

Here are a variety of resources for those nonprofits that still haven't gotten everything underway when raising awareness about our parental rights. We discussed these tools on Get Off The Bench on one of the Monday Night Free Advocacy Calls. These tools have their definite uses and the resources listed have many funding opportunities for your organization as well, whether it be technical help, grants from private foundations, or marketing donations.

Using Twitter as a messaging alert system for your organization. Coordinate instantanoues rallies, protests, demonstrations or even mass coordinate telephone calls with your contact list. Instantly notify via sms, email, and other methods at a single click of a button.
http://www.twitter.com

POWWOWNOW - Create a local telephone conference with web board for free to discuss your important issues in a community forum. Start a parental alienation support group, divorce support group, or other group designed for peer support and advocacy. Everyone can do one.
http://www.powwownow.com

Organizers DB will help you keep track of donors, volunteers, and email lists for your nonprofit organization. This application is completely free for your organization.
http://www.organizersdb.org

Grassroots ~ their mission is to "adopt" 10,000 nonprofit organizations with the intention of providing around $10,000 per year of services to each organization for FREE. Sign up and get your benefits.
http://www.grassroots.org/

Learn How to Build Your Nonprofits Brand in Eight Words or Less
http://www.gettingattention.org/nonprofit_tagline_report.html

Non Profit Guides for grants writing and proposals.
http://www.npguides.org/

The 3 Effective tools Article that will help your nonprofit organization excel.
http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Mktg_3EffectiveTools_Article.htm

Introduction to Community Engagement
http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Mktg_Marketing-vs-CommunityEngagement_Art.htm

The 3 Most Effective Tools for Community Engagement
http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Mktg_3EffectiveTools_Article.htm

Friend Raising versus fundraising.
http://www.help4nonprofits.com/FriendRaisingBook.htm

Story About Building Relationships
http://www.help4nonprofits.com/ToM-204.htm

Not Your Dad's Divorce
http://www.newsweek.com/id/174790

Non Profit Organizational Assessment Tool Volunteer Management
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/nonprofits/management/assess7.cfm

You can spread the word about Get Your Justice Live: The Nation's Most Popular Family Court Talk Show

You can add the item to the left very easily to your blog, myspace, and other websites by using "code."

I have the code that you need listed at this website address so you can simply cut and paste it into your comments, blog posts, and more!

If you have any questions... Just let us know. You can also post comments to this entry with where you are promoting the show. We look forward to growing with you in fighting the system.

Children Need Both Parents: Parental Rights and Due Process

I took some time to compile a website called "Children Need Both Parents" because I am tired of the government intruding into everyone's personal lives at the invitation of one parent. I am not discounting domestic violence and a multitude of other factors and allegations that require criminal government intervention. I am however, setting an objective standard that leads the way to protecting the parent-child relationship and working towards "co-equality" of competing parental interests. Raising evidence standards before a parent's relationship with their own child is diminished through no criminal act is a necessity.

Check it out:
http://www.childrenneedbothparents.net

It includes information linking to Professor Donald Hubin's "Parental Rights and Due Process," a solid proposed State Constitutional Amendment to Protect Parental Rights, and a Federal Constitutional Amendment proposal for the same. There are also links indicating the benefits of two parent involvement throughout the site and sample language to introduce in your own states. We have to limit government intrusion where one parent attempts to usurp the other parent's role in their child's lives.

Parental Rights must be respected and protected, and government must not intrude and assist in the usurpation any longer. Parents are co-equal unless a steep evidentiary standard is employed to intrude, but that has not been the practice in CPS, Child Custody, Child Support, or Divorce cases where parents are encouraged to destroy each other in a winner take all battle sometimes to the death.

Google: Family Court is a Deadly Business; Guess what, I wrote it. Check it out and see what is really happening across America. Be sure to tell people, like your family members, legislators, and even local officials about what is happening everywhere.

Freedom of Information Act Links

I have compiled some useful resources on Freedom of Information Act Laws, Anti-Slapp (Anti- Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), and other informative links that will help citizens stamp out government corruption by having the tools necessary to get at critical information not otherwise known to the general public. This helps keep government in the sunshine for all the public to see. Do your part and file one today, you might even be able to do it for FREE.

