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2010-10-10T22:52:00.000-04:00

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Japan urged to solve global child custody disputes

2009-10-22T23:10:00.002-04:00

Japan urged to solve global child custody disputes

By MARI YAMAGUCHI (AP) – 6 days ago

TOKYO — Ambassadors from the U.S. and seven other countries urged Japan on Friday to quickly resolve a growing number of international child custody disputes, a day after Japanese police freed an American man accused of snatching his own children.
Japanese law allows only one divorced parent as custodian — almost always the mother — leaving many fathers without access to their children until they are grown.
In a growing number of custody cases, Japanese mothers bring their children back to Japan and refuse to let their foreign ex-husbands visit.
U.S. Ambassador John Roos and ambassadors from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand and Spain told Justice Minister Keiko Chiba that Japan should sign an international convention on child abduction and set up ways to allow foreign parents to visit their children.
"We place the highest priority on the welfare of children who have been the victims of international parental child abduction and believe that our children should grow up with access to both parents," they said in a joint statement after the meeting.
Japanese police on Thursday released Christopher Savoie, who was arrested Sept. 28 after his Japanese ex-wife told police he grabbed their two children, ages 8 and 6, as she was walking them to school, forced them into a car and drove away.
In an e-mail Friday to The Associated Press, Christopher Savoie's wife, Amy, wrote, "Christopher's case definitely helped to shine a light on the situation! It is a step in the right direction..."
Prosecutors have not pressed charges against Christopher Savoie, but they haven't yet dropped the case, authorities said. Kidnapping minors in Japan carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Savoie was allowed to leave Japan on the condition he not take the children with him. He also promised to settle the dispute with his ex-wife through negotiations, according to the office of his Japanese lawyer, Tadashi Yoshino. Amy Savoie said he is recuperating at an undisclosed location.
"After suffering the loss of the most significant part of his family, Christopher will be nurturing the family that is left," she wrote. "He learned that kids can be taken from you in an instant. Enjoy them every moment."---------------------------------
Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Court to decide constitutionality of bad advice

2009-10-14T11:53:00.002-04:00

Court to decide constitutionality of bad advice

By JESSE J. HOLLAND (AP) – October 13, 2009

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices on Tuesday questioned whether defendants should expect their lawyers to correctly advise them on all the possible consequences of a guilty plea, including on important issues like deportation.
Jose Padilla, who was born in Honduras, wants the high court to throw out his 2001 guilty plea to drug charges in Kentucky.
Padilla, who has lived in the United States for more than 40 years as a legal permanent resident, said he asked his lawyer at the time whether a guilty plea would affect his immigration status and was told it wouldn't. Padilla's trial lawyer was wrong, and he now faces deportation.
His lawyer for the appeal told the Supreme Court that the incorrect information that was given to Padilla was a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to "effective assistance of counsel."
Attorney Stephen Kinnaird said it is the constitutional duty of the lawyer to explain not only the direct consequences of a guilty plea but any collateral consequences as well. "His duty is to inform the client of the legal risk," he said.
Congress tightened the rules in the mid-1990s to make deportation automatic for many crimes. Immigrants often don't know the deportation consequences of the guilty plea, Kinnaird said, and have a right to that information in criminal cases before making a decision.
But Kentucky Assistant Attorney General WM Robert Long Jr. said criminal attorneys' only constitutional duty is to advise defendants on guilt, innocence and sentencing when it comes to pleas, not what may happen in the future because of the plea.
The purpose of a criminal defense attorney "is not to advise" on immigration matters, Long said.
A binding requirement to advise clients correctly on areas outside their expertise would encourage lawyers "to be silent" when some defendants might not be able to afford a second immigration lawyer, Long said.
If Padilla wins, Justice Antonin Scalia questioned whether the courts would also have to make exceptions for other consequences of guilty pleas, like loss of child custody, loss of property through seizure, loss of voting rights or loss of the right to own a weapon.
"We have to decide whether we're opening Pandora's box here," Scalia said.
Justice Anthony Kennedy suggested telling judges, when they ask defendants whether they are voluntarily pleading guilty, to include a disclaimer telling defendants they would have to accept any collateral consequences of their decision.
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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody laws force parents to extremes

2009-10-10T22:39:00.002-04:00

Child Custody laws force parents to extremes

By MINORU MATSUTANI
Staff writer for the Japan Times - posted at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091010f1.html

The high-profile case of Christopher Savoie, a Tennessee man who was arrested in Fukuoka Prefecture for snatching his two children from his Japanese former wife and now faces kidnapping charges, illustrates the extremes a partner in a broken international marriage will resort to for child custody.

Fighting the system: Masahiro Yoshida, who is trying to win visitation rights to see his 4-year-old daughter, is interviewed in Tokyo on Tuesday. Below, Christopher Savoie poses with his children, Isaac and Rebecca. Savoie was recently arrested for allegedly kidnapping them in Fukuoka Prefecture. AP PHOTO

The case, which made a splash in U.S. media, especially on CNN, also highlights the uniqueness of Japan's culture and judicial system regarding the custody of children in cases of divorce, and its lack of regard for custody rulings by courts overseas where divorces took place, such as the one in the U.S. favoring Savoie.

The fact that Japan has not signed the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which secures the prompt return of a child wrongfully removed to or retained in any signatory countries, complicates the problem even further.

Following are some questions and answers regarding a child's custody in international marriages that end in divorce in Japan:

How do family courts usually rule on custody, regardless of a parent's nationality?

Family courts normally grant sole custody to the ex-spouse who is able to spend more time with the child, which in Japan is usually the mother. This contrasts with the United States and many other developed nations, where joint custody is the norm.

The parent who wins custody, almost always the mother, is able to control how much, or how little, the other parent can see the child. They can even bar all contact.

In short, a divorced mother in Japan gets sole custody of the child and decides the visitation terms of the father.

Why is shared custody out of the question?

Article 819 of the Civil Code stipulates that "shinken," or parental rights, reside with only one of the divorced spouses. The legal term refers to the general rights and duties of parents in raising their child. An exact term in English probably does not exist, according to lawyer Takao Tanase.---------------------------------
Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

The U.S. Japan child custody dispute

2009-10-09T10:05:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Japan child-custody spat
Thu, 10/08/2009 - 12:04pm

Posted at http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/08/the_us_japan_child_custody_spat

While most recent news and commentary about Japan has understandably been focused on that country's dramatic election results, the U.S. government has been quietly working on a parental-custody case that has become an irritant in the budding relationship between the new Japanese and American administrations.

State Department officials in Japan met yesterday with Christopher Savoie, an American citizen whose recent attempt to reassert custody of his children landed him in a Japanese prison under investigation for kidnapping.

The prospects are not good for Savoie. Local prosecutors in Fukuoka, the western Japanese prefecture where Savoie is being held, are nearing a deadline to decide what charges to bring against the Tennessee native, who traveled to Japan to take back the children his Japanese ex-wife Noriko absconded with in August. He faces deportation at best, five years in a claustrophobic Japanese prison at worst, and the chances that the Japanese legal system will ever grant him rights to see, much less be a parent to, his 8-year-old son Isaac and 6-year-old daughter Rebecca are slim to none.

State Department officials have been intimately involved in the Savoie case, even before Savoie traveled to Japan, but their ability to sway local Japanese officials is negligible. They point to Japan's cultural and legal aversion to cooperating at all on international child-abduction cases, while expressing very cautious hope that the new Japanese government might relax that country's famously intransigent stance on such issues.

In interviews with The Cable, three State Department officials detailed the extensive set of interactions between the U.S. government and Savoie and the ongoing efforts to advocate for him and the dozens of other Americans fighting custody battles in Japan.
Read the entire article at: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/08/the_us_japan_child_custody_spat
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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Case Tinged by Politics

2009-10-05T09:43:00.000-04:00

Child Custody Case Tinged by Politics
Dispute Raises U.S. Concern Over Japan's Failure to Sign Agreement on Child Abductions

By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI and ALISON TUDOR

Posted at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125469778121862591.html

TOKYO -- A child-custody dispute that landed a U.S. businessman in Japanese police custody offers a glimpse into a longstanding diplomatic sore point between the two countries.

Christopher Savoie is being held in the Japanese city of Fukuoka while police investigate his alleged abduction of his two children. According to police, the eight-year-old boy and six-year-old girl were on their way to school in Fukuoka with their mother -- Mr. Savoie's ex-wife, Noriko Savoie -- when Mr. Savoie forcefully grabbed them, put them in his car and drove away.

View Full Image

Associated Press
Christopher Savoie with his children Isaac, left, and Rebecca in Franklin, Tenn., in an undated photograph. He argues he has legal custody.
Mr. Savoie argues he has legal custody of the children. In August, after Ms. Savoie had left the U.S. for Japan, a Franklin, Tenn., state court found Ms. Savoie had taken the children abroad in violation of a previous court order and awarded him custody.

"His actions came out of his feelings of love as a father," said Tadashi Yoshino, Mr. Savoie's Japanese lawyer. Since he has parental rights in the U.S., Mr. Yoshino added, "he doesn't necessarily view this as something he's done wrong."

Representatives for Ms. Savoie couldn't be reached Friday.

The situation is raising concerns among U.S. officials who have long complained about Japan's failure to sign a 1980 international agreement governing child abductions. The U.S., China, the U.K., major European countries and Australia all adhere to the agreement.

The 1980 agreement, known formally as the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, says that cases must be sorted out in the country that is the children's place of "habitual residence." Some in Japan have balked at the agreement because Japanese divorce courts typically assign custody to only one parent.

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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

U.S. dad jailed in Japan in child custody battle

2009-10-03T19:07:00.000-04:00

U.S. dad jailed in Japan in child custody battle
He was arrested after attempting to reclaim kids taken illegally by ex-wife

American jailed in Japan over custody battle
Sept. 30: Christopher Savoie is behind bars in Japan for trying to bring his kids back home after they were illegally taken from him by his ex-wife. TODAY’s Meredith Vieira talks to Savoie’s current wife and his attorney about the arrest.
Today show

By Michael Inbar - TODAYShow.com contributor - Posted at http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33086856/ns/today-parenting_and_family/

Sept . 30, 2009

An American dad is behind bars and his Japanese ex-wife is a fugitive from justice, due to an epic culture clash between Japan and the United States that is causing untold heartache for families.

Some eight months after her divorce from Christopher Savoie, Noriko Savoie violated a Tennessee court order by absconding with the couple’s two children to her native Japan. A month later, Christopher traveled to Japan to fetch 8-year-old son Isaac and 6-year-old daughter Rebecca — and was promptly thrown in jail by Japanese authorities on child abduction charges.

Sadly, it’s not a unique case. An estimated 125 American children have been taken from the U.S. to Japan by native Japanese parents, and not one has ever been returned through the Japanese legal system. Japan has not signed Hague Convention laws on child abduction, and it isn’t part of the country’s culture for parents to share custody of children.

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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody News - Jon Gosselin's epiphany: Reality TV not good for my kids

2009-10-03T19:05:00.000-04:00

Jon Gosselin's epiphany: Reality TV not good for my kids

Because of his divorce with Kate, Jon says children should no longer film show
Jon Gosselin tells Larry King he hasn't talked with Kate in about a month

October 2, 2009 -- Updated 0648 GMT (1448 HKT)

By Alan Duke at CNN.com

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- After four years of "Jon & Kate Plus 8," Jon Gosselin said he's decided it's not healthy for his children to be on a reality show.

Jon Gosselin appears on "Larry King Live" Thursday. He said he doesn't want his kids to continue with TV show.

"The reason I don't think it's healthy for them is that we're going through a divorce right now, and I don't think it should be televised and I think my kids should be taken off the show," Gosselin told CNN's Larry King on Thursday night.

"They're 5 and 8 now; let them experience a normal childhood," he said.

His lawyer said the TLC reality series about the Gosselin family is dead because no judge would ever "subject the children to the show if the father believes it's detrimental."

Jon and Kate Gosselin announced their separation and divorce filing -- after 10 years of marriage -- on a special one-hour episode in June. They agreed to share custody of their 5-year-old sextuplets and 8-year-old twins.

"I had an epiphany one day," Gosselin told King. "I just looked in the mirror and I said, 'I don't want to be this person anymore.' I made mistakes. I know I messed up. I do regret a lot of things. But I have to learn from those mistakes and move forward." Watch Jon Gosselin talk with Larry King »

He blamed some of his mistakes on his not having a lawyer when he and his wife signed the show contract four years ago.

"He had no manager, he had no lawyer, he had no idea what he was signing," said Mark J. Heller, the lawyer recently hired by Jon Gosselin.

"Now I have a sense of empowerment," Gosselin said. "Before, I didn't have any representation. I take blame for not being an initiator. I was an avoider. I was passive."

Kate Gosselin said she was "saddened and confused by Jon's public media statements."

"Jon has never expressed any concerns to me about our children being involved in the show and, in fact, is on the record as saying he believes the show benefits our children and was taping on Friday with the kids," she said.

She said her estranged husband only changed his mind about their eight children's involvement after TLC "announced the name change of the show and indicated that Jon would have a lesser role in the show."

"It appears that Jon's priority is Jon and his interests," Kate Gosselin said.

TLC announced Tuesday that it was retitling the show "Kate Plus 8" because of "recent changes in the family dynamics."

Jon Gosselin's lawyer said the network only fired him "before he fired the show."

The state labor department is investigating whether TLC violated child labor laws by not properly paying the children or getting permits for the past four seasons, Heller said.

"These kids have been working without compensation for four years," Heller said.

Gosselin revealed to King that the family was paid $22,500 per episode, with none of the money specifically designated for the eight children.

TLC, in a written statement Thursday, said it had halted "direct filming of the children" until Jon and Kate Gosselin have "further conversations."
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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for dads - Bombay HC against child custody on rotation formula

2009-09-21T09:37:00.000-04:00

Bombay HC against child custody on rotation formula

Shibu Thomas, TNN 13 September 2009, 02:34am IST

MUMBAI: A sessions court’s prescription to keep a set of warring parents happy giving them custody of their children in rotation every alternate

month was shot down by the Bombay HC. Calling the formula ‘peculiar’ and ‘shocking’, Justice Abhay Oka said shunting the three children between the homes every month would be too ‘traumatic’.

Justice Oka said the sessions judge did not seem to have considered the effect this arrangement will have on the children. The judge added, “The children have already suffered because of the attitude adopted by parents of not settling the disputes at least for the sake of children.’’ The court said where a couple was fighting over the custody of their children, it was better to grant custody to one parent.

In this case, Janice had married Mark Pereir in 1989. They have two daughters, aged 16 years and 14 years, and a 12-year-old son. Janice moved the magistrate’s court in 2007 under the Domestic Violence Act and sought custody of the children. The court directed Mark to desist from causing domestic violence and handed over temporary custody of the children to Janice. Mark then filed an appeal in the sessions court, which granted the mother and father custody of the children every alternate month.

The judges had interviewed the children, who said they wanted to celebrate Christmas and New year together. Meanwhile, pending the verdict the custody will remain with the father, and mother will have visitation rights.

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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - UC Irvine shooting may have been custody dispute

2009-09-15T23:43:00.000-04:00

Child Custody for Fathers - UC Irvine shooting may have been custody dispute

(AP)

IRVINE, Calif. — Police are investigating whether a child custody battle prompted a University of California, Irvine student to kill the mother of his 4-year-old son on campus.

Brian Benedict, a 35-year-old physics graduate student, was arrested at about 7 p.m. Sunday following the first on-campus killing in the history of the Orange County school.

He remained jailed on $1 million bail. City police Lt. John Hare said he did not know whether Benedict had an attorney.

Benedict and his ex-wife, Rebecca Benedict, 30, shared custody of their 4-year-old son, but he had been distraught following their breakup and had attempted suicide, court records show. He had been ordered to pay twice as much child support as he had expected and might have been forced to leave school, according to the records.

Rebecca Benedict went to the campus on Sunday evening to pick up the boy from his father's apartment in a graduate student housing complex when the couple got into an argument, Hare said.

She left the building and was in the parking lot when Benedict, who had followed her, fired several shots with a handgun and struck her at least once, Hare said.

She was pronounced dead at a hospital. Witnesses detained Benedict until police arrived, Hare said.

The boy was nearby, but it was unclear whether he saw the shooting, Hare said. He said the child was turned over to other family members.

The Benedicts were married on April 1, 2004, and separated on Sept. 30, 2006, court records show. Rebecca Benedict filed for divorce on Jan. 16.

The couple had agreed that Brian Benedict would pay $450 per month in child support, but a judge on Thursday ordered him to pay $920 per month, according to records cited by the Orange County Register.

Benedict, who quit a six-figure job as an aerospace cost analyst to attend graduate school, earned $26,889 as a student researcher, according to his 2008 federal tax form.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Nancy A. Pollard set the child support figure based on his earlier, higher income.

"The court finds that the care and maintenance of the child is more important than the care and maintenance of the father's schooling," according to a summary of the ruling.

Earlier this month, Brian Benedict had asked campus safety officials questions about child custody, UC Irvine Assistant Police Chief Jeff Hutchison said.

"It was a less than 10-minute conversation, and there was nothing unusual in his demeanor," Hutchison said.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Custody for Fathers - Bombay HC against child custody on rotation formula

2009-09-13T09:30:00.000-04:00

Bombay HC against child custody on rotation formula

Shibu Thomas, TNN 13 September 2009, 02:34am IST

MUMBAI: A sessions court’s prescription to keep a set of warring parents happy giving them custody of their children in rotation every alternate

month was shot down by the Bombay HC. Calling the formula ‘peculiar’ and ‘shocking’, Justice Abhay Oka said shunting the three children between the homes every month would be too ‘traumatic’.

Justice Oka said the sessions judge did not seem to have considered the effect this arrangement will have on the children. The judge added, “The children have already suffered because of the attitude adopted by parents of not settling the disputes at least for the sake of children.’’ The court said where a couple was fighting over the custody of their children, it was better to grant custody to one parent.

In this case, Janice had married Mark Pereir in 1989. They have two daughters, aged 16 years and 14 years, and a 12-year-old son. Janice moved the magistrate’s court in 2007 under the Domestic Violence Act and sought custody of the children. The court directed Mark to desist from causing domestic violence and handed over temporary custody of the children to Janice. Mark then filed an appeal in the sessions court, which granted the mother and father custody of the children every alternate month.

The judges had interviewed the children, who said they wanted to celebrate Christmas and New year together. Meanwhile, pending the verdict the custody will remain with the father, and mother will have visitation rights.

(The names of the couple have been changed)

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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Custody battles and divorce in military families

2009-09-07T21:15:00.000-04:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Custody battles and divorce in military families

by Dr. Erica Goodstone - Examiner.com

Marriage is a wonderful state. It can bring a sense a fulfillment, belonging, love and intimacy when both people enjoy their life together. Adding children can fully complete the picture. However, so many marriages exist with disharmony, disappointment, distress and tension. The additional stressors involved with parenting can tip a marriage into the danger zone. Marital difficulties and custody problems, as painful and emotionally wrenching as they sometimes are, can certainly be more easily handled when both partners live in the same home or nearby. But what if one person is in the military, deployed overseas for months or even years, and that person's spouse wants a divorce?

Dear John letters are not rare among military personnel. Custody battles and divorce are becoming more prevalent among military families. Spouses and intimate partners may not be happy living and funcitioning alone, separated by huge distances, having all the responsibility for child care, and not enjoying the romantic and intimate aspects of what they probably wanted in a marriage. A dissatisfied or estranged spouse may fight for custody of the the child or children.

An article in the Washington Post by Ann Scott Tyson, December 30, 2008, Deployment Used in Battle for Kids, brought this serious problem out into the open for discussion. She discovered that commanding officers often do not provide support or assistance for soldiers caught in this dilemma. Army regulations do allow a soldier to request an emergency leave due to problems at home, threat of divorce or child custody problems. However, the commanding officer has the ultimate power whether or not to grant approval of such a request.

More than 20 states have passed laws to limit the impact of deployment on ultimate custody decisions. For example, the state of Viriginia prevents any permanent change in custody to allowed while one spouse is deployed. There is no uniform plan nationawide that protects the rights of soldiers.

If you are personally dealing with such a painful relationship destroying situation, it is essential that you check out the precise laws in the state where you preside. Marriage and Family Therapists and Divorce Mediators are available to help couples deal with relationship and custody problems. However, when one partner is deployed thousands of miles away, living in sometimes very unpleasant conditions while risking his or her life to defend our country, the partner at home, living an ordinary life, can much more easily gain custody of their children.

Before rushing into court to fight for custody, it behooves the stay at home spouse of a deployed partner to seek personal counseling, gain some valuable insight, and discover whether there is a way to keep the marriage intact. It is also important for the courts to offer the equal rights to the military partner.

