From our friend Tamar Abrams, writing in her blog on The Huffington Post::

Today I spent three hours in Hell – the waiting room of the Family Court at the Arlington County, VA courthouse. As the foster parent of an infant, I was a tiny cog in the cumbersome wheel of a five day hearing which was actually taking place nine days after the baby was removed from her mom. But who was counting?. . .

. . .Our case, scheduled for 10:45 a.m., was finally called a little after noon. But it was again delayed as a translator was sought and as the defendant sat alone on her side of the courtroom, without representation. When her attorney arrived, she knew nothing about the case, the defendant, or even what kind of hearing it was. (NINE day hearing, I wanted to shout.) The judge also knew nothing about the case until he opened the folder. And yet, the clock was ticking. The Guardian Ad Litem (appointed to protect the rights of the foster baby) popped in long enough to say he would go along with whatever the county attorney chose to do but he was needed on another case. And then he was gone.. . . .

Less than 10 minutes after the judge took the bench, we were all ushered out, shaking our heads in confusion. . . .

Read the full article HERE.