Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Calls Family Court a “Runaway Cabal”
By Richard Luthmann
In the East Baton Rouge Family Court, a mother was imprisoned without any criminal charges. Katherine Diamond, 55, was ordered to report to the parish prison to serve a 140-day sentence – even though she “hasn’t been convicted of a crime or even accused of one.” Family Court Judge Erika Green imposed the jail time because Diamond couldn’t pay $75,000 in her ex-husband’s attorney fees.
In effect, Judge Green used a contempt of court order to create a modern-day debtor’s prison, jailing a mom for failing to fund her ex’s legal bills.
Diamond’s ordeal began after Family Court Judge Pam Baker branded her an abusive mother based on a dubious video presented by her ex-husband – a clip that outside reviewers say showed “no abuse.” Yet Baker’s finding cost Diamond custody of her twins, whom she hasn’t seen in over two years.
When Diamond’s attorney tried to argue that the ex-husband was manipulating the case, the ex’s lawyer told the judge the claim was frivolous and urged that Diamond and her lawyer be held in contempt – and the judge obliged.
Amy Jeter Duncan, a Baton Rouge mother who witnessed this saga, was outraged. Seeing her friend treated “as a criminal” without due process led Duncan to become an activist. She is now a leader with the Family Court Fraud Warrior Project, a grassroots campaign founded by Wall Street guru Dave Weigel to expose corruption and fraud in the courts.
Diamond’s desperate plea – “I’m going to prison, but I’m not a criminal… Isn’t there anyone who will help me and end this nightmare?” – now serves as a rallying cry for Duncan’s crusade to reform the system.
Sunshine Or Shut It Down: Transcripts Expose Ex Parte Deals and Judge’s Tirades
Transcripts from Diamond’s January and February 2022 court hearings read like a judicial twilight zone. They reveal judges conducting off-record meetings and closed-door sessions that trample basic due process.
In one instance, Judge Baker convened a “status conference” outside the presence of the parties – essentially a private huddle with the lawyers. Decisions were hashed out in chambers, then delivered from the bench as faits accomplis, leaving Diamond and other litigants in the dark.
At another point, Judge Baker suddenly cleared the courtroom of all observers – an intimidation tactic later condemned by Justice Hughes. With the public gone, the judge’s tone turned explosive.
The “nonfavored litigant [could] be screamed at and threatened with jail when no one is there to witness,” Hughes wrote of the closed-court transcript.
In Diamond’s case, court records show the judge and opposing counsel repeatedly leaned on the threat of contempt to silence her. Clients were told to accept a judge’s “recommendation” or else face harsher punishment, and if a parent had a prior contempt on their record, “they [were] told they [would] go to jail.”
The transcripts depict a courtroom where shouting matches and threats replaced impartial justice. A family court judge – tasked with sensitive custody disputes – is heard bullying a litigant and her attorney with contempt sanctions, even jailing the mother for alleged defiance. What should have been a fair hearing instead resembled a Star Chamber, with the judge serving as both accuser and jailer.
Sunshine Or Shut It Down: Lone Justice Cries Foul
In response to growing complaints, the Louisiana Supreme Court investigated Baton Rouge’s Family Court – and officially found nothing seriously wrong. A 14-page report by Judicial Administrator Sandra Vujnovich concluded “there were no signs of unethical or illegal actions or egregious misconduct” by the judges.
It described a mostly smooth operation with only minor issues. But one Supreme Court justice cried foul.
Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III issued a scathing dissent, accusing the high court of turning a blind eye. In a six-page letter, Hughes blasted Family Court as a “runaway cabal” of judges and lawyers that wields abusive power over “unfavored” parents. Those inside the “club” get favorable, efficient service, he said, while outsiders – especially unrepresented moms and dads – are treated as “pariahs”. Staffers “smirk, roll their eyes, and call out, ‘Security, Security!’” when certain parents approach the bench.
Hughes’ report details favoritism, backroom dealings, and financial abuse. He revealed one judge even held a secret late-night status conference at a restaurant with a favored attorney – drinks included – while a rival lawyer withdrew, saying she “could not compete” with that insider judge-lawyer pairing.
Judges, Hughes said, routinely weaponize contempt charges to “beat the non-favored parent into submission,” making cases “all about the money, not the best interests of children.”
He noted attorney fee awards in contempt cases often run $10,000–$20,000, even nearly $80,000 in one case – a price tag Hughes called indefensible.
His findings cast the Family Court as a rogue operation – one he believes lawmakers must rein in, since the judicial establishment won’t police itself.
Sunshine Or Shut It Down: Sky-High Fees, Closed Doors, and an Unlikely Crusader
Baton Rouge’s Family Court dysfunction is systemic. Transcript fees run an exorbitant $6.50 per page – far above the $1.50 per page cap set by law – pricing many parents out of appeals. Proceedings often occur in sealed courtrooms, with judges barring observers even though state law requires the court to be closed only for good cause.
In this darkness, abuse thrives.
Many parents believe the court runs on pay-to-play justice: hire the right lawyer, or you don’t stand a chance. Hughes even observed that “when a certain lawyer appears before a certain judge, that lawyer never loses.”
“Sacrificing children to make money is immoral,” Hughes wrote, voicing the outrage of families who feel steamrolled.
Ironically, the loudest whistleblower – Justice Hughes – has his own stains. In 2021, the Supreme Court publicly censured Hughes for meddling in a judicial election, saying his misconduct “undermined… the public’s confidence” in the courts. Critics even complained about his hands-on crusade in the Diamond case.
Yet his zeal to expose his colleagues’ misdeeds has made him a potent ally for reformers.
“Justice Hughes’ statements are courageous, and give hope to parents and families fighting the family court fraud machine,” said David Weigel, founder of the Family Court Fraud Warrior Project.
Momentum for change is also growing with elected officials.
State Rep. Kathy Edmonston, who helped launch the inquiry, is drafting new laws to put cameras in family court, rein in contempt abuse, and slash transcript costs. She believes that sunshine will end many “absolute atrocities” that are currently hidden.
Amy Jeter Duncan and her fellow “Fraud Warrior” parents aren’t waiting either – they’re naming and shaming judges online and demanding resignations.
What was once whispered about East Baton Rouge’s family judges is now shouted from the rooftops. There is pressure on Louisiana’s judiciary to finally clean house.
