Welcome to Unveiled and Uncensored: Investigating Family Court Corruption

Jan 07, 2025

Updated August 8, 2025 12:29 pm, August 26, 2025 8:41pm

Welcome to Unveiled and Uncensored—my Substack dedicated to exposing the hidden truths behind family court corruption, systemic failure, and the institutional betrayal carried out by judges, attorneys, minors’ counsel, court evaluators, school districts, police departments, CPS, and the District Attorney’s office.

I’m Julie M. Anderson-Holburn, an investigative journalist whose work is rooted in lived experience. My journey is deeply personal.

Since 2021, and prior to my transition into investigative journalism, my own Orange County family law case drew media attention from journalists Mike Volpe (2021) and Robert J. Hansen (2023–present). Their reporting uncovered troubling patterns within and beyond Orange County’s family court system, exposing extensive public corruption involving the Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD), Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD), The Irvine Company (TIC), and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) in connection with my case. Links to these reports and related articles are provided below.

Further investigations and newly obtained documents reveal that opposing counsel David C. Monarch allegedly collaborated with an unlicensed individual operating under the name “Angel Law” to gain my trust in 2021. Together, they encouraged me to hire attorney Art LaCilento and to connect with journalist Mike Volpe, who later reported on my case. Monarch subsequently used Volpe’s articles—and even my 2021 GoFundMe campaign—as exhibits in court to frame me as “disrespectful toward authority” and to advance false claims of “parental alienation.” These arguments were then cited to justify the removal of my children from my custody.

On October 14, 2021, a publicly filed court document demonstrates that attorney David C. Monarch facilitated or directed unauthorized access to my cell phone while it was operating in safe mode, resulting in the illegal entry into my Google Drive account. Monarch subsequently disseminated confidential and protected communications and documents obtained through this unlawful access into publicly filed court pleadings. These materials were used to advance allegations of “parental alienation” and to influence the court’s custody determinations.

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From Mother to Warrior

In 2010, I filed for divorce. By 2014, my ex had abducted our children across state lines multiple times. I secured emergency custody orders and drove from California to Arizona to enforce them—alone. Newport Beach Police refused to help. Eventually, Judge Sarmiento granted me sole legal and physical custody and issued a domestic violence restraining order in 2015.

My children began to heal—my son’s tics stopped, my daughter no longer pulled her hair. For a time, we had peace. But in late 2015, it all unraveled again —shattered by a school system determined to terrorize us.

Terror from the School District

After enrolling my children at Andersen Elementary in Newport Beach and requesting an Individualized Education Program (IEP), I was suddenly treated as a threat. The principal taunted me, claiming she would interfere with my custody orders. NMUSD weaponized Newport Beach Police, surrounding kindergarten pickup with SUVs. I was banned from campus, despite being a five-day-a-week classroom volunteer.

Dr. Bray later sent police to my home, threatening that CPS would take my children unless I returned them to public school—even though they were already enrolled in a private Christian school. NMUSD sent fraudulent truancy letters, which my ex used for years to perpetuate false claims.

In 2016, I filed for due process through the Office of Administrative Hearings. In 2017, I won two OAH decisions. NMUSD was found to have violated our civil rights, denied FAPE, and facilitated restraining order violations. For years after NMUSD fought subpoenas.

Taking on Corporate Power

In 2018, I sued The Irvine Company (TIC) for toxic mold and asbestos exposure in our home. TIC retaliated—just before trial in 2021, I was warned that my family court case was collapsing because I wouldn’t settle. My ex, who had never lived in the contaminated unit, appeared as their star witness.

Then Came August 4, 2020

At the height of COVID-19, a man pounded on our front and back doors for over two hours. He never identified himself. My children and I hid in fear.

Later, I learned it was OCDA Investigator Joe Faria, working with DDA Tamara Jacobs and NBPD Det. Michael Fletcher, attempting to serve court paperwork on behalf of my ex—documents already rejected by the court. We were in the Safe at Home program, and his conduct was not only traumatic—it was illegal.

Soon after, I discovered Faria had submitted a fraudulent declaration into our family court record. I filed a complaint.

In September 2020 according to medical records and police reports during make up visitation our abuser began strangling our son, withholding food and later threatening he would put them in foster care.

X formerly known as Twitter Post by Julie M. Anderson-Holburn. November 4, 2020.

