Aspen Kesler

Annotated Bibliography

ENGL 1010

Dr. Stephen Haslam

Sources for Civic Engagement Project

For too long, mothers have been viewed as the only fit parents according to most family

court systems across the country. With the idea of assigned gender roles becoming a thing of the

past, it’s time that custody court rulings reflect the times. Fathers fighting for custody of their

children are often getting the short end of the stick because of preconceived biases, and I’m

determined to find the solution to this problem to eliminate bias in the courtroom. Judges are

required by law to do their job without bias or prejudice, however, there is proof that this law is

not being upheld.

Ault, Christopher M. “How To Tackle Bias Against Fathers In A Child Custody Dispute?”

The Ault Firm, P.C.​, 20 Oct. 2019,

www.aultlegal.com/bias-fathers-courts-still-exists-tackle-child-custody-dispute/.

Christopher Ault is a practicing attorney in West Jordan, Utah who makes posts on his

firm’s website about things he has experienced in the courtroom and advice he has for his clients.

In his article, “How To Tackle Bias Against Fathers In A Child Custody Dispute?” Ault informs

his readers about how to prevent becoming a victim of gender bias in the courtroom. However,

he gives a brief background about how prevalent gender bias is in today’s family courts before

delving too deep into his own advice. Ault quotes, “Although it is clear that times have changed,

our Salt Lake City child custody lawyer from the ​Ault Firm​ says that even though the pattern of

fathers being the providers [and] mothers being the born nurturers is no longer universally
acceptable, family courts in Utah and all across the United States are still more inclined toward

awarding mothers with primary custody.”

This source represents the viewpoint of blaming gender bias in the courtroom on

preconceived gender roles, however, it takes more time than other sources to explain to its

readers that there are ways to prevent becoming a victim of gender bias. Since there are key signs

that a judge would look for when ruling out a father as a good caregiver, men going into a

custody court case should be aware of these signs and put it in their power to prove that judge’s

biased opinion wrong. Ault says that the best advice for fathers to follow is to develop a

parenting plan or co-parenting plan if you are seeking joint custody, present evidence of an

emotional bond between you and the child, or anything else that would indicate that you and the

child have an established relationship, and continue spending quality time with the child even

though there may be little time for anything during a divorce. Ault stands by his advice when

informing fathers of ways to make sure that they don’t fall victim to gender bias in family courts

and have their relationships with their children taken from them, undeservedly.

Cordano, Emy A. “Why Do Women Get Child Custody In 90 Percent Of All Cases? Isn't

It Gender Discrimination?” ​Emy A. Cordano, Attorney at Law​, 9 Nov. 2020,

www.cor-law.com/blog/women-get-child-custody-90-percent-cases-isnt-gender-discrimi

nation/.

Emy Cordano is a practicing attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah. Cordano often writes

articles about things going on in the world of law and publishes them on her website. In her

article, “Why Do Women Get Child Custody In 90 Percent Of All Cases? Isn’t It Gender

Discrimination?” she educates her readers on the biases that fathers face in family court.

Cordano believes that biases present in Utah’s family court are a result of cultural norms and
preconceived gender discrimination. She informs that because of Utah’s predominant patriarchal

culture, men are seen as the breadwinners and, therefore, not as fit as women to be caretakers.

Cordano believes that these preconceived notions are a thing of the past, however, the biases still

present in Utah’s family court don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. She states that

this is the fight that she and her law firm are taking head-on.

This source takes the viewpoint of blaming gender bias in family courts on preconceived

gender roles and cultural influence. Cordano quotes, “Our lawyers explain that just because

women are considered culturally better at parenting than men does not give the court a legal right

to award more child custody rights to the mother unless there are facts proving that the child’s

best interests would be met if he or she remains to live with the mother.” For example, cultural

standards say that black men are more violent than white men, but a judge is not legally allowed

to have this cultural bias in mind when deciding their ruling, especially when said black man has

evidence to prove that he did not commit said violent crime and the white man has no evidence

to prove his innocence. This is the situation that fathers face every day in custody court. This

source provides me with evidence to support my claim that stereotypical gender roles are still

very much present in family courts, and continue to harm fathers’ chance at the custody of their

children.

Hoskovec, William. ​Family Court Gender Biases in Child Custody Cases.​ 9 July 2020,

www.cortezhoskovec.com/legal-blog/2020/july/straight-talk-gender-bias-in-the-family-cou

rt-sy/.

William Hoskovec is an attorney with Cortez & Hoskovec, LLC who make blog posts to

inform his clients, past, present, and potential, about what to expect in the courtroom. In his post

​ oskovec tackles
“​Straight Talk: Family Court Gender Biases in Child Custody Cases”, H
informing his readers about how hard it is for fathers to gain custody of their children after

separating from the child’s mother. He blames preconceived gender roles and court staff

demographic for the biases that fathers experience every day within the family court. He states

that, according to gender roles, mothers usually fall into an administrative role when children are

concerned, while fathers take a supportive role. Hoskovec believes that this leads to fathers being

put a step behind when they are expected to be both the administer and supporter in a

single-parent household. He continues by saying that this leads to fathers looking dismissive in a

custody court’s view. Hoskovec can trace where gender role biases stem from and can argue

against it, therefore. However, Hoskovec does not stabilize all of his arguments on gender roles.

