2026 Update- Mothers Jailed. Children taken away. Legal Errors. Bias. Continued Corruption.
Dear Petitioners,
Our petition is making progress: more than 2,600 signatures and countless comments.
Our voices matter. Every signature and every story helps create a public record that cannot simply be ignored.
Our goal is bigger than any one case or any one family. It is to improve the lives of children and parents, demand accountability, and bring meaningful reform to Mecklenburg Family Court.
We are calling for an end to the systemic corruption that has harmed families for far too long.
However, judges have not yet listened to us. Here is an update for 2026:
April 2026- Judge Karen D. McCallum went viral on social media for reducing $1M criminal bond to only $25k. So McCallum was put back in family court May 2026 (questions for Chief Judge Roy Wiggins...). Since restarting in family court, McCallum already issued 3 orders to jail mothers for 30 days in jail. Maximum sentence allowable. The jailing's were examined by Charlotte Family Court Observer ( Substack & Facebook )- they found a mountain of legal errors and double standards for mothers. In short, McCallum should have never issued these jail sentences. McCallum is back, and she has not changed.
In April 2026, another case developed. Thi Preysner, a mother of two small children, ran from domestic violence and husband with record of mental illness. According to Thi, the husband had suicidal ideation, had thoughts of killing daughter and was locked up in mental institution. The case went to Judge Page McThenia. Husband hired lawyer Eric Trosch, who is married to McThenia's fellow judge Elizabeth Trosch (just same moth McThenia had signed a petition trying to bring Judge Trosch back). McThenia gave the husband sole custody, issued order of arrest for the mother and loudly went on record complaining about the mother.
Michael Volpe, investigative journalist, has been covering this story. Tune in and follow along on Substack or Facebook. Here are the links.
Judge Exceeded Authority in Issuing Exorbitant Court Cost Sanction, According to Activist
https://michaelvolpe.substack.com/p/judge-exceeded-authority-in-issuing
In 2026, North Carolina Appeals sent 6 cases back to Mecklenburg Family Court. Judges who have worked in family court for roughly two decades are still making significant legal errors. Enough for NC Appeals to send orders back requesting to fix the errors.
The 2026 erroneous orders sent back by appeals are covered by Charlotte Family Court Observer on Substack and Facebook: https://courtobserver.substack.com/p/why-are-mecklenburg-family-court?r=9b24yu
In 2026 we also saw an overwhelming number of comments- victims shared their stories.
More mothers jailed. More children taken away. More legal errors. More evidence of bias.
And thus, we are not stopping. Please share our petition. As long as these judges are on the family court bench, we will not stop.
If you are a litigant, please stay anonymous and safe.
Sincerely,
Mothers Matter