Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. This free-wheeling book by a family court judge is filled with anecdotal horror stories about how courts are stupid and willing victims. After 24 years on the bench, the author decries the poor foster home system, which she calls the "fraudulent foster care plague" (p. 115) and provides numerous examples of damage caused to families by the courts. She pleads for more parental involvement and responsibility and proposes raising the Federal tax allowance to $10,000 per child. Readers will be interested in the author's description of the erroneous conclusion that a positive laboratory test for chlamydia means sexual abuse and her observation that hospital and laboratory tests cannot be trusted. She concludes that "Our great sex abuse scare was driven by dollars and cents" (p.168) and asks, "Where could [fathers] go to get back their dignity and self-respect?" (p. 169). This is a "loose cannon" style of book, sometimes humorous and outrageous. It is devoid of real names of agencies or persons and there are no footnotes nor an index. Many of her points have been known for years; let's hope that her next book will deal with the implementation of her ideas. Reviewed by LeRoy G. Schultz, Professor Emeritus, West Virginia University.
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