If you are currently dealing with such a difficult situation or you know someone who is, check out these sites.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Strengthen child custody protection for parents in military

2009-09-03T22:14:00.000-04:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Strengthen child custody protection for parents in military

By U.S. Rep. MICHAEL TURNER

For the third year in a row, I have included legislative language in the annual defense budget to strengthen child custody protections so mothers and fathers in uniform will not be forced to lose custody of their children due to their military service.

Lt. Eva Slusher, a service member who lost custody of her daughter due to her military deployment, recently visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill to raise awareness about this dilemma affecting too many military parents.

For America’s men and women in uniform, military service requires personal sacrifice, often including deployments for much of the year to distant lands or at sea. Many military parents don’t expect to find themselves having to fight to keep custody of their children while also fighting for their country. Regrettably, in many state courts a military parent’s commitment to protect the homeland is being used against them in child custody cases.

Due to different custody laws in each state, a military parent can find themselves disadvantaged as one parent seeks to alter custody agreements while the other parent is on military duty. This may result in a change in child custody rights due to the military parent’s service obligation.

This issue first came to my attention after Kentucky National Guard member Lt. Eva Slusher, who was deployed to serve her country, subsequently lost custody of her daughter, Sara. After a two-year, $25,000 court battle, Lt. Slusher was ultimately successful in regaining custody of her daughter but at a great cost.

While military personnel have been previously granted protection in custody actions back home, the law does not go far enough to preserve their rights. Unfortunately, there have been cases where judges have ruled against service members because of their deployment or possibility of deployment.

As Lt. Slusher put it, “Soldiers are protected under the service member’s Civil Relief Act, or so I thought; an employer has to give me my job back after I return from a deployment, but they don’t have to give me my child back?”

On four occasions since 2007 the U.S. House has passed provisions I’ve authored to add custody protections for military parents. Regrettably, the Department of Defense continues to oppose my efforts.

This year, with the help of House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., I have offered language in the 2010 Defense Authorization Act that would preclude courts from permanently altering an existing custody agreement while a military parent is deployed.

Furthermore, upon the return of the service member from deployment, any temporary change in custody would be immediately reversed, unless the reinstatement of custody is not in the best interest of the child. And, finally, the amendment would not allow courts to consider a military parent’s deployment or possible deployment as a basis for determining the best interests of the child in custody court cases.

There is strong support for protecting military parents’ custody rights in the House. On June 16 all the members of the House Armed Services Committee, except the chairman, who fully supports these efforts, signed a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates calling on the Pentagon to finally address military parent custody rights.

The greatest asset in America’s defense arsenal is our military personnel and their success in defending our nation is directly linked to our commitment to safeguarding their lives and valuing the sacrifices they make to wear our country’s uniform.

No parent, courageous and honorable enough to volunteer to serve in the U.S. military, should have their time spent overseas in defense of our nation used against them in child custody disputes. It’s time to finally afford the protectors of our freedom equal protections under the law.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody For Fathers - Drugs Eclipse Alcohol in Child Custody Tests

2009-08-31T22:57:00.000-04:00

Child Custody For Fathers - Drugs Eclipse Alcohol in Child Custody Tests

LONDON, August 28 /PRNewswire/

There has been a significant increase in parents testing positive to drugs when required to undergo a hair test in child custody cases, according to the latest figures from Trimega Laboratories (http://www.trimegalabs.co.uk).

Trimega, which conducts thousands of substance abuse tests each year on behalf of Local Authorities, says that the percentage of parents in question testing positive to illegal drugs has risen to 37% nationwide, compared to 31% in 2008. By contrast, the percentage of parents testing positive to alcohol abuse (drinking an average of 7.5 units or more a day) has fallen from 43% in 2008 to 35% this year.

In the worst affected parts of the UK - London and the South West - around half of hair samples tested showed signs of drug abuse with a year-on-year rise of 13% between non-users and users. Cocaine is most commonly found drug with an average of one in five samples (20%) testing positive, rising to 25.5% in London. Cannabis is the second drug of choice, which was found in an average of 16.5% of samples tested nationwide, led by the West Midlands which recorded 22.5%.

Avi Lasarow, managing director of Trimega Laboratories, commented:

"Parental hair tests have become the industry standard for making a rapid, informed decision about the custody of a child whose safety is considered at risk. By providing a six month window of detection, they can reveal prolonged and dangerous levels of abuse as well as verifying an addict's history of abstinence."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody & Divorce - Fathers Rights - More parents seek child-support reduction

2009-08-27T22:48:00.002-04:00

More parents seek child-support reduction
By MEGAN K. SCOTT (AP) – 9 hours ago
NEW YORK — As the owner of a successful acupuncture clinic in a wealthy Washington suburb, David Vandenberg never had any problems making a $433 monthly child support payment.
Until last year, when his business faltered and he went on unemployment. Unable to find another job, the 50-year-old Vandenberg moved to Arkansas to live with his parents. Now they're paying the child support for him.
"I felt I didn't have any recourse," said Vandenberg, who has a 12-year-old daughter and tried unsuccessfully for a court-approved reduction in his child support payments. After child support, "I get $100 a month in unemployment."
With the economic downturn hitting men harder than women — 9.8 versus 7.5 percent unemployment — and men comprising most noncustodial parents, many dads are finding themselves struggling to make child support payments that were based on incomes they no longer earn.
In a survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers earlier this year, 39 percent of the members reported an increase in modifications being made to child support payments, and 42 percent cited a rise in the number of changes made to alimony.
"You have all these guys losing their jobs, having to take lower paying jobs or part-time work and they are flooding the courts to get downward modifications," said Glenn Sacks, executive director of Fathers & Families, which advocates for reform of the family court system. "The courts have improved to a degree, but they move much too slowly."
The Maryland Child Support Enforcement Administration has seen an 18 percent increase over the last year in requests for child support modifications, said Paula Tolson, spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Resources.
In Prince George's County, requests have tripled over the past 1 1/2 years. While historically requests have come from custodial parents who need an increase in support, many are now coming from noncustodial parents seeking a reduction, according to Joan Kennedy, director of the county's Office of Child Support Enforcement.
Many times the custodial parent feels the hit from a downward modification. Sometimes she has experienced her own income loss.
Delaine Moore, a separated stay-at-home mom of three in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, said there have been fewer trips to the movies and McDonald's and more activities at home since her ex's oil field drilling work came to a halt in March. Her child support and spousal payments dropped from $6,500 a month to nothing. He has since picked up a part-time job earning minimum wage but is only paying $450 a month.
Moore, who blogs about motherhood, divorce and infidelity, said her parents are paying her mortgage and she had money saved, but she is considering turning her home into a day care to earn money. If things haven't improved by Christmas, she may move in with her parents.
"I think my children are still feeling very loved and most importantly I'm here for them," she said. But it's been stressful. "I don't know what's going to happen."
Child support laws vary from state to state, but the amount is primarily based on the noncustodial parent's income. Other factors include how many children there are, how much time the children spend with each parent and the custodial parent's income.
In New York, a noncustodial parent making less than $80,000 pays 17 percent — less taxes — for one child, 25 percent for two children and 29 percent for three children, plus add-ons such as child care, medical expenses and extracurricular activities. But a reduction in income is not automatic grounds for a modification, said Eyal Talassazan, a divorce attorney in Great Neck, N.Y. Courts are often reluctant to disrupt children's lives.
Family court judge Patricia Macias of El Paso, Texas, said she considers whether the parent is unemployed or underemployed by choice, is actively seeking another job and can retain a job commensurate with their education and skills. Perhaps the person has assets that can be liquidated, she said.
"I believe that family court judges as a general rule are very empathetic to the economic situation," said Macias, immediate past president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. "But our primary focus is what the kids need. So that it's not good enough to say, `Judge, you understand. We're in hard economic times.' We all understand but what extra effort are you making now?"
In some ways, the economy has made ex-spouses more willing to work things out on their own, said Ike Vanden Eykel of Koons, Fuller, Vanden Eykel & Robertson, a law firm with four locations in North Texas. Parents who go that route still need to get the court order changed, he said.
Samantha Land, 39, of Huntington Beach, Calif., agreed to a 50 percent reduction in $3,700 a month for her 8-year-old son.
"I don't need that much money and his income was getting reduced," said Land, who works as an esthetician, a nonmedical skin care specialist, and a transcriptionist. "The funny thing is because I did that, and because I have been more agreeable he has been more willing to help me when I need help."
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Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody and Visitation Case

2009-08-25T16:50:00.000-04:00

IN THE INTEREST OF CHILDREN.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Second Division
August 20, 2009

In Case Nos. A09A1009 and A09A1010, respectively, the biological mother and father of D. L. T. C. and S. F. L. C. appeal a Gordon County Superior Court order terminating their parental rights to the children. We consolidated the two cases to resolve the issues on appeal. For reasons that follow, we reverse the termination order.

In cases involving the termination of parental rights, ô[t]he standard of review is whether any rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the natural parentÆs right to custody should be terminated.ö [1] ôThis Court neither weighs evidence nor determines the credibility of witnesses.ö [2]

In this case, the evidence is undisputed. The record shows that the biological parents have been consistently involved in the process since the children were removed from their custody by the Gordon County Department of Family & Children Services (ôDFACSö). The mother and father were never married but had two children, D. L. T. C., born on March 4, 2001, and S. F. L. C., born on April 30, 2003. In early 2004, when the father was arrested on drug charges and the mother lacked stable housing and employment, DFACS sought and received emergency custody of the children. At a detention hearing two days later, the mother consented to the girls being placed with their paternal uncle and aunt, Brian and Carla Burnett. [3]

At the next hearing on April 16, 2004, the mother admitted to using drugs. The father refused to take a drug test but expressed his intent to legitimate the children. The court concluded that the children were deprived and should remain in the custody of the Burnetts. On August 27, 2004, DFACS filed a complaint seeking non-reunification and a petition to place the children with the Burnetts until they reached the age of eighteen. On November 30, 2004, the father filed a motion, seeking to intervene, legitimation, and custody of the children. The non-reunification hearing was held several days later on December 2, 2004. The court granted the petition as to the mother, finding that she failed to comply with case plan goals, failed to stay in touch with her case manager, and failed to address her substance abuse problem. The court also ordered that the mother and father were allowed to visit the children on alternate Sundays.

On February 17, 2005, the fatherÆs motion for legitimation was granted. The next judicial review order, entered on April 18, 2005, nunc pro tunc, February 17, 2005, allowed the father 48-hour weekend visitation with the children at his motherÆs house and allowed the mother two hours of visitation at the paternal grandmotherÆs home on one weekend per month. An ex parte order entered that same day, however, suspended the motherÆs visitation between April 28, 2005 and May 26, 2005, because she left a harassing message on the BurnettsÆ answering machine. In an order entered on July 18, 2005, the court found that the father was doing better and noted that it had allowed DFACS to close its case on the matter. The children were still found to be deprived and the permanency plan was reunification with the father, with temporary custody remaining with the Burnetts. That order also allowed the father to take the children with him on a family vacation and increased the motherÆs visitation to two-hour visits every other week at the Burnetts home.

Child custody for fathers - Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody & Divorce - Fathers - Fault and No Fault Divorces

2009-08-14T09:32:00.000-04:00

A definition for Fault and No Fault Divorces.
State laws vary, but some states allow for divorces without fault of either party to be proven, as well as divorces based on fault of either spouse. In fault divorces, the petition for divorce must state grounds for divorce. Such grounds may include cruelty, adultery, drunkenness, abandonment, and other types of misconduct.

The most common ground for granting a no-fault divorce is "irreconcilable differences". The court must find that there are such differences and lack of harmony that no reasonable expectation of reconciliation exists. No-fault divorce eliminates this potentially embarrassing and adversarial requirement by providing for the dissolution of a marriage on a finding that the relationship is no longer viable. Some states still require at least a minimal showing of fault, but no-fault divorce is now the rule in which "incompatibility" is sufficient to grant a divorce.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Custody for Fathers - Fathers Rights - Joe Jackson Sent Packing by Child-Custody Agreement

2009-08-10T22:49:00.000-04:00

Joe Jackson Sent Packing by Child-Custody Agreement
by Celebuzz on Aug. 3, 2009 09:00 AM / 5 Comments

Showbiz 411 reports that the child-custody agreement forged between deceased King of Pop Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe and Jackson's mother Katherine has a non-negotiable clause that Jackson's father Joe must move out of the family home in Encino, California.

As was reported last week, Katherine will be receiving custody of Jackson's three children, Prince Michael, Paris, and Prince Michael II (aka Blanket). Earlier reports indicated that Jackson and Rowe were working together to prevent Joe from having contact with any of the children.

Looks like Joe will have to find another group of kids to mold into the next singing sensation.

Sound off in the comments section: Is this a wise decision, or does Joe Jackson deserve to have a hand in raising his grandchildren?

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody / Contempt Actions - IN RE HARRIS

2009-08-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

2009-GA-0717.102
IN RE HARRIS
IN RE: ROBYN PRESSLEY HARRIS.

A09A0219.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

July 16, 2009

ANDREWS, Presiding Judge.

Robyn Pressley Harris appeals a juvenile court's orders finding her in contempt of court, arguing that the evidence was insufficient.(fn1) We affirm.

The record shows that at a hearing on June 26, 2008, the juvenile court was considering a protective order submitted by the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and including provisions that Harris "shall make herself available to the Department no less than twice per month" and that she "shall cooperate with the Department." At the close of evidence, DFCS asked the juvenile court "to order the mother to do everything asked [for] in the protective order." The juvenile court immediately granted "all the requests required by DFCS." The court continued:

[I am] [g]oing to require her to submit to a hair follicle test today. I require DFCS to advance the funds but I require the mother to reimburse DFCS at the rate of -- . . . $50 per month till it's reimbursed in full. I'm going to require DFCS to make a home visit today to see what the status of the issue concerning the home is to make sure we know exactly what is going on concerning home -- I mean, her home and where she's living. I'll require DFCS to contact to get all the information of where these children are located, addresses, telephone numbers, and people that are responsible. I'm going to require you to contact them today or tomorrow to find out what the status of these children are and what means of support they are receiving and what type of educational programs they are receiving this summer, if any. . . . That's the order of the Court.
(Emphasis added.)

Even assuming that the court's last-quoted requirement was addressed to the DFCS representative rather than Harris, the record, construed in favor of the juvenile court's judgment, shows that Harris was under an obligation to cooperate with DFCS concerning the location of her children from the moment the trial court issued its order.

At the subsequent hearing on July 10, 2008, after Harris stated that she had not provided some information to DFCS because she did not want other people involved, the following transpired:

THE COURT: Did you understand what the court order was?
MS. HARRIS: (Unintelligible)
THE COURT: No, ma'am. Listen. Don't interrupt. The court order was for you to provide the information. Why didn't you provide the information?
MS. HARRIS: I did not want them to contact the people my children were (unintelligible) with.
Harris's counsel explained that the children were with their mother "back in the home to avoid having other persons involved with this case so that she can -- that the Department can have access to the children." The Court responded:

That's not what the Court ordered to be done. She doesn't have the discretion of saying I don't want somebody else to know. When the Court has ordered her to do something she has to do it. Do you understand that, ma'am?
Counsel responded, "I do, Your Honor."

The DFCS representative later reported to the court that Harris had given "the names and the cities," but no addresses or telephone numbers at the location where the children had been staying part time. He did not know if Harris knew the information or not. The court directed Harris to provide her contact number for one of the fathers, and the following exchange took place:

MS. HARRIS: I don't have [the phone number for contacting one of the fathers] with me.
THE COURT: Place -- I find her in willful contempt of the Court. Place her in the common jail of Henry County for 20 days or until all information is given that has been requested. Take her into custody.
[COUNSEL]: Your Honor --
THE COURT: No, ma'am. Take her into custody.
(Emphasis added.)

Later in the hearing, a DFCS representative said that she did not understand the problem because she had spoken with the children and was astounded that Mrs. Harris would claim that she did not know the fathers' addresses because they were all in the local area and the children spent a lot of time with their fathers. The court responded:

I understand completely. This is a game they are playing. It is over with. She's been found in willful contempt of the Court's order. She's given 20 days in jail and that's where she is. She can purge herself of the contempt by providing all of the information that is requested. That's the order of the Court. Get me an order.
The court's written judgment reiterated that Harris was in "willful contempt" of the June 26 protective order as well as the Court's "verbal order" of July 10, sentenced her to 20 days in jail, and noted that she might purge herself of her contempt "by providing the Department with all of the information requested by the Department, including but not limited to, all contact information for each of the children's fathers."

"The distinction between [criminal and civil contempt] is that criminal contempt imposes unconditional punishment for prior acts of contumacy, whereas civil contempt imposes conditional punishment as a means of coercing future compliance with a prior court order." (Citation omitted.) Alexander v. Dekalb County, 264 Ga. 362, 364 (444 SE2d 743) (1994). Because Harris could obtain her freedom from imprisonment and purge herself of the contempt by providing the information that had been requested of her, we consider whether the evidence sufficed to hold Harris in civil contempt.

At this July 10 hearing, neither Harris nor her counsel ever asserted ignorance of the content of the June 26 order, including its provisions that she cooperate with DFCS. On the contrary, Harris admitted that she did not comply because "[she] did not want [DFCS] to contact the people" her children were staying with. As such, the record supports a determination that the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion when it found Harris in contempt for disobeying its prior order. See Chatfield v. Adkins-Chatfield, 282 Ga. 190, 192-193 (1) (646 SE2d 247) (2007) (finding no abuse of discretion in civil contempt finding where the record showed that a party disobeyed the trial court's oral order).

Judgment affirmed.

Miller, C.J., Blackburn, P.J., Ellington and Mikell, JJ., concur. Johnson, P.J., and Barnes, J., dissent,

BARNES, Judge, dissenting.

Because the juvenile court did not explicitly order Harris to give contact information to DFCS, she did not violate the court's order by not doing so before the hearing at which she was held in contempt. The evidence also shows that Harris did not refuse to cooperate, but thought that she would satisfy the court if she gave DFCS access to the children by bringing them back to live with her. Finally, Harris did not act in contempt by failing to bring contact information to the hearing and being unable to provide it to DFCS in court. Accordingly, I cannot concur with the majority affirming the finding of contempt against Harris.

"The defenses to both civil and criminal contempt are that the order was not sufficiently definite and certain, was not violated, or that the violation was not wilful (e.g., inability to pay or comply). Schiselman v. Trust Co. Bank, 246 Ga. 274, 277 (271 S.E.2d 183) (1980)." Warehouse Carpet Sales v. S.C.J. Assocs., 170 Ga. App. 352, 353 (317 SE2d 328) (1984). Here, the juvenile court found Harris in contempt for violating both the court's June 26, 2008 order and its July 10, 2008 protective order. But the court's June 26 oral order simply granted DFCS "all the requests required" by the department in its pre-hearing petition, in which DFCS sought to require Harris to cooperate with it, among other things. Additionally, the court required DFCS to take certain actions as follows:

I'm going to require DFCS to make a home visit today to see what the status of the issue concerning the home is to make sure we know exactly what is going on concerning home -- I mean, her home and where she's living. I'll require DFCS to contact to get all the information of where these children are located, addresses, telephone numbers, and people that are responsible. I'm going to require you to contact them today or tomorrow to find out what the status of these children are and what means of support they are receiving and what type of educational programs they are receiving this summer, if any. Now she says she's picking up the two boys three days a week. I want to know who is looking after these children the other days and what type of supervision they have. Anything else?
[DFCS REPRESENTATIVE:] That's it, Judge. (Emphasis supplied.)
The "you" who was directed to contact the people responsible for caring for the children seems to be the DFCS representative, not Harris, and is at best ambiguous. Thus, Harris was explicitly ordered only to cooperate, and should be given the benefit of the doubt absent express directives.

While the majority contends that Harris violated the June 26 order by failing to cooperate with DFCS, the record shows that the juvenile court did not find her in contempt on July 10, 2008, for failing to cooperate. It found her in contempt for failing to supply contact information. "`A person cannot be found in contempt of a court order or writ which was not directed to him.'" In re Hadaway, 290 Ga. App. 453, 457 (659 SE2d 863) (2008).

The SAAG who had been present at the June 26 hearing was not present at the July 10 hearing. Another attorney was "covering" for her, and stated that it was his understanding that the Court had initiated the hearing after receiving a letter from the DFCS case manager who said Harris had not supplied contact information for all of her children. The juvenile court asked the substitute attorney if the department had everything it wanted. He replied no. The court asked Harris's lawyer for the information, and when she began to explain, cut her off and asked the case manager what information she needed. The manager said she needed information on one of the children, and the court asked Harris where the child was. Harris replied that the child was now residing with her, and when the court asked why she had not given the manager contact information initially Harris began to explain. The court cut her off again.