Listen to the various discussions on this episode of the Get Off The Bench Advocacy Call. It's free and it is to help you and your organizations.


http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/nsa/foia/resources.html

United States Department of Justice FOIA Information Website
http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/index.html

Public Citizen Freedom of Information Clearinghouse
http://www.citizen.org/litigation/free%5Finfo/

State by State Freedom of Information Act Laws
http://www.foiadvocates.com/records.html

How to Make a Freedom of Information Act Request
http://www.foiadvocates.com/howto.html

How to Get FOIA Fee Waivers
http://www.foiadvocates.com/fees.html

Citizen Access Project
http://www.citizenaccess.org/

Searchable Information Sources (all 50 states) Citizen Access Project
http://www.citizenaccess.org/search.html

Project on Government Oversight
http://www.pogo.org/

Report Corruption on Project on Government Oversight
http://www.pogo.org/report-corruption/

Society of Professional Journalists Foia Information and Anti-Slapp Lawsuit Issues
http://www.spj.org/foi.asp

The National Archives for Records Managers Website (Government training and guidelines site for maintaining records, master this and master getting more access to information no matter where it is in the government bureaucracies.)
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/

Federal Records Officers - Complete Federal List
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/agency/officers-lists.html

Is it really our ex’s fault?

The answer is NO and you are about to learn why. It is not Ex-spouses, Ex-Girlfriends, and Ex-Boyfriends that are causing/creating the pain that other parents suffer. It may feel that way because that is the person that is seen as the adversary and who is believed to be in control of the situation. The first thing that has to be noted is that parental alienation, divorce, and separation is not even about YOU or YOUR children... this is about EVERYONE and EVERYONE'S CHILDREN. "It is infinitely more valuable to fight for the rights of others than to fight for your own." It is the government's fault for creating, empowering, and allowing these situations and actions by one fit parent against another fit parent that is crippling the parent-child relationship. In some cases, it is even causing death. (See Family Court is Deadly Business: 2007).

The reality is that the system is completely at fault because it does not respect or protect parental rights (IE: parents are actually competing for the love of their children in selfish ways trying to cut one off from the other in adversarial proceedings, typically without real cause) and further the system does not protect the presumptive co-equal rights of parents. Parents should maintain a co-equal status unless there is proven by clear and convincing (or higher) evidence that one or both parents are unwilling, incapable, or otherwise unfit to be a parent. The subsequent relationship between the parents should have little bearing on the parent-child relationships if the government is protecting that relationship and allowing parents to do their individual jobs. This thinking prevails even when the parents don't like each other because there should be no mechanism to continue adversary proceedings unless there is clear and convincing cause. People work with other people that they do not like in the common work places across America all the time and they are still able to complete their jobs. Parenting is much like a job and that mutual respect should be enforced between co-equal partners/parents.

The issue of co-equality is real and must be established in legislation as the protection mechanism that our government should be involved in. Government is supposed to protect inalienable rights, not enable whiny people to fight back and forth for profit or vengeance... greed/selfishness/emotions encourages people to fight back and forth because the system provides the tools, resources, and arena to do so. If people are not provided the options, there are no options to take. Many would argue there is a reason why co-equality shouldn't exist because their ex did this or that or another thing... THAN PROVE IT WITH A HIGH STANDARD OF EVIDENCE and ensure due process and equal application of the law for ALL. Some want that lower evidence so they can say things without backing them up and get away with it. It is wrong. We must maintain a high evidentiary standard that presumes co-equality and enforces the inalienable parenting right above state ideology to control our children. It is a parent's duty to raise, care, and control the upbringing of their own offspring.

Government is instead sidestepping protecting inalienable rights and moving right in to take care of our children because they derive intense profits for their bureaucracies, without first proving there is a need by a high standard of evidence before intruding. They have parents too wrapped up in shooting at the wrong targets with the wrong bullets while the government collects steep federal incentives while claiming to protect one person or another from some unproven bad force. Government in essence is failing to protect the parent-child relationship, thereby enabling bad parents to continue being bad parents at the expense of an entire generation. The government is failing to punish parents when they are attempting to trample the presumed co-equal rights between fit, caring, and willing parents and instead providing the tools necessary to battle. Parent against parent where the losers are one parent, the children, and the taxpayer is destroying entire generations.

Because the government is failing to protect the co-equal status, parental alienation is allowed to exist. Because many parents want to alienate the alienator rather than be coequal with their former spouses/intimate partners they strive for fighting to the death like many that are wrapped up in their personal cases instead of advocating for the government to protect BOTH parents access to their children. People either want to fit themselves into a victim class to obtain a benefit or fit their ex-partners into a false/bad light in a winner take all philosophy to family court. Instead of making sure their government is creating a truly equal playground where all people are responsible for their own actions and inactions the government is encouraging the deprivation of one parent-child relationships, while being completely subsidized by the nation's taxpayer.

