Phil McGraw, known for his CBS syndicated show, “Dr. Phil,” is inviting people with stories of injustice in family court to appear on his new cable network. His contact info can be found at: https://www.drphil.com/family-court-failed-you.
The initiative, called “Family Court Failed You?”, is part of McGraw’s Media Street Media. The new cable network will feature “Dr. Phil Primetime,” which will air nightly at 8 p.m. ET beginning February 26, 2024, and follows the format McGraw used on “Dr. Phil,” which aired for 22 years on daytime TV.
McGraw’s focus on family court may open a larger discussion on issues of injustice in American family courts.
McGraw’s Expertise
His former daytime show featured McGraw offering advice in “life strategies” from his experience as a clinical and forensic psychologist. His new cable network seeks parents currently or in the past who were in high-conflict family court custody battles and believe justice was not served through family court. Parents who lost custody, who had their parental rights limited or terminated, or have had their assets drained by family law attorneys seemingly in league, and with the court-appointed professionals, are candidates for Dr. Phil.
The Plight of Parents in Family Court
Parents who have had their freedom jeopardized by threats, or the loss of freedom through incarceration in America’s version of debtors’ prison for such failures as court-ordered payment to guardians ad litem, attorneys for children, custody evaluators, and psychologists who made life-altering determinations in “the best interest of the children” that brought woe to both parent and child alike – and whose findings seemingly tailor to conform with outcomes that favor their referrers – lawyers and their own best financial interest – these too would make suitable candidates for Dr. Phil. As a psychologist with considerable experience with courtroom processes, Dr. Phil might understand the abuse of experts in mental health in family court.
The Business of Family Law
As a shrewd businessman, he may see how family law attorneys can convert the life savings of a divorcing couple, stoking conflict in league with the opposing attorney and finding resolution only when the financial bleeding dries into bankruptcy, and in some extreme instances, suicide and murder of parents and children alike. Dr. McGraw with his insights into human nature may be able to measure a parent’s likelihood of winning custody much like attorneys do at the onset of a case, based on the original and universally-applied golden rule – the parent with the most gold will get the judge to rule in matters of custody and division of assets.
Challenging the Family Court System
The perspicacious McGraw will understand how money-interests are served by the misuse of the two best money-making weapons in the arsenal of that king of adversarial settings – the legal fight within a family. The two methods of obliterating parental rights, well known in family law practice, are “the silver bullet” (false allegations of domestic abuse used to gain an advantage in custody battles, most frequently misused by mothers) and false accusations of parental alienation (false allegations that one parent manipulated the children against the other parent; often by fathers who abuse their children – which is the actual cause of alienation).
These two lucrative methods profit court professionals to the detriment of the children, whose wishes and oftentimes safety are ignored for a ‘best interest of the child” standard that curiously and almost always finds that the wealthier parent is the best (and oftentimes only) fit parent for custody.
Family court has in essence set up a kind of legally protected purchasing of custody. Often extracted over long drawn, attorney-stoked legal battles that can extend for as long as a decade – if the money holds out – family court has become a market place where the commodity is custody and kids are sold to the highest bidder.
Dr. Phil’s Insight into the Judicial System
Dr. Phil, because he is obviously highly intelligent and understands, undoubtedly, how human power corrupts, will no doubt discern that at the base of this national disgrace is the family court judge — omnipotent, unwatched, unappealable.
In a violation of the spirit of America, which founded itself with a judiciary where the people are imminent and serve as both finders of facts but watchdogs of the judiciary, and legislative branches, thus reigning in the executive branch and known as the jury — a jury-less family court empowers judges to be judge, law maker, law enforcer, expert quasi-psychologist, and jury and in the end blatantly the crony-master. With a judge with nearly unlimited power, it is a court where due process, the rule of law and the facts in controversy are precisely what the judge alone dictates.
Dr. Phil McGraw’s Role in Highlighting Family Court Issues
Dr. Phil McGraw’s “Family Court Failed You?” may be the best chance to put a man with the intelligence to comprehend, the heart to care and the audience to cause a national understanding of the crimes, literally, of family court.
He has said he has “grave concerns for the American family.” He may find a solution other than the obvious – to avoid family court for the moment you walk into it – perhaps naively seeking justice – you have handed to a judge, a stranger to you — absolute power, total control of your children and you and your finances with no assurance of justice and because of their absolute power – a pretty good assurance of corruption.
Dr. McGraw may be the man for the task at hand.
Dr. Phil’s new initiative, “Family Court Failed You?,” will appear on Media Street Media™ Cable TV Network.
McGraw’s Legacy in Psychology and Television
In addition to his enormously popular television work, McGraw has written best-selling books “Life Strategies,” “Relationship Rescue,” and “Family First.” In 2006, he received the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association for his contribution to psychology. The citation read in part: “Your work has touched more Americans than any other living psychologist.”
