Nicholas Haas's Rights May Have Been Violated By NH Judge Tenney - Due Process May Require Appointment of Counsel in Civil Contempt Cases - New US Supreme Court Case Law - From The Website Of NACDL

Due Process May Require  Appointment of Counsel in Civil Contempt Cases WASHINGTON, DC (June 20, 2011) – Today the Supreme Court reaffirmed that freedom “from bodily restraint,” lies “at the core of the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause.” In Turner v. Rogers, No. 10-10, a 5-4 majority held that the State of South Carolina violated a non-custodial parent’s right to due process of law by sentencing him to a year in jail without a reliable procedure for determining whether he had the ability to pay back child support or providing him with counsel to help him prove his case.

Courts in N.H. struggle with load - Counties see rise in delayed rulings (From a 2008 Article)

Courts in N.H. struggle with load

Counties see rise in delayed rulings

Associated Press / September 29, 2008

KEENE, N.H. - More people are being left in legal limbo because of increased caseloads, more complex cases, and shortages of judges and clerical staff at New Hampshire's Superior Courts.

Cheshire County has one full-time judge, Brian Tucker, and one part-time judge, John Arnold, who spends six months of the year in Sullivan County, where he is the only active judge.

"It is not an exaggeration to say that every day there are at least two stacks at least a foot tall of routine matters on Judge Tucker's desk," said Cheshire County Superior Court Clerk Barbara Hogan. "Some days there are four or five stacks, and he gets them done every day. He's working them before and after the court opens."

Manchester's Union Leader Runs Article About Marital Master David Forrest - Supreme Court Decision An Example Of His Bias Against Men

E-mails fall short for fault-based divorce
By NANCY WEST
New Hampshire Sunday News (Union Leader) Sunday, Mar. 22, 2009

If you're seeking a fault-based divorce in New Hampshire, you'd better have more than sexually suggestive e-mails and hurt feelings on which to base your case.

That's the message the state Supreme Court sent in a March 5 ruling that set a standard for finding one spouse at fault. The ruling may affect future divorces involving a claim that one spouse caused what state law describes as "serious injury to health or endangered reason" to the other, one of nine grounds for fault-based divorce in New Hampshire.

"The decision raised the bar. It's got to be serious injury, not just hurt feelings," said Nashua attorney William Aivalikles, who represented Daniel R. Guy's appeal of the divorce filed by his wife, Joni Guy.

Joni Guy claimed sexually suggestive e-mails Mr. Guy exchanged with a former girlfriend caused Mrs. Guy to be "angry, upset and distraught," according to court documents.

Senior Associate Justice Linda S. Dalianis, citing previous cases, said Mrs. Guy's claim was based on an 1840 law that allowed divorce when the claim didn't meet the standard for legal cruelty but the conduct "might make life intolerable and death welcome."

Being "angry, upset and distraught" isn't enough to meet that standard, Dalianis wrote, citing similar past cases that involved constant drunken abuse by domineering husbands, including a threat of murder. In each of those cases, the behavior caused some effect to the "innocent" party, such as becoming highly nervous, losing weight or undergoing counseling, Dalianis wrote.

"This kind of effect upon (Mrs. Guy's) physical and mental health is insufficient, as a matter of law, to sustain a divorce. ... In cases involving a divorce upon these grounds, the effect upon the 'innocent' spouse has been much more severe than mere anger and upset and the conduct in which the 'guilty' spouse engaged was more brutal than merely e-mailing his former girlfriend," Dalianis wrote in the unanimous decision.

Few fault-based divorces
Only about 1.3 percent of all New Hampshire divorces last year were completed as fault-based, according to the state Division of Vital Records. There were 4,913 divorces last year, and 4,847 of them were no-fault divorces based on irreconcilable differences.

In 2007, the most recent year for which the National Center for Health Statistics has divorce figures, New Hampshire's divorce rate was 3.8 per 1,000 of the state's total population. That's about the same as the national average, 3.6 per 1,000, although not all states report, according to the NCHS.

