They Cannot Silence Us: Marissa’s Voice, the LMI, and the Broken Oath of Juvenile Courts
- Morris Patrick III
- Sep 23
- 3 min read
Juvenile and dependency courts were created with a mission: to protect children and families. Their judges swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, to ensure due process, and to serve justice fairly. That oath is not ceremonial. It is law.
Article XX, Section 3 of the California Constitution requires every judge to swear or affirm:
“I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter (Click California Consitution).”
This means that juvenile and dependency judges are legally bound to respect the First Amendment, to ensure fairness, and to protect families against abuse of power. When they ignore these duties, they do not just make mistakes. They break their oath.
The Weapon Called LMI
A Last Minute Information, known as an LMI, is supposed to give updates before a hearing. Too often, DCFS uses it as a weapon. At the last possible moment, they drop new claims into court to blindside parents.
In Marissa’s case, DCFS filed LMIs that shaped the outcome of her hearings. The moment those LMIs were submitted, they became part of her official case record. They stopped being DCFS’s secret documents. They became Marissa’s exhibits. That gave her the right to review them, to challenge them, and to share them.
When Marissa told her story on Facebook, she was not committing a crime. She was exercising her constitutional right to free speech. The First Amendment protects her voice. A social media post is not a violation. It is a parent refusing to be silenced.
Confidentiality laws such as Welfare and Institutions Code 827 exist to protect children’s privacy. They were never intended to shield agencies from embarrassment or accountability. When judges allow DCFS to twist those laws into gag orders, they abandon their oath and misuse the law.
The Oath They Broke
Every juvenile judge promises to defend the Constitution. But when they punish parents for speaking out, they are not defending the Constitution. They are attacking it. When they silence Marissa instead of addressing DCFS’s misconduct, they are not protecting children. They are protecting a system that retaliates against parents.
This is the heart of the oath violation. A judge who uses confidentiality to erase truth, to silence families, or to cover up misconduct is not fulfilling their promise. They are betraying it. Judges are supposed to be guardians of truth, not accomplices in hiding it.
Federal Court Already Spoke
The counties tried to erase Marissa’s story in my federal lawsuit. They demanded sanctions. They begged the judge to strike filings and punish me.
The federal judge reviewed the record, checked my website, and ruled clearly. No violation. No sanctions. No contempt. The evidence stays in the case.
Once that order was made, the counties’ strategy collapsed. Their attempt to bury the truth became their biggest embarrassment.
And this is why juvenile and dependency courts cannot shut me up. My lawsuit is in federal court. Only the federal judge has authority over my filings. The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution makes it clear: federal rulings take precedence. Juvenile and dependency courts cannot override them.
The Truth Cannot Be Silenced
If a juvenile judge dares to punish Marissa for sharing her own exhibits, it only proves what we already know. The system retaliates against parents instead of protecting children. That kind of retaliation does not erase the truth. It strengthens our federal case and exposes their abuse of power.
The truth is already preserved in the federal record. It cannot be erased. The Constitution protects it. The federal judge confirmed it. And no amount of crying from DCFS can change that.
Marissa’s voice is protected. The Constitution is clear. Judges swore an oath to uphold it. When they break that oath, they reveal the corruption they were meant to stop.
They cannot silence us. They cannot erase the truth.
The system broke its oath. We will not.
References:
August 7, 2025
September 19, 2025
September 22, 2025
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