Due Process

In NH abuse and neglect cases, parent's are NOT allowed to be heard! Due process rights are violated every day in NH.


Due Process

An essential maxim of law states simply, "A judge who rules without first hearing both sides, though his judgment may be just, is not himself just."

Justice implies this essential right to be heard.

One might rather say, true justice requires the right to be heard. The court should give both parties an equal opportunity to present the facts and law on which the court is required to rule with regard to those facts. Each side has a different point of view, but both are given an equal chance to argue their case free from the court's prejudice or penalty.

Anything less is ... well ... un-American!

But!

Simply arguing to a judge that your "constitutional rights have been violated", and expecting such a simplified argument to move the court to do something in your favor is a waste of time.

Courts don't operate that way - nor should they.

Courts act on pleadings and motions (usually after a hearing where both sides argue their motions in person or after the court has read and considered written motions supported by memoranda and responses in opposition.

The average courtroom is witness to dozens of complex and sometimes heated legal arguments in the space of an average day. The typical judge reads hundreds of pages of pleadings, motions, notices, and memoranda - not to mention official documents and court records - between the time the judge arrives at the courthouse in the morning and the hour when the judge finally heads home to be with family at the end of the day. Multiply this judicial workload by the number of judges in a typical courthouse, then multiply by the number of days in a year, and you quickly realize why there must be order in the court.

Courts have strict rules that govern everyone

At least, that's the way it's supposed to work!

If you don't understand how to draft powerful pleadings and move the court with persuasive proof, you don't stand a chance against an experienced lawyer.

http://nfpcar.org/Legal/Tips/index.htm#What_is_Hearsay_Evidence