Chief Judge of the Johnson Co. Court Has Been Sued by the Pro Se Dad for Child Rights Violations

KANSAS CITY, KS, 2023-Dec-13 — /EPR Network/ — A fourth civil rights act of 1964 section 1983 federal lawsuit has been filed by the Kansas pro se dad, Matthew Escalante, from Gardner. This lawsuit is against Johnson County Chief Judge Charles Droege for alleged violations of parental and children’s rights, as well as infringement of sixth amendment fair trials and hearings. This is the fourth lawsuit filed by Escalante, who is representing himself in the Kansas high court bring unprecedented claims of a purported hierarchy of misconduct in the JoCo district court system.

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/51592544/Escalante_v_Droege 

The lawsuit specifically cites violations of fourteenth amendment rights under 14.S1.5.8.1, 14 S1.5.5.2, which guarantees the rights of parents and children to due process of the law and also cites sixth amendment 6.6.5 Fair trails and hearings as a right. Escalante claims that Judge Droege has engaged in misconduct and has failed to uphold the rights of both parents and children in his court, and that the chief has interfered into cases, and it’s still occurring

Escalante, who has been fighting for his shared parental rights for several years, has turned the JoCo judiciary upside down of recent as he also has been litigating 3 other civil rights suits, one against family court Judge Paul W Burmaster in 2:23-CV02471, https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/51017106/Escalante_v_Burmaster another suit against Overland Park partner and attorney Christopher T Wilson of Ward-Beam, Wilson, Fletes and Kruse LLC, https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/51275048/Escalante_v_Escalante_et_al and yet another suit against the Gardner Police Dept. https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/51539967/Escalante_v_Gardner,_Kansas,_City_of  All suits point back to the Judge Paul William Burmaster of the Division 14 family court. There is a strong indicator of the fathers claims being true that is found in Escalante v Burmaster. The district judge suit has 3 days left for Burmaster to give legal response to the allegations in it brought from the Kansas dad. And this deadline on Friday Dec 8, 2023 given by the high court is a second deadline. Burmaster had to ask for an extension of time on the first deadline of Nov 24, 2023, after he did not give any legal response but shows having hired an attorney.  Escalante is revealing a problem in the Johnson Co. judiciary that suggests many rights of parents and children have been compromised in the Joco court system. As a corrupted family court judge acting in misconduct in one father’s case is likely to be doing it in others. This is a claim the father has stood by, that he states he brought this matter to the commission of judge conduct and they dismissed him.

These cases have garnered attention from national media and is expected to bring some very important discussions on the rights of parents and children in the Kansas court system. Escalante’s courage to stand up for his rights and the rights of other fathers is commendable and serves as a reminder that every individual has the right to due process and fair treatment under the law, even children