A Tweet That Triggered Retaliation

In November 2020, shortly after a tweet that apparently angered some in power, I was told by Newport Beach Police—while attempting to report a restraining order violation—that the Orange County District Attorney’s Office had directed them not to take any more violation reports from me unless my ex-husband explicitly threatened to kill me.

Journalist Mike Volpe published the story—complete with the audio.

A couple months later I begged for help from the City of Newport Beach —they could not be bothered to respond.

In Early 2021 my ex was deemed a vexatious litigant and a Request for Order (RFO) that had been pending for two years and three months was declared a mistrial.

On March 13, 2021, my ex refused to return the children. When I arrived in a public space, the children ran to me. He physically assaulted us all trying to stop them, injuring me and both children and continued to chase and attack us down a city block. My eldest son intervened to protect us once my ex punched me in the back causing me to fall.

Costa Mesa Police classified the incident as a strong-arm robbery, not an assault or DVRO violation. The OCDA declined to prosecute. Months later, family court punished me, accusing me of “parental alienation.”

Judge Leal’s Secret Hearing

In June 2021, newly assigned Judge Sandra Leal held a non-noticed, secret hearing with Jacobs, Faria, and Fletcher. They submitted fraudulent declarations and obtained warrants to seize my children, while we were still waiting for a hearing on the March assault.

That hearing—legally a priority—was delayed until November 2022. Leal was reassigned three times in eight months but continued to issue retaliatory orders. The trauma to my children was lasting.

At the trial in Sep 2021 our abuser—who had never lived in the toxic dwelling—appeared in court as their star witness.

Christy Black and “Angel Law” Enter the Case

In 2021, amid the escalating legal chaos, Christy Black—operating under the business name “Angel Law”—inserted herself into my case. Black posed as a paralegal despite lacking the credentials and legal authority required under California law. She targeted me as a vulnerable, self-represented litigant, steering me toward select attorneys and influencing case strategy in ways that caused further harm including not disclosing her close relationship with my ex’s attorney David Monarch and my first husband.

My investigation into her conduct became the foundation for my exposé, Exclusive: The Paralegal Pretenders of Orange County — A Hidden Threat in Family Court and its follow-up, The Paralegal Pretenders Return. Both articles detail how Black and others exploit protective parents and pro se litigants through unauthorized legal practice, capper-runner schemes, and connections with attorneys and court insiders.

Judge Waltz Reverses a Decade of Rulings

In November 2022, our case was reassigned to Judge James L. Waltz. In just 45 days, he reversed more than 10 years of adjudicated rulings. He vacated my renewed domestic violence restraining order and sole custody, forcing my children into the custody of their abuser.

During a November 2022 hearing, Waltz threatened to use 20 sheriff’s deputies to intimidate my teenage children or send them to juvenile detention if they did not comply. His volatile outbursts—including screaming at me in court while dismissing evidence of the 2021 assault—were both alarming and traumatic.

The Role of Jessica St. Clair

Jessica St. Clair, brought into our case by minors’ counsel Tracy Willis after the 2021 assault, lied to my children (view here) and made significant misrepresentations to Waltz, compounding the harm. Despite overwhelming evidence—including video and body camera footage—our pleas for protection were ignored.

I have not been allowed to have custody or see my children since.

Speaking Out at the Highest Levels

I’ve addressed the Orange County Board of Supervisors—including then-Supervisor Andrew Do—and spoken at the California State Capitol, advocating for reform and accountability.

Below in a set of five videos I speak before the Board of Supervisors. The story does not end there — keep scrolling.

From Survivor to Reporter

What began as a mother’s fight for justice became a mission to turn my pain into purpose. I’ve published investigative series on NewsBreak, Substack, The Family Court Circus, and have been featured by the Center for Judicial Excellence and National Safe Parents.

Targeted for Telling the Truth

In 2024, I was subpoenaed in the Tawny Minna-Grossman case—a case I’d reported on for over a year. It was a clear attempt to suppress my journalism. Thanks to the First Amendment Coalition and Jassy Vick Carolan LLP, the subpoena was rescinded.

But the intimidation didn’t stop.

Weeks later, I obtained courthouse surveillance footage:

Faria walking across the courthouse directly into a courtroom where I was observing.
Faria and a female assistant followed me, hovering over me from behind in the clerk’s office.

It was a continuation of a years-long pattern of targeted surveillance.