M.M.

BACKGROUND

The General Setting This case dates back to 2004, when M.M. “filed a petition to establish a parental relationship with A.M., who was born in 2003 to [M.M.] and

1 respondent” R.B.1 The dispute has involved custody but, we learn from M.M.’s brief, he also has been fighting a “no contact” order imposed (apparently in 2015) that prevented him from contacting A.M., though allowed A.M. to contact him. The most recent hearing began in October 2019, and ended October 2020, a hiatus based in part on court-based issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing was held before the Honorable Jennifer Madden, to whom the matter had been assigned in 2018. On June 12, 2021, Judge Madden issued her findings and order after hearing, attached to which was her statement of decision, a thoughtful and sensitive decision ruling against M.M. It is a model statement, and we discuss it at length. The Statement of Decision The statement of decision begins with Judge Madden’s description of what was before her, a request by M.M.—identified in the statement as “petitioner,” a term we sometimes use here when quoting the statement—“to modify the custody and timeshare for the minor child, . .…