Sen. Finchem and Rep. Keshel Unleash AZ Hearings as Dr. Bandy Lee Brands the System ‘Judicial Terrorism’
By Richard Luthmann
AZ Family Court Bombshell: The Revolt Against Family Court Tyranny
Arizona State Senator Mark Finchem and Representative Rachel Keshel are pulling the lid off what they describe as a “sadistic racket” in the family court system. The pair co-chair the Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Family Court Orders, a bipartisan effort that has already heard from hundreds of witnesses alleging judicial abuse, state-sanctioned parental alienation, and financial ruin.
“These judges aren’t acting as neutral arbiters,” Finchem said at the June 16 hearing. “They’re ignoring evidence and empowering predators.”
Representative Keshel echoed the outrage: “Parents are being silenced. Children are being traumatized. We have a duty to fix a system that no longer serves the best interests of the child.”
One mother testified that she was forced to spend over $300,000 on court-ordered therapy, only to be restricted to supervised visitation with her child. Another described how she was labeled “mentally ill” by an unlicensed counselor and lost custody, despite 11 psychiatric evaluations from renowned experts confirming her mental fitness.
Finchem emphasized that these hearings are not symbolic: “We are not re-litigating custody disputes—we are calling out tyranny in black robes.”
Dr. Bandy Lee: “Family Courts Are One of the Deadliest Places for Children”
Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a forensic psychiatrist and violence expert with 25 years of courtroom experience, delivered the most blistering testimony of the day. Formerly of Yale and now with Harvard’s Program in Psychiatry and the Law, Dr. Lee testified that what she’s seen in family courts shocked even her.
“We do not ordinarily think of family courts as sites of violence,” she said, “but by denying—or worse, exploiting—domestic violence and child abuse, family courts have become one of the deadliest places for children and the adults who try to protect them.”
Dr. Lee said she has served as an expert witness in 200 legal cases—50 in family courts across 22 states—and none were as hostile to expertise as family court.
“Only in family court have I been unwelcome,” she said. “Judges often try to find almost any reason not to admit me. They are not looking for qualified experts. They seek poorly trained or compromised so-called experts who will fix the results in the direction they desire.”
Dr. Lee recounted how her own sister, a praised and attentive mother, lost her children overnight in a police raid ordered during a custody dispute in Bergen County, New Jersey. “The violently abusive father who almost killed each of his two children by head injury got sole custody,” Dr. Lee said. “The mother hasn’t seen or heard from the children she raised since birth for the past four years—not even one minute.”
The court ignored the evaluations of 11 world-renowned psychiatrists and instead relied solely on the unsupported opinion of one “unlicensed and unqualified associate counselor,” Dr. Lee said.
Secrecy, Racketeering, and “Torture Camps”
Dr. Lee’s condemnation went further: “Torture is routine, and even murder goes unpunished in family courts.”
She compared the courts to “star chambers” with unchecked discretion and no transparency.
“Family court players are even more dangerous than prison guards because they operate under the power and secrecy of the court,” she said.
Calling family courts “anti-courts,” Dr. Lee said they routinely allow “case fixing to replace fact-finding” and “pseudoscience to replace established science.”
Judges often suppress media exposure.
“The judge in my sister’s case [Jane Gallina-Mecca] ordered a national magazine to unpublish an article quoting me. When their legal team pushed back, she issued a second order,” Dr. Lee said. “This same judge was shamed by The Washington Post 10 years ago for similar behavior—but she’s still on the bench.”
Senator Finchem asked if Lee believed judges were being misled by fake psychology or knowingly seeking false justification to hand children to abusers.
Dr. Lee’s answer: “Judges go looking for experts who will give them the theory that allows them to give children to their abusers.”
She also confirmed that she believes a form of racketeering is taking place.
“I have tried to reach out to law enforcement,” she said. “They’ve been either unresponsive or protective of the judges.”
Parental Alienation Is Not Real, Says Expert
Representative Lisa Fink asked Dr. Lee directly about parental alienation, a controversial concept widely used in family courts to justify removing children from protective parents.