THE COURT: Did you understand what the court order was?
MRS. HARRIS: (Unintelligible.)
THE COURT: No, ma'am. Listen. Don't interrupt. The order was for you to provide the information. Why didn't you provide the information?
MRS. HARRIS: I did not want them to contact the people my children were (unintelligible) with.
Harris's attorney explained that there was a possibility that one of the fathers would injure Harris or the children if he were aware of the DFCS investigation, and that she had discussed the issue with the previous SAAG. She continued,

But the children are now residing back in the home to avoid having other persons involved with this case so that she can -- that the Department can have access to the children.
THE COURT: That's not what the Court ordered to be done. She doesn't have the discretion of saying I don't want somebody else to know. When the Court has ordered her to do something she has to do it. Do you understand that, ma'am?
HARRIS' ATTORNEY: I do, Your Honor.
Harris' attorney reiterated that they had talked to the previous SAAG about not contacting this particular father, and the SAAG "had no problem" and "didn't persist further about contacting the father." When asked, the substitute SAAG did not know anything about this agreement, nor did the DFCS manager.

Harris testified that when the manager came for a home visit and sought information on the two of four children who were not home at that time, Harris responded that she would not feel comfortable about DFCS contacting the children's fathers because they would use the information against her. Harris said she offered to bring the children back home instead, and the manager said, "Okay, I will deal with that when I get back off of vacation. I will talk to my supervisor about it. "So, Harris said, she "was under the impression that [DFCS] just needed to have . . . access to the children." The court responded:

THE COURT: No one has the right to change a court order except the Judge and you are responsible for complying with the order, period.
MRS. HARRIS: Sir, I did not understand that. I honestly did not understand that.
THE COURT: Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Have a seat outside, interview the children, find out exactly what is going on, and then we'll deal with this.
While "ignorance of the law" is not an excuse in most instances, when one is found guilty of contempt for willfully violating the court's order, ignorance of the order is a defense. Here, the trial court's ambiguous order orally granted the Department's petition to require Harris to cooperate with DFCS. Harris testified that she believed she was cooperating with them by bringing all her children back to live with her so that the Department had access to them.

"The appropriate standard of proof in a civil contempt case is preponderance of the evidence," In re Harvey, 219 Ga. App. 76 (464 SE2d 34) (1995), and here, no evidence supports the conclusion that Mrs. Harris willfully violated the court's order directing her to cooperate with DFCS.

After a delay during the July 10 hearing, the substitute SAAG reported to the court that one of the children's fathers was incarcerated; Harris had provided the address but not telephone number of the father of two of the children, who apparently had no contact with them; and Harris provided only the name and city of the father of the fourth child. Harris explained that she had to contact that father's mother to get in touch with him, and the court ordered Harris to provide that phone number, despite her attorney's protestation that contacting him might be a threat to the mother and child. The following exchange then took place:

MRS. HARRIS: I don't have [the phone number for contacting one of the fathers] with me.
THE COURT: Place -- I find her in willful contempt of the court. Place her in the common jail of Henry County for 20 days or until all information is given that has been requested. Take her into custody.
HARRIS' ATTORNEY: Your Honor --
THE COURT: No, ma'am. Take her into custody.
HARRIS' ATTORNEY: How will she be able to get this information, Your Honor, if she is incarcerated?
THE COURT: That is up to you to help her. You are her lawyer, you can figure that one out. I have given ya'll all this time to do that, to provide the information, she's under a court order to do it, she's going to do it, it's that simple.
HARRIS' ATTORNEY: Your Honor --
THE COURT: Excuse me. And then I'm going to handle the issue of when and where the Department can use it. But this idea of playing games with the Court is not going to happen. You can make arrangements to talk to your client sometime. They can tell you how you can get to her at the jail.
HARRIS' ATTORNEY: Your honor, if I may put it on the record.
THE COURT: Sure.
HARRIS' ATTORNEY: Prior to us returning back in here you indicated and informed the opposing party that they must contact Michell Clark, the actual SAAG in this case, regarding having information with the father. And [Mrs. Harris] was not told that she needs to provide that information with the father's number or the father's mother's number prior to leaving. The phone number for that is at her home and that's unreasonable in my opinion for her to have that information at this juncture. When she talked to DFCS on the 26th, the last time we were in court, she explained to them that she didn't want the father involved and she didn't want anybody else involved and the DFCS worker said that that would be no problem, she would contact her thereafter. And thereafter would have been this week. And I understand that explanation is somewhat trying to [controvert] the court order but at this juncture prior to leaving we were not -- she was not informed that she needed to have that information at this point. You could give her a time line, maybe two days, three o'clock today to get that information and at that point if she has not gotten it then she would be held in contempt.
THE COURT: . . . She's been found in willful contempt of the court's order. She's given 20 days in jail and that's where she is. She can purge herself of the contempt by providing all of the information that is requested. That's the order of the court. Get me an order.
The juvenile court's written order states that the court found Mrs. Harris in contempt of the court's orders of June 26, 2008, and of July 10, 2008.

As noted, however, the order of June 26, 2008, however, directed DFCS to secure the information. It did not order Mrs. Harris to provide it, but only ordered her to cooperate with DFCS. Further, contrary to the majority's conclusion, the transcript quoted above shows that the juvenile court did not find Harris in contempt for failing to cooperate with DFCS. The juvenile court's comments show that the court believed that it had ordered Mrs. Harris to provide the information and that she had violated the order by failing to do so.

Moreover, even though the court's protective order entered July 10, 2008, allegedly "relating back to the date of oral pronouncement on June 26, 2008," does order Mrs. Harris to "provide the Department with the contact information for the children, including address and phone number [sic] where the children are residing for the summer," she could not violate this order before it was actually issued and filed with the clerk.(fn1) In the Interest of K.D., 272 Ga. App. 803, 806 (613 SE2d 239) (2005).

Therefore, I conclude that the juvenile court erred by finding Mrs. Harris in contempt. See In Re Hadaway, supra, 290 Ga. App. at 457; American Express Co. v. Baker, 192 Ga. App. 21, 23 (2) (383 SE2d 576) (1989).

Accordingly, as I would reverse Mrs. Harris's civil contempt citation, I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion.

I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Johnson joins in this dissent.

_____________________
Footnotes:

FN1. We do not address Harris's enumeration of error concerning the trial court's finding that her children were deprived because it was the subject of a separate appeal in Case No. A09A0217, which was dismissed.

FN1. "A nunc pro tunc entry is for the purpose of recording some action that was taken or judgment rendered previously to the making of the entry, which is to take effect as of the former date. Such an entry cannot be made to serve the office of correcting a decision however erroneous, or of supplying non-action on the part of the court." Pendergrass v. Duke, 147 Ga. 10, 11 (2) (92 SE 649) (1917). (Emphasis supplied).

GA

Slip OpinionsChild custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - IN THE INTEREST OF J.J.

2009-08-06T10:45:00.000-04:00

2009-GA-0720.113
IN THE INTEREST OF J.J.
IN THE INTEREST OF J.J. et al., children.

A09A1330.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

July 17, 2009

BERNES, Judge.

Following the grant of her application for discretionary appeal, the biological mother of J.G.J. and J.W.J. appeals from the juvenile court's order terminating her parental rights.(fn1) She contends that the juvenile court erred by refusing to provide a copy of the termination hearing transcript to her counsel for use in her application for discretionary appeal. She further contends that there was insufficient evidence that the children were deprived or that the deprivation was likely to continue, and that inadequate consideration was given as to whether the children should be placed with the paternal grandmother. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

On appeal from an order terminating parental rights, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the juvenile court's determination. In the Interest of T.J., 281 Ga. App. 308 (636 SE2d 54) (2006). So viewed, the evidence showed that on May 24, 2006, the minor children J.G.J. and J.W.J. came into the emergency care of the Cherokee County Department of Family and Children Services ("DFCS") after their paternal grandmother reported to the police that the mother and father were abusing illegal drugs. The grandmother suspected illegal drug activity in part because the parents had left J.G.J. and the grandmother at Wal-Mart at 10:00 p.m. and had not returned until the following morning. At the time of their removal from their parents' custody, J.G.J. was four years old and J.W.J. was one year old. The family was living in one half of a mobile home with one room and two beds and lacked their own means of transportation. The children appeared dirty and hungry.

Both parents admitted to recent use of cocaine, and the mother tested positive for marijuana and cocaine at the inception of the case. The mother later admitted that she had a history of using marijuana that dated back several years. The father by his own admission had a chronic unrehabilitated drug and alcohol problem.

The juvenile court entered an order finding the children deprived based upon substance abuse by the parents, lack of stable and suitable housing, and physical neglect. The mother consented to the order finding the children deprived and later consented to an extension order that included the same finding. She did not appeal either order.

DFCS developed a reunification case plan that was reviewed by the mother. Among other things, the plan required the mother to obtain and maintain a stable source of income to support her children; pay $20 per month in child support; obtain and maintain stable housing adequate for herself and her children; obtain a substance abuse assessment and follow all treatment recommendations; submit to random drug screens; and remain drug free for six consecutive months. The juvenile court entered a supplemental order incorporating the terms of the case plan.

Initially, DFCS placed the children with the paternal grandmother, but the grandmother surrendered them to DFCS the next day after the case manager learned that the grandmother lived in a tractor trailer that she drove cross-country. While the grandmother later purchased a home, she ultimately was not approved as a placement for the children because of her job as a long-distance truck driver that kept her on the road for three months at a time. After the grandmother surrendered the children back to DFCS, the children were placed in foster care, where they remained as the mother attempted to comply with her reunification case plan.

After more than a year had passed and the mother still had not completed her case plan, DFCS petitioned to terminate her parental rights in August 2007. The hearing on the termination petition was conducted in February 2008. The DFCS case manager, the professional counselor who assessed the mother, and the mother herself testified at the hearing, among other witnesses.

The DFCS case manager testified that the mother had failed to complete many of her case plan goals despite repeated efforts by DFCS to assist her. Specifically, the mother had not achieved stable employment and had failed to pay child support. The mother had started several different jobs over the course of time her children had been in DFCS custody, but she never remained at any one job for more than a few months. At the time of the hearing, the mother was unemployed. Nor could the mother rely upon a steady income from the father, whose own work history was sporadic and who had been employed in a new waiter job for a little over a month. Additionally, the mother had paid a total of only $40 in child support since her children entered foster care.

The case manager further testified that the mother had not achieved stable housing adequate for herself and her children. The mother and father had lived at six different residences since the children had been placed in DFCS custody, none of which had been approved for children. Two weeks before the hearing, the mother signed a month-to-month lease and moved into a private residence with the father, but the case manager opined that the residence would not be approved for children based on its outside appearance and the extensive amount of debris and overgrown vegetation surrounding it.

With respect to substance abuse issues, the case manager testified that the mother did not complete a substance abuse assessment until six months after the children entered foster care. The professional counselor who performed the assessment recommended that the mother participate in twelve substance abuse group sessions and submit to random drug screens at least twice per month. According to the case manager, the mother had only attended two group sessions. Furthermore, while the mother had consistent negative drug screen results when she agreed to cooperate, she had refused to submit to hair follicle tests on several occasions. The mother also continued to reside with the father, who had tested positive for cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine while the children were in foster care, and who tested positive for marijuana on the day of the termination hearing.

Lastly, the case manager advised that the children had been in the same foster care placement since October 2006. The children were doing well and their foster parents wished to adopt them. Based on her training and experience, the case manager believed that termination of parental rights was in the children's best interests because they needed stability and parents who could provide for their basic needs.

The professional counselor who performed the substance abuse assessment testified that his treatment recommendations were based upon the mother's admission to a history of marijuana use and to having tested positive for marijuana and cocaine at the beginning of the case. He also opined that a refusal to submit to drug screens indicates resistance to treatment and the need for additional intervention to prevent relapse. According to the counselor, a refusal to submit to a drug screen is normally documented as a "dirty drug screen" because it suggests that the person knew they would test positive and was actively seeking to hide that result.

The mother testified at the hearing and admitted that she had smoked marijuana spiked with cocaine at the time the children were taken into DFCS custody. The mother also conceded that she had been recently terminated from her job for using inappropriate language, that she was currently unemployed, and that she had not paid any child support in over a year. As to housing, the mother conceded that it had been four years since she "actually had housing for more than a few months[] that [she] actually maintained and paid rent on." Although the mother further testified that she planned to separate from the father, she admitted that she was currently living with him despite her awareness of his ongoing substance abuse problem and his repeated failures to seek treatment. Moreover, the mother admitted to refusing to take hair follicle tests despite her knowledge that each refusal would be treated by DFCS as a positive test result, although she claimed that she refused the tests because of anxiety over having her hair cut. Finally, while the mother alleged that she had completed twelve substance abuse group sessions at a medical facility in South Georgia, there was no verification or confirmation of her attendance at such sessions in the correspondence from that facility which she introduced into evidence at the hearing. Moreover, the correspondence indicated that the mother's treatment at the facility had not been completed.

After hearing the testimony and admitting a certified copy of the prior record in the case, the juvenile court terminated the mother's parental rights and ordered that the children be placed in the permanent custody of DFCS for the purpose of adoption. Following the denial of her motion for new trial, the mother filed an application for discretionary appeal, which we granted.(fn2) This appeal followed.

1. The mother first argues that the juvenile court erred by refusing to provide a copy of the termination hearing transcript to her counsel for use in her application for discretionary appeal. In making this argument, the mother provides no citations to the record to support her position. We have independently reviewed the record and likewise have found no support for her argument that the juvenile court refused to provide a transcript until the discretionary appeal was accepted. Furthermore, even if the juvenile court had refused to provide a transcript, and even if the refusal was error, the mother cannot show harm resulting from the refusal given that we granted her application for discretionary appeal. Under these circumstances, we discern no ground for reversal. See generally In the Interest of B.B., 267 Ga. App. 360, 361 (1) (599 SE2d 304) (2004) ("In order for error to warrant reversal, an appellant must show harm as well as error.") (footnote omitted); In the Interest of C.M., 258 Ga. App. 387, 388 (2) (574 SE2d 433) (2002) (appellant cannot rely merely upon argument but must show error in the record).

2. The mother next contends that there was insufficient evidence to support the termination of her parental rights. Before terminating a parent's rights to his or her child, the juvenile court must follow the two-prong test set out in OCGA § 15-11-94.

In the first prong, the court must decide whether there is present clear and convincing evidence of parental misconduct or inability. OCGA § 15-11-94 (a). Parental misconduct or inability, in turn, is proven by evidence showing: (1) that the child is deprived; (2) that lack of proper parental care or control is the cause of deprivation; (3) that the cause of deprivation is likely to continue or will not likely be remedied; and (4) that continued deprivation is likely to cause serious physical, mental, emotional, or moral harm to the child. OCGA § 15-11-94 (b) (4) (A). In the second prong of the termination test, the juvenile court must consider whether termination of parental rights would be in the best interest of the child. [OCGA § 15-11-94 (a).]
(Citation omitted.) In the Interest of R.N.H., 286 Ga. App. 737, 739-740 (650 SE2d 397) (2007). With respect to this test, we defer to the juvenile court's fact finding, weighing of the evidence, and credibility determinations, and our review is limited to addressing "whether any rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the mother's right to custody should have been terminated." (Citation omitted.) In the Interest of K.N., 272 Ga. App. 45 (611 SE2d 713) (2005).

Here, the mother argues that there was insufficient evidence that her children were presently deprived and that the deprivation was likely to continue and not be remedied because she substantially completed her case plan. We disagree.

(a) The Children Must Be Deprived. Clear and convincing evidence supported the finding that the children were presently deprived. As previously noted, the mother consented to the juvenile court's order finding that the children were deprived based upon substance abuse, lack of stable and suitable housing, and physical neglect. She thereafter consented to a finding of continued deprivation and twelve month extension of DFCS custody. The mother did not appeal from these prior orders, and, as explained below, DFCS has demonstrated that the conditions upon which these findings of deprivation were based still existed at the time of the termination hearing. Hence, the mother's failure to appeal the deprivation orders precludes her from contesting the juvenile court's finding of deprivation. See In the Interest of R.N.H., 286 Ga. App. at 740 (1) (a); In the Interest of T.P., 270 Ga. App. 700, 704 (1) (608 S.E.2d 43) (2004).

(b) Cause of the Deprivation Must Be Likely To Continue. Clear and convincing evidence likewise supported the finding that the deprivation was likely to continue and would not be remedied. By the time of the termination hearing, the mother had been given almost two years to complete her case plan. Nevertheless, there was evidence that the mother still had not secured stable housing or employment, had paid no more than $40 in child support, and had attended just two of the twelve recommended substance abuse group sessions. See In the Interest of S.H., ___ Ga. App. ___, *9-10 (1) (Case No. A08A1615, decided on March 20, 2009) (lack of stable housing and employment, failure to pay child support, and failure to complete drug treatment program supported finding of continued deprivation); In the Interest of T.J., 281 Ga. App. 308, 312 (1) (636 SE2d 54) (2006) (failure to pay child support, or to prepare financially for the children's addition to the household by obtaining stable employment, weighed in favor of continued deprivation); In the Interest of A.K., 272 Ga. App. 429, 436 (1) (c) (612 SE2d 581) (2005) ("Repeated failure to comply with case plan goals may show that the cause of the deprivation is likely to continue.") (footnote omitted). Furthermore, the mother's repeated refusal to submit to drug screens "showed disregard for her reunification case plan," In the Interest of D.W., 294 Ga. App. 89, 92 (1) (c) (668 SE2d 533) (2008), and in the opinion of the testifying professional counselor, indicated resistance to treatment and the need for additional intervention to prevent relapse. Finally, the fact that the mother continued to live with the father who had not undergone treatment for his chronic drug and alcohol abuse problem, and had failed to insist that he undergo such treatment, counseled in favor of likely continued deprivation. See In the Interest of A.D.M., 288 Ga. App. 757, 765 (3) (655 SE2d 336) (2007); In the Interest of T.J., 281 Ga. App. at 313 (1).

While there was conflicting evidence on several of these points, "it is the role of the juvenile court, not this Court, to weigh the evidence and resolve conflicts therein." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) In the Interest of K.C.W., ___ Ga. App. ___, *13-14 (2) (b), n. 4 (Case No. A09A0943, decided on May 6, 2009). And although the mother testified that her intention was to separate from her husband until he received proper treatment, that she had "full confidence that [she] could get another job quickly," and that she planned to continue repairing her current residence, "judging the credibility of her good intentions was a task for the juvenile court." (Citation omitted.) In the Interest of R.S.H., 269 Ga. App. 292, 297 (a) (603 SE2d 675) (2004). Accordingly, the juvenile court was entitled to conclude that the deprivation was likely to continue.

3. Finally, the mother contends that the juvenile court erred by awarding permanent custody of the children to DFCS for purposes of adoption because neither the court nor DFCS adequately considered whether the children should be placed with the paternal grandmother. We do not agree.

After terminating a parent's rights to his or her child, the juvenile court should

first attempt to place the child with a person related to the child by blood or marriage or with a member of the child's extended family if such a person is willing and, after study by the probation officer or other person or agency designated by the court, is found by the court to be qualified to receive and care for the child, if the court determines such placement is the most appropriate for and in the best interest of the child. . . .
OCGA § 15-11-103 (a) (1). Because "there is no conclusive preference given to relatives, the juvenile court is afforded wide discretion to determine whether a child should be placed with a relative or kept in a stable foster home." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) In the Interest of K.W., 283 Ga. App. 398, 402-403 (2) (641 SE2d 598) (2007).

In the present case, the evidence showed that DFCS had investigated the paternal grandmother as a possible placement for the children but had not approved her because of her current job obligations. In this respect, the paternal grandmother testified that she was a long-distance truck driver who was away from home for months at a time. Although she claimed that she would quit her truck driving job if the children were placed in her custody, she had yet to do so even though the children had been in DFCS custody for almost two years. Moreover, the children had already been placed with the grandmother once before, but a day later she had surrendered them back to DFCS. On the other hand, the children had been in the same foster home since October 2006 and had bonded with their foster parents, who wished to adopt them. In light of this evidence, the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the children should be kept in their stable foster home rather than placed with the paternal grandmother. See generally In the Interest of K.W., 283 Ga. App. at 402-403 (2); In the Interest of G.C., 263 Ga. App. 503, 506-507 (2) (588 SE2d 297) (2003).

Judgment affirmed.

Smith, P.J., and Phipps, J., concur.

_____________________
Footnotes:

FN1. The juvenile court also terminated the parental rights of the father, but he is not a party to this appeal.

