Family Law

First, I have an exam in a little less than 11 hours. Don't worry, I am headed to bed shortly. But, in the meantime, let me share this with you.
I am a firm believer in making both affirmative and negative decisions. That is, it's as important to figure out what you don't want as what you do, one lends itself to the other, and so on. This philosophy also helps one rationalize things away and not think things are mistakes, just learning experiences. That said, I do not like family law. I kind of already knew this, for a brief moment thought I should dabble in order to challenge myself... then realized crying every day is not challenging oneself, it's stupid.
So it doesn't come up that often. But when it does, it cuts me. I screened a potential client at prison last week who was fighting in another state court to get his child's mother to send him photos. Not drive the kid there, not talk to the kid, but receive photos. He is in for a white-collar crime and her rationale for not wanting to send them was that he would sell them in prison. It broke my heart. According to him, he was an active dad before being incarcerated, and now she's basically either calling him a pedophile or someone who would sell out their kids to a pedphile. I am getting used to dealing with people in extreme circumstances, very emotional and sometimes pretty bad dudes. But these family law things just kill me, it's like the worst we can do to one another-- be vindictive and cruel about something so important. And yes, this is completely the result of being the product of a messy divorce and custody saga. Save your $5 psychology, but I'll take any insight in larger denominations.
Anyway, I learned something interesting relevant to both family law and my exam tomorrow. Child Custody is a due process issue. For those of you not in the legal world, the due process clause is about freedom and property and how the government can't just take them away from you-- this is why the government has to give you a trial and why they have to pay you before tearing down your house to build a park... or a mall, we've learned recently. So I think this is a little fucked up. Not only that children are property, I actually don't have so much of a problem with that... it's actually kind of true. But that in our whole system, the only way we have to describe a parent/child relationship is to mirror the property relationship. This, I think, is because property rights are just about the most sacred right in this country-- and we don't have a rubric for family... which everyone should just understand because we're human. So, you have to give natural parents notice and a hearing before you give their kids to someone else, because that bond is so important, we're willing to liken it to property. It's creepy. And this concludes, my problems with family law.