Like the courtroom, many people will choose to bicker and fight continuously over MICROCOSMIC disagreements in communication style in public forums if they are allowed to. This is much like people fighting over differences in parenting styles in the courtroom and trying to impose one parent's will over the other in an effort to control. The name of the game is that parental rights must be respected and protected by all, including the legislatures, the judiciaries, and more importantly all parents.

In the wise words of the Human Torch... "FLAME ON!"

More updates from Lary Holland

We had Alan Karmin from RADAR on Get Off The Bench Wednesday Night (October 1, 2008) on a very important show exposing the Violence Against Women Act, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and False Allegations Hurting REAL Victims of Domestic Violence.

Alan Karmin: Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Alec Baldwin is at it again and shows up in the Harvard Law Review under the title "Alec Baldwin Takes on Family Family Law. Check it out over at Family Court Reports.

Alec Baldwin Takes on Family Law

Spread the information far and wide and let people know about what is happening in THEIR AMERICA!

First The Raised Your Taxes and Now They Want to Raise Your Children

First They Raised Your Taxes and Now They Want to Raise Your Children http://www.laryholland.com/serendipity/archives/539-First-They-Raise-Your-Taxes-and-Now-They-Want-to-Raise-Your-Children..html

Michigan Equal Parenting Rally: Michigan Legislators Ready to Press The Button http://www.laryholland.com/serendipity/archives/538-Michigan-Equal-Parenting-Rally-Legislators-are-Ready-to-Press-the-Button.html

Michigan Legislators and Family Rights Organizations Set to Rally on September 23, 2008 http://www.laryholland.com/serendipity/archives/537-Michigan-Legislators-and-Family-Rights-Organizations-Set-to-Rally-Tuesday-September-23,-2008.html

If you want to help out with major action, there is a call to action on the first blog entry above. We need more people to start getting involved with simple action or through contributions to those that are exhausting their resources for the movement. Either take the action or contribute to help us take the action, we make it real simple. It is time to stop waiting for someone else to solve the problem and become part of the solution.

If you don't want to do these tasks today, help me blow out a couple of more fax blasts to all the legislators and their employees, sponsor our telephone campaigns, and assist with mailers to them by pledging a dollar amount to help by sending an email to laryholland@sbcglobal.net and a secure online invoice will be generated for your one time credit card contribution. Be sure to include your pledge amount.

You can also go to our website at http://www.laryholland.com and subscribe for 10.00, 15.00, or 20.00 per month to keep things happening. We need your action or your contribution today. If you want something to happen, you will make it happen. Take the action so I don't have to.

LEE PAS Foundation, DC FESTIVAL 2008 Coverage

An amazing representation from the LEE PAS FOUNDATION at the DC FESTIVAL 2008. More information to be found at http://www.familycourtreports.com.

Restraining Orders Out of Control

Forget the 4th amendment. Just fill out a form and the cops will show up by surprise and pull your husband out on the street with only the clothes on his back, forbidden to contact you even directly for at least a week.

read more | digg story

Complaint lodged against family law judge.

Locating bad judges is the name of the game. Removing them from the bench? Our children and their children will thank you. Kudos are in order for Tim Fittro of Men and Women Against Discrimination in West Virginia. MAWAD files complaint against sitting Family Court Judge for admitting to the legislature that he doesn't follow the laws.

read more | digg story

Other ways to immediately get involved to make a successful civil rights event!

Other ways to immediately get involved to make a successful civil rights event in Washington DC at Upper Senate Park this year. (August 15 & 16 2008)

1. Watch this website frequently. You will notice “recent posts” on the left hand side of this site on all of the pages. You should view these to determine where you need to spread information to and how to do it. Note that the topic might only say “myspace” and spread the information through myspace. If it says “group” then spread the information to yahoo groups or support groups. Likewise, “media releases” go to general media. Finally, if it is an “official statement” then that answers questions from the top. Spread all the information far and wide.

2. Using social networks is critical. You must send out information from this website so that everyone receives the same information. Sign up at some of the social networks like http://www.friendster.com, http://www.myspace.com, http://www.facebook.com and spread self-authored articles that cover the link www.dcfestival2008.com. You can make all the difference just by getting involved with this. Link into all the forums you have access to!

3. Getting Involved means acting. Talk to everyone about this civil rights issue. Use this site as your resource. Spread information at each of the mini events leading up to the historic DC FESTIVAL 2008.