Experts estimate between 5 and 10 percent of divorces are filed as fault-based, but fewer than 2 percent are granted, according to the state Division of Vital Records.

Before no-fault divorce became part of New Hampshire law in 1971, a finding of fault was required to dissolve a marriage here, Aivalikles said.

Property settlement
In fault-based divorces, marital assets can be divided to favor the "innocent" party, Aivalikles said.

In the Guy divorce, the original property settlement, which was partially based on Mr. Guy's fault, was vacated in the Supreme Court's ruling.

Mr. Guy is expected to get an additional $56,000 as a result, Aivalikles said.

David Forrest, the marital master who heard the divorce, had recommended the fault-based grounds and the recommendation was approved by Judge William Groff.

The trial court dismissed Mrs. Guy's 2007 fault claims of habitual drunkenness and adultery against her husband of 18 years.

"It's safe to say my wife believed a lot of things that turned out to be untrue," said Mr. Guy, who added that he neither has a drinking problem nor committed adultery.

The ruling will likely mean Daniel Guy, a disc jockey and broadcast engineer, gets to keep at least half of his $112,000 inheritance, which was an issue in the settlement, he said.

"(Justice Dalianis) took more of a common-sense approach to my case. Finding fault was just a stretch," Mr. Guy said.

Joni Guy couldn't be reached for comment, and her attorney, Francis Holland of Nashua, didn't return phone calls to the New Hampshire Sunday News.

Alternatives to litigation
Wilton lawyer Honey Hastings said she changed her practice four years ago after a troubling case involving sexually graphic testimony.

Hastings, who wrote "The New Hampshire Divorce Handbook," said, "I don't litigate anymore. I felt it was enabling people to treat each other badly and hurt children."

She offers services to families, including mediation and collaborative practice, also called "no-court divorce."

Attorney Amy Wolfson of Nashua said fault-based divorces might lead to unequal division of assets, alimony and increased alimony, and may affect parenting rights and responsibilities.

Depending on how outrageous the fault, Wolfson said, the asset split could be 55-45, 60-40 or whatever the judge decides. In one of her cases, she said, her client walked away with 90 percent of the marital assets, though she said such cases are "extraordinary."

Mediation isn't always the best option in divorce cases, Wolfson said.

"Mediation works well when both parties are of equal bargaining power," she said. "When you have power disparity in the marriage, it doesn't work well."

Randy Kessler, secretary of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, said New Hampshire is in the mainstream, as about 25 states have both fault and no-fault divorces. Seventeen states have no-fault only, and eight states have fault-based divorces only, he said.

Even if fault isn't alleged in a divorce suit, Kessler said, fault may be found and used as leverage in reaching a favorable settlement for the injured party. Fault also can be relevant in deciding settlements and child-custody arrangements, he said.

End of Article

Let’s not forget that Marital Master David S. Forrest can’t sign off on divorce decisions without a Judge reviewing his decisions and also signing off on them.  Judge John P. Arnold and Judge Brian Tucker signed off on Forrest’s decisions in my divorce case.  These Judges in my opinion are just as guilty for the bad rulings that Forrest continually makes since it is their job to supervise Forrest. 

My ex-wife brought three different fault grounds against me in my divorce.  I brought forth one petition on irreconcilable differences.  Her three charges against me in her cross petition:

1.      Adultery

2.      When either party has so treated the other as seriously to injure health or endanger reason.

3.      Irreconcilable differences

Forest being the bigot he is used emails against me too but here is the real killer.  The adultery I was being accused of was after the fact.  A few weeks after being thrown out of my house, I moved into a four bedroom house with someone of the opposite sex so that I could share expenses and because plainly speaking, I was tired of sleeping in my vehicle and on peoples couches.   Forrest used this against me to support my ex’s theory that I committed adultery (after the fact) and therefore she had no way to reconcile her marriage.  Funny, I thought the marriage was over several months earlier when my ex told me to choose between my job and my family and shortly after I filed for divorce. 