“It’s not taught in any mental health educational program,” Dr. Lee said. “It only exists in family courts. These are cases that, if prosecuted in criminal court, would be recognized as child abuse and domestic violence without ambiguity.”
Representative Keshel asked whether she had seen any judges push back against this doctrine.
“I’ve seen some judges move away from the term ‘parental alienation’ because of the stigma,” Dr. Lee replied, “but they continue to apply the same thinking under different names. It’s a squishy balloon—wherever you squeeze it, it pops up somewhere else.”
Dr. Lee emphasized the harm: “Children are being sent to ‘reunification camps,’ which are in fact torture camps. They are designed to extinguish any resistance the child has to returning to their abuser.”
Jill Jones Soderman, executive director of the Foundation for the Child Victims of the Family Courts (FCVFC.org), echoes Dr. Lee’s expert opinion.
“What the courts call ‘reunification therapy’ is psychological waterboarding. It’s state-sanctioned child torture disguised as treatment,” Soderman said. Children are ripped from safe parents, placed with abusers, and forced to recant abuse. If they resist, they’re labeled alienated and shipped to programs that break them down emotionally and mentally. This isn’t therapy—it’s trafficking under color of law.”
Soderman and the FCVFC previously worked on multiple high-conflict custody cases where Dr. Lee was also engaged.
The Bottom Line: This Is a National Crisis
Dr. Lee told the committee that the United Nations Human Rights Council has recognized the U.S. family court model as a public health crisis due to its export abroad. She described the court-ordered behavioral programs, such as C.O.B.I. (Court-Ordered Behavioral Intervention), as “coercive,” “torture,” and “thought reform.”
“This is not just Arizona’s problem,” she warned. “This is a nationwide crisis.”
Dr. Lee concluded: “Unless family courts are dramatically reformed, they must be abolished altogether—for the safety of our children.”
Senator Finchem thanked Lee for her testimony, calling it “more sunshine than we’ve seen in three hearings.”
“We need to hold these courts accountable,” he said. “We cannot let this continue.”
With testimony like Lee’s now in the public record, Arizona’s reckoning has begun—and the rest of the country is watching.
SUMMARY OF TESTIMONY
Dr. Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div.
Forensic Psychiatrist, Violence Expert
Testimony before the Arizona Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Family Court Orders
June 16, 2025
Opening Statement by Dr. Bandy X. Lee:
“We do not ordinarily think of family courts as sites of violence, but by denying—or worse, exploiting—domestic violence and child abuse, family courts have become one of the deadliest places for children and the adults who try to protect them.”
“I have been retained in about 200 legal cases and have consulted on others. My area of expertise is mental health, violence prevention, and legal standards of psychiatric evidence. I have testified before Congress, advised the UN, and taught at Yale and Harvard. I have worked with maximum-security inmates, including on death row. Yet nothing prepared me for what I have witnessed in family courts.”
“In family courts, highly qualified experts are pushed out, while judges bring in compromised professionals to fix the result they desire.”
“In one case, my own sister—previously praised for exceptional parenting—lost her children overnight in a police raid. The violently abusive father who had nearly fractured both children’s skulls got sole custody. The court relied on one unlicensed, unqualified associate counselor. Eleven expert psychiatric reports from globally recognized professionals, including myself, were disregarded entirely.”
“For four years, my sister has not seen or spoken to the children she raised since birth. She has no criminal history, no allegations of abuse, no findings of mental illness—just retaliation from the bench.”
“What is happening is not just unethical—it is criminal. Judges retaliate against victims. Guardians ad litem lie in court filings. Journalists are gagged. In my sister’s case, a national magazine was ordered to unpublish an article quoting me.”
“Family courts operate like anti-courts or star chambers. Judicial immunity protects misconduct. There is no transparency. There is no oversight.”