FN2. At the time the application was granted, this Court interpreted OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (12) to require an application for discretionary appeal in cases where, as here, the order terminating parental rights was entered on or after January 1, 2008. But the Supreme Court of Georgia subsequently ruled that an application for discretionary appeal is required only in cases where the petition to terminate parental rights was filed on or after January 1, 2008. See In the Interest of K.R., 285 Ga. 155 (674 SE2d 288) (2009). See also OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (12); Ga. L. 2007, p. 554, §§ 3, 8. Because the termination petition in this case was filed in August 2007, the mother was entitled to file a direct appeal under In the Interest of K.R. Nevertheless, the issue is moot in light of our grant of her application for discretionary appeal.

GA

Slip OpinionsChild custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody - Taylor accused of making threats

2009-06-21T09:08:00.002-04:00

Taylor accused of making threats

By John Barr
ESPN.com
Archive

FBI agents in Texas have seized recordings of threatening jailhouse phone calls made by Crista Ann Taylor, the ex-girlfriend of Dallas Mavericks All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki, to the player's attorney, two sources with knowledge of the investigation said.

The sources told ESPN that agents from the FBI's Beaumont field office last week obtained recordings of phone calls Taylor made from the Jefferson County Correctional Facility.

Nowitzki
Taylor's prison phone calls allegedly contained threats as well as demands for money from Nowitzki, whom she has referred to in numerous media interviews as her former fiancé, and many of Taylor's phone calls were made to the offices of Nowitzki's Dallas-based attorney, the sources said.

Several media reports erroneously reported that the FBI was involved in Taylor's arrest in early May at Nowitzki's Dallas-area home. The FBI's involvement in the case did not occur until Taylor allegedly began making the threatening phone calls from prison, according to the sources.

The news of the FBI's involvement in the case comes on the same day that court documents have surfaced indicating Nowitzki is seeking sole custody of Taylor's unborn child, if it is proved that he is the father.

Neither Taylor nor her attorney could be reached for comment. Nowitzki and his attorney also could not be reached for comment. However, Nowitzki's father recently told the German newspaper Bunte that he felt his son was receiving pressure from Taylor.

"What comes over daily from America from this woman is almost like blackmail," Jörg Nowitzki said.

It is not clear if Nowitzki's father was referring to Taylor's prison phone calls when he made his comment to the German newspaper.

On June 12, Nowitzki's attorney filed a petition in Dallas County, Texas, requesting that genetic testing be conducted upon the birth of Taylor's child in order to determine paternity.

The petition for custody, filed by attorney Katherine Kinser, refers to Nowitzki and Taylor simply by their initials, "D.N." for Nowitzki and "C.T." for Taylor. Kinser could not be reached for comment.

"In the event that it is determined that [Nowitzki] is the biological father of child, the best interests of the child will be served by the appointment of [Nowitzki] as sole managing conservator," the petition says.

The Dallas Morning News reported Friday that this is not Taylor's first child-custody issue. The paper quoted one of Taylor's former housemates, Gerrick Fallon, who said Taylor gave birth to three other children who are now teenagers. Fallon told the newspaper Taylor did not raise any of the other three children, including the first one born in 1995, according to the newspaper.

Taylor was arrested on May 6 at Nowitzki's Dallas home on a warrant out of Jefferson County, Texas, for a theft of services charge. Taylor told The Dallas Morning News she learned of her pregnancy only after she was incarcerated in Dallas and administered a pregnancy test.

On Monday, Taylor was served with Nowitzki's petition for custody at the Jefferson County Correctional Facility, according to a report in the Beaumont Enterprise.

"We have to determine the best options, legally, to protect her rights and those rights of her unborn child,'' Taylor's attorney, Scott Renick, told the Enterprise. "Our only focus in this case is to ensure the laws of the state of Texas are complied with to protect any and all rights Taylor has in delivery [of the baby] and her rights as a mother," Renick told the newspaper.

Taylor is accused of failing to pay for $11,000 worth of dental work in December 2004. She was indicted on the charge in 2006. Authorities in two states have identified numerous aliases for Crista Ann Taylor, 37, with the most recent one being Crystal Taylor, the name she was using when she was arrested in Nowitzki's home. Taylor told The Dallas Morning News she hid her criminal record from Nowitzki.

Taylor's trial date has been set for July 27. She also faces a 2000 probation violation charge in Missouri. She is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Nowitzki, who on Friday turned 31, has mostly rebuffed questions about Taylor beyond acknowledging to reporters that he's "going through a tough time in my personal life." Amid the turmoil, Nowitzki averaged 34.4 points and 11.6 rebounds during the Mavericks' series with Denver and was named to the All-NBA first team.

In his last public comments on the subject on May 14 before returning to Germany, Nowitzki said: "It's been a tough two weeks, or however long it's been. That's really all I can say about it."

John Barr is a reporter for ESPN's Enterprise Unit. He can be reached through e-mail at jbarr-espn@hotmail.com Information from ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein and The Associated Press was included in this story.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Battle - Split decision in custody battle

2009-01-30T09:22:00.001-05:00

Child Custody Battle - Split decision in custody battle

By Gordon Dritschilo Herald Staff

Neither Lisa Miller nor Janet Jenkins got everything they asked for Wednesday in Rutland Family Court.

Miller sought to eliminate or reduce the number of court-ordered visits her former civil-union partner has with her daughter, Isabella. Judge William Cohen denied that motion.

Jenkins sought primary child custody of the 6-year-old girl. Cohen also denied that motion, but put Miller on notice that continued violation of court orders would put her custody in jeopardy. He also ordered Jenkins get custody of the child in Vermont for five weeks during the summer.

"At some point, Miss Miller's behavior is forcing a hand," Cohen said.

Isabella was born in 2002, when Miller and Jenkins were still together. Since they split up in 2003, they have been locked in a custody battle.

Jenkins lives in Fair Haven. Miller moved to Virginia, where state law specifically rejects the legitimacy of same-sex unions.

In court Wednesday, her attorney, Stephen Crampton, said she did not comply with Vermont court orders because she did not believe Virginia authorities would enforce them.

The jurisdictional battle went before the supreme courts of each state, with Vermont's asserting jurisdiction and Virginia's eventually agreeing. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

The daylong hearing Wednesday started with Miller testifying that Isabella became increasingly distraught after visits with Jenkins. A counselor who has worked with Isabella also testified, characterizing Isabella's stress as typical of a child caught in a custody battle.

Jenkins testified on Miller denying her access to Isabella, her desire to see more of the child — consistently referring to her as "my daughter" — and her willingness to grant Miller more access as custodial parent than Miller has granted her.

Jenkins said she was repeatedly told through their attorneys that Miller would not make the child available for court-ordered visits in Virginia and that she went eight months without seeing Isabella before a visit over Martin Luther King Day weekend.

She testified that she was ready to take custody of Isabella, that she lived a short walk from Fair Haven Grade School, that she has experience with 6-year-olds from her work running a daycare and that she had a counselor lined up to help Isabella with any transition issues.

"My daughter could set down roots because I plan to live there, grow old there and turn my house over to her," Jenkins said.

Crampton argued that the girl's behavior was a cause for concern and that Virginia's willingness to enforce Vermont's court orders would assure Miller's future compliance.

He also argued that a change of custody would amount to punishing the child for her mother's misdeeds, saying the disruption of moving from Vermont to Virginia in the middle of the school year was not in Isabella's best interest.

If the court felt it needed to transfer custody, Crampton said, it should at least wait until the summer.

A third attorney representing Isabella argued that as the child had only ever known a home with Miller, transferring custody to Jenkins would not be in her best interest.

Cohen said Vermont law seeks to maximize social contact between a child and both parents, and that the Vermont Supreme Court has held that Jenkins is one of Isabella's parents.

He said Miller was put on notice early on that her refusal to comply could lead to a loss of custody, and that she had repeatedly violated the court's orders. However, he said Jenkins had not met the "high burden of proof" needed to show that a change of custody was in Isabella's best interest.

Crampton said Miller was grateful to retain custody.

"She's still pursuing appeals in Virginia, but we are hopeful we will not be back in Vermont for a while," he said.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Homosexual Men Given Custody of Children Rather than Own Grandparents

2009-01-29T10:15:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Homosexual Men Given Custody of Children Rather than Own Grandparents

By Tim Waggoner

EDINBURGH, Scotland, January 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After a two-year-long child custody battle with an Edinburgh court, two young children have been placed into the hands of two homosexual men rather than with the children's own grandparents.

According to the Daily Mail, the court found the grandparents, who are 46 and 59, to be too old to adequately raise the children. The grandparents could not afford to continue the expensive legal process, and therefore resolved to give the children up for adoption provided the new adoptive parents would be a loving mother and father.

Soon after the ruling, however, the couple was informed that their five year old grandson and four year old granddaughter, who had been living in a foster home during the custody battle because their mom was a heroine addict, were being put into the care of a homosexual couple.

“It breaks my heart to think that our grandchildren are being forced to grow up in an environment without a mother figure. We are not prejudiced, but I defy anyone to explain to us how this can be in their best interests," said the grandfather.

"The ideal for any child is to have a loving father and a loving mother in their lives. But in our society the mother is generally the cornerstone of the family and the most important person for a young child."

But the grandfather was forced to cease his protests, being told by social workers that, "You can either accept it, and there's a chance you'll see the children twice a year, or you can take that stance and never see them again."

The social workers said that they would "certainly look" into allowing the grandparents to see their grandchildren "when you are able to come back with an open mind on the issues."

"If you couldn't support the children [in the homosexual adoption], if you were having contact and couldn't support the children, and were showing negative feelings, it wouldn't be in their best interests for contact to take place," added the social worker.

The social workers confessed that several heterosexual couples had been approved to take custody of the children, and it was well documented in a social work report that the four year old girl "has tended to be more wary of males in general."

The grandparents have not seen their grandchildren since the decision was made to place the children with the homosexual couple.

“Granny, I'm not going to see you for a very long time,” said the five-year-old boy at their last meeting. 'Maybe when I'm in Primary Seven I'll be able to see you.'

'We'll try our very hardest to see you soon,' said his visibly emotional grandmother, according to the Mail.

The boy told his grandfather that, "If you want to see me you will have to pick me up because I will be a very long way away. We are getting a new mummy and daddy."

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Scotland, Peter Kearney, commented on the issue, saying, "This is a devastating decision which will have a serious impact on the welfare of the children involved.

"There is an overwhelming body of evidence showing that same-sex relationships are inherently unstable and reduce the life expectancy of those involved.

"With this in mind, the social work department has deliberately ignored evidence which undermines their decision and opted for politically correct posturing rather than providing stability and protection."

Homosexual adoption was approved in Scotland in 2006 despite the fact that an official consultation process showed that 90 percent of people opposed it.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Dads - Weekend dads

2009-01-29T10:09:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Dads - Weekend dads

By P. SELVARANI

When a marriage ends, one parent may have to take a less active part in the children’s lives. P. SELVARANI speaks to several fathers who have lost the child custody battle. PETE treasures every moment that he gets with his son Adam; he had to go without seeing him for a year.

“It was hell not knowing where he was for an entire year,” said Pete, who now enjoys spending two weekends every month with eight-year-old Adam under a temporary custody arrangement, following an acrimonious divorce after six years of marriage.

Pete, however, is more fortunate than fathers such as Shariffudin, who was recently allowed by the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court to visit his four children on alternate weekends, after being denied access to them for the last three years.

These visitation rights are confined to the home of his ex-wife as Shariffudin is not allowed to take the children out of the house or keep them overnight.

Pete, despite it being a temporary arrangement, is determined to be the best dad he can be while Adam is in his custody every first and third weekends of the month.

“I don’t usually plan the itinerary unless it’s a special occasion, I let him decide what he would like to do. Usually, he has a long list of wants, including visiting his grandparents and cousins. It’s two weeks of pent-up excitement, you know.”

But Adam’s list of “to do” things for these weekends, said Pete, is never exhausting.

“He is easy to please and has simple demands like going to the playground, shooting basketball, playing some football or watching cartoons.”

After picking him up on Friday evenings, father and son usually have a fast-food meal and then head to Pete’s home where Adam will tune in to the Cartoon Network.

“By 9pm, he will ask for his PlayStation and insist that I join him. So I will give him my undivided attention. No reading, watching telly or answering phone calls until it’s time for him to go to bed.”

Breakfasts on the Saturdays are also a special father-son bonding time as Adam will put in his request the night before.

“So whether it’s nasi lemak or curry puffs, I make sure I prepare it for him.”

Then they are off to the mall for some shopping, or to catch a movie.

“Sometimes we go swimming or cycling at Taman Tasik Perdana. Once a month, or once every two months, we will visit my parents and his cousins.”

After dinner, father and son return home to just hang out together, chatting, watching the telly or playing games.

“I make myself free when Adam is with me for the weekend and I don’t commit myself to anything unless he agrees to it.

“For instance, if there is a birthday party or a wedding dinner to attend, I check with him whether he wants to go.

“Most times we can’t do everything that he has planned and it breaks my heart to see the disappointment on his face. So I assure him that we will do it during his next visit.”

Pete regrets that he rarely gets the opportunity to spend special occasions such as birthdays or festive holidays with his son.

“It’s his birthday tomorrow but I will make up for it with something special during his next visit.”

Pete also does not have access to his son at any other time, not even over the phone.

So between these visits, life goes on for Pete.

“I’ve got my career, good friends and family to support me. You learn to cope, you learn to live. But it’s really not about me. Adults have the means to get over this but can the child? I try to be the best father that I can because I am blessed to have Adam.”

Haris, however, is one of the more fortunate weekend dads as he is still on good terms with his ex-wife, from whom he parted ways two years ago.

His three children — two boys aged seven and four, and his two-year-old daughter — spend every weekend with him.

“We do not do anything extraordinary unless it’s a special occasion. Most weekends, I take them to my parents’ home where we spend time doing things like a regular family.

“In the evenings, I take them to the park. Sometimes, we go watch a movie.

“It helps that my parents and my siblings are there because I can’t manage all three of them on my own. It can be exhausting!”

Although Haris admits to indulging his children occasionally, he is firm with them when the situation calls for it.

One monthly routine that his children look forward to is a trip to the hair salon as it always precedes a visit to the neighbourhood 7-Eleven for sweets and chocolates.

Haris also knows that as a father, he is responsible for teaching his children how to perform the solat (prayers).

“As my eldest son is now seven, I have to start teaching him how to pray now and ensure that he reads the Quran. So I do this on Saturday nights.”

In the circumstances, Haris and his ex-wife try their best to provide as normal an environment as they can for their children.

“We celebrate their birthdays together and we make it a point to attend all their school functions, including concerts and Sports Day. We also jointly make decisions involving them.”

The children also know that anytime they need to speak to their dad, he is just a phone call away.

“I am fortunate that nothing else has changed much. It is not the most convenient arrangement but I think my kids will turn out okay.

“My former wife and I are both mature enough to work things out for the sake of the kids. And it helps to have the support of our families.”

For Jack, however, life has been a nightmare these past five months ever since his wife of 15 years walked out on him and took along their three teenaged children.

“I came home from work one day to find them gone. I don’t know where they are. I tried calling them but they would not pick up my calls. Even the children have moved to another school but I don’t know where. I have given up looking for them,” he said.

Despite feeling the loss, Jack does not believe in “crying over spilt milk”.

His relationship with his wife had not been smooth and he had anticipated her leaving but he did not expect it to turn out this way.

His wife has filed for divorce.

“I hope when my children are older, they will realise what happened. I don’t know where they are but they know where to find me,” he said.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Divorced father seeks equal protection

2009-01-29T10:06:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Divorced father seeks equal protection
Custody challenge cites discriminatory decisions

By Bob Unruh - WorldNetDaily

A case is developing in a Tennessee divorce dispute that one attorney believes could impact child custody decisions nationwide because it calls down the authority of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause to help fathers who are good parents and want to remain involved in their children's lives.

The attorney, Stanley Charles Thorne, told WND the issue in the case at hand will be significant, since there are 3,000 divorce or custody cases in courts across the U.S. daily.

And according to the Children'sJustice.org website, those cases leave nearly 38 percent of the fathers with no access or visitation rights to their children. In addition, four in 10 mothers report they interfered with the father's visitation to punish him at least once, half the mothers see "no value" in the father's continued contact with his children and 70 percent of the fathers wanted more time with their kids.

Thorne told WND he is serving as a consultant in the case of Jeremy Hopkins, a successful lawyer, in his attempts to be treated the same as his daughter's mother, Elisabeth, also a successful lawyer, in their custody of Kate.

Since the mother left the family in Tennessee and took Kate to Pennsylvania about two years ago, Jeremy Hopkins has been allowed only sporadic days with his daughter.

"All I want for my daughter is for her to have mom and a dad," Jeremy Hopkins told WDEF-TV in Chattanooga recently.

Michael McCormick of the Institute for American Families said the system is set up to pit a mother against a father in a marital dispute, when it should be working to accommodate the needs of a child for both a mother and father.

"The courts are going to pick a winner and a loser and when they do that, the child ultimately loses," he told the station at a recent rally regarding the case.

"If we look at what's happening to our society we can trace the social pathologies just as increased rates of incarceration, early sexual activity for girls, truancy issues related to the family breaking down and the social fabric of our society is breaking down in terms of the family breaking down, we are being weaken as a nation and we need to change that," McCormick added.

He estimates 17 million fathers nationwide do not have fair access to their children, and about 3 million mothers have the same problem.

Thorne, who has 25 years experience as a lawyer, most recently has specialized in constitutional issues in family courts, representing parents and children on various issues.

He said the case now is entering the briefing stage, and the next court hearings are expected sometime in April.

The family's life was disrupted by the mother's decision to leave, Thorne said, but the relationship of the father and daughter was aggravated by a "family court system that cares for neither of them while it keeps them mired in a swamp of never-ending legal hassles just to be together."

The case began about Christmas 2006 when Kate was 1. Then the mother, Elisabeth, moved to Pennsylvania with Kate, and since then Jeremy has been away from his daughter 86 percent of the time – 633 of the previous 733 days.

At least four judges have been involved in the case, "but none of those … ever ordered the parenting plan required by the Tennessee Legislature and the Tennessee Supreme Court," Thorne's statement said.

"Many constitutional issues will be decided by Kate Hopkins' case," he continued. "Perhaps the most important is where the Constitution draws the line to protect the relationship between an innocent child and an innocent parent from government interference."

The dispute came to a head just before Christmas 2008, following the expiration of the most recent visitation order. Jeremy Hopkins, on a scheduled visit with his daughter, decided to have her stay in Tennessee until a court hearing on the required court-ordered visitation plan.

Instead, he was arrested for interfering with a custodial plan, "even though there was no court order in force," and his daughter was returned to Pennsylvania. The warrant later was quashed by a judge, who essentially determined it never should have been issud.

Thorne questioned the legal system ordering a child taken from one parent "when the child is in no danger … and the child has never been abused, neglected, or harmed" and given to another parent absent a court order.

The 14th Amendment states: "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

"The only way to reconcile the parental rights of each fit parent is to divide the time of the child," Thorne suggested.

"This case affects not just the people of Tennessee," he said. "This is huge."

"In this case … this child now aged 3 over the past two years has been rendered fatherless, not because of anything dad did, but because of the way the system tilts," he told WND.

A WND message left with the attorney for the mother did not generate a response.

But Thorne said the cases of the 17 million people across the U.S. who are noncustodial parents also involve more than 18 million children. Not only are the parents denied access to their children, grandparents, uncles and aunts are cut off as well.

Thorne insisted judges should approach custody issues from a different perspective. They are not, he said, dividing property. Instead, they are making rules that impact the equal and sometimes competing parental relationships and rights of two individuals.

"They are not dividing one set of parental rights," he said. "Each parent has their own parental rights and prerogatives as an outgrowth of that relationship with the child."

Numerous organizations are working for the rights of fathers in disputes like the Tennessee case, including FathersCustody.org, LongDistanceParenting.org, Fathers False Charges Helpline, Fathers National Lawyers Referral, WinningCustody.com and FathersRights.org.

The Children'sJustice.org website noted very few children in divorced families are satisfied with the time they have with their fathers and only 11 percent of the mothers value the father's input regarding issues with their kids, well below the 45 percent who value input from teachers and doctors.

The site reported another national study found that more than three-quarters of non-custodial fathers are not able to visit their children as ordered by court decisions.

The issue of the treatment of fathers in custody disputes was the subject of a commentary in WND before the election.

Mike McCormick of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children and Glenn Sacks, who writes on men's and fathers' issues, said the Democrats' 2008 campaign platform targeted fathers for fault.

"The platform's 'Fatherhood' plank puts all blame for father absence squarely on men and promises to 'crack down' on fathers who are behind on their child support. It also promises to ratchet up draconian domestic violence laws that often victimize innocent men and separate them from their children," McCormick and Sacks found.