Originally I was supposed to be moving in with two female roommates.  We would each have a bedroom and my kids would have their own bedroom.  It’s a good thing the third woman backed out at the last minute due to her not being able to get out of her existing lease.  God only know what Forrest would have given my ex if I was living with two women at the time of my divorce and sharing a house and expenses.  Forrest incidentally decided that there was no proof of me damaging my ex’s health and reason (I’m sure that anyone could see that her health and reason had been damaged a long time before I knew her).  

Here is how getting thrown out of my house by Forrest transpired.  I got a temporary order of protection against my ex-wife for her assaulting me one night.  My ex mind you was just as big as me and her job was very physical so lets just she was no petite flower.  This was one of the many times that my ex became physical to me.  At the hearing, Forrest dismissed my petition.  A few days later, he threw me out of my house which was the day before Thanksgiving.  I was notified by my attorney that I had to vacate the house immediately.  My ex had friends and family in the area that she could stay with.  I was an outsider.  I had no friends able to take me in and all of my family was two hours away.  I also have a very serious food allergy that I have to contend with which makes it difficult to stay at other peoples houses.  If you ask me, this prejudiced Marital Master that hates men had to find that I did something wrong so that he could justify throwing me out of the house and giving my ex an unequal distribution which included 98% of my childhood possessions, a lot of my clothes, some tools that belonged to my deceased father and a couple pieces of furniture that belonged to my soon to be deceased mother.  One piece of furniture in particular was an antique knick knack shelf that was given to my parents as a wedding gift.  My ex told Forrest that my mother purchased it for her at a yard sale for $20.    

I would love to see people in that State of NH that have so much power like Marital Masters and Judges have to go through counseling as a prerequisite to being appointed and to have a stipulation that the public gets to look at the findings.  Forrest would probably be diagnosed with multiple personality disorders himself.  People like Forrest can not handle power nor should they ever be allowed to be in a position of power. 

Here is an example of the types of frivolous Emails that were used.  Attorney Jaye Rancourt brings up to David Forrest that she found some emails where I stress desire to spend the night with another female.  Rancourt provided the email to Forrest.  I point out to Forrest that the email stated that I was looking forward to spending an evening with this female, watching a “Redsox and Yankee Baseball Game” the following year as this email conversation happened at the very end of baseball season.  This also happened after I signed divorce paperwork and was separated from my ex.  It’s so pathetic that Forrest cites this email in his written decision of fault in my divorce. 

The real sad thing about this email evidence is that I should have appealed this decision.  I didn’t because I was just glad to be away from my sick and deranged ex-wife’s abuse.  I was glad it was over.  I had no money (My divorce broke me at over $50k), no attorney and was just emotionally beat up.  About a month after my divorce, the above article came out.  Had this decision happened a few months earlier, the outcome of my divorce I am sure would have been different and if not, I would have personally gone to the Supreme Court and fought this bigot’s decision on my own.

The State of NH is so pathetic.  Several months after my divorce, I involuntarily became unemployed.  I had no money.  As the saying goes, I didn’t have a pot to piss in.  However because I had the window to throw it out of (I was living with someone who was paying the rent), the State of NH told me that I didn’t qualify for legal assistance to help me with my continuing post divorce frivolous nonsense that Attorney Jaye Rancourt and my ex kept on throwing at me.  I didn’t have any money because I spent it all on my divorce, my credit was tapped out, I sold off what little bit of personal property that I had just so I could pay my child support. My newest vehicle is a 1995 which every time I drive down the road with it and hit a pothole, rust falls off. You get the picture.  I’m not living an elaborate life. 

If you go through a divorce in NH plan for the worst, especially when you are a man and the noncustodial parent.  The State of NH is biased against men to start with.  I believe that men and women should have equal rights but why is it that when there is a divorce with children involved, you quite often see the woman fighting for full custody of the children and trying to deny the man access to his children?  Where is the equality here?  I can’t speak for everyone but in my case it was all about money.  My ex told me and numerous people that she was going to ruin me and take all of money and property.  However, it didn’t ruin me.  It made me a stronger person. 

