Solidarity with Rachel
Colorado advocates and protective parents join state lawmakers, national organizations, and affected individuals to call for justice in this case and an end to family court judges refusing to follow laws that protect vulnerable children and victims of domestic violence.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rep. Meg Froelich and Colorado Protective Parents (COfamlycourtjustice@gmail.com)
Denver, C.O.– Supporters of Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins, State Rep. Meg Froelich, and local advocates for family court reform invite the media and the public to a Rally for ACTION to Protect Children & Reform Family Court in front of the Ralph Carr Justice Center in Denver at 11:00 AM on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
The rally will demonstrate the critical issues plaguing Colorado’s family court system that endanger children, fail to address the high prevalence of domestic violence, and neglect survivor safety and justice. Despite widespread support for the rights of child and adult survivors of domestic violence and recognition of the atrocity of child abuse, our state’s family court system and its judges and magistrates continue to fail in protecting children and are not following clear Colorado laws that ban harmful practices.
The tragic consequences of this failure are clearly seen in the grim statistics of domestic violence deaths in Colorado, which continued to be at an all-time high in recent years. As of 2023, reports by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board found that 94 people were killed in 62 different domestic violence-related incidents in Colorado in 2022. Among those, 39 were killed by their current or former intimate partners, and another 22 were “collateral” victims, including six children.1
According to the nonprofit Center for Judicial Excellence, there have been 26 children killed by a parent during a related family court case in Colorado in the past 13 years.2 Even one child murder is too many, especially when courts have been warned many times by protective parents of the dangers of unsupervised visitation with a parent who has a history of domestic violence and/or child abuse.
Rep. Meg Froelich (D-Denver) will speak about recent legislative efforts to reform family court practices and the harm caused by judges who refuse to follow the laws and ignore evidence of domestic violence.
“All of the effort that went into putting Colorado on the map for enacting the nation’s strongest family court reforms are for naught if judges continue to be uninformed about the trauma associated with domestic violence, coercive control, and of the devastating impacts of forced reunification “therapy,” Froelich states. “Rachel’s case is appalling and sadly all too familiar to the many families harmed by family court.”
In a local case that gained international attention this week, Colorado mother Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins was jailed for opposing “reunification therapy” between her two youngest sons and her ex-husband, who is facing multiple criminal charges of sexually and physically abusing their children. Pickrel-Hawkins currently has full custody of the minor children, who are living with her in a domestic violence shelter. After seeing media coverage and public outrage over her case, she was grateful for the support and adamant that change must happen to protect her children and many others who sadly share their experiences.
“Thank you for all the support! We have a long fight ahead of us,” stated Pickrel-Hawkins. “But together we can do it because there are countless other children like mine….This has to stop. This is insanity.”
The Pickrel-Hawkins case prompted Froelich and other state legislators to draft a letter and petition to Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Monica Márquez, urging her to address the continued failings of the state’s family court system. They plan to deliver the letter to Márquez after the rally on Thursday.
“Too many judges and magistrates continue to place children in the custody of abusers, order forced reunification therapy, ignore credible evidence of abuse, void protection orders and, in some cases, send protective parents to jail while abusers are unaccountable,” states the letter signed by five legislators. “We are calling upon you to take immediate action to address the crisis in family court. This is a public health and safety crisis that affects every judicial district in Colorado.”
Also signing the petition letter, in addition to Rep. Froelich, were House Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge; Rep. Eliza Hamrick, D-Centennial; Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango; and Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City.
Shannon Watts, an advocate for family court reform and a protective mother herself who previously resided in Colorado and faced numerous obstacles in seeking to protect her children in the state family court system, was saddened but not surprised to hear about the Pickrel-Hawkins case.
"Jailing mothers for attempting to protect their children isn't justice, it's a byproduct of the misogyny that corrupts the court system and ends up punishing already traumatized children. And forced 'reunification therapy' is shown to invalidate credible evidence of abuse and violate the intent of protection orders," said Watts, founder emerita of the nonprofit organization MomsDemand Action. "While cases of women who say they are unfairly treated by the family court system happen every day across America, the jailing of Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins- a Larimer County mother who is currently living with her children in a DV shelter- is particularly egregious. Colorado's family courts must recommit to protecting the state's most vulnerable victims of abuse, and rectify the current system that allowed the jailing of Pickrel-Hawkins. She deserves clemency, not cruelty."
The problems in Colorado’s family court system are emblematic of a larger national issue, and advocates are closely watching this case and state efforts at reform.
“There is a crisis in the Colorado family court system,” says Tina Swithin, founder of the national organization One Mom’s Battle and a longtime advocate for family court reform. “When Representative Froelich successfully passed Kayden’s Law, survivors of domestic abuse were infused with hope that their children would finally be protected in the family courts. We continue to hear stories of rogue judges ignoring laws designed to protect children. The most recent story out of Larimer County should cause outrage amongst the citizens of Colorado.”
Members of the press, advocates for children’s rights, advocates seeking an end to domestic violence, policymakers, community leaders, and the general public are encouraged to attend the rally.
Date: September 5, 2024
11:00 AM MDT:Visual Display of Solidarity: Survivors and supporters hold signs and pictures of those lost to failures of the family court system, symbolizing collective support
11:15 AM MDT:Keynote speeches by survivors and advocates (speakers listed below)
Location: Ralph Carr Justice Center, 2 E. 14th Avenue, Denver, C.O.
Speakers:
● Erin Siegel, Spokesperson & Advocate at Fortitude & Flourish● Colorado State Rep. Meg Froelich (D-Denver)
● Maralee McLean, Executive Director of MomsFightBack & Author, Speaker, DV Expert, and Activist
● Mikayla Shave, Protective Mother & Survivor
● Additional speakers TBA
Select speakers, including Erin Siegel and Rep. Meg Froelich, will be available for in-person media interviews beginning at 11:30 AM MDT.
To request an on-site interview, please email COfamlycourtjustice@gmail.com. ###