4. Target any type of site that allows comments about parenting issues, news article sites, and professional organizations. Write your own post and include a link to this website: http://www.dcfestival2008.com. If you have a blog, be sure to add this site and let us know immediately, we will add you to our list of sponsors when we receive your letter of support described in #6 of this list.

5. Plan to attend the event! If you can’t attend, you can pledge a donation via email to dcevents@familycourtreports.com and you will receive a credit card invoice via our secure provider. Send the email with PLEDGE: $#.## in the subject line with the amount you with to pledge. It is that simple and goes a long way if you can’t make the event.

6. Get your letter of support of this national civil rights event faxed whether you are an individual, organization, agency, or association. Support letters should be faxed to 989-764-5920 or emailed with a PDF attachment to dcevents@familycourtreports.com. Address them to “Write to Parent” 5119 Highland Rd. #229 Waterford, MI 48327. Include your endorsement as well as the focus of your organization. 1-2 pages. These will be delivered with our national messages to all of Congress.

7. Contact organizations that you would like to see at the event! Exhibition tables are extremely reasonable and we are accepting registrations via our toll-free line at 800-883-9619. Organizations can also fly their banners behind their table or in front.

8. Contact political candidates and ask them if they support our national event! The best way to determine if you are going to vote for a candidate is if they believe in the same issues. Make your issue a voter issue! Support letters should be faxed to 989-764-5920 or emailed with a PDF attachment to dcevents@familycourtreports.com. Address them to “Write to Parent” 5119 Highland Rd. #229 Waterford, MI 48327.

9. Volunteer to help fill a position. Send an email to dcevents@familycourtreports.com if you have time to help. Positions are available in a variety of areas. Every person extends the reach of our national event. There is something for everyone to do. Start by doing some of the things listed at this site and report back to dcevents@familycourtreports.com.

10. Get connected into other groups, organizations, and agencies and spread the word. Network this website and our issues. Simply send copies of our press releases, myspace posts, and more to groups that believe in limited government and protecting parenthood.

There are many other activities that you can assist with. You can subscribe for our weekly conference calls to discuss the issues at this link! Be sure to select DC FESTIVAL 2008 on the check list for announcements.

Parents Rights Organizations From Across The Nation!

Oakland County, Michigan ———- Children’s andParent’s Rights organizations from across the nation are scheduled toencroach on Washington DC this August 15 & 16 at the Upper SenatePark. Why? Because government policies do not reflect what is trulybest for children and good parents.

read more | digg story

GET YOUR JUSTICE LIVE is Get Off The Bench: Shows The Real Weapon of Mass Destruction

Get Your Justice Live is an interactive internet talk radio show that focuses on reforming the judiciary, with a special focus on the anti-family courts within the United States. GET YOUR JUSTICE LIVE EVERY WEDNESDAY (8:00pm) and SUNDAY (8:00pm).

Call In: 724-444-7444 TALKCAST ID: 39517
Do you know a Family Court Judge, CPS employee, or Friend Of The Court Counselor that did something wrong and got away with it? Let us know!

Join Our MySpace.Com Page

Our goal is not to work against the system but to work through it and working together there is power in numbers to make a positive change. Tune in!

TEACHER STUDENT EPIDEMIC

The great affliction of student namely female teacher having romantic relationships with there student. A lot of those being in Florida.

read more | digg story

Brian Holladay and Drew Baden Prepare for National Summit

Two Supporters of Equal Parenting prepare for the 2008 National Fatherhood Summit in Grand Rapids, Michigan earlier this year. Fathers-4-Justice and many other awareness groups promote the need for children to have equal access to both fit, willing, and caring parents.

Nationwide Child Support Enforcement Fails Needy Families

NATIONWIDE		% change from FY 06
Collections Distributed	$24,854,768,488	3.8%
- Current Assistance	$946,283,222	-4.0%
- Former Assistance	$9,469,870,384	2.5%
- Never Assistance	$11,322,297,160	3.2%
- Medicaid Assistance	$3,116,317,722	13.8%
Total Expenditures	$5,593,864,242	0.6%
Cost Effectiveness ($ Change)	$4.73	$0.15
Paternities & Acknowledgements	1,729,141	1.7%
Orders Established	1,177,589	1.6%
Full Time Equivalent Staff	60,104	-0.5%
Total Caseload	15,755,322	-0.6%
- Current Assistance	2,136,693	-8.5%
- Former Assistance	7,194,998	-1.0%
- Never Assistance	6,423,631	2.9%
Net Undistributed Collections	$471,977,847	-2.8%
Arrears Amounts Due	$107,248,465,839	-2.0%

 

Over participation continues to be a major problem in the nation's child support enforcement program. I have highlighted important sections regarding participation numbers, collections, and undistributed child support. Net Undistributed Collections appears to make up the equivalent of about 50% of the total collections of means tested needy families. These are nationwide numbers. You will see that between former and never assistance, actual needy families are a super minority of this social welfare program.

