NPO: Hillary Clinton's foray into child custody cases reveals "best interests" facade

Article here. Excerpt:

'Judges are elected in Arkansas. Obviously, the judge, who would eventually have to stand for re-election, chose to go totally counter to the practices of the day to do a favor for a politically important father by giving him joint custody. This is not the decision that a 1978 judge who was interested only in the best interest of the child, as it was then understood, would have made. Politics came first, just as considerations other than best interest of the child continue to come first today. For instance, the money and power of the bar associations continue to dominate the family courts and legislatures today, standing in the way of shared parenting in state after state despite the now-overwhelming evidence that it serves the best interest of children in most cases, and despite overwhelming popular support.

But Beshear was not satisfied with his extraordinary joint custody result and wanted more. Six months later, with 30 year old Clinton now as his lawyer, he sought sole custody of Bethany before Judge Royce Weisenberger.

Why did Beshear choose Clinton as his attorney? Is it because she was a proven winner? This seems unlikely. Although she was known as well educated and smart, and was a new associate attorney at the prestigious Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, she “had little expertise” in family law, according to the Globe. Is it because, as Beshear now claims, she was a woman, which might be helpful in a custody dispute? That is a convenient thing to say in today’s climate. But having a female lawyer was a novel thing in 1978, of highly uncertain benefit. Much more likely is that Bill Clinton had just won the Democratic primary for governor and was certain to be elected governor in November. Beshear chose Clinton because an elected judge would not want to antagonize both the powerful Beshear in his home county, and also the new governor.'