Every Motion Denied: A Father’s Day Message from the Broken Heart of Maryland Family Court

By Michael Phillips

They say to take it to court.
They say to trust the system.
They say if you follow the rules, the rules will protect you.

But in Montgomery County, Maryland, the rules only apply to some.

As of this Father’s Day, I have not been able to exercise my parenting time with my son since January 2024—not because I’m unfit, not because I’m dangerous, and not because there is no court order in place. I haven’t seen him because the Circuit Court for Montgomery County has refused to enforce the order. Every attempt I’ve made to access my parenting time has been met with silence, denial, or dismissal. Not just once or twice. Over 100 times.

In the course of 2024 alone, I filed approximately 100 motions—petitions to enforce the court’s own order, to protect my relationship with my son, to ask for explanations, and to request accommodations for my disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). All were denied, dismissed, or outright ignored. Many were denied without explanation. When I filed motions asking the court to clarify its reasoning, those too were denied.

And in the process, I have missed every holiday.
Every birthday.
Every milestone.
Every first.
Every “I love you” that never got said.

That includes Father’s Day 2024.
That includes my son’s birthday.
That includes Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween, school events, spring break, and every ordinary weekend I was supposed to have.

This is not a custody dispute. This is a court-endorsed erasure of a father.

Here are the judges who collectively denied every single peaceful effort I made to see my child and refused to enforce the order already in place:

• Judge Bibi M. Berry
• Judge Carlos Acosta
• Judge Cheryl A. McCally
• Judge Christopher Fogleman
• Judge David Lease
• Judge Debra L. Dwyer
• Judge Harry C. Storm
• Judge J. B. McCullough
• Judge James A. Bonifant
• Judge Jeannie E. Cho
• Judge Jennifer Fairfax
• Judge Jill R. Cummins
• Judge Kathleen M. Dumais
• Judge Kevin G. Hessler
• Judge Margaret Marie Schweitzer
• Judge Mary Ayers
• Judge Rachel McGuckian
• Judge Ronald Rubin
• Judge Sharon V. Burrell
• Judge Theresa Chemosky

These twenty circuit court judges had the power to intervene, the authority to uphold the law, and the discretion to protect a child’s relationship with both parents. They chose to do nothing. Worse, they chose to punish me for asking.

Requests for ADA accommodations were ignored.
Requests for clarity were denied.
Requests to protect my son’s right to have a father were treated as nuisances.

Montgomery County’s Circuit Court has enabled one parent to violate a lawful custody order at will, while silencing and sanctioning the other for trying to uphold it.

This is the family court system in Maryland.
This is the reality for thousands of fathers across America.
And this is Father’s Day 2025—for every erased father who’s being told they no longer matter.

They say the best interest of the child comes first.
But no child benefits from being forced to live as if one parent no longer exists.
No child benefits from watching the law ignored with no consequences.
And no child benefits from a system that chooses politics over parenting.

To every father sitting in silence today, grieving a child who is still alive but unreachable—this is for you.

To the judges who refused to act, refused to explain, and refused to care—history will remember your names.

This is Maryland. This is America. And this is justice—only for the powerful.

Share this. Speak out. Stand up for erased fathers.

Michael Phillips is a journalist, father, and founder of the REBUILT Justice Project. After being denied access to his own son despite court orders, he now investigates and exposes systemic failures in family court across the United States. He writes for MdBayNews, Father & Co., The Family Court Circus, Family Court Fraud Warrior Project, and The Republic Dispatch.