 

Adding eligibility requirements into the nation's Title IV-D/Child Support Enforcement Program will benefit needy families and will also constitute a significant savings to the taxpayers at both the federal and state levels. Removing affluent feuding families from the program will also benefit children of those divorce and child custody cases, by emphasizing on the parent-child relationship rather than encouraging bickering and fighting over who is going to receive a check and for how much.

 

Actual Federal Expenditures Nationwide:   $5,593,864,242.00 (Billions)

Estimated State Expenditures Nationwide: $1,845,975,199.86 (Billions)

Taxpayer Expense, not including other social programs and costs of incarcerations is over 7 BILLION DOLLARS!

Collections for ACTUAL MEANS TESTED NEEDY FAMILIES: $946,283,222.00 (Millions) which is less than the State's expenditures on the program nationwide. Why is the federal government getting involved in these cases?

(please note there is no verification to determine if the money was distributed after collection.)

This program would be better off distributing money out of the budget directly to needy families and just get rid of the employees behind the Child Support Enforcement Agency. With Net Undistributed Collections totaling nearly 50% of the amount collected for needy families, one has to wonder how many needy families are indeed being helped by the program.

ABOUT.COM Covers Story of Fathers Pedaling 758 Mi for Kids

ABOUT.COM Wayne Parker Fatherhood Blog Covers Story of Fathers Pedaling 758 Miles on Bicycles for Children. A Moving and Inspirational Story. Digg! If you support!

read more | digg story

Hunt for Deadbeats is on in Jackson, Michigan

More than half the money involved in 2007 that was "owed" to parents was forgiven by them, again demonstrating that many individuals involved in the program don't want to be, or otherwise shouldn't be in the program at taxpayer expense. This year about 2/3 of the money that was owed was also forgiven. Read the complete article for more important information that you can learn from this article!

read more | digg story

Lary Holland: Public Concern Over Definition of Father

Lary Holland

Host and Producer:

Get Off The Bench & Family Court Reports

5199 Highland Rd. Suite 229

Waterford, MI 48327

 

Hon. Tracey A. Yokich                                April 9, 2008

40 N. Main St.
Mt. Clemens, MI  48043

 

RE: Public Concern over Definition of Father

Dear Honorable Tracey A. Yokich,

I have some concerns about the operations of the Macomb County Circuit Court and its definitions. You may or may not remember that in 2005-2006 the Macomb County Referees were only providing 4 days to object to referee recommendation/orders, which was not in compliance with court rule.

Through my initiating a Complaint in the form of a Request for Investigation under MCR 8.113 I took action through the State Court Administrator's Office and subsequently directly through Hon. Clifford Taylor's Office with the Supreme Court. My purpose was to ensure that Macomb County would comply with the statutory 7 days for objection and 21 days for request for de novo hearings upon disagreement with Referees.

In July of 2006, Keith Beasley confirmed that the local court would comply with the court rule and adjusted the local court's practice. This I was grateful for, because many people, especially the tremendous number of "pro per" litigants that you publicly acknowledged, were denied a fundamental access to justice by having such reduced time limits to figure out how to lodge their objections.

It was recently brought to my attention when I came across a video of your court room on "youtube," an online public social networking site for videos, that you provide your own personal definition of a father. To my surprise, what you responded to the litigant with is classical gender bias and is unbecoming of a sitting judge. It would appear that you believe that a father should work as many jobs as it takes while mother is allowed to work only one job to provide "roofs" over the heads of the parties' children. In this situation, I actually have been to home of the father and observed a wonderful roof over their head, and where he has been struggling to provide the best possible environment for the children which go unrecognized by your court room. It would appear there is a greater emphasis with your courtroom for income shifting from one household to the other without much evidentiary proof of its necessity, other than to comply with the funding requirements of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.

