Federal Removal:
This CAPRA federal removal agenda is purposefully nationwide for full coverage over the 50 States' different 89 federal Districts, by a few hundred CAPRA Members. Read about the four (4) different types of CAPRA legal attacks underway on the News page.
Removing your custody case into federal court via 28 USC § 1443 is one of the most powerful things you can do to finally turn things around.
The primary purpose of special removal Section 1443 is expressly to expose a state court's dirty diapers - that's what this removal statute is for, i.e., the more corrupt that your state custody case has been.., then the more powerful your own removal action into federal court under this special prosecutorial statute will be, in fact....
However, there are a few certain criteria that you will need to meet to remove your state court case into federal court, such as having a triggering paper received to kick off your 30-day removal window. You also must have the same legal standing as for joining CAPRA (be a wrongly victimized parent from either family court type), and in triggering any removal to federal court, naturally your family case is also active, duh.
Removal is sort of like a change of venue/judge, but it's a complete change from the state court system, into the federal court system. Removal is like filing bankruptcy - once you file the correct paperwork package in two (2) steps, it is already done, your state case has now been removed, no court order required from any judge to do that.
Parameters to Consider:
Because you are actually removing all power, jurisdiction and authority of the state court, at least temporarily during the entire pendency of removal in federal court, it is *usually* best to file a removal before the state court either does or is expected to do something unlawful, i.e., violate your rights yet again.... The very act of removal into federal court also "freezes" the current status quo and situation within the state court, although usually some of that is precisely why you are removing to federal court in the first place, i.e., to have corrected into compliance with constitutional and due process rights. In this regard, any removal effected at any time is still worthy, in and of itself, and should be implemented whenever available to get the ball rolling towards restoring your full federal rights. Regardless, just understand that the state court will be frozen during removal in federal court, i.e., the state court can't do anything, not even grant an attorney's motion to withdraw, no hearings either set or held, no orders of any kind issued, absolutely nothing, because you removed that case away from the state court.
Again, this is federal court, the Big Boy court, not your local rinky-dink, bottom of the totem pole, bottom of the barrel, family court. And this also means two things in primary importance to you. Your opposing party / attorney will most likely be clueless about federal procedure, and even any "best" family law attorneys will still be totally clueless about federal removals in general, let alone this more obscure and rarer form of removal, which is essentially opposite in virtually all the substantive and procedural respects than most types of removal. In other words, your opposition will now be total clueless fish out of water, within a federal removal forced upon them, plus it's all about exposing their own unlawful behaviors upon your legal rights, within that same federal court. If we're talking about the (divorce or similar) (custody, support, visitation) type of family court, the other parent opposing you may now have to cough up an extra few thousand or more dollars, just to hire a federal-experienced attorney (and they charge significantly more than your average local family law flunkie...). If talking about a CPS case, it's still basically the same thing, as to exposing their illegal acts, and their own incompetence and unfamiliarity with removal... And for that second important reason, successfully implementing a removal package and case into federal court is simply not something that an average pro se parent should attempt on their own, as it is highly specialized, highly technical, and it really requires someone skilled and experienced in these rarer forms of procedural devices. However, that is precisely also why CAPRA is hosting and providing the new Matching Service below, and also training that group of already-skilled legal scholars in and for handling this very powerful removal procedure.
A removal is not a full-blown civil damages lawsuit. Again, a removal is a procedural device, pretty much like a change of venue or judge. However, prosecuting the state court process for violations of civil, constitutional and other federal rights can happen in at least three ways, criminally under 18 USC §§ 241/242, regular civil suit under 42 USC § 1983 and other statutes for damages and etc., and this procedural method via 28 USC § 1443 removal. And since all three angles share the same common purpose and intent, i.e., prosecution for violations of civil and other federal rights, they are also interchangeable in various ways, including your already-existing right within 21 days to amend your Petition for Removal up into a full-blown Complaint for civil damages, etc., over those exact same violations of your rights (if not even more amended in by then). Likewise, if you have the time, money, interest, you could/can also implement the criminal charges over the applicable subset of the same exact issues you removed on and/or amended into later. Removal gets you in the federal court door, shuts down the state court frozen solid, protecting you, and provides you the timely opportunity to follow up via choice of additional accountability angles upon your wayward opposition, also within an environment both unfamiliar and unfriendly to your wayward opposition.
Filing a removal of your state "family court" case into federal court means the correct jurisdiction (geographic) federal court, which is the federal courthouse of the Division (particular cluster of counties) encompassing the county of your state court case to be removed. It's not about where anybody resides, but where the state case is located.
You must have a "trigger" that you received within the past 30 days to remove your family court case into federal court, which means: [A] anything in writing; [B] which appears to threaten your rights; [C] that you received; [D] from any officer or similar actor of the state court in question; [E] within the prior 30 days of the date of filing removal. This "trigger" can be almost anything, really, even as an email that you received from any attorney, clerk, or court-appointed/named third party in the case (like a guardian Ad Litem usually better known as the GAL, or parenting coordinator, mediator, therapist/counselor, or etc.). Almost anything can be used as your trigger, but it cannot be something that you wrote or that you sent to anyone else, but must be something from somebody else that you received... which starts the 30-day clock.
A removal is not (only) based upon your whatever own personal sufferings of random due process rights violations, but must include a formal constitutional challenge about the very system itself that you are being forced to unconstitutionally suffer under, i.e., to the entire family court system in your own State or Commonwealth. Otherwise, it's not really a true Section 1443 removal, and can be validly thrown out. Your matching CAPRA-trained-and-approved legal scholar already knows about this stuff, so it will be automatically included correctly for you, if you choose to seek removal via the CAPRA Matching Service, which begins by you simply filling out this Federal Removal Form (NOTE: At present, removal packages are only available to challenge the CVS family court systems (not yet crafted for CPS court systems - ask any CPS expert to craft).
Note: This website is under constant construction. So, please don't hesitate to come check back often for important updates, especially by also double-checking the Case News page.