"It's doubtful that many dads wake up in the morning and say to themselves, 'My child loves me and needs me; my wife/girlfriend loves me and needs me – I'm outta here.' Research shows that the vast majority of divorces, as well as many break-ups of unmarried couples, are initiated by women, not by men, and that most of these do not involve serious male transgressions," they said.

The result? "The father is generally relegated to visitor status and often can only participate in his children's lives if the mother allows it. Courts tilt heavily towards mothers in awarding custody and enforce fathers' visitation rights indifferently. In most states, mothers are free to move their children hundreds or thousands of miles away from their fathers, often permanently destroying the fathers' bonds with their children."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Dads - Mom Endangered Child While Having Truck Stop Sex for Free Ride, Cops Say

2009-01-28T14:18:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Dads - Mom Endangered Child While Having Truck Stop Sex for Free Ride, Cops Say

N.H. — A Texas woman is facing child endangerment charges after allegedly bringing her 10-year-old son into the cab of a tractor-trailer at a New Hampshire truck stop and having sex with the driver in exchange for a ride to Texas.

Police say 34-year-old Crystal Walden of Hurst, Texas, was drunk when she brought her underdressed child to the Travel Center of America truck stop in Greenland on Saturday night in an attempt to return to Texas to her husband.

Police say Walden and her children moved to the Portsmouth area three days before an incident with her mother, who claimed in court that she has child custody of the children. They were reportedly staying at a family member's home.

Walden is charged with two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child for getting into an "unknown male's vehicle and engaging in sexual intercourse" in front of the child and for not having the child properly dressed for the cold weather. A police affidavit indicates the child did not have a coat or shoes on when they found him at the truck stop.

According to the affidavit, Walden said people at the child's new school talked about snowpants and "I didn't know what that was."

Court documents indicate the boy told police his mother knocked on the first truck they saw and asked for a ride to Texas. He indicated the driver said "he would if his mother would have sex with him."

Authorities have not indicated whether the truck driver will face any charges.

The judge conditioned Walden's release on her not having any unsupervised contact with her children. Her next court appearance is Feb. 11.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Battle - CUSTODY DISPUTE MAY HAVE LED TO FATAL POLICE STANDOFF

2009-01-28T14:15:00.001-05:00

Child Custody Battle - CUSTODY DISPUTE MAY HAVE LED TO FATAL POLICE STANDOFF

Some new information has been brought forward in the case of a man who died earlier this month during a police standoff at a gas station in San Jose. Residents of the town of Bryan, Texas say a child custody dispute may have touched off the incident.

Texas television station KBTX reports family members believe 23-year-old Curtis Burlson came to San Jose in an attempt to resolve a child custody dispute. They think something apparently went wrong to prompt the violent incident.

Authorities say Burlson took his own life during a six hour siege that started when he reportedly struggled with an officer, took the policeman's gun and tried to shoot the officer. Burlson then remained in a USA Gas station for six hours before police found him dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Friends in his Texas hometown say the incident was out of character for Burlson, who they remember as a mild mannered high school varsity basketball player. Relatives speculate that Burlson may have become distraught over a child custody dispute that they say brought him to San Jose.

Burlson is believed to have traveled to the Bay Area to see his ex-wife and young son. Friends say Burlson recently finished a hitch in the Navy and planned to study dentistry. Funeral services were held last Saturday in Texas.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers: More fathers should receive child custody

2009-01-28T14:08:00.003-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers: More fathers should receive child custody

by Frederick Melott Jr.

Valdese, NC - I just found out that the Burke County court system has taken a step forward. There was a custody case between parents. It's always an ugly situation, but what matters most is the children. I have to say I'm proud that the court acknowledged that it is possible for the father to be the better parent.

I also had a child custody case with Burke County. I did not get custody because they said that I felt my military career was more important than coming home to seek custody of my children. If anyone out there is knowledgeable on military matters they know what a "stop loss" and "stop movement" is. Burke County said that I chose not to return home from overseas service to seek the custody of my children. President Bush made an order saying that I could not return. Tell me how Burke County can say something so asinine.

I have not given up yet! Even though Burke County does not care about my kids, I still do!

At last some other father was heard. Thanks and praise to the judge who saw the truth today. You give me hope!

Now, all America needs to wake up and move forward. It's time to see the truth that the mothers are not always the best parents.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Husband of missing Granville mom seeks custody

2009-01-27T10:35:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Husband of missing Granville mom seeks custody

GRANVILLE COUNTY -- The case of a missing Granville County mother is turning into a battle over child custody. Kelly Currin Morris disappeared last September on the same day her home mysteriously caught fire.

Her husband Scott Morris - who detectives call a person of interest in the case - is seeking permanent custody of the couple's 5-year-old daughter Haley.

According to court documents, a judge has granted Scott Morris and his parents temporary child custody. The documents claim they are unaware of Kelly's whereabouts. It also suggests the case has hurt Scott Morris's towing business, leaving him unemployed and dependent on his parents for financial support.

The Morris's family attorney recently placed a legal notice in a local paper, giving Kelly 40 days after February 21, 2009 to respond to the child custody complaint. If she fails to respond, the court could grant permanent custody of her daughter to Scott and his parents.

Kelly's family declined to comment about the custody case. But, they remain focused on the search for any sign of the missing mother. Volunteers are welcomed at the Currin home on Old Weaver Trail Road every Saturday and Sunday. The searches now focus on abandoned wells in the surrounding area.

"We need closure," Juanita Currin told Eyewitness News. "Kelly's got two young children and they need to know what happened to their mother. She didn't just run away and leave them behind."

Anyone with information about Kelly Currin Morris case is urged to contact the Granville County Sheriff's Department.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Battle - 'Gossip Girl' star wins child custody round in court

2009-01-27T10:30:00.001-05:00

Child Custody Battle - 'Gossip Girl' star wins child custody round in court

After two days of testimony, a judge has ruled that "Gossip Girl" star Kelly Rutherford can take her 2-year-old son with her to New York this weekend when she resumes filming on the CW hit, according to People.com.

The judge in the child custody case ruled that Rutherford may fly out with son Hermes on Sunday for two months of location work. The actress' estranged husband, Daniel Giersch, will travel with Rutherford and his son. He will be allowed to care for the boy while Rutherford is on set. Giersch had previously argued that New York would not be a good environment for their son, as he would likely be watched by a stranger while Rutherford was busy filming.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Child custody changes debated

2009-01-27T10:27:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Child custody changes debated

By BRIAN DUGGAN - Bismarck Tribune

Testimony on a bill that would rewrite the state's child custody laws started in a Senate committee on Monday, while one Bismarck mother says she's concerned it could add more legal costs for divorced parents.

The bill would require married and unmarried parents to draft binding parenting plans when going through divorce proceedings. If the parents were to disagree about something after the parenting plan is filed with the courts, they could go to a "parenting coordinator," who would act as a mediator to settle the dispute, potentially keeping the parents out of court.

"This system is in desperate need of improvement," said Rep. Shirley Meyer, D-Dickinson, who chaired the interim committee that approved the bill last year. "It is an attempt to take away the adversarial nature of (divorce) proceedings."

Parents would be required to pay for the parenting coordinator, which would not include any state or county aid, said Sherry Mills Moore of the State Bar Association of North Dakota.

Nancy Carlson, who said she divorced in 1993 and has sole custody of her teenage son, told the Senate Judiciary committee that she is concerned that the parental coordinator's powers are undefined and potential legal costs could increase.

"I think there are too many what-ifs with the parental coordinators," she said.

Parental coordinators likely would be people with social work and mediating backgrounds, and would be appointed to families who could afford them. Moore said the parental coordinator, which would not be required, would offer a "swifter method of solving disputes."

The bill, drafted by a state bar association task force, also would change some of the definitions involved with child custody law. For example, "visitation" would now be "residential responsibility."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Father, doctor testify; girl at center of gay custody battle

2009-01-26T10:22:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Father, doctor testify; girl at center of gay custody battle

By Courtney Anderson - Herald Staff Writer

The custody dispute between two Sharon women over their daughter continued Friday with the girl’s biological father testifying via video from prison in Waynesburg, Pa.
Jeremy Archer, who is also a defendant in the case, said he supports Lisa Lewis’ request to see the girl. He said Ms. Lewis, his aunt and the girl’s “second parent,” should be able to see the 7-year-old “whenever she wants to.”

Ms. Lewis is seeking visitiation and eventually partial child custody of Jeannette Rowan’s biological daughter, whom she helped to raise from birth until age 5 when the two women split up. Ms. Rowan has said Ms. Lewis is not capable of caring for the girl.
“I don’t care if there’s a relation or not,” Archer said. “If you’re living with someone five years and there’s a child there, you’re helping raise that child,” he told Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

Archer, who is serving a life sentence for the 2005 murder of Kristen Truchan of Shenango Township, said he’s known Ms. Lewis his entire life and lived with her for a few months when he was 14 after he’d gotten into trouble.

Then, when he was released from prison in late 2000 after serving time for assault and burglary, Archer said he moved in with Ms. Lewis and her partner, Ms. Rowan.

Ms. Lewis thought Ms. Rowan became pregnant by Archer through artificial insemination, but Archer testified that he and Ms. Rowan secretly had a sexual relationship.

He said Ms. Rowan told him she wanted to get pregnant and that they would “be together” and Ms. Lewis would move out.

Archer testified Ms. Rowan said that she was also telling Ms. Lewis that the two women would raise the baby together and he was “nothing but a sperm donor.”
About a week after Ms. Rowan learned she was pregnant, Archer said, she threw him out of the house.

“I assumed she used me, got what she wanted and didn’t need me anymore,” he said.
He said Ms. Rowan then called his parole officer and he was ordered not to contact anyone who lived in her home.

Ms. Rowan’s attorney Joann Jofery asked him if that was because he’d threatened and hit Ms. Rowan, but Archer said Ms. Rowan had hit him and he offered to take a lie detector test.

“Ms. Rowan is nothing but a liar and a manipulator. She’ll say or do anything to get what she wants,” Archer said.

Archer said he initially believed Ms. Lewis knew what was going on. “I thought that they had both played me.”

Years later, Ms. Lewis told him she was “shocked” to learn of his relationship with the woman who was her partner for 11 years, Archer said.

Archer said he has never actually met the girl and only saw her once at his grandparents’ home.

“Jeannette Rowan immediately grabbed her and ran out of the house,” when she saw him that day, Archer said.

Archer said he learned from court papers that his daughter has medical problems. He said he didn’t really know how serious the girl’s condition is and that no one has asked him for his medical records as her father.

He said that Ms. Lewis told him she thought the girl’s medical problems might not be as serious as Ms. Jofery was making them out to be, noting that family had a photograph of the girl playing outside when she was supposed to be sick.

The child’s pediatrician, Dr. Cheryl Duffy of Hermitage, testified about the girl’s medical treatment.

She suffers from “myriad” conditions, Ms. Jofery said, which the doctor said include mitochondrial disorder, autism, asthma, weak muscles and a recently diagnosed immune deficiency.

The mitochondrial disorder is “complicated” and unusual, Dr. Duffy said, and even experts don’t fully understand it. The disease affects everyone differently, and she said that the girl’s cells don’t have the normal ability to produce energy. The child can get fatigued, is on many medications and takes vitamins, Dr. Duffy said.
The symptoms would appear benign to the untrained eye, Dr. Duffy said.

“I rely a lot on her mother’s assessment of how she’s doing,” Dr. Duffy said.
Under questioning by Judge Christopher J. St. John, Dr. Duffy said there’s no physical activity the girl can’t engage in as long as she has the strength. She also said there was no reason she knew of that Ms. Lewis couldn’t handle the girl’s diet and medications or learn to deal with her medical conditions.

Dr. Duffy also said the child is making “pretty good progress” in therapy and her notes show that the girl’s symptoms are “fairly well managed,” noted, Ms. Lewis’s attorney, J. Jarrett K. Whalen.

The girl should be in second grade, Dr. Duffy said, but is in a day-care program and schooled at home through the computer. That frees her time for occupational and physical therapy and to be monitored for her disease, the doctor said.

Dr. Duffy said the child occasionally uses a wheelchair when she gets tired, has a special car seat and is supposed to wear ankle braces to help with her weak muscles.
Ms. Jofery brought up the fact that Ms. Lewis smokes, which would have an adverse effect on the girl. If the girl were allowed to visit her home, Ms. Lewis said, she’d have it professionally cleaned and no longer permit smoking inside the house or car.

One of Ms. Rowan’s claims is that Ms. Lewis was not as involved in parenting the child as she would have expected.

Dr. Duffy said – and Ms. Lewis testified – that Ms. Lewis attended some of the girl’s doctor’s appointments over the years, but not all of them because of her work schedule.

The judge asked the doctor how she knew the two women were co-parents of the girl.
“I’m pretty sure at some point I asked because they were always together,” Dr. Duffy said.

About 1,000 pages of medical records, some of which Whalen said he just received last week, included paperwork citing Ms. Lewis as the child’s emergency contact and co-parent, Whalen noted.

And Dr. Duffy helped Ms. Lewis fill out paperwork for family leave from work to help care for the girl, Whalen said.

Whalen entered as evidence a photograph of the girl outside on the sidewalk without her leg braces. Dr. Duffy said she should wear them, but on questioning by Ms. Jofery said it would do no permanent damage to go without them and that they might bother the girl by the end of the day. The time on the photo was 7 p.m., Ms. Jofery said.

Whalen went through records with Dr. Duffy and noted that there were notes from her office saying the girl could go back to school or therapy with “no restrictions.” The most recent of them bears Wednesday’s date, Whalen noted, and there was one issued in November, two in October and one in July.

Progress notes show the child visited Dr. Duffy 44 times between Jan. 2, 2008, and Jan. 8, 2009, Whalen said. He said that of those, the “general objective” section of the forms note the girl “mildly ill” three times and “moderately ill” once. The others all said she was well developed and nourished and showed no respiratory distress.

Dr. Duffy said that paperwork was not the girl’s diagnosis, which would be listed under “assessment” but did not dispute what Whalen said.

The girl’s illness has been mentioned as one reason for delays in the custody case for two years. Due to speedy-trial rules the case has been dismissed and refiled twice. Each time Ms. Lewis has had to prove that she has parental standing to file for custody.

Such disputes are problematic for gay couples in Pennsylvania because there are no legally recognized marriage or civil unions, which means there are no legal divorce proceedings in such cases.

Testimony is to resume on Tuesday.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Mom loses custody for alienating dad

2009-01-26T10:09:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Mom loses custody for alienating dad
TheStar.com - News - Mom loses custody for alienating dad

Ruling a 'wake-up call' for parents who use kids to punish ex-partners

Tracey Tyler - LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER

In a stunning and unusual family law decision, a Toronto judge has stripped a mother of child custody of her three children after the woman spent more than a decade trying to alienate them from their father.

The mother's "consistent and overwhelming" campaign to brainwash the children into thinking their father was a bad person was nothing short of emotional abuse, Justice Faye McWatt of the Superior Court of Justice wrote in her decision.

The three girls, ages 9 to 14, were brought to a downtown courthouse last Friday and turned over to their father, a vascular surgeon identified only as A.L.

Their mother, a chiropodist identified as K.D., was ordered to stay away from the building during the transfer and to have her daughters' clothing and possessions sent to their father's house.

McWatt stipulated that K.D. is to have no access to the children except in conjunction with counselling, including a special intensive therapy program for children affected by "parental alienation syndrome." The mother must bear the costs.

Harold Niman, the father's lawyer, said the decision serves as a wake-up call to parents who, "for bitterness, anger or whatever reason," decide to use their children to punish their former partners.

"Maybe if they realize the courts will actually step in and do something and there is a risk of not only losing custody, but having no contact with their children, they'll think twice about it," Niman said in an interview.

McWatt's judgment was released Jan. 16 and published on legal databases this week. By yesterday, it was a hot topic within the family law bar.

The judge said awarding A.L. sole custody was the children's only hope for having a relationship with their father, given their mother's long-running transgressions.

These include ignoring court orders, shutting the door in A.L.'s face when he came to collect the children and refusing to answer the phone when he called to say goodnight. (He was granted telephone access to say good night on Monday, Wednesday and Friday). At times, she also arranged for police to show up when her daughters had overnight visits with their father.

Eventually, K.D. cut off contact altogether, refusing to allow A.L. to see or speak with his daughters. He was reduced to shouting goodnight to them through the door of their home, often not knowing whether they were there.

"It is remarkable that A.L. has not given in to the respondent's persistence in keeping his children from him over the last fourteen years and simply gone on with his life without the children as, no doubt many other parents in the same situation would have and, indeed, have done," McWatt said.

The mother squandered several chances to change her behaviour and is unable to accept it is in her children's best interests to have a relationship with their father, the judge said.

Nicholas Bala, a Queen's University law professor who specializes in family law, said "badmouthing" or negative attitudes by one parent toward another is quite common among separated couples. But in recent years, the justice system has begun to understand the harmful effects of the worst form of this behaviour.

In most cases, the problem is resolved through counselling, where parents are encouraged to accept they'll both always be in their children's lives, said Bala. "I tell them, `... if you're the survivor, you'll be going to the other's funeral, not because you love that person, but to support your children.'

"Having said that, there are some people – and I think some of them are suffering from personality disorders – who will not respond to therapy and will not respond to directions from judges."

Transferring custody is a last resort, because "it can be quite dramatic and traumatic" – yet sometimes better than the alternative, said Bala.

"We often talk about the best interests of the child, but often it's the least detrimental alternative, really."

Bala said courts are unlikely to take such a drastic step without hearing expert testimony about what's happening in the family. A child may be avoiding a parent for legitimate reasons such as physical or emotional abuse.

McWatt heard testimony from Barbara Fidler, a Toronto mediator and clinical psychologist who predicted eight years ago the three girls were at risk of becoming alienated from their father.

The Office of the Children's Lawyer argued the family dynamics could not continue.

Fidler said research points to long-term damage in people alienated from a parent in childhood.

Children are more susceptible at about age 10 or 11, after their brains have developed to the point where they can hold positive and negative information about a parent.

If what one parent is saying about the other doesn't accord with their own perceptions, they can become confused.

In some cases, the only way out of the emotional conflict is to take one parent's side. The child can even begin inventing his or her own reasons for hating the other parent, the court was told.

Early intervention is best, Niman said."Really, parental alienation is a process. If you can nip it in the bud, that's the best advice I can give to clients.

"Because the longer it goes on, the more difficult it can be to undo."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - New ways to resolve child custody disputes

2009-01-26T10:07:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - New ways to resolve child custody disputes

By Heinz de Boer

Despite significant changes being made to the Children's Act, some offices of the Family Advocate have yet to fully implement new procedures that will cut back on the sometimes harmful High Court litigation over child custody.

And while South Africa may have the Rolls Royce of constitutions, and some of the most progressive laws in the world, the law did not always reflect the social reality, Human Rights Commission chairman Jodi Kollapen has said.

Kollapen was a guest speaker at a national conference that drew together Family Advocates from across the country in Durban.

The conference was aimed at sensitising advocates who deal with complex family and child orientated issues to the new principles and procedures associated with the Act.

Certain sections of the Children's Act 38 of 2005 became operational on July 1, 2007, while the remaining sections are scheduled to be promulgated during the first quarter of this year.

Hailed for allowing negotiated settlements in custody battles, the new Act has also been praised for allowing unmarried mothers and fathers access to mediation, rather than having to litigate in the High Court before child visitation arrangements were made.

But much still needs to be done before all Family Advocate offices implement the guidelines, Fathers for Justice spokesman Asif Suleiman said.

"Significant progress is being made in family law, and gender bias is being addressed. But whether that translates into action is still doubtful.

"Recent experiences with the Family Advocates Office suggest some offices are adopting reform, but others are stagnating and are still entrenching maternal bias," he said.

Asked about the local situation, Suleiman said: "It is a little disappointing to see the progress that has been made in Durban. Despite this, the pilot project where unmarried fathers or mothers can walk into an office and ask for mediation is fantastic progress. Aggressive litigation, sometimes when people are not thinking clearly during a divorce, needs to be dropped in favour of a child's best interests."

The conference also explored the role of African tradition in custody. Kollapen said the stereotypical idea of families, headed by a mother and father, was fast changing.

"Parenting has changed and is more than an extension of power. It is an exercise of rights and responsibilities. We are increasingly in a society that demands rights, but very few accept the responsibilities."

Kollapen further warned Family Advocates not to extend their personal biases to the workplace.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Police find child on highway, mom injured in ditch

2009-01-16T16:33:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Police find child on highway, mom injured in ditch

HARLAN, Ky. (AP) -- Kentucky State Police are investigating an apparent hit-and-run that left a young girl wandering a busy highway alone at night and her mother injured in a ditch.