As an expert on Title IV-D of the Social Security (CSE Program), the purpose of the Act was to recuperate the expenses of Title IV-A welfare benefits that the federal government pays to the states, but in the particular case where you lambast the father, he is the individual on Title IV-A (TANF Assistance). Your courtroom has lost site of the best interests of the children in that case and has placed procedural and contractual performances ahead of real judicial discretion. This is unfortunately a very sad day in society where free for all welfare programs like Title IV-D of the Social Security usurp the best interests of the children and allow parents to continue fighting. In the case at hand, both parents should be providing for their own households so they may jointly and equally provide for their own children because both parents are fit, caring, and loving parents. In the situation of a father receiving TANF the court's role should be limited in attempting to carry out contractual performance under Title IV-D as it is directly contrary to the purpose of the act. It is understood for every dollar that is spent on the guise of "child support enforcement" that your local county receives two more dollars. I was integral in ensuring that the financial double-dipping was revoked from the federal statute and it is my goal to remove a significantly larger number of cases from the Title IV-D caseload. This will help judges reclaim real discretion, so that you are not forced to be a cash cow for the local county under the federal program.

I would hope that you take a moment to update your definition of what a father is by referring to many of the numerous resources that are available to you including this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father

This will help you understand the importance that this father plays in his children's life, which has nothing to do with supporting the mother's higher standard of living at all, but rather empowering the children through his continued contact with them. It makes little sense to allow two parents to continue fighting over one of the things that likely led them to the initial break-up, being money and power, and do something that places both parents on equal standing ground and nothing more to fight about.

Creating the appearance of an absent household to allow for these type of income shifts is both unethical and detrimental to the relationship of both parties with their own children and only adds to the tremendous caseload that you are juggling on your docket. Let's solve problems instead of contributing to them.

Sincerely,

Lary Holland

722.26a Joint custody.

(6) Joint custody shall not eliminate the responsibility for child support. Each parent shall be responsible for child support based on the needs of the child and the actual resources of each parent. If a parent would otherwise be unable to maintain adequate housing for the child and the other parent has sufficient resources, the court may order modified support payments for a portion of housing expenses even during a period when the child is not residing in the home of the parent receiving support. An order of joint custody, in and of itself, shall not constitute grounds for modifying a support order.

(7) As used in this section, "joint custody" means an order of the court in which 1 or both of the following is specified:

(a) That the child shall reside alternately for specific periods with each of the parents.

(b) That the parents shall share decision-making authority as to the important decisions affecting the welfare of the child.

Michigan Resources: Self-Help Legal Assistance: Know Your Attorney Before Paying!

In Michigan it is very valuable to research prospective attorneys before handing over that $1,000.00 - $10,000.00 retainer fees. If you think you will have a highly contentious divorce, custody, child support, or paternity action, you might invest some of your time is seeing if your attorney has any appellate experience regarding your current legal needs. You can view all of the cases an attorney has in Michigan's Court of Appeals.

Don't forget to rate attorneys by following the instructions at this link.

Get Off The Bench Talk Cast! Listen to it while you work!


Attorney Case List
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/resources/public_acl.htm

The attorney case list can be used to research the types of cases that an attorney has experience with at the court of appeals level. The P(Number) is the number assigned to an attorney when accepted into the State Bar of Michigan. The Attorney Name must be in LAST name FIRST name format. You can check the box for "include closed cases" which is always helpful to see how cases were ruled on.

Search Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Opinions by Key Word
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/resources/ts.htm

You can search various opinions from both the Court of Appeals or the Michigan Supreme Court opinions by key words and phrases. You can do things like... child custody or parental rights. You can see reasons why orders were overturned, affirmed, or modified.

Michigan Court Rules
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/rules/

These are the Michigan Court rules arranged by Chapter. If you plan on representing yourself in court, you need to plan on understanding the rules of civil procedure (Chapter 2) and then the applicable Chapter for example... Chapter 3.200 for Domestic Relations Actions.

Michigan Rules of Evidence
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/rules/documents/2MichiganRulesOfEvidence.pdf

How can you conduct a trial if you don't understand the Rules of Evidence and how to object or what is admissible / inadmissible.

Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/rules/documents/5MichiganRulesOfProfessionalConduct.pdf

These are the rules of professional conduct for attorneys. These are the rules that THEY must adhere to when representing or advocating for a client. You should know these so you know when you are not being well-represented. Know the rules that attorneys must follow so that when or if they break them, you can take action against them.

The knowledge represented above is invaluable if you plan on self-representation and is only a start for Pro Se Litigants in Michigan. In the past I have published a mini-manual for people that includes Friend of the Court Act, Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act, and other important pieces like the Michigan Constitution. Let me know if there is still a need for such a resource. I will make them available online for you. If you have more questions send me an email at laryholland@familycourtreports.com.