Marital Masters and Judges will continue to be biased against men as long as the system remains old and archaic.  If you are a man in a contested divorce, expect to lose custody of your kids to a sick spouse, expect to have all of your values as a man deflated, expect to not be listened to when you tell the truth, and expect that in the end you will be bankrupt.  I’m telling you this so that you can plan ahead.  I wish knew what I know now and that I had time to plan ahead so I could stash money away.  That wasn’t my case.  My ex stopped contributing to the household a few months before I was thrown out of the house so I had to cover all expenses on my own.   Then when I got thrown out of the house, Forrest orders me to pay the mortgage in lieu of child support which was more then $400 a month above the NH child support guidelines and then holds it against me when I can’t afford to keep up with payments after many months of this nonsense.      

Recently, someone pointed out to me that there is a reason that NH Judges and Marital Masters order child support to be paid through the Department of Health and Human Services.  When the State acts like a collection agency for child support, the Federal Government pays the State money to do this.  The State of NH likes to have an income at the expense of the Federal Government and it is a major source of how the State of NH is funded.   What Forrest, Tucker, and Arnold as well as all the other Marital Masters and Judges are doing is just like in the old days when police departments wrote tickets to fund themselves.  A cop would write a ticket.  The money would go to the cop’s agency thus giving a great incentive for cops to write lots of tickets.  Even when people didn’t do anything wrong cops would write tickets just for the money.  It’s called corruption and in NH we have a lot of Marital Masters like Forrest and Judges like Tucker and Arnold that foster corruption.  Let’s work together to get these people removed and lets get the laws changed. 

I have been made aware of some house bills that are going to be proposed to the NH House this coming year that will help deal with some of these issues of bias.  I will try to post them once I get more information. 

What Can You Do To Deal With Unethical Attorney’s, GAL’s Judges and Marital Masters?

I use to be a full time police officer.  During my years of experiences in law enforcement, I went up against a lot of attorneys.  When I was police prosecutor I dealt with a lot of attorneys.  Some attorneys were very ethical and good and others not so ethical.  I never took it personal when I lost a case to an attorney doing their job and being ethical and proper.  What I always had an issue with is unethical attorneys that will lie and cheat.

Now that you have some background let me begin by telling you the most important thing you can do to deal with unethical attorneys like Jaye Rancourt of Manchester, NH, and Doug Thornton of Surry, NH as well as Marital Masters like David Forrest and Judges like John P. Arnold is to hold them accountable by getting your information out there in the public.  I always liked to use the following scenario with subordinate officers.  I would hold my pen up and tell my subordinates, “See this.”  I would then point to my firearm and say to them that this pen in my hand has more power then the firearm I was carrying.  Here is my point.

1. Blog about these people.  You can search for blogs and other forums by doing a Google Search.  You can create your own blog for free.  The Courthouse Forum is a good place to post information about Judges and Marital Masters (http://www.courthouseforum.com/).  Another recent blog I found was NH Judges Are Sodomites at http://nhjudgesaresodomites.blogspot.com/.  Let others know how and why these people are problematic.  Take away their business by making others want to not do business with them.  With the internet you can reach out to a lot of people.  What is one of the first things I do when I want to know about a person or company that I am thinking of doing business with?  I Google their name to see what information is available.  I decide to do business with them or not to do business with them based on my research.  Just make sure you are giving accurate information about these people and be professional.  Don’t make up false information about these people.  Just stick to the record which usually speaks for itself and gives credibility to what you have to say. 