State police in Harlan say they received a report on Tuesday night that a 2- or 3-year-old girl was wandering alone on U.S. 119 in nearby Bell County.

By the time troopers arrived, a couple had stopped and gotten the child to safety. Police later found her mother, 25-year-old Wendy Warren of Kettle Island, unconscious in a ditch about 150 yards away.

The Harlan Daily News reports Warren was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where she is in critical condition. Her daughter, Emily, was released into the child custody of her father.

Trooper Brent Sizemore said the mother and daughter were reportedly walking along the road's shoulder when they were hit.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Full trial sought over order to put two dads on birth certificate

2009-01-16T16:26:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Full trial sought over order to put two dads on birth certificate

By Janet McConnaughey - The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana attorney general has asked a federal judge to reconsider his ruling that both fathers' names be added to the birth certificate of a boy born in Shreveport and adopted by a gay couple from out of state.

Court papers filed Wednesday in New Orleans ask U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey to hold a full trial or ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to interpret the state law at the heart of the matter.
Zainey ruled without a trial in December, saying the facts are so clear that none was needed. He ordered the state Office of Vital Records to put the names of Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith on the amended birth certificate that is standard for adoptions.

The mother gave them child custody of the boy, identified in court papers as "J.C. A.-S." and "Infant J," shortly after his birth in late 2005. The adoption became formal in April 2006 in New York, where officials decided earlier this month that same-sex couples could list both their names on their children's birth certificates.

Under Louisiana law, a single person or a married couple may adopt a child but two single people may not. However, Zainey ruled that because the adoption became formal in New York, the Louisiana Office of Vital Records must recognize that state's adoption law on this matter.Smith and Adar said that because they didn't have a birth certificate for their son, they had problems getting him insured through Smith's health insurance and were detained at an airport because a security guard thought they had kidnapped the boy.The child is black; Smith and Adar are white.

Both matters were resolved, and worries that they might recur "are conjectural, hypothetical and non-imminent," said S. Kyle Duncan, a lawyer with the Louisiana attorney general's office.

The brief also contends that Adar and Smith don't have any legal right to sue because they could get a birth certificate with either Adar's or Smith's name on it. Problems they say have been caused by the lack of a birth certificate wouldn't exist if they accepted the certificate offered, Louisiana contends."That is just offensive. I can't believe the state actually made that argument," said Kenneth D. Upton Jr., of Dallas, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. attorney representing Adar and Smith.

He compared it to defending restrictions overturned decades ago on blacks by saying, "You don't have a transportation problem — you just sit in the back of the bus."If Zainey doesn't call for a full trial, Duncan argued, he should ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to decide whether a birth certificate listing an unmarried couple as parents would violate state law.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Gay father seeks more lenient visitation with children

2009-01-16T16:16:00.003-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Gay father seeks more lenient visitation with children

Fayette Co. divorce court bans him from taking youth around ‘homosexual partners and friends’

By RYAN LEE Jan. 16, 2009An attorney for a gay father from Fayette County asked the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday to lift a child custody stipulation that prevents the father from bringing his four children around his “homosexual partners and friends.”

Eric Mongerson also challenged several other decrees from his 2005 divorce from Sandy Mongerson, including a court order that he pay his ex-wife $800 a month in alimony.“There is no evidence that he and his friends had any inappropriate behavior in front of the children,” Eric Mongerson’s attorney, Hannibal Heredia, said to the Supreme Court justices. “There just isn’t any evidence in this record to justify this.”

After Monday’s court proceeding, Eric Mongerson said in an interview that his divorce process was already underway when his ex-wife added a clause seeking to keep their children away from his gay friends.“I did not expect it,” Eric Mongerson said. “I accidentally brought a friend down to a high school marching band presentation — that was after the divorce was filed and heard — and I didn’t think anything of it.“My friend stayed far away from the kids, far behind me,” he continued. “I said hello to my daughter, and my ex saw someone behind me and went absolutely ballistic and accused me of [causing] my daughter to drop her baton, etc., etc. It was just blown out of proportion, then that was added to my divorce decree after-the-fact.”

Mongerson, who is granted four hours of visitation with his children each week, said the divorce decree is far-reaching. “In general, that will never allow me to have my children present in front of any friends, whether they’re gay or straight — no one hands you a card saying are you gay, straight, heterosexual, bi, whatever,” Mongerson said.

Sandy Mongerson and her attorney, Lance McMillian, declined an interview request .During arguments before the justices, McMillian said the former couple’s children were in therapy because of their father’s homosexual conduct, and argued that Eric Mongerson should focus on spending quality time with his children alone.“You have these four hours with your children, don’t have anyone else there,” McMillian said. “Heal the wounds first, then we can talk about expanding [visitation rights] later.”

McMillian also said the children discovered male pornography at the family home, and that Eric Mongerson subsequently exposed his son to another pornographic magazine, providing “a context or understanding” for why the ban on gay friends was included in the divorce decree.

Mongerson called the accusation of exposing his children to pornography an attempted fatherly moment that blew up in his face.“My older son was living with me at the time, and I introduced a Playboy magazine to him and tried to show him Ms. September,” Mongerson said. “He said ‘I don’t want to see it, dad,’ and I left it at that.”

Eric and Sandy Mongerson were married for nearly 20 years before Sandy initiated a divorce in 2005 due to her husband engaging “in a series of affairs with other men.” McMillian argued that the $800 monthly alimony awarded to Sandy Mongerson was “very modest” considering how her home and life were upended by the divorce.“She was a stay-at-home mom for 20 years — he wanted her to stay at home and raise their children, which she did,” McMillian said. “As a result, she loss the ability to invest the time to build a career during her peak earning years. So essentially, she’s completely starting over.”

Heredia argued that alimony, in addition to the child support Eric Mongerson is paying for his three minor children, forces him to live on only $420 a month.

The court has up to six months to rule.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Boost to fathers in custody matters

2009-01-15T15:32:00.003-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Boost to fathers in custody matters

CHENNAI: Men of Chennai suffering broken marriages have just got a boost. Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), a non-government organization working to ensure more rights to fathers over children, launched its city chapter on Thursday.

About two lakh children are affected every year by broken marriages and are raised by single parents, according to the Bangalorebased NGO’s estimate.

Kumar Jahgirdar, the president of the organization, argues that a childcentric approach must be adopted for child custody. Custody matters should not be mixed up with allegations, by the couple, against each other, he says.

“Children have rights to their fathers also. However, now the judiciary is biased in favour of women,” he says.

This bias in favour of women keeps children away from their fathers, he says. “In cities, five out of two - or 40 per cent - of marriages end in divorce.

Judicial processes are slow and it takes five years even to get visitation rights.
Even then it is for one hour in a month, something like a TV serial,” says Jahgirdar.

“Moreover, the judiciary has a patriarchal attitude, which assumes that the job of the man is to earn and that of the woman is to raise the child. This leads to a bias in favour of women,” he says.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Mother used secret FBI file in custody fight

2009-01-15T15:00:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Mother used secret FBI file in custody fight

COLIN FREEZE

Even by acrimonious standards of child custody battles, this one is a stunner: A Canadian mother got hold of a secret FBI file showing that her ex-husband is flagged as a potential terrorist, in an attempt to prove that she was the better parent.

Many details are being kept secret, including the couple's identities, as well as the father's whereabouts and alleged affiliations, and whether the custody case has been resolved.

What is known flows from a U.S. criminal case against a New York Police Department sergeant. Yesterday in Manhattan, Sergeant Haytham Khalil pleaded guilty to illegally tapping into a sensitive database for a Canadian acquaintance.

Court documents show that at 9 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2007, Sgt. Khalil - a friend of the mother in the custody case - ran checks on the father, initially looking in standard police databases.

Then, half an hour later, he used a colleague's password to log into the much more sensitive U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's "terrorist screening center."

Court filings show that Sgt. Khalil sent his findings north to Canada and that the mother, in turn, gave the dossier to her family-law lawyer "to be used in relation to the child custody proceeding."

The lawyer who got the file called police.

Once the Mounties were presented with the file, they called the U.S. embassy to explain that there was a problem. They told the FBI's legal attaché they had "come across a Canadian citizen" who possessed a classified dossier, according to the court file.

A lengthy RCMP-FBI investigation followed. Confronted by the police last fall, the mother admitted that Sgt. Khalil was her source. She said that "after Khalil discovered that [she] was involved in a child custody proceeding ... [he] sent the document," reads an FBI affidavit.

Sgt. Khalil was arrested last fall. Sentencing is scheduled for April.

A defence lawyer plans to argue against any jail time, given that the disclosure is a small blot on Sgt. Khalil's otherwise "exemplary" career in law-enforcement.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Adoptive Custody Battle Takes New Turn

2009-01-14T13:31:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Adoptive Custody Battle Takes New Turn
State Takes Custody Of Boy Caught Between Biological, Adoptive Families

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - A Sutherland woman gave up child custody of her biological son on Thursday, the latest stage in a long and emotional legal battle with the child's adoptive parents.

Megan Morgan drove 200 miles to Grand Island to give up her 14-month-old son, Brett, whom she has been caring for since last February.

A Knox County judge ordered the boy removed from the home of a Verdigre couple who had adopted him because they didn't disclose on the adoption paperwork that they were pregnant.

Morgan said she stopped supporting the adoption at that time, because she wanted her son to be an only child with his adopted family and because she felt the couple was deliberately dishonest.

The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the judge's decision in December, saying Brett should not have been taken from his adoptive parents.

Morgan said the trip to take her son back to the adoptive family was one she'd had weeks to prepare for, yet the reality quickly set in.

"(It's) like my heart has been torn out," she said.

She and other family members huddled together outside a medical office, waiting for the adoptive parents to arrive. She said the Nebraska Supreme Court ruling left the family in shock.

"They're all very surprised at how things are going now," she said. "They didn't think the Supreme Court would rule the way it did."

Morgan said she vowed to continue her long custody battle.

"He might have to go for a little bit, but he'll be back home. We are not done fighting," she said.

She and Brett entered the office, expecting an emotional goodbye. She said she did not expect the latest twist in the case, which happened outside of the view of cameras.

"As of tonight, the child is in the physical and legal custody of the Nebraska Children's Home Society," said Morgan's attorney, P. Stephen Potter.

The Executive Director of the Nebraska Children's Home Society issued a statement Thursday saying, "As the adoption agency with professional responsibility for the placement, NCHS had planned and facilitated a process intended to minimize stress for the child. We regret that did not happen. We are not able to discuss further details at this time."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Quebec father appeals court decision revoking daughter's grounding

2009-01-14T13:24:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Quebec father appeals court decision revoking daughter's grounding

MONTREAL — A father from Gatineau wants the Quebec Court of Appeal to quash a lower court's decision against the punishment he gave his daughter after she continually defied him.

Quebec Superior Court ruled last June the father could not forbid his 12-year-old daughter from going on a school trip to the 400th anniversary celebrations in Quebec City last year.

The girl's mother, who is divorced from the father, approved of the trip but the signatures of both parents were needed on the school consent form.

The Grade 6 student then got a lawyer and took her father to court.

The father, who gave up child custody of the girl, says he wants the appeal court to clarify his parental rights because he still has custody of his three other children.

The father's lawyer argued today that parenting decisions belong to parents and not judges.

The child's lawyer said children should have recourse to challenge their parent's decision in cases they consider important.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Kelly Rutherford's Custody Battle Boils Over

2009-01-14T13:09:00.004-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Kelly Rutherford's Custody Battle Boils Over

by Gina Serpe

Gossip Girl's got nothing on Kelly Rutherford's real-life drama.

Just one week after the teen-soap vet filed for divorce from David Giersch, Rutherford filed emergency papers in Los Angeles Superior Court Jan. 9 seeking to ban her estranged huband from leaving the country, saying she fears he may try to disappear with their 2-year-old son.

"I feel there is some risk that he will leave the country with Hermes and I will not know where they are," the 40-year-old actress said in her declaration.

Adding to the way-past-acrimonious child custody battle are Rutherford's new allegations that the 34-year-old Giersch, who is not a U.S. citizen, "has a history during our marriage of getting angry with me and leaving without telling me where he is going."

Giersch, an entrepreneur, countered Rutherford with a filing of his own, painting an even less flattering picture of his missus.

Giersch said Rutherford, who is currently four months pregnant with the duo's second child, has an equally bad, and physical, temper: "[She] has tried to hit me with an open fist when she's had an angry outburst. On July 6, she threw a laptop computer at me while we were in Hamburg. She smashed the computer on the table and it broke."

Giersch also claimed that Rutherford's bicoastal, work-oriented lifestyle was the single driving reason behind their split and voiced strong opposition to the idea of the actress taking her son with her on location.

"I have been extremely concerned about our son living in a hotel and a New York lifestyle, and this has been one of the main reasons, if not the reason for the ending of [Rutherford's] and my marriage."

He also claims that it is him, not her, who acts as Hermes' primary caretaker.

"[Rutherford's] routine is that she has weekly hair appointments for at least two hours, manicures, pedicures, shopping and the like. She has been able to do all of that because I have been taking care of Hermes, and am happy to continue doing so, as it would be best for him."

While both parties are seeking sole legal and physical custody with monitored visitation for the other, a judge has denied Rutherford's latest motion to travel with Hermes for work.

A subsequent hearing on the matter has been set for Jan. 21.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Attorneys agree to trial in sect custody case

2009-01-13T16:24:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Attorneys agree to trial in sect child custody case

By Paul A. Anthony

Attorneys have agreed on a September trial date to determine the child custody of a 14-year-old girl who is alleged to be a child bride of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs.

According to an order signed Thursday in Tom Green County Court by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther, the state will investigate another potential foster home for the girl, who sect documents record as being married to Jeffs when she was 12.

Attorneys for the girl; her mother, Barbara Jessop; and the state's Child Protective Services agency declined to comment.

"We're going to do a home study to find a possible ... placement," said Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins, who said the relationship of the woman named in the agreement to the girl is unclear. "That's the work we have to do, to determine who she is, what her relationship to the family is."

The sides agreed to a six-month extension in the case, which was to expire in April, to allow attorneys for Jessop and her daughter to conduct discovery on what is believed to be mounds of evidence collected since April from the sect's YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County.

Additionally, the attorneys agreed to a separate order moving the trial from Eldorado, near the location of the sprawling compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. With a trial necessary before October, the lack of air conditioning in the Schleicher County Courthouse became a prohibitive factor.

"Before you want a trial in Schleicher County in July or August," Walther told the attorneys to laughter in the courtroom, "I suggest you check out the courthouse."

The jury trial will take place Sept. 28 in San Angelo.

Sect documents released over the course of the investigation portray a triple wedding ceremony the night of July 27, 2006, involving the girl and Jeffs, with their ceremony officiated by her father, ranch patriarch Merril Jessop, who has since been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury.

Other men alleged to have been involved in the ceremonies also have been indicted, and Barbara and Merril Jessop have been accused of witnessing or allowing more than 10 marriages between underage girls and adult men.

During previous custody hearings, Barbara Jessop has refused to answer questions about how she would keep her daughter safe if granted custody - at one point pleading the Fifth Amendment more than 50 times.

The order signed Thursday leaves previous requirements intact for the girl and her mother, whom CPS has accused of being uncooperative since the girl's removal from her care in August. The requirements include monitored visits and restricted access
to other sect members, including her mother.

During the hearing Thursday, bailiffs at Walther's direction kept the girl and her attorney, Carmen Dusek, sequestered from the rest of the observers and attorneys in the gallery, on the opposite side of the courtroom from her mother. The pair met in an adjoining jury room after the hearing.

The state in a progress report filed last month said it is now seeking permanent custody of the girl - the only child of 439 removed from the ranch who has been retaken into temporary state custody since a pair of appellate courts ruled the children be returned to their parents.

Jessop has offered several names of FLDS members as potential placements for her daughter - none of them deemed suitable by CPS, usually because they are followers of the sect's polygamous beliefs, according to state documents.

The latest option, Naomi Carlisle, is an older sect member, said FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop.

"She's a widow and a wonderful person," he said.

The girl has been having trouble adjusting to life outside the group, Jessop said, despite the efforts of her San Antonio foster family - the transition from an agrarian rural lifestyle to a suburban modern one has been too much for the teen to take.

"It's just very inappropriate" to force such a transition, he said, "and it's an American tragedy to see what's happened."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Custody Awarded to Stepfather: 10 Month Old Child Now to Have Open-Heart Surgery

2009-01-13T15:53:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Custody Awarded to Stepfather: 10 Month Old Child Now to Have Open-Heart Surgery

CHICAGO, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- In a groundbreaking case that could affect one-third of American families, Cook County Circuit Court Judge John Thomas Carr transferred child custody of a 10 month old child with a severe heart condition to the child's stepfather from the mother. Judge Carr also gave the father custody of his 3 year old biological child by the same mother. This decision is highly unusual because most courts have not recognized stepfathers as having any rights whatsoever.

The temporary order of protection was in response to the alarmed stepfather's claims that the mother cancelled the 10 month old's life-saving open heart surgery and also beat the 3 year old child.

The court agreed with the stepfather's attorneys, Jeffery Leving and Maureen Gorman, who proved that custody of the stepchild should be placed with the stepfather when necessary to protect the child. A case status review is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2009.

"Traditionally, unless a stepfather adopts a child, he has no legal rights to the stepchild. However, our law firm is accustomed to handling these special cases with the best interest of the children as our guiding principle. Protecting fathers' rights and the welfare of children are our highest priorities -- we are saving children's lives everyday," said Jeffery Leving, founder of DadsRights.com.

According to research, up to one-third of Americans are now living in stepfamily homes and more than half of Americans today at some point will be part of a stepfamily. "Thus, it is of growing importance to clarify the gray area of stepparent rights and it is vital to remember that the bonds created between children and stepparents are real and lasting," Mr. Leving continues.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Ten Commandments of Co-Parenting

2009-01-13T15:32:00.003-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Ten Commandments of Co-Parenting

10 Co-Parenting Commandments

by Lynn Nelson, Public Education Director, Institute on Race and Poverty, University of Minnesota - published in Minnesota Parent, May 1995

1. Resolve conflicts without putting kids in the middle. This requires being objective about your children’s needs (and not confusing them with your own) and compromising when the situation warrants. Stick with a conflict until it’s resolved; don’t let a problem fester and then punish the other parent passive-aggressively or be difficult in unrelated situations.

2. Treat the other parent with respect. This goes a long way toward easing your relations with your former partner. It also provides a good model for your children; more than we are willing to admit, our children imitate our behavior. Disrespect toward the other parent will be played out by the child. It’s important for a child’s healthy development to have respect for authority figures, including both parents.

3. Observe appropriate boundaries. When it comes to your kids, it’s sometimes difficult to tell yourself what they’re doing with the other parent “is none of my business.” But if an activity won’t harm them physically or psychologically, it probably is none of your business. Recognize it’s okay, maybe even good, for children to learn different ways of doing things. It’s almost certain that the other parent won’t do everything your way.

4. Communicate regularly with the other parent. There’s lots to share. When children are small, the other parent needs to know the basics when parenting responsibilities are being transferred. Has the child eaten? Gone to the bathroom recently? Does he or she need more sleep or a bath? When children are older, both parents need to know about school activities, sports events and trips out of town. It’s good to get into a regular habit of checking in with each other on the days when parenting is shared. A worst-possible scenario is that lack of communication could lead to a child not being picked up after school or day care, or important medical treatment being disrupted.

5. Demonstrate positive conflict resolution. Don’t try to hide conflicts when they arise. Children generally know more about what’s going on than we give them credit for. Use conflict as an opportunity to show kids how to resolve issues in a responsible manner. Paul puts it this way: “Don’t step into the ring without taking time to cool off.”

6. Share with your co-parent what you need from him or her to do a good job of parenting. In our case, a regular schedule is important to Paul. He likes to know he has time he can count on with his son, Frequent schedule changes are disruptions he finds particularly irritating, especially when it involves “telephone tag.” I like to know I can depend on Paul to pick up Nick when he says he will. Everyone has different requirements for support. Be sure to be clear with the other parent about yours, and take time to inquire about his or hers. In our experience, guessing hasn’t been very productive.

7. Don’t allow all of the parenting tasks to fall to one parent. Typically, things that are out of balance don’t work well. Work at sharing parenting chores as equally as possible. Don’t hoard tasks and act like a martyr, and don’t expect the other parent to be in charge of all of the communicating, all of the extra purchases for your child or all of the discipline.

8. Be consistent - to the extent possible - in disciplining, feeding and caring for your child. This makes transitions from one household to another easier, thus minimizing the outbursts from children after visits with the other parent. Respect each other’s parenting approaches, and recognize that while consistency is optimal, differences are okay. Children are able to distinguish that something that’s okay at Dad’s house may not be okay at Morn’s, not because one parent is bad or wrong, but because the two parents are different.