“This is not merely a broken system—it is a racketeering enterprise. The UN Human Rights Council has documented that family court systems in the U.S. have become a public health crisis. These practices are being exported worldwide under the banner of ‘U.S.-style family justice.’”
“If reforms are not made—and I mean sweeping, structural reforms—then these courts must be abolished altogether.”
Questioning by Senator Mark Finchem (Co-Chair):
Finchem:
“Dr. Lee, based on your experience, are these judges simply misled by bad science, or do they go looking for compromised experts who will justify giving children to abusers?”
Dr. Lee:
“Judges are not just misinformed. They intentionally avoid qualified experts. They actively seek those who will supply the reasoning they need. This is not ignorance—it’s calculated.”
Finchem:
“Would you classify this behavior as a form of racketeering?”
Dr. Lee:
“Yes. It meets the characteristics. The same names show up repeatedly. The appointments are protected. And the professionals involved are incentivized to produce a predetermined outcome.”
Questioning by Representative Rachel Keshel (Co-Chair):
Keshel:
“Have you ever seen a case in family court where the truth prevailed?”
Dr. Lee:
“Out of 50 family court cases I’ve worked on, only one ended appropriately. And that took massive media exposure and relentless advocacy. In all others, the protective parent lost.”
Keshel:
“Why does this persist, even with evidence and public outcry?”
Dr. Lee:
“Because of the court’s secrecy, immunity, and retaliation. Victims can’t speak. Reporters get silenced. It’s a closed system with no accountability.”
Questioning by Representative Lisa Fink:
Fink:
“What is your view on ‘parental alienation’? We hear it cited in many custody cases.”
Dr. Lee:
“Parental alienation is not a legitimate mental health diagnosis. It is not taught in any accredited academic institution. It has no scientific basis. It is a legal theory manufactured for family courts. It is used almost exclusively to discredit protective parents—usually mothers—and justify giving custody to abusive parents.”
Fink:
“If it isn’t real, why is it so widely used?”
Dr. Lee:
“Because it provides a pretext for reversing custody. Judges stop asking what’s best for the child and start punishing whichever parent is raising alarms. In criminal court, the same facts would lead to abuse convictions. In family court, the protective parent gets labeled the problem.”
Closing Remarks by Dr. Lee:
“The damage family courts are doing is not theoretical. Children are dying. Parents are being bankrupted and institutionalized. These are not family disputes—they are human rights violations.”
“Family court judges have more unchecked power than even prison wardens or psychiatric directors. And they are using it recklessly and cruelly.”
“If this committee truly wants to protect children, you must act decisively. End immunity. Mandate oversight. Remove unlicensed and fraudulent professionals. And restore truth and science to your courtrooms.”
“If you do not, then the only ethical response left is to abolish these courts altogether.”
Dr. Bandy X. Lee just confirmed—on the record—what so many of us have lived but been gaslit into silence over: family courts are no longer justice systems—they are weapons of destruction. Her testimony before the Arizona legislature lays bare the rot at the center of these so-called courts: retaliation, racketeering, secrecy, and child endangerment masked as “therapeutic intervention.”
She described exactly what has happened in my case.
Judges ignoring evidence.
Unlicensed “professionals” manufacturing opinions to justify the unjustifiable.
Protective parents stripped of their rights, their children handed to abusers.
Gag orders issued to silence public exposure.
Retaliation against those who dare to speak out.
Let’s be clear: this is not a one-off Arizona story. This is Connecticut. This is New Jersey. This is Florida. This is America.
If you think what’s being exposed is “too extreme to be real,” I invite you to look into the public record of Giacobbe v. Conrad and the countless others who have come forward only to be ignored, punished, or bankrupted.
Dr. Lee’s call to abolish these courts if they cannot be reformed is not hyperbole. It is a moral demand grounded in forensic psychiatric science and lived human tragedy.
The system is not failing—it is functioning exactly as it was built to: to crush those who speak truth and protect those who profit.
I’m not done fighting. And now, thanks to Dr. Lee, I know I’m not fighting alone.
Sincerely,
John Conrad