By Michael Phillips

Marc Fishman hasn’t seen his children in years. He has been denied hearings, assigned counsel, and meaningful due process. His requests for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act have been repeatedly ignored. Judges who were supposedly recused have returned to rule against him. And still, no one in Albany seems to care.

Fishman’s case is not a fluke. It’s part of a systemic pattern of abuse in New York’s family courts—a pattern that lawmakers have refused to address. Despite overwhelming evidence that courts are violating the rights of parents, especially fathers and the disabled, the state legislature has been disturbingly silent.

Where Are the Watchdogs?

The family court system in New York is supposed to serve the best interests of the child. But without oversight, it has become a lawless zone. Judges act with impunity, issuing orders that separate children from parents without evidentiary hearings. Clerks reject filings without explanation. Appeals are prohibitively expensive and rarely successful.

Fishman has sent letters. Filed complaints. Appealed to the Appellate Division. Filed in federal court. Reached out to every possible office—including state senators, assembly members, and the New York Attorney General. The response? Silence.

Lawmakers Know—And They’re Letting It Happen

There is no plausible deniability. Legislators know about the misconduct in family court. They’ve received testimony. They’ve seen transcripts. Some even have staff members with personal experience in family court abuse. And yet, there is no comprehensive oversight commission. No external audit. No enforceable judicial accountability.

Worse, many legislators rely on the very legal and ADR industry that profits from ongoing family court conflict. They take donations from law firms. They hesitate to criticize judges. They frame any effort at reform as an attack on the judiciary—when in fact, it’s an effort to rescue it from collapse.

The Cost of Inaction

Every day legislators fail to act, families suffer. Children grow up estranged from a parent not because of abuse or danger—but because of inaction. Fit, loving parents like Marc Fishman are silenced, punished, and erased by a court system that faces no consequences for its failures.

New York’s judiciary is no longer functioning as a neutral arbiter. It has become a machine of unchecked discretion, one that operates in the shadows and targets the most vulnerable—self-represented parents, disabled litigants, and fathers fighting to stay in their children’s lives.

Time for the Legislature to Act

We don’t need more empty promises. We need a full legislative audit of the family court system. We need mandatory data collection on outcomes, judicial recusals, ADA compliance, and visitation enforcement. We need a permanent oversight board with investigatory power and public transparency.

And most of all, we need courage. Courage from lawmakers who are willing to challenge the black-robed immunity that protects bad actors. Courage to say that what’s happening in family court isn’t just unfortunate—it’s unconstitutional.

Conclusion: If You’re Not Speaking Up, You’re Complicit

The silence from Albany isn’t neutrality. It’s complicity. The question is no longer whether there’s a problem in New York’s family court system. The question is who will have the courage to do something about it.

Until they act, parents like Marc Fishman will keep getting crushed beneath the gavel. And the legislature will bear the blame.

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It’s time to demand answers.
New York’s legislators are ignoring the crisis in family court—and families are paying the price.

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