Samantha Berry

Hi, my name is Samantha, but most people call me Samma. Some of you have watched this unfold in real time. You’ve heard me speak, read my posts, messaged me, or seen the pain behind the words I’ve tried to write. Others may be stumbling onto my story for the first time, just by chance. Either way THIS IS REAL. And despite having a “gag order” placed on me, I will continue to speak, to share, and to expose what’s happening. Because staying silent while the truth gets buried is not an option. People need to see what this system is doing to parents like me and to the children caught in the middle. For those who are new here, I’m a mom, a wife, and a woman in the middle of the biggest fight of my life fighting to be a mother to my daughter again, trying to stay out of jail over child support I physically cannot pay, and somehow still showing up every day for the two boys I’m raising. Jack is my youngest, Paisley’s little brother, and our light in the middle of all this darkness. And then there’s our foster nephew, who we’ve just learned we’ll be moving toward permanent guardianship for. These boys need stability. They need me. And I’m trying to hold it all together while the court system tries to tear me apart. What brought me here is not just financial hardship—it’s the reality of a system being abused against me. My daughter’s father has learned how to use family court as a weapon. He had the money, the attorney, the connections, and the ear of a judge who has ignored the law, ignored my rights, and ignored the facts in front of him. That “judge” John S. Carlin, in Lee County, Florida, is the one who signed away my rights without a fair process or a plan to work to ever get her back. A man who carries the title of “family law judge” but does not deserve it, because what he’s done to my family has nothing to do with law or justice. And I am not the only one he has been doing this to families for nearly 40 years. I’ve had countless people reach out to me, strangers and former litigants alike, sharing eerily similar stories of pain, injustice, and rights violated under his watch. Instead of fair hearings, I was FORCED to be silenced. Instead of balanced rulings, I’ve seen orders copy-and-pasted directly from the opposing attorney—no edits, no review, no independent thought. The final judgment in my case was taken verbatim from what my daughter’s father’s lawyer handed the court. (a direct violation of Florida case law, including Perlow v. Berg-Perlow, 875 So.2d 383 (Fla. 2004), which prohibits judges from adopting proposed orders without independent findings and review—it undermines due process and the integrity of the judiciary) And now I’m being forced into supervised visits I can barely afford, while being painted as unfit, unsafe, and dishonest—with zero credible evidence and no ability to defend myself in a system that’s already made up its mind. I never thought I’d be here, humbling myself to ask for help publicly. But the truth is this: I cannot fight this battle alone. Every filing, every transcript, every supervised visit comes at a cost. And if I can’t keep up, I lose more than just money. I’m in the middle of this fight right now, with a current appeal pending in the 6th District Court of Appeal (Case No. 2025-1311), where I’m doing everything I can to overturn what was done to me and to my daughter—in the lower court. I’ve learned the law. I’ve represented myself. I’ve tracked down evidence, transcripts, contradictions, ethics violations, and built a case I believe in—but I cannot carry the financial weight alone. I’m trying to raise funds to pay for: • Legal filing supplies (ink, paper, transcripts, books) • Appellate travel and hotel costs for my oral argument in Lakeland, FL Case No.: 6DCA 2025-1311 • $160–$180 a week just to visit my daughter • Food and activities required for each supervised visit • Emergency legal help from someone who can act as a mentor • Possibly posting bond if I’m jailed for child support I cannot pay • Getting a website up and running to expose the system and raise awareness for other parents being destroyed by it AND • Filing formal complaints with the JQC, DOH, and Florida Bar, and pursuing civil legal action against those responsible for the lies, the manipulation, the misconduct, and the irreversible damage they’ve caused— time, trust, and memories with my daughter, my children and family will never get back. If you’ve made it this far, thank you. Whether you can give $5 or just share this campaign, it means the world to me. I’m not asking for a handout. I’m asking for a fighting chance to be a mom again. I’m asking for help from people who still believe in justice, in family, in second chances, and in helping someone rise when they’ve been brought to their knees. Thank you. Truly. —Samma Lee county Case No.: #17-DR-33 6th District Court of Appeals Case No.: #2025-1311