9. Help your children recognize the other parent with appropriate gifts or cards. These express your children’s sentiments and make them feel good about themselves when they’re praised for their thoughtfulness. Take the time to help your children make or pick out holiday and birthday gifts for the other parent. Recognizing Mother’s and Father’s Day are particularly important because other relatives aren’t involved in celebrating these days.

10. Don’t punish your in-laws by keeping your kids from them after a divorce. Your in-laws are probably as disappointed as you and your former partner about the dissolution of your relationship. Grandparents can be a child’s greatest cheerleaders; don’t hurt your children and yourself by cutting off visits with them. In many cases, grandparents also provide back-up child care; this-isn’t something any single parent should give up willingly.

There are many other elements that contribute to successful co-parenting. We recognize that some suggestions won’t work for people who’ve been in abusive relationships or who need time to heal from the hurt of divorce before enthusiastically collaboratng with the other parent.

These “commandments” work for us. We hope you can find at least 10 of your own guiding principles to make life easier for you, your former spouse and your children.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Adoptive Custody Battle Takes New Turn

2009-01-12T22:23:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Adoptive Custody Battle Takes New Turn

State Takes Custody Of Boy Caught Between Biological, Adoptive Families

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - A Sutherland woman gave up child custody of her biological son on Thursday, the latest stage in a long and emotional legal battle with the child's adoptive parents.

Megan Morgan drove 200 miles to Grand Island to give up her 14-month-old son, Brett, whom she has been caring for since last February.

A Knox County judge ordered the boy removed from the home of a Verdigre couple who had adopted him because they didn't disclose on the adoption paperwork that they were pregnant.

Morgan said she stopped supporting the adoption at that time, because she wanted her son to be an only child with his adopted family and because she felt the couple was deliberately dishonest.

The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the judge's decision in December, saying Brett should not have been taken from his adoptive parents.

Morgan said the trip to take her son back to the adoptive family was one she'd had weeks to prepare for, yet the reality quickly set in.

"(It's) like my heart has been torn out," she said.

She and other family members huddled together outside a medical office, waiting for the adoptive parents to arrive. She said the Nebraska Supreme Court ruling left the family in shock.

"They're all very surprised at how things are going now," she said. "They didn't think the Supreme Court would rule the way it did."

Morgan said she vowed to continue her long custody battle.

"He might have to go for a little bit, but he'll be back home. We are not done fighting," she said.

She and Brett entered the office, expecting an emotional goodbye. She said she did not expect the latest twist in the case, which happened outside of the view of cameras.

"As of tonight, the child is in the physical and legal custody of the Nebraska Children's Home Society," said Morgan's attorney, P. Stephen Potter.

The Executive Director of the Nebraska Children's Home Society issued a statement Thursday saying, "As the adoption agency with professional responsibility for the placement, NCHS had planned and facilitated a process intended to minimize stress for the child. We regret that did not happen. We are not able to discuss further details at this time."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Battle - Custody rows 'rising'

2009-01-12T21:11:00.001-05:00

Child Custody Battle - Custody rows 'rising'

By RASHA AL QAHTANI

MORE than six children were kidnapped in Bahrain last year by parents involved in child custody disputes, it emerged yesterday. But police are powerless to act because it is a domestic issue and there is no family law, says a leading clinical psychologist and anti-abuse campaigner.

Police cannot act without authorisation from a court of the Public Prosecution, said Batelco Care Centre for Family Violence Victims president Dr Bana Bu Zaboon.

She was speaking following a case in which a three-year-old girl from Nuwaidrat was allegedly snatched by her father on January 3, but was returned to her mother last Friday.

Dr Bu Zaboon said that the police could not intervene in such cases because there was no law to protect rights within the family.

"If there is no law that criminalises such cases, then the police have no authorisation to do anything," she said.

"The police can only carry out their duties after they get authorisation from the court and the Public Prosecution.

"The police cannot do anything now if a child is kidnapped by either divorced parent, because there is no law that criminalises such actions.

"I am not surprised by the recent kidnap since I have come across so many similar cases previously and last year alone there were six of these cases reported at the centre."

Bahrain needs a family law immensely, because there is no law to criminalise such actions, or abuse within the family, said Dr Bu Zaboon.

"The case is not only with kidnapping children, it could be anything, from domestic violence to sexual abuse," she said.

"People can be prosecuted if they assault each other on the street, but if the assault takes place inside the home, there is nothing to be done to protect the family."

If the law was implemented then the court and the police could solve the family problems legally, said Dr Bu Zaboon.

"There are many kidnapping cases and it is very easy for either parent to do so," she said.

"For example, a father can go pick up his child from school and there is nobody to stop him from taking her."

A mother may be driven to snatching back her child from the father because she may be desperate for a divorce and the husband would agree only if she gave up child custody, said Dr Bu Zaboon.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Abandoned baby's dad given legal custody

2009-01-12T21:04:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Abandoned baby's dad given legal custody

By Lou Whitmire - News Journal

MANSFIELD — Jason Wilkins and his baby, Madalyn Grace, who was abandoned outside a Bellville church in June, will be legally reunited Jan. 26.

After designating Wilkins legal custodian of the child today in Richland County Juvenile Court, Judge Ron Spon said the emergency shelter order will be terminated on that date.

In November, a DNA test confirmed Wilkins, 31, is the biological father.

An elated Wilkins said he was glad the ordeal was coming to an end.

“It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions for six months,” the Bucyrus man told the News Journal after leaving the courtroom.

Richland County Children Services previously had child custody of the infant, placing her with a foster-to-adopt couple.

Spon commended both that couple and Wilkins and his girlfriend Jen Spears for their patience and cooperation in the best interest of the child.

“It’s fantastic human beings can work together in such an emotionally charged circumstance,” Spon said, pointing out the case had a number of human and legal complexities.

Children Services attorney Edith Gilliland asked the judge to note, which he did, that the agency’s position would be to terminate the emergency shelter order effective today.

Robert Whitney, Wilkins’ attorney, told Spon he knows the matter has been difficult for his client and the foster care couple.

“It restores my faith in humanity that adults worked together for this little girl,” he said, referring to the father-daughter bonding visits in recent weeks.

Spears, who accompanied Wilkins in the courtroom, described Madalyn Grace as a happy baby.

The birth mother Tabitha Potter, 27, of 1117 Mock Road, earlier relinquished all rights to the child.

She faces one count of child endangering and one count of falsification, both punishable by a maximum six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Potter, who was indicted on the two charges in November, pleaded not guilty Dec. 18 in Mansfield Municipal Court. A jury trial is scheduled is for Feb. 23 9 a.m. in Judge Jeff Peyton's courtroom.

Her attorney, Anica Blazef-Horner, has so far declined comment.

The baby spent more than three weeks at MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital before being placed in a foster-to-adopt home after she was discovered outside First Baptist Church in Bellville. The child, whose umbilical cord was still attached, was only a few hours old.

The baby was found by the Rev. Albert Tolbert and his wife Kathy on the night of June 17. The couple happened to notice a container outside the locked door of their red brick church at 4534 Ohio 13 near Bellville.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Canadian woman arrested on child custody violation

2009-01-06T11:04:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Canadian woman arrested on child custody violation

Deborah Sederberg - The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - Michigan City police arrested a Canadian woman Friday evening on a local charge of violation of a child custody order and on a federal warrant for the same charge.

Karen Ann Hortensius, 48, Ontario, Canada, is charged with taking her 10-year-old son to Canada.

A warrant from the federal court in South Bend charges she "did knowingly remove a child under age 16 years from the United States with the intent to obstruct the lawful rights to physical custody by taking the child from Michigan City to Canada.

Police were dispatched to the 200 block of Long Beach Lane on a report of an "unwanted person," but when police arrived, Hortensius had left. Police learned she was at the police department and later learned from an FBI agent about the federal warrant.

According to Captain Tom Howe, she was taken to the La Porte County jail but likely will be transferred to the federal jail in Hammond.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Battle - Grandparents fight for child custody

2009-01-06T10:57:00.002-05:00

Child Custody Battle - Grandparents fight for child custody

Dave Olson, Forum Communications

In her young life, 4-year-old Leah Ashley Johnson has experienced many losses. Her father, Eric Johnson, died Oct. 31 in a car crash near Wyndmere, N.D. Her mother, Heather Johnson, died in a car crash in Rhode Island in November 2005.

At the time of her mother’s death, Leah Johnson’s parents were in the process of getting a divorce.

Now, the little girl is caught in the middle of another family rift.

The latest involves her grandparents.

On the day of her father’s funeral, Leah Johnson’s maternal grandmother, Dale Campbell of Fall River, Mass., arrived at the funeral home with a lawyer and court papers.

The papers granted Campbell temporary guardianship of Leah.

“It’s heartbreaking still,” said Alice Mayer, Eric Johnson’s mother, recalling the scene Nov. 6 at a West Fargo funeral home.

“You lose your son, but to tell you the truth, losing Leah the way this lady did it is way harder,” said Mayer, who lives in Park Rapids, Minn. “We raised Leah since the time she was 16 months old.”

Mayer said she spent a good deal of time with her granddaughter when the girl wasn’t living with her father and her paternal grandfather, Gene Johnson, in Wyndmere.

Campbell filed papers in Cass County District Court on Nov. 6 seeking temporary guardianship of Leah pending a hearing to determine permanent guardianship.

The papers included a copy of Heather Johnson’s will, which stated that if anything happened to her she wanted her mother to care for Leah.

Eric Johnson did not have a will, according to court papers.

Campbell’s appearance at the funeral home did not come as a complete surprise, according to Mayer, who said Campbell announced her intentions to seek guardianship of Leah during a visit to Mayer’s home two days before.

Mayer said the meeting, which took place the night before a family memorial service, left her distraught.

Mayer said when Campbell arrived at the memorial service the following day, Campbell was asked to leave.

Campbell declined to comment for this story.

Her Fargo attorney, Jason Loos, said the case is an example of why it’s a good idea for parents to have a will that spells out their wishes for child guardianship.

In an affidavit filed in court, Campbell said she flew to Fargo on Nov. 4 to discuss Leah’s future with Eric Johnson’s family.

Campbell said when she learned Leah was at her grandmother’s home in Park Rapids, she drove there and had a conversation with Mayer that ended on a bitter note.

“I want to do this as civilly as possible,” Campbell said in the affidavit.

She went on to state she has a good job and lives near a daughter who has three young children – Leah’s cousins.

Campbell described Gene Johnson as “a very nice man,” but she said he is on disability and in her opinion not able to care for a 4-year-old.

Campbell stated in the affidavit that Mayer did not have child custody of her own children when they were younger and asserted that Mayer, too, is not able to care for Leah.

“I don’t know what she’s implying,” said Mayer, who acknowledged that after she and her husband separated it was decided the children would live with their father.

“Yes, my kids lived with their dad, but I paid child support,” she said.

“We did what was best for the children. They stayed in the school system. They stayed in 4-H,” Mayer said.

Gene Johnson said he has a disability that makes it difficult for him to lift heavy things, but he said he has cared for his granddaughter many times in the past and is ready to do so again.

Mayer, too, said she is prepared to care for her granddaughter, who has many pets at her grandmother’s home, including dogs, a cat and two ponies, which Leah named Sugar and Ice Cream.

Mayer described her granddaughter as a strong little girl.

“Eric always told her that her mommy died and went to heaven, so she’s never had a real fear of death,” Mayer said.

When it was time to tell Leah about her father’s death, Mayer said she took the news bravely and made a point of comforting her uncle, Aaron Johnson, who on the day of his brother’s fatal crash was driving a few minutes behind his brother and discovered the wreck.

Mayer said Leah told her: “ ‘Gramma, it’s OK. Daddy is in heaven with mommy.’ And she told Aaron – ‘Aaron, don’t be sad. I’ll make you happy.’

“She’s only 4 years old,” Mayer said.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Minnesota considering change to custody laws

2009-01-06T10:52:00.000-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Minnesota considering change to custody laws

Fathers in Minnesota may soon see changes to the method used to determine child custody in cases of divorce.

Currently, when parents split up, a judge who is making custody decisions begins with a clean slate about living arrangements and takes a number of factors including parenting skills and parents' wishes into account, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

A new legislative proposal seeks to change that so that the judge would presume joint physical custody from the outset.

Joint physical custody is when a child actually divides their time between living with their mother and their father, who also takes care of daily duties such as transport and meals.

This is different than joint legal custody, which means that both parents can make crucial decisions about their children's upbringing.

Divorced father Les Jobst of Andover, Minnesota told the news provider that the addition of presumed joint custody would enhance fathers' rights and allow them access to important information about their child.

"All you have to have is one parent say, 'I've got sole physical custody' [and] all bets are off," he said. "It happens in the doctor's office, it happens in the dentist's office, wherever you go."

Around 34 percent of American children live without their biological father, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Battle - Video leaked of Alamo child

2009-01-05T16:46:00.002-05:00

Child Custody Battle - Video leaked of Alamo child

By Jon Gambrell Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK — A teenage follower of jailed evangelist Tony Alamo described a life devoted to mission work, passing out tracts on mass suicides and seeing signs of the end times in natural disasters during a videotaped state interview leaked to the Internet.

Over nearly two hours, she told a child welfare official that Alamo never touched her or had sex with underage girls — acts only a “backslider” outside of the church would commit. Instead, she said his hands and words toward Heaven worked miracles.

“Someone with AIDS in the church, he prayed over them, they were healed,” the teen said. “For him to get an answer like that from God, you know he’s not going to be sinning. I trust him. I believe everything he says.”

A video of her interview, conducted a day after FBI agents and Arkansas State Police raided Alamo’s ministry in Fouke, found its way to the Internet late last month. Now, the state Department of Human Services wants the video removed as officials still look for children associated with the ministries.

Julie Munsell, a DHS spokeswoman, said it appeared a family member passed the video along to a Web site called Inquisition Update with Tom Friess. Munsell said department lawyers sent a request to a Miller County judge Wednesday about the video.

“We’re asking that the parties in the case make efforts to remove it from the site and any other videos like it,” Munsell said.

A message left at a telephone number registered in Friess’ name in Perry, Iowa, was not returned. A man claiming to be Friess in a chat room on his Web site said he was “not going to participate in another mainstream media hatchet job to smear Tony Alamo and the members of his Bible-believing community.”

So far, state officials have seized 36 children associated with Alamo ministries in Fort Smith and Fouke. A court order lists the names and possible addresses of 126 children who could be at risk of abuse from the church, though officials acknowledge more could be out there.

Alamo, 74, faces charges he violated the Mann Act, a federal law that bans carrying women or girls across state lines for “prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” At a child custody hearing over some of his followers’ children, Alamo said he “spiritually” married and divorced multiple women who continued to live with him. He also has said children will have sex after puberty and should be quickly married off to avoid living in sin.

The teenage girl told the welfare official that she believes anyone can marry after reaching puberty. However, she said she hadn’t been married and had no desire to be.

“The law says you can’t get married until you’re 18. So, that’s what we do,” the girl said, then sighed. “People who want to get married have to wait.”

Instead, older teens and adults can go on dates to restaurants as long as they’re chaperoned by a church member. Boys and girls sit across the room from each other during communal meals held at the Fouke compound, “so nothing will happen — what people are afraid of,” she said.

“I’ve heard people say sexual things go on and stuff, but it can’t go on because we’re totally separate,” the teen said.

In an affidavit filed in federal court, an FBI agent has said Alamo “married” two young girls and sexually molested them and others. The agent said Alamo took pictures of the girls naked and kept Barbie dolls in his bedroom.

The teen girl in the video said she knew of no one who had been molested.

“He would never do such thing. That’s a sin. He wouldn’t be a pastor. He would be dirt,” she said. “He would be nothing if he did that. He would go to hell.”

Instead, the girl described a life of service, working in the church offices and heading out to multiple states as part of “tracting crews” to spread the ministry’s literature. The church’s messages include claims of “evil one-world government agents claiming to be U.S. agents” and federal agents describing the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, as a “turkey shoot,” she said.

On Friday nights, girls in the ministry get a respite and gather together for a movie night, watching old Alfred Hitchcock movies, episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” or films about the Bible, she said. Otherwise, she and her family attend church every day and twice on Sundays.

For much of the interview, the girl sat with her legs crossed, one foot swaying underneath. Though quiet until spoken to, the girl raised her voice once in the interview as she talked about why three of her brothers left the church. One brother recently turned 18 and left in the middle of the night without telling her parents, she said.

“They left because they wanted to,” she said. “Some people think that we’re held, but no. They left. We didn’t want them to, my family didn’t want them to, but they left.”

Alamo pays for bus tickets for those wanting to leave the ministries, she said. However, those who leave after hearing the word of God often can’t be saved again, she said.

“I wish (her brother) didn’t leave, but he chose to leave, he chose to backslide,” the girl said. “We could (reach out to them), but why should we? They believe totally differently now.”

Alamo remains held without bond, awaiting a February trial on the federal charges. In her interview, the girl repeatedly said she wanted to return home to her parents and a ministry targeted by police.

“Sometimes, I think if only everybody lived the way we lived the way we live in our ministry, the world would be perfect,” she said. “They wouldn’t have any crimes, any crime scenes. Nobody would ever be hurt.”

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Child custody law up for review

2009-01-05T16:42:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Child custody law up for review

by Elizabeth Stawicki, Minnesota Public Radio

Within the next two weeks, a state court official must report a study group's findings to the Legislature on whether Minnesota should change its child custody laws. At issue is whether judges should automatically presume that children split their time living with each of their divorced parents.

St. Paul, Minn. — When a couple with a child divorces, a judge is supposed to start with a clean slate before deciding whether the child will live solely with mom, dad, or split living with each of them.

But under a legislative proposal, judges would presume the child would live with both parents unless there's a good reason not to -- such as child abuse.

While adding the word "presumption" to a statute may seem trivial, it would level the legal playing field that fathers' rights groups say is currently tilted against them.

That's the way Les Jobst of Andover sees it. He drives a semi with a picture of his smiling 9-year-old daughter on the dash. He's also a member of the fathers' rights group called, Fathers-4-Justice, which contends that the court system tends to favor mothers in divorce cases.

"Joint custody can be the worst for kids if it's used to divide the child between two very contentious parents. It can leave children in essentially a war zone."
- Robert Emery, scholar on children and divorceJobst says once a judge decides that a child will live solely with one parent, society views the other parent as having no rights.

"I'm a concerned father. I'm here, I'm trying to work and find out what's going on with my child," said Jobst. "It happens in the doctor's office, it happens in the dentist's office, wherever you go. All you have to have is one parent say, 'I've got sole physical custody,' all bets are off."

Jobst says changing the laws so that judges presume divorced parents share physical custody would allow children to spend more time with both parents.

The state already presumes that both parents will share legal custody of children, which is different from physical custody.

Legal custody gives parents the right to make important decisions for their children such as what religion to follow, what medical procedures are necessary or what school to attend. Physical custody determines with whom the child lives.

One divorced mother believes changing the law on physical custody would simplify the divorce process. Ann Fleischauer says divorcing parents now can use the issue of who the child lives with as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

Fleischauer says the presumption of joint physical custody would take one of the most contentious divorce issues off the table. She says society has changed, and the law needs updating.

"With families where you have both parents who've got busy careers, both parents who are used to dealing with a lot of the same challenges around kids and activities, balancing financial situations -- it just seems as though it's a better starting point," said Fleischauer.

But another divorced mother isn't quite sure the law change would make any real difference. Martha West says the label of joint physical custody is a bit misleading, because it leaves the impression that children would split their time 50/50 with both parents, when in reality one parent could end up living with the child most of the time.

West says the presumption may save one step in the process, but the couple still has to hash out a schedule and child support for two individual households.

"You're creating a binuclear family, and so how is that going to work?" West asked. "To say that the parents will have joint physical custody is great. It might make everybody feel better, and it may take some of the emotion out of the mediation process at the outset. But unless there's going to be some connection made with the visitation schedule, I'm not sure it really has a lot of impact."

One father has deeper concerns. George Slade of St. Paul is a divorced father of two girls. He says his divorce was amicable, and both he and his ex-wife wanted to share physical custody of their daughters.

But Slade questions the law's impact on families where one parent may know he or she can't be a good parent on their own.

"When you get divorced, in some context you have to stand up in front of a judge and say, 'I no longer want to be married, I want a divorce, I want to separate from you.' You have to say this to someone to their face," Slade said. "But to say this about your children, even if it's just to a judge, in effect you're speaking to the kids through the court record. What a guilt-ridden thing that would be to force someone to say, 'I don't want my kids.'"