2. File complaints against these people through the appropriate agencies.  In NH, you can file complaints with numerous agencies. 
1. For judges and marital masters you can file a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Committee.  Information is available at the following link: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/committees/judconductcomm/index.htm
2. For attorneys, you can file a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Committee.  Information is available at the following link: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/committees/attydiscip/
3. If the attorney is providing a service to you the Better Business Bureau is another avenue.  I am going to try this with the GAL since he provided me a service and there were lots of issues while doing so (This will be outlined in another post in the near future).
4. For GAL’s you can file a complaint with the Guardian Ad Litem Board in NH at http://www.nh.gov/gal/complaints.htm.  The real joke about this is that it cost to file a complaint.  This is a direct quote from the website, “The complaint filing fee in the form of a valid check or money order made out to “The State of New Hampshire: GAL Board.” The fee is $100.”  Most people that have been screwed by incompetent GAL’s can’t afford the money to file the complaint which is true in my case.  Amazing, the government is charging for services that should be covered by our taxes.  Is there a problem here?  Can you say discrimination? 

3. Contact the media and see if they will interview you or write an opinion letter to the editor.  I recently saw two articles in the Keene Sentinel where one person did just this.  If you go to his website NH Judges Are Sodomites at the following link you can read them at http://nhjudgesaresodomites.blogspot.com/2010/10/cheshire-superior-court-holding.html and http://nhjudgesaresodomites.blogspot.com/2010/10/cheshire-superior-court-rapes-divorce.html

4. Contact your state politicians and tell them that their state is screwed up and they need to work towards fixing it.  I’m not hopeful that they will listen but it’s a great way to vent. 

These are just some of the things you can do.  The important thing is to get your information out in the public.  If anyone has more suggestion please by all means post them.  If you have any helpful links please email them to me and I will post them. 

Jaye Rancourt an Unethical New Hampshire Attorney who likes money more than her clients kids - Is an attorney who practices with the Law Firm of Brennan, Caron, Lenehan & Iacopino also known as BCLI located in Manchester NH

In the near future I will be posting information about Attorney Jaye Rancourt’s unethical and what I would consider to be criminal behavior. Please be aware that these are my opinions. You decide the facts.

I started this Blog because I feel that the public needs to know what kind of pathetic excuse of person Jaye Rancourt is and that there are thousands of attorneys out there just like her doing the same thing every day and I am hoping to reach out to others that have been wronged by these attorneys and the Divorce Court and/or Family Court.

My opinion of Jaye Rancourt is that she is a blood sucking thief. This woman represents my ex-wife and has had me in court repeatedly for frivolous nonsense. Read the book People of the Lie author M. Scott Peck. If you do you will understand that there are evil people all around us. These people are Lawyers, Doctors, Judges, Elected Officials, and Emergency Services Workers. They need to fit in with the rest of us. These people often seem to be outgoing. They are people who volunteer their time. They do this to look good. Do a Google search on Jaye Rancourt and read. Is she a person who fits this behavior? I believe so.

Three years ago I filed for a divorce. It seems my ex-wife has some issues that I brought up in court which I was told by the Judge I could not release to the public so will be respectful and I have to be careful about what I say about any records I have seen in regards to my ex-wife.

Since I can't discuss certain written and documented things about my ex-wife I will say that in my opinion my ex-wife is a sick person who, in my opinion exhibits patterns of behavior consistent with people who have personality disorders. Rancourt took advantage of this and fleeced my ex-wife and hurt my kids in the process of doing so. In the process she destroyed my ability to defend myself by running up the divorce cost well over 100K between both sides. At the time of my divorce, my ex and I had a combined salary of around 80K. We both made about 40K each. Rancourt purposely made my divorce a Hollywood divorce. She never once thought about my children which incidentally my ex-wife was successful in alienating them from me with Rancourt's help.

Did I mention that as of right now, my ex-wife owes Rancourt and her firm over 50k in legal fees? She is supposedly making payments of $300 to $400 a month. Guess where my child support goes? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out directly into the pocket of Jaye Rancourt. Guess who appears to be padding their retirement by stealing money from children? Of course the court doesn’t see it this way. The court has admonished me for bringing this issue up and states that my ex-wife can spend her money how she sees fit. If you figure out the current payment plan, Rancourt will probable be paid off when my last child turns eighteen. No coincidence here is there?

