My letter to Hon. Paula Hepner to request a change in Magistrate

May 9^th, 2012

Honorable Paula J. Hepner

330 Jay Street

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Re: Request for  a change in my Support Magistrate. Docket #: F-xxxxx-xx

Dear Honorable Paula J. Hepner,

I am writing this letter with the deepest respect to request for a change in the Support Magistrate for my Child Support/ Spousal Support case.

I recently appeared in court on April 11, 2012 to request support from my husband who left the marriage suddenly in January of 2012. I was filled with anxiety. I never had to step foot in a courtroom and never anticipated that I’d be taking my husband to court.

During my time in the courtroom, I met Support Magistrate Nicholas J. Palos for the first and hopefully last time in my life. Mr. Palos was very rude, cynical and appeared to be very biased towards me.  For the first time since childhood, I was yelled at for an unclear reason. I could not hear Mr. Palos over the giggling and snickering coming from my husband on the other side of the courtroom and when I tried to express that to Mr. Palos, I was screamed at for not letting him finish his ruling.

Any question my spouse was asked by Mr. Palos was very quick and to the point. When those same questions were asked of me, he required extra detail. It was as though he insinuated I was lying. I felt as though I were being treated like a criminal for bringing my husband to court to take care of his responsibilities. An example of this is when Mr. Palos questioned my soon to be ex-husband and I on the careers we currently have. My ex responded that he was an Over-The-Road truck driver with a CDL Class A. Mr. Palos said nothing. When he motioned for me to speak, I stated that I was a Nurse who recently graduated nursing school with my license. Mr. Palos then proceeded to ask me if I had completed my nursing program and had proof of it. He appeared disappointed when I pulled out my nursing license and registration and attempted to submit the copies to the court. His response: “We will take it on the next court date.” Why was my ex not asked for proof of his career as well?

I do not want to cause issues for the Magistrate but, I also have to protect myself and my family. I researched Support Magistrate Nicholas Palos and I was relieved to find out that I am not the only person who has suffered at the hand of this man. His nasty demeanor and cynical tone has been noted by many individuals that have been in his courtroom. From Litigants to Criminal Defense Lawyers, the overall opinion of these individuals is that this man has a biased opinion of women who appear in court for support cases. He also takes advantage of individuals who are in his courtroom especially because there is no one to witness and report the abuse he dishes out.

I have spent my last year and a half being an advocate for my patients as a new nurse. I chose to represent myself in court because I felt that no one could represent my family better than I could. I had a strong conviction that if I could defend total strangers who were in my care that I could handle defending myself. I left court feeling as though I were put to trial.

In conclusion, I am very unsure of how this process works. If you are able to change my magistrate, I am willing to take a significantly later court date just to avoid being in the presence of Mr. Palos. The final decision of the financial livelihood of my children and I rest in this man’s hands and I feel his final ruling may be unfair because he appears biased.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience regarding this matter. My contact information is listed below. Thank you so very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my letter.

                                                                       

                                                                                    Respectfully,

           

                                                                                    Bliss Taylor

                                                                                    xxx-xxx-xxxx

                                                                                   blisstaylor@gmail.com