Another main piece of Hoskovec’s argument on biases against fathers in custody court

has to do with the demographic of family court in general. He quotes that, “we need to look at

the general demographic of individuals we would expect to encounter at our local family court.

Typically, seven out of ten of them are women.” He believes that this puts men in family court at

a disadvantage, prematurely. Hoskovec advises his clients, both men and women, to be confident

in their relationship with their children and to not leave the household in the event of a dispute.

However, he follows up with the fact that only men are expected to provide proof of an

emotional connection with their children to show that they are a fit parent, not women.

This source takes the viewpoint of blaming gender bias in family courts on preconceived

gender roles and court staff demographics. Specifically the fact that women are almost always

seen as the nurtures of the family and that 70% of family court staff are female. This source

helps prove my point that gender biases do exist and that they’re harmful to men seeking

custody. This source tends to lean on logos for supporting its argument, and this is seen by the

number of facts and statistics you can find throughout the article. The intended audience for this
article are potential clients of Cortez & Hoskovec, LLC, however, this includes all male and

female potential clients without discriminating against either party. This article was written by a

practicing lawyer with multiple years of experience, so I believe that it passes as credible. It

supports my argument and gives me a source to quote in my argument. I agree with a lot of the

article's main points because I’ve seen the effect of this argument in my own life, and can agree

to the fact that these biases within custody court cases are not uncommon.

Johnson, Erik K. “Do You Think Current Divorce Laws Are Biased against Men?” ​Divorce

Utah​, Utah Family Law, LC, 18 May 2020,

www.divorceutah.com/2017/10/16/current-divorce-laws-biased-against-men/.

Erik Johnson is a practicing divorce attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah. When asked the

question, “Do you think current divorce laws are biased against men?” he responded with, “in

my experienced opinion, yes.” However, he tends to undermine this statement throughout his

writing. He states that today, it is much easier to gain custody of your child, as a fit father, than it

used to be. As well as stating that men and women parent differently, Johnson concludes his

argument by stating that, “if you are just as fit a parent as your wife, the biases against men can

be almost entirely rebutted and disproven, if you have mountains of the right evidence to show

the court.”

This source’s viewpoint is that, while there are still some biases against fathers in custody

court cases, most of the legal obstacles that stood between fathers and equal custody of their

children have been eliminated. While this is true, I believe that more bias problems in family

court still exist and have not been addressed. This source uses plenty of ethos when the author

talks about his personal experiences as a lawyer. This gives him some credibility and makes his

writing a credible source. However, I disagree with a majority of his argument because I’ve
experienced the biases I’m arguing about, first hand. Mr. Johnson’s intended audience is not

clients, but just those who wish to be informed. I believe that it’s an effective source for its

intended audience. Some questions I have that remain unanswered after reading this article are;

What judges have Mr. Johnson worked with? Does Mr. Johnson only deal in civil divorce

custody cases, or has he also dealt with child endangerment custody cases? What demographic of

employees does Utah have, and how does this compare with other places’ demographics?

Headrick, Mike. “Are Fathers Getting Short End of the Stick in Utah Custody Cases?”

KSL.com,​ 29 Apr. 2013,

www.ksl.com/article/24992043/are-fathers-getting-short-end-of-the-stick-in-utah-custody-

cases. Accessed 1 Nov. 2020.

Mike Headrick is a co-anchor for KSL News and a 48-time Emmy winning journalist.

KSL News is known to be an accredited news source, however, its ties to The Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-Day Saints can lead to somewhat of a biased view. Overall, the station should be

taken with a grain of salt and the same goes for Mike Headrick. Headrick tackles the problem of

bias in Utah’s courtrooms in his article “Are fathers getting the short end of the stick in Utah

custody cases?” I don’t believe that this article, in particular, has a biased viewpoint because of

its umbrella topic. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has rules against divorce and

therefore chooses to keep conversation involving divorce to an absolute minimum. The fact that

this story was allowed to air shows that the topic was important enough to the writer and the

news station to air, no matter what the views of the owner might be.

This article chooses not to indulge in the reasoning behind the biases, but more on how to

help victims of this problem and prevent future victims. Headrick advises viewers to have a copy
of their divorce decree, signed by a judge, on hand when filing a custodial interference, have

good intentions, and keep any evidence of communication between you and your ex. It has been

proven that fathers are treated significantly differently than mothers by judges, commissioners,

and even the police when tending to custodial interferences, so being prepared beforehand with

honest intentions can result in a successful outcome for the affected parties.

This project, along with my own personal research, has taught me more about this topic

than I ever thought possible. I’ve realized that my own personal experience with biases in Utah’s

Family Court System has only scratched the surface of the underlying problem. Not only is there

a problem with the current judges that we have in power, but also the people that are supposed to

be held accountable for enforcing the law, specifically related to custodial interferences and

House Bill 88. With all the research I’ve done now, I’m even more confident in, not only my

argument but my ability to argue for my topic. I believe that I’m able to inform my audience

about biases against fathers in custody court cases fairly, and without biases, despite my personal

views on the subject matter. I’m extremely happy with the work I’ve done for this project and the

small group of people I was able to educate on this problem. Hopefully, the little work that I’ve

personally been able to do will have as big of an impact as is needed to eliminate all bias in the

courtroom. In conclusion, many believe that these biases against men don’t exist, however, I’ve

done enough research to prove that this unfairness does exist and the way to solve this problem is

by making court staff have a more diverse demographic and continuing to prove that society has

advanced far past the need for gender roles.