My ex-wife threatened me in front of a marriage counselor that she was going to keep the children from me long before our divorce. Thanks to Rancourt it was all too easy. She will go to court and she will present the Judge with false or misleading facts. I have proof of her tactics and will be posting some of these public court documents as time permits.

Here is the way Rancourt begins her operation. She begins by taking an unsuspecting person who is down and turns on the charm and then fleeces them. It's just like the man that is walking in the park and gets beat up and mugged by two guys and has his watch and wallet stolen. The man stumbles to his feet, walks out of the park and sees two guys walking towards him. He says to the two guys please help me sirs, I’ve been mugged. They beat me up and stole my watch and wallet. The two men then drags this unsuspecting person back into the park, beats him up some more and then steal his shoes and shirt. Yes folks, this is the type of attorney you will be dealing with Rancourt.

Do not expect any reasoning with Jaye Rancourt. Every thing that happens between you and your ex will turn into World War III. She will make a mountain out of a mole hill and in the end you will lose. Great if you’re the person who hires her. I just hope if you do hire her or go up against her that you don't have kids. She will screw them up for life. I have many pictures of my kids being with me and happy. This was before Rancourt. Now my kids hate me. My 7 year old said to me he doesn't want to talk to me anymore. He said you don't care about me and I know what you did. You are a mean person. Does this sound like a seven year old talking? Of course it doesn’t. It was my ex talking. It scared me to hear this. The voice was my son’s but the person speaking was my ex. It was the same thing that she said to me numerously when we were married and she was delusional.

I am going to be filing a complaint with the Professional Conduct Committee on Jaye Rancourt. I would encourage others who have had negative experiences with her or any other attorney to do the same. Let’s hit these bad people where it counts which is in their wallets. I will assist anyone who needs help bringing a complaint against this attorney and/or her law firm BRENNAN, CARON, LENEHAN & IACOPINO because I feel it’s the right thing to do.

I will be posing an email address shortly with this blog. Please feel free to email me and by all means feel free to blog here. We all need to put our foot down and tell these types of attorneys and the courts that this behavior is not acceptable. No one has the right to become rich off of children’s emotional wellbeing..

In addition, when you come across Judges that are bad, make sure you make complaints and go to websites where you can blog about these bad judges. One such blog that I recently found is the Courthouse Forum.

Check out this link. http://www.courthouseforum.com/forums/view.php?id=1065123

I posted comments about Marital Master David Forrest. He is another contributing factor to Jaye Rancourt’s success. Forrest continually allows Rancourt’s nonsense even when there is no basis for it. My ex and Jaye Rancourt have done numerous things including lying to discredit me and have portrayed me as a deadbeat dad, my ex-wife has made false reports to police about me and they used this nonsense to keep my kids from me. Just before the divorce Rancourt and my ex-wife placed a frivolous Temporary Restraining Order on me as my ex claimed that I threatened to kill her. The restraining order hearing was to take place the same day that the divorce hearing was talking place. Before I had a chance to defend myself, Rancourt and my ex-wife withdrew the petition. Forrest should have admonished Rancourt and her client for this stunt. Yes stunt. Why else would someone do this during a divorce hearing when there has never been any such accusations against me by my ex-wife or anyone else for that matter? I’ve come to the conclusion that people in jail have more of a right to have a relationship with their children then I do. This Marital Master loves conflict and thrives from it. Jaye Rancourt and David Forest fuel each others fire. You can go to this website and use this site to make comments about judges and evaluate them. I would recommend you do so and fill out the surveys and leave your comments.

In regards to my children, I am not an overly religious person but if there is a god out there, I pray that someday he will reunite me with them. As for right now, I don’t have any resources to hire an attorney to assist with my objectives so I will have to go it by myself and with the help of my loving partner for without her strength, I don’t know how I would continue. Please support me and others like me by blogging and making complaints about the court system, the unethical attorneys and in anyway else you can. I am not the only one out there with the same problem. Together we can all try to make a difference and reunite parents and alienated children.

Check out this link. http://www.courthouseforum.com/forums/view.php?id=1065123