Court Opinion

ID: 9732682
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:31:28.187232+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:31.582055
License: Public Domain

O’Hara, J.
(dissenting). I respect Judge Kelly’s concern for the necessity of appellate courts acting on "stale evidence”.
In this my sixteenth year as an appellate judge, I have never been able to act on anything else because, it is in the nature of the appellate process what with an appeal of right, the necessity of a *396transcript, time to file briefs, docketing and oral argument when requested.
With all the fervor I can command I suggest that the Supreme Court forthwith under its rule-making power put an end to this cruel sham of entitling a change in child custody as an adversary proceeding between divorced parents as here. I would like to see the Supreme Court require that such cases be entitled "In the Matter of the Custody of_, a minor”. I would hope the trial bench would be directed to discard all this nonsense of rules of evidence related to ordinary adversary civil cases. Is the question still who is going to "win”, appellant or appellee, with the child a pawn of their animosities?
I would hope the Court would require a concise statement of the proofs adduced and a compulsory inclusion of the report of the Friend of the Court after a bona fide investigation and that the rigmarole of strict evidentiary rules be eliminated. I would hope this would all be certified to the Court of Appeals of right before a separate and special rotating panel within 10 days of the conclusion of the testimony and it be required that this Court hand down its opinion within 20 days after submission. I am well aware this is beyond the conventional concept of an intermediate court judge.
I am well aware I invite censure from my colleagues and judicial superiors. I am quite willing to risk that.
As to the case at bar, it was not Shelley who started this litigious ping-pong game. She was settled in her grandparental home and doing well in school. What’s wrong with that?
I vote not to disturb the situation in the best interest of the child and order sua sponte its continuation.
Thus I vote to reverse without remand and urge the drafting of such an order by this Court.