My inlaws offered to take my son on a temporary basis when I got my job with @Joshua4Congress. See, originally I took him with me to WA, but someone threw a rock through our window week 1, and I realized it wasn't safe.

They tried to use "Coronavirus" as a reason to take him.

I want to be clear. I'm not here to name names, or get justice. I'm here to talk about a dangerous precedent that was almost set by the state of KY. This happened in @senatemajldr's Louisville, KY. It's also my home town.
I went to pick my son up, and when I got there? He wasn't.

I won't give you every detail, but they claimed he was with a family friend, and lead us on a wild goose chase. #ACAB, because even when I involved the police, no one believed they were a "harm to my child" until it was too late.

I went to three different municipalities, trying.

By the time the police believed that his grandparents had committed custodial interference, they had already filed an EPO, or "emergency protective order"

There were no courts open. They went to the domestic violence court. They wrote no claims of domestic violence, etc.

So...

They crossed out "armed and dangerous" on the warning list for the order, and wrote in "coronavirus". They also wrote that my son is #ActuallyAutistic, and said he "could not be responsible to speak for himself".A judge (over the phone, sight unseen) GRANTED that EPO.

For the next 4 days, I waited for a court date, unable to see or contact my son, because of this INVALID EPO. I waited because "coronavirus".

The judge was amazing. This woman took one look at these claims, and stopped the buck. Her words still ring in my head, TBH.

She said "If I were to grant you custody, we would be setting the precedent that puts every front-line worker in this pandemic at risk of losing their children." She could not believe any judge had granted that EPO. "There is no abuse. There is nothing but 'coronavirus'!"

I want to thank that judge. She risked her health to be there that day, and she listened to these people abuse our system and said "OH HELL NO." My son is my world. I don't know how not to be a mom. She saved MY life, but she also stopped a really bad thing from becoming normal.

I know our system is messed up. I know things often don't work out. I know that if I hadn't had that judge that day, things could have gone terribly wrong.

It's been weeks, and I still think about how bad that precedent would have been.

We could have so much better...