Gavel

Six fathers are suing the state and five family curt judges in U.S. District Court in Trenton.

(Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.cm)

TRENTON — A group of fathers have filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that their constitutional rights were violated when New Jersey family court judges denied them custody of their children.

Six fathers are suing the state and five family court judges in U.S. District Court in Trenton, saying they lost custody shortly after being accused of domestic violence or being incompetent parents.

They claim they should have been given an immediate full hearing allowed to them under the U.S. Constitution.

"Parents in New Jersey are losing custody of children without due process," said Paul Clark, the fathers' attorney.

Clark noted that the men did eventually receive hearings, but months or years later.

"It should have been immediate," said the lawyer, who is based in Jersey City. "This is happening all the time."

Meanwhile, the lawsuit claims that family court judges are unfairly using a "best interest of the child" standard to strip fathers of custody.

In the standard, which is used in many family courts across the country, judges decide custody and visitation rights based on what would help the child remain the most happy and stable.

"It's not a well-defined standard," Clark said. "Nobody knows what it is. It basically allows family court judges to do whatever they want."

Instead, Clark said, the constitution allows a judge to apply the standard only when there is "clear and convincing evidence" that a child is in danger of being harmed by the parent.

"If not, the state cannot take a child away from a parents," Clark said. "There has to be a higher level of evidence for the state to intervene."

The judges named in the suit are John Call Jr. of Burlington County; Nancy Sivilli of Essex County; and Maureen Sogluizzo of Hudson County; and Lawrence DeBello and Anthony Massi of Mercer County.

The state Attorney General's office and the state Judiciary Department declined comment.

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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.