It's October, and that means it's Domestic Violence Awareness month so to commemorate it, I am going on a hunger strike. The only nourishment I will take for the entire month of October is JUSTICE because I'm starved for it. And I'm not the only one; there are thousands of others out there who are starving for justice. They are the victims of domestic violence, the protective parents, and the victims of social services who turned to the courts seeking and expecting justice and instead, are re-victimized, berated, beaten down and gagged - forbidden to speak of it to anyone or be jailed, financially ruined, and worst of all, never see their children again. All because they did nothing other than turn to the courts seeking justice. 

Am I speaking of Afghanistan? Saudi Arabia? North Korea? No, this is going on right here, every day, in the USA, the greatest country on earth? They are starved for justice and are starving for it still.

Unlike most, if not all of them, though, I am in a privileged position to do two things that most of them can't: I can speak out about the travesties that are taking place in our courts every day because the courts no longer have the power to silence me; and I can literally starve for justice.

My name is Nanine McCool, and until recently, I was an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana. Throughout my nearly 15 year career, I practiced almost exclusively in family law, and dedicated a significant portion of that practice to representing victims of domestic violence and cases involving allegations of sexual abuse of children by a parent.  I gave much of my time pro bono or at a drastically reduced rate.  

In June of this year - June 30, 2015 - the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled to disbar me, and that decision became final on August 28, 2015, when it denied my motion for rehearing.  You can read their opinion here.  You can also read most, if not all, of the record here.  If you're really interested, you can read my side of the story, with supporting documentation, here.

However, as strongly as I disagree with the LASCT's decision, I am not creating this petition to attempt to recover my license.  When I became an attorney, I took an oath to serve the law and to serve my clients according to the law.  The LASCT took my license because I refused to serve judges, and so long as that is a condition of me maintaining a license to practice law, I have no regard for that license and it is useless to me. 

The loss of my license, however, is a symptom of a a threat that all victims of domestic violence face, and a trap into which they are being lured by those who intend to help them.  In observation of Domestic Violence Awareness month, and throughout October lots of non-profits, governmental agencies and celebrities will make extra efforts to urge anyone trapped in violent and dangerous relationships to leave their abusers and find safe haven amongst the many organizations dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence.  

All of those promises of assistance, however, are based on the assumption that there is a justice system ready and waiting to help victims when they find the courage to leave; that there are attorneys and judges who understand the tremendous hurdles - and real dangers - that victims face when they try to escape, and will be standing by, ready and waiting to assist and protect them. 

And that's a lie.  And it's a cruel lie that every year lures desperate victims into a trap which is often far worse than the one they were attempting to escape. 

There is no such justice system out there.  The justice system that these victims who heed the messages of hope and help will find will treat them with contempt, suspicion, disregard and ridicule.  And if the victim fleeing is a woman with children, she will quickly find herself trapped in a nightmare so brutal, so cruel, so unimaginable in the greatest country on earth, dedicated to liberty and justice for all, that she will begin to doubt her own sanity.  A woman with children attempting to escape an abusive relationship will more likely than not find that she has walked into a trap where the only outcome will be the loss of custody of her children, either to the abuser himself, or to the State. In other words, right now, if you're a woman with children in a violent relationship, and you want to protect your children, you're better off staying with that abuser.  Because at least you'll be around to counter his violence with your nurturing - until he kills you, or the State takes your children from both of you because you failed to leave with them - as if you could.  

But it isn't just the traditional victims of domestic violence the courts are failing.  Any parent who finds him or herself in the horrific situation where a child reports sexual abuse by the other parent; where one or both parents disagree with a child's diagnosis and seek a second medical opinion; or a parent who doesn't smile wide enough at a social service agent standing at their door,  will also experience a system of judges, attorneys, mental health professionals, and various other "professionals"  so corrupt; so depraved, so licentious that it is no wonder that those who have experience it unflinchingly consider the family courts and various child protective agencies to be the largest child trafficking organizations in the world and easily the most rampant perpetrators of domestic violence in this country.  

I used to be an attorney and I have seen this system first hand. I lost my license fighting against it, and I am not the only one.  I spoke out then, at the cost of my license, and I speak out now, for all the parents who cannot speak themselves because the courts hold their children hostage, and I speak for all the children who are voiceless in a system that treats them as commodities to be used as an excuse for billable hours and then awarded as prizes to the favored parent or the highest bidder. 

And I'm asking all of you out there, who are already fighting this fight or simply care about children and the necessity of an honorable and independent judiciary to our nation and the purpose of justice, to JOIN ME in this petition. If you're a parent who can't sign for fear of reprisal, have a friend sign. Have all your friends sign.  Have a stranger sign. And share your stories here - your organizations, your websites, the docket numbers, the news stories. Post them to this petition.  And then we will submit it to the US Attorney General to demand action. Investigations; Spotlights; Congressional hearings; REFORM.  

JOIN ME in my vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the independence and integrity of the Family and Juvenile courts, and in telling that system, that, 

In the greatest country on earth, rooted in the principles of the rule of law and  "justice for all", WE are starved for justice, and by signing below, WE are voting "NO CONFIDENCE" in the integrity and independence of the Family and Juvenile courts through out the U.S. 

WE are the mothers, fathers, spouses, brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends and advocates, and concerned citizens of the USA, who are voting "NO CONFIDENCE" in the licentious, lawless system that acts under the color of law, but completely outside the law, to arbitrarily and capriciously decide the fate of children who have been brought before these tribunals for protection, and instead, are sentenced to die or suffer unimaginably at the hands of predatory parents or complete strangers by judges who are free to act with malice and in excess of their LEGAL authority with complete impunity.  Stump v. Sparkman, 435 US 349  (1978). 

The doctrine of judicial immunity it represents a cancer within our system that is eating away at our democracy. It violates the Separation of Powers doctrine by removing almost all checks and balances from the third branch of government, and as a result, the judiciary is acting without regard for the law; for the people it is sworn to serve, or the rights of the citizens of this country who lend it their authority.  

WE are the people. citizens of the greatest country one earth, and WE are starving for justice.  

I, Nanine McCool, am STARVING for justice. I hereby pledge that I am on a Hunger Strike for the month of October and will accept no nourishment except JUSTICE.  Please sign this petition to show your support, not for moms, not for dads, not even for children, BUT FOR JUSTICE, which is all WE need to keep our children safe. 

By signing below I vote NO CONFIDENCE in our Family and Juvenile Court system and want to send a message to the United State Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch that she must act to investigate the failure of the Family Courts to do justice; to submit to the Rule of Law; and to protect children, all in violation of the U. S. Constitution.