BREAKING: Protective Mom Monica Ciardi Freed from Essex County Jail, Records Show
Parents’ rights advocate calls case political retribution for exposing New Jersey family court corruption
By Richard Luthmann
Monica Ciardi, the New Jersey mother jailed for months over a controversial Facebook post, was released from the Essex County Correctional Facility on Friday, March 21, 2025, according to New Jersey court and corrections records.
This outlet has not yet spoken with Ciardi directly. Updates will follow as more information becomes available.
Ciardi was held in pretrial lockup since last October. Ex-husband John Uanis is the complaining witness. Ciardi faces 33 years in prison for a variety of felony charges, including making false reports to law enforcement.
Uanis is a police shooting instructor in Morris Plains, New Jersey.
Ciardi did previous time in New Jersey pretrial lockup. She was released in January 2024 after prosecutors charged her with making terroristic threats against Judge Peter Bogaard and Judge Mary DeMarzo.
The charges stemmed from a Facebook post critics say was a mischaracterized quote from the judges themselves during family court proceedings.
David Weigel, a family court reform activist and Wall Street fiduciary, is a vocal advocate in the fight for Ciardi’s release.
“This is more than just one case,” Weigel said. “If Monica Ciardi can be silenced, then no parent is safe.”
Weigel’s Family Court Fraud Warrior Project has been at the forefront of organizing parents to battle against a system that many times can be stacked against them.
“This was political retribution because Monica exposed their corruption,” said Weigel.
The 2023 Facebook post — which prosecutors claimed was a threat — referenced the judges’ own words about taking Ciardi’s children if she did not comply with court orders. Missing quotation marks turned the statement into what officials claimed was a criminal threat, supporters said.
“Monica faces 33 years in prison over a Facebook post and reports about an abusive husband supposed by video evidence ignored by crooked cops,” Weigel said. “They wanted to break her and make an example of her.”
Court sources say Ciardi May be offered a felony plea deal that will avoid additional jail time but could severely impact her parental rights and ability to regain custody of her children.
“This case is bigger than Monica,” Weigel said. “It’s about a corrupt family court system weaponizing criminal charges against parents who fight back.”
According to court records, Ciardi appeared for an in-person arraignment on Thursday, March 20, 2025, before Judge Michael L. Ravin in Essex County Superior Court. Details of the conditions of her release have not yet been made public.
Weigel called on family rights advocates and court watchers to stay engaged.
“If they can silence Monica Ciardi, no parent is safe,” he said. “We must keep fighting for transparency and accountability.”
This outlet will update the story once Ciardi or her representative releases a public statement.
The family court system throughout the US shows the same pattern of violations of due process and abuse of children and the targeted parent. Parent rights are being violated and the civil rights of parents and children are being violated every day-- it is all about power and money. The "best interest" of the child is a weapon used by the courts to violate the 14th amendment. Parents are being given indefinite "no contact" orders from family court judges and the judge does not even have to put in writing the justification for the order because they know it's illegal. It leaves parents with no recourse because they attribute the kidnapping and child abuse of children by courts to be "judicial discretion" and there is no oversight. This has been going on for decades and the mainstream media refuses to cover these issues. Thank you Richard Luthmann and the few others who continue to expose child trafficking through our family court system.
Corruption in NJ, Morris County has to be exposed to bring change and hopefully these “lower level judges” who are actually attorneys that couldn’t get into a private law firm, can be impeached. The sooner the better.