Judge Orders Jail Time In Divorce Case

MYFOXNY.COM - A woman from Long Island was ordered by a judge to report to Nassau County jail every other weekend this summer for violating a court order by deliberately alienating her school-age daughters from her ex-husband. Lauren Lippe's sentence was stayed pending an appeal.

Good Day NY spoke with attorney Raoul Felder about the unusual sentence for a civil case.

"In divorce cases you get this alienation business all the time.. it's called parental alienation syndrome.  It is not a diagnosis. It's not a disease. It's a fact of life. It's junk science. People like this who go to jail and get out will likely do it again. Alienators believe they are protecting their children."

The judge said the following in his decision: The extensive record is replete with instances of attempts to undermine the relationship between the children and their father and replace him with her new husband, manipulation of defendant's parenting access, utter and unfettered vilification of the defendant to the children, false reporting of sexual misconduct without any semblance of 'good faith,' and her imposition upon the children to fear her tirades and punishment if they embrace the relationship they want to have with their father."

As for the unusual sentence, Felder says the judge had no alternative as the custody battle and the violation of the court order went on for several years.