Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-14
JUGS Indorses
Fan'li|yCourt
For District
Public Hearing Set
February "a on
Legislation for Plan
By John V. Horner

~ SOUH v. T1OFneT
The principle of a separate
family court for Washington
yesterday won the Endorsement
of the United Community Serv-
ices
Charles C. Glover, III, presi-
dent, announced the executive
committee of the agency voted to
support the proposal after
study was conducted by the UCS
Family and Child Welfare Sec
ton
Identical bills calling for the
establishment of a three-judge
family court here have been in
troduced in both houses of Con-
gress. A public hearing on the
legislation is scheduled to open
February "a before the Barrett
Senate District Judicial subcom-
mittee.
Judges Favor Plan.
The separate court for han
ding domestic relations cases is
being pushed by all judges in the
U. S. District Court for the Dis
trict of Columbia. 1t is Endorsed
by the Judicial Conference of the
United States, the Judicial Con-
ference of the District of Column
bia and various civic OrganiZa.
tons.
The District Bar Association,
on the other hand, has voted it's
opposition. The vote, taken at
stormy meeting last week, was
200 to 157.
In withholding Endorsement Of
the family court, a majority of
the lawyers voting urged Con-
gress to authorize the appoint
ment of three more judges to
the District Court bench. This
would relieve the congestion in
that court and would not alter
the present system of handling
domestic relations matters there,
according to proponents of this
view.
McCarran Offers Bill.
Senator McCarran. Democrat.
of Nevada, holds a somewhat
similar view. He has introduced
a bill which would authorize two
more District judges here. The
Senator is chairman of a
Judiciary subcommittee which
will consider his bill. He is a
former chairman of the Senate
District Committee.
Speaking for United Com
munity Services. Mr.. Glover
stated:
1T will be noted that UCS
has not gone into the details
of any specific legislative pro-
posal before Congress. Our &C
ton is related to the principle
of a separate court for domestic
problems, and the belief that a
community the size of Washing
ton should have such a court"
Reasons for Decision.
Mr.. Glover said the UCS
committee arrived at its decision
after considering these points:
Cases involving domestic re-
lations require service not avail
able in a court Of jurisdiction.
Social information necessary
to the courts guidance in taking
constructive action on matters
involving omestic relations
problems is not now available.
or it is excluded from considera-
ton of the court.
Cases involving domestic re-
lations, particularly those affect
ing the custody of children. may
be dealt with most constructively
in a separate court having re-
sponsibility only for dealing with
family problems. so that an ex-
pertness and consistency coming
from specialization may develop.
A court charged with hearing
actions on family problems will.
it. is assumed. have personnel
prepared to furnish the court OBJ
jective data regarding circum-
stances surrounding the liti-
giants. This would apply par
ticularly to social and psyche
logical factors bearing on the
problem.