ESTABLISHING CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS IN FAMILY COURTS NATIONWIDE

A national, non‑partisan civil‑rights organization documenting systemic Due Process and Equal Protection failures and advancing constitutionally grounded reform in state family courts.

Across the country, families navigate family‑court processes that can appear unpredictable and unevenly applied. These variations arise from a single structural problem: the absence of uniform constitutional safeguards across state systems.

What We Do

We bring families and data into view (Outreach), provide the constitutional clarity needed to understand state systems (Education), and implement that clarity through public education, legislative reform, and litigation (Action). Our work restores the constitutional safeguards the Supreme Court already requires in family‑court proceedings.

OUR METHODOLOGY

Constitutionally Grounded

ROOT CAUSES

Four Structural Failures


These conditions make departures from constitutional requirements predictable, repeatable, and nation-wide.


I Misaligned Incentive Structures

State courts are underfunded, overloaded, and structurally incentivized to move cases quickly. When efficiency is prioritized over rights, Due Process becomes optional.


II Delegation to Private Actors

Courts have quietly outsourced judicial power to GALs, evaluators, and coordinators who are not bound by constitutional constraints; creating a system with no accountability.


III Oversight Vacuum

State courts regulate, investigate, and discipline themselves. No other branch of government has this level of insulation from external accountability.


IV Constitutional Illiteracy

Most people—including lawyers—don't understand what Due Process requires. When the public doesn't know their rights, the system drifts without resistance.

The Constitutional Solution

We advance solutions grounded in established constitutional requirements. Our work focuses on restoring procedural safeguards, clarifying state obligations under the Fourteenth Amendment, and developing model statutory frameworks that bring state systems into alignment with federal constitutional standards.

“The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.”

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

AFFECTED POPULATIONS

Who is at Risk


Everyone, but functional vulnerability groups face exacerbated versions of the predictable and systemic, constitutionally significant harms occurring across the country.

Share Your Experience

We document procedural indicators, not personal narratives. Your data helps build a state and nation wide pattern that can inform legislation and support federal intervention.


About the Due Process Project

The Due Process Project is a national, non‑partisan civil‑rights organization dedicated to restoring constitutional safeguards in state family courts. We document systemic Due Process and Equal Protection failures, analyze structural causes, and advance constitutionally grounded reform. Our work is guided by clarity, neutrality, and a commitment to the rule of law.