Fathers Group's Bias Claim Dismissed
Lawyers Weekly
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Fathers Group's Bias Claim DismissedLawyers Weekly |
February 21, 2000
U.S. District Court Judge Edward F. Harrington recently dismissed a lawsuit by a men's
rights group alleging that Probate & Family Court judges are biased against men.
Harrington, in an unpublished opinion, rejected the claim of the plaintiffs six divorced
men and a fathers' rights group called the Fatherhood Coalition that they were being
denied equal protection under the law as a result of blatant bias in domestic relations
cases.
Harrington, according to published reports, also determined that judges are immune from
being sued.
David F. Grossack of Hull, who represented the plaintiffs, said he was "extremely
disappointed and unhappy with the decision. The judge and I have a different view of the
Constitution and how 42 U.S.C. Sect. 1983 should be applied to state court judges."
Grossack claimed the issue will not go away, citing a half-dozen or so similar cases
pending in other states, as well as ongoing cases in Massachusetts alleging discrimination
against men in Chapter 209A restraining order proceedings.
The case is Nollet, et al. v. Justices of the Trial Court of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, U.S. District Court No. 99-CV-11861.