One national scholar on children of divorce says a number of states have considered using the presumption, but only Iowa has actually done it for the past several years. Robert Emery says Australia has also enacted it with varied results.

Emery says ordering judges to start with the idea that joint physical custody is the way to go in divorce cases can be the best and the worst of worlds for children. He says it's the best arrangement for children when parents can set aside their conflict.

"Because kids can learn, even despite their parents' divorce, that they still have two parents. And we have good research that shows kids thrive in that situation," said Emery. "But unfortunately, joint custody can be the worst for kids if it's used to divide the child between two very contentious parents. In that case, it can leave children in essentially a war zone."

Emery favors an idea that mirrors the amount of time parents spend with their children during the marriage. So if a mother spent 40 percent of the time with a child during the marriage, the child would live 40 percent of the time with her after the marriage is over. This would all be open to negotiation.

The group looking at the custody issue must submit a report to the state court administrator. That administrator is supposed to report the group's recommendations to the Legislature no later than Jan. 15.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Judge denies challenge to Mass child support rules

2009-01-05T16:23:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Judge denies challenge to Mass child support rules

By Associated Press

BOSTON — A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit that sought to stop Massachusetts from imposing new child support guidelines.

Fathers and Families, a Boston-based group that pushes for reform of child custody and support policies, last month sued Judge Robert Mulligan, the state’s chief administrative judge over new guidelines that went into effect Jan. 1. The group claims the new guidelines are unfair and do not take into account the costs of raising children.

Judge Douglas Woodlock on Monday denied the group’s request for an injunction to stop the new guidelines from being used in family court. The judge said it would be inappropriate for the federal courts to get involved in a battle over state regulations.

Group members said the lawsuit likely will be refiled in state court.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Domestic matters before courts steadily increasing

2008-12-31T11:22:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Domestic matters before courts steadily increasing

By LEDEDRA MARCHE - Senior FN Reporter

The number of domestic matters before the courts are steadily increasing each year and as of late child support cases are also on the rise, Deputy Magistrate Helen Jones revealed.

Noting that a total of 698 domestic matters were filed for the year in Grand Bahama alone, Jones said that number is up 19 from last year, which saw 679 cases.

Within five years, the case load of domestic matters increased by 216.

In 2003, 482 cases were filed; 536 in 2004; 598 in 2005 and in 2006, there were 621 cases.

"The majority of cases that have come to my court lately have been child support," Magistrate Jones said, pointing out that usually most of the domestic matters would be binding over orders and legal separations.

Binding over orders are criminal matters but because they usually stem from domestic matters they are heard in domestic court, she explained.

However, during the months of October, November and December the deputy magistrate has seen an increasing number of child support cases.

"I don't know if it has anything to do with the economic downturn," she said.

Before then, Magistrate Jones said the calendar seemed to be clouded with mostly legal separations and binding over orders.

Nonetheless, the magistrate said she has never had a case where a man filed for child support from his wife.

By law, only husbands can file for child support from his wife and in the case of unmarried couples, the father cannot get child support.

Deputy Magistrate Jones revealed that in her 10 years on the bench, in the rare case of the father having child custody of the children, she has never seen a case where the father has asked for child support from the mother.

When it comes to the mothers seeking child support from the baby's father, there is a tendency for the women to file once that outside support net fails, the magistrate said.

"It seems to me the trend is that the majority of mothers rely on the support of family, friends and probably church to do it on their own. It is only when the support is not forthcoming from those areas I see the woman tend to reach out for child support from the father," she said.

Usually when the fathers come before the court, Magistrate Jones noted, very often the cry is that the mother is being vindictive.

"In some cases it is where the mother learns that the father is getting married and she then files for child support and the father alleges that it is to spite him," she said.

The mother still has that right to file for child support, the magistrate noted.

"Maybe she is concerned that with the new wife there might come new children or he might not take care of the children and she wants to get herself secured before that happens.

"Before his cry is, 'well I can't say as much as I want to because of a wife or because I have other children.' It could be spite if she still has feelings for him," she said.

There are other cases where there might be more than one person and when he makes his choice the one who is not chosen feels hurt and puts the baby's father in court.

There has also been cases where he is doing his half and even more and she still files for child support, so there are cases where there are other reasons why the mother would file for child support.

And, there have been cases where, after a mother takes her baby's father to court for child support, that the father is ordered to pay less than he was before the court date.

"I've had one very recently where the woman said she will just stick with what she had and has taken it out of court. I have also had one instance where the mother, after doing her own calculations, realized the baby's father was paying more and came back to withdraw," Magistrate Jones said.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Don't use child to settle scores, parents told

2008-12-31T11:18:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Don't use child to settle scores, parents told

Smriti Singh, TNN

NEW DELHI: Do not make your child a pawn to settle your personal scores. This is the advise given by a trial court to all the couples fighting over the custody of their children. "Instead, value him, cherish him, protect him, love him and give him the future he deserves,'' the court said.

The observation was made by the court while deciding on the child custody battle of five-and-a-half-year-old Rohit (name changed), who "specifically expressed his wish to stay with both of his parents'' when asked by the court to choose between his mother and father.

"It is sad the parents involved in their personal conflicts have forgotten the pain and trauma of Rohit. It is time for them to realise no one has suffered more than their own child,'' Additional District Judge Kamini Lau said.

As per the case, Rohit's father had knocked the court's door seeking custody of his child. In his petition, Rohit's father, a resident of Delhi, claimed that his child was living with his estranged wife's parents in Patna while she was staying alone in Delhi. He alleged Rohit was not being treated well by his mother and was not allowed to meet him.

Observing that since both the parents were economically independent and could well take care of the child, the court said in deciding the guardianship the welfare of the minor child was of a "paramount consideration''.

"The welfare of the child is required to be measured not in terms of money and physical comfort but also moral and ethical welfare of the child,'' ADJ lau said while allowing the father to meet Rohit once a month till march 2009.

Directing the mother to bring Rohit to Delhi so that it was easy for Rohit to meet his father, the court said that after March, the father could meet Rohit twice a month and will also be allowed to actively participate in the child's education. "The arrangement shall be continued till the child attained the age of majority after which it shall be open for the child to decide for himself,'' the court added.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Leaving desperation, dads learn to rise to the occasion

2008-12-31T11:13:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Leaving desperation, dads learn to rise to the occasion

By Tim Puko
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Jason Ringer has three children with three women. Just a few years ago, instead of helping to take care of them, he says he was just trying to hide.

His monthly child support payments totaled $1,384, and because his job paid minimum wage, paychecks were often reduced to nothing. He quit and looked for under-the-table pay, scrounged food from Dumpsters and tried to avoid being arrested for failure to pay child support.

"It was really hard not having anyone to turn to," said Ringer, 33, of McKeesport. "I didn't feel any way out from the horrible heartbreaking dive I was going through. I was heartbroken every day."

Ringer credits Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania for turning his life -- and those of his children -- around. The South Side-based group helped him get his payments cut by the courts, get a better job and rebuild relationships with his family. Goodwill recently has used an influx of federal dollars to expand the program, one of several formed locally in the last decade to help absent fathers fulfill their responsibilities.

Mike Olack, director of community reintegration at Goodwill, said such programs fill an important need as welfare reform emphasizes child support to a growing number of single parents.

"I think you'd be looking at incarceration rates being higher for these individuals," he said "You'd be looking at child support bills rising exponentially, and in some cases still are. It would be a pretty dire situation for a lot of these people."

Research makes clear the importance of fathers on families, said Ray Firth, director of policy initiatives at the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Child Development.

Children in homes without fathers are five times more likely to live in poverty and more likely to earn less as adults than their fathers did, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative's study of U.S. Census data.

Despite that, the number of single-parent households continues to increase, Firth said. The rise of single fathers, a once relatively rare phenomenon -- there were only 400,000 nationally in 1970, according to the federal government -- is one reason.

Locally, the biggest increase in single-father households between 1990 and 2000 came in the suburbs, according to Census data, mirroring the national trend. The number of single fathers increased by more than 16 percent outside the city in Allegheny County, about two or three times the rate in the five surrounding counties.

Adam Puff, 28, of Carrick said he became a single father when his wife moved out of their house in June. Now, he cares for his 3-year-old daughter, Julie, trying to figure out how to do all the work that used to be split by two.

"I'm doing basically everything," he said. "I don't normally have too many guys' nights with my friends anymore."

To fill that void, Puff joined the Fatherhood Initiative at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit's Sto-Rox Family Center. The group meets once a month, giving fathers a chance to bond with and learn from one another, and hear lectures about health, safety, finances and careers.

"Everybody I deal with outside this program, they're running the streets. They're a negative influence on my life," said Robert Young, 23, of the West End. "These guys keep my head on the right track."

The unit runs similar programs for fathers in Tarentum and Clairton, and soon will expand programs in Duquesne and Wilkinsburg. In the Sto-Rox program, fathers get help earning GEDs, learning effective but gentle discipline techniques, learning how to talk to school teachers and even fixing their own cars. Puff learned CPR and how to babyproof his house.

"We've seen the impact that fathers make on a child's life. In the past, it had been the idea that the father is the breadwinner, and the mother stayed home and took care of the kids. That thinking has changed," said Larry L. Klinger, who oversees family and community programs for the intermediate unit. "Changing a thought process is one barrier."

Institutions such as courts and schools have been slow to adjust and still often treat fathers as second-class citizens, dads and advocates say. That can be a decimating experience, both financially and mentally, said Thomas Tessaro of Franklin Park, a board member with the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Congress for Fathers and Children.

He frequently gets calls from fathers desperate for help, he said. Divorce lawyers often push ex-wives to pursue unnecessary protection-from-abuse orders just for leverage in custody battles, and decades of stereotyping often lead people to be unfairly leery of fathers, he said.

"I call the doctor's office, I'm calling to find out what happened, and they automatically presume there's a protection-from-abuse order against me or I go into a school and they say, 'Are you allowed to take the child? Let me call the mother,' " Tessaro said.

Institutions can do simple things to counteract that problem, just by putting men's magazines in waiting rooms and avoiding surprise when fathers show up alone for parent-teacher meetings and doctors visits, Firth and Klinger said.

Because research shows that active fathers translate into stronger families, whether they are living together or not, there should be more opportunities for them to learn how to bond with their children, Firth added.

"You have to be looking at both the economics and the nurturing, the roles of relationships. I'm optimistic," Firth said. "People are looking at how to prevent these problem relationships, rather than just patch them up later on."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody Battle - Fighting War -- and for Custody

2008-12-30T10:48:00.002-05:00

Child Custody Battle - Fighting War -- and for Custody

Deployment Used In Battles for Kids

By Ann Scott Tyson - Washington Post Staff Writer

FORT LEE, Va. -- Army Sgt. Stephanie Greer was serving with a vehicle-maintenance unit in the volatile Iraqi city of Ramadi, part of President Bush's "surge" strategy to stabilize the country, when she learned of a far-off and most unexpected battle: Her estranged husband was going to fight her for child custody of their daughter.

Greer had temporary custody of Mackenzie when she began her second deployment to Iraq in early 2007. Her husband was to care for the 7-year-old while Greer was overseas, but soon he challenged that arrangement in divorce proceedings. "He said I was unstable because I was deployed or training too much," she said.

As a result, throughout her 15-month combat tour, Greer had to mount from 4,000 miles away a legal campaign to keep her daughter.

"If I had not deployed, I know I never would have faced this situation," said Greer, 39. "I don't think it should be held against you, and I don't think my time away, or me deploying, affects my ability to be a mother or provide for my kids."

If she expected support in that position from the military, she was disappointed. Instead, the message she said she received from her superiors was: Deal with it.

"In the midst of the deployment, everything goes to pieces . . . and they say, 'Just let it go and fix it when you get home,' " Greer said. "But most of the time when you do that, it is too late."

The military does not track statistics on custody disputes, but as military divorce rates rise -- particularly among enlisted female troops such as Greer -- so do child custody struggles in which military service overseas has become a wedge issue, according to experts in military family law.

"More and more, a service member is deployed and the service member's spouse is seeking to use that to their advantage," said Greg Rinckey, a former Army judge advocate.

"We are seeing a substantial increase in cases . . . challenging the custody of military parents and the return of custody when they come back from mobilization or deployment, compared to virtually none 10 years ago," said Mark E. Sullivan, a retired Army Reserve judge advocate who practices family law in North Carolina. The increase has been greatest in states with large military populations, such as Virginia and Texas, he added.

Female troops may be particularly at risk, because mothers are more likely to have custody of children after a divorce. "For them to go away for 15 to 18 months, it opens the door to these challenges," said A.J. Balbo, Greer's attorney and a former Army judge advocate.

These conditions create an impossible quandary for service members who are devoted parents and yet must fulfill their obligation to their country, Rinckey and other experts said.

Under Army regulations, soldiers can request emergency leave because of the threat of divorce or related problems at home, although unit commanders retain ultimate discretion to grant approval. However, Balbo said, "most of the time the chain of command is not going to view the custody fight as an emergency."

"Typically, when someone . . . is on emergency leave, it's understood that he has a family member who is dying or just died," said Lt. Col. George Wright, an Army spokesman. "But the regulation clearly states that there are provisions for that type of thing," he said, referring to marital problems.

The Pentagon has supported protections for deployed troops facing custody disputes, Wright said, including giving them the power to request a delay of at least 90 days in child custody proceedings. President Bush signed such a measure into law in January. Wright said the military has also stepped up programs to help service members and their families cope with the stresses of deployments through counseling.

More than 20 states have passed legislation over the past two years to limit the impact of deployments on custody decisions.

"More states are recognizing the need for statutes which protect the rights of service members and their children," said Sullivan, who helped write North Carolina's statute.

The states' approaches vary, but several prevent deployment from being a factor in determining or modifying custody. In a statute passed this year, Virginia bars any permanent change in custody while a service member is deployed.

Still, such protections are incomplete and do not exist in the District and more than 20 states, including Maryland -- which killed a bill similar to Virginia's in a House committee this year -- and Georgia, where Greer's custody hearing took place.

Congress is expected to hold hearings on the issue next year. Meanwhile, experts said, many cases fall through the cracks, such as that of Army Staff Sgt. Dan Diaz.

Diaz gained temporary custody of his daughter, Talia, in February 2002 because her mother was unfit, Diaz said. But when he deployed to Iraq with his engineer battalion in April 2003, he had to delegate joint custody to his mother and Talia's mother. When he came back, Talia's mother refused to return the child.

This year, Florida enacted a statute saying that courts should reinstate custody decrees in place before deployment, but for Diaz, the change came too late.

"If I had not deployed in 2003, I would not have lost custody," he said. "That's unfair. We are trying to serve the country, but to lose custody because you did the right thing is pretty hard." He said he will keep trying to get his daughter back: "If there is a small bit of an opening anywhere, I will take that opening."

Another problem, legal experts and advocates say, is the military protocol that requires service members to devise a family care plan for dependents before deployment -- effectively delegating legal decisions about minor children to a chosen relative. Such military arrangements are not equivalent to legal custody, though, and civilian courts may choose to ignore the care plan if the non-deploying parent challenges it. Yet the range of state approaches to family law makes it all but impossible for the military to create a plan that would be legally binding nationwide, experts said.

"It's wonderful to have protections" for deployed parents, but they should be adopted at the state not the federal level, Sullivan said. "The federal judges would not know what to do. It would be a nightmare," he added.

"There's an imperfect fit between military policy and the civilian family court system," said Rachel Natelson, coordinator of the Veterans and Servicemembers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York.

Spec. Jonathan W. Maldonado learned that fact the hard way. Maldonado, currently deployed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, is struggling to regain custody of his son and daughter after officials placed them in foster care in New York. He said he gave his mother guardianship and power of attorney over the children. But the courts did not recognize the military's power-of-attorney arrangements, said Natelson, who is working on Maldonado's case.

"I can't contact my kids, I can't speak with them, and it's hard 'cause they're with a foster mother, when they could have been with my family," Maldonado wrote in an e-mail from Mosul, where he is with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

"No one ever wants to help me out in this situation, no one wants to tell me anything, I'm left in the dark pretty much," he wrote. He plans to return stateside in January and says he will file again for custody.

Such ordeals have become increasingly common recently as the rate of divorce among military members has risen, particularly among enlisted troops in the Marine Corps and Army, the services with the longest deployments.

Nearly 10 percent of enlisted female soldiers and Marines obtained divorces in fiscal 2008, up from 7.1 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively, in 2004.

"There are a lot of single moms out there. This is very worrisome" for them especially, Rinckey said.

Greer was a single mother in Richlands, N.C., when she approached a military recruiter in 2003, in search of a career that would allow her to better provide for her two daughters, Sheressa Carr, then 14, and Mackenzie, then 3. The recruiter told her that the military did not take single parents. (As recently as the 1970s, the military required women to give up their children if they wanted to enlist and discharged those who became pregnant.) Greer signed over custody of Mackenzie to the child's father, Stephen Greer.

In May 2004, the two married when Stephanie Greer was on leave from training, ending that custody arrangement, and within seven months she left for her first Iraq deployment. The relationship suffered while she was abroad, and Greer filed for divorce after she returned.

Although she gained temporary custody before deployment from Fort Stewart, Ga., Stephen Greer strongly believed that Mackenzie would be better off with him, given the prospect of more deployments by her mother, said his attorney, John Harvey.

Harvey said the main focus of the custody challenge was to emphasize the "positives" of his client, a schoolteacher. But "deployments obviously do affect custody cases," he said, and "we certainly raised that as an issue" about Stephanie Greer.

"We weren't attacking her personally for serving her country," Harvey added.

But in Ramadi, it felt that way to Greer.

"I had to prove I was sending money, and prove I was taking care of her. That is hard to do" while deployed in a combat zone, she said.

Serving with a maintenance unit with the 3rd Infantry Division, Greer had trouble gaining even the most rudimentary contact with Mackenzie, waiting over the course of weeks in long lines for the phone where her combat brigade was based, trying repeatedly to reach her daughter. Meanwhile, Greer needed to stay alert for fellow soldiers and their mission. "We are trained tears are a sign of weakness," she said. "I had to keep my composure for my soldiers."

Greer returned home in the spring, and her custody hearing was held in June, after which the judge took seven days to make a decision. "It was the worst week in my life," Greer recalled in an interview at her home at Fort Lee, an Army base near Richmond.

Finally the phone call came from her attorney. Mackenzie, now 8, was to stay with Greer. Her father, now in Jacksonville, N.C., would get regular visitation. "I think I blacked out," Greer said. In a blur, she put down the phone and went flying out the door, embracing her daughter and sobbing.

"I guess I get to stay with you, don't I?" Mackenzie asked. All Greer could do was cry.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Men's Rights Party vies for votes

2008-12-30T10:41:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Men's Rights Party vies for votes.

Despite having flunked out of the past three elections, the Men's Rights in the Family Party has decided to offer itself up to the Israeli voter once again this year due to fears that "the feminists are destroying the country."

The party's chairman, 54-year old Yaakov Schlusser, has adhered stoically to his ideals throughout the years despite his party's persistent failures.

"Seeing as we live in an extremist feminist state, the entire system is unjust, including the courts, welfare services, the police, and the government," he told Ynet. "The feminists are destroying every good part of this country. A country that doesn't respect its men has no right to exist."

Schlusser is especially grieved by the courts' child custody policies, and claims that one out of every two fathers loses the right to see their children as a result of messy divorces. He says this policy does inestimable harm to the children, especially the males among them.

"Children have a right to see their fathers. Otherwise they will lose their sexual identity. The child that sees a woman in control, in contradiction to nature, may turn homosexual," he claims.

But Schlusser has a plan to counter the damaging effects of feminist court policies. "The first thing I'll do if I get into the Knesset is pass a bill for children to be transferred to the father's custody primarily, and only afterwards every case will be examined," he said.

When asked regarding his thoughts on equality between the genders he said, "In the past I was pro-equality, but I've seen that women don't know how to accept equality. If you're good they try to take over. I know this from the 20 years we've existed."

Schlusser and his esteemed associates have indeed been assisting men with various cases for 20 years, but the chairman believes politics is their true calling. "The cases keep shocking me anew and motivating me to reach the Knesset," he told Ynet.

Schlusser claims that last year his party received 4,200 votes, a far cry from the previous year's 1,250 and enough to plant them in 20th place.

Despite his views, he claims he is not a chauvinist. "The claims that I am a chauvinist are demagoguery. I love women and support relationships, my mother was a woman and I have a daughter," he said. "I'm not against women but nature has rules: The man should be on top, there should not be equality."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Dads - Dad wins custody of baby left in Bellville

2008-12-30T10:37:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Dads - Dad wins child custody of baby left in Bellville

By Lou Whitmire - News Journal

MANSFIELD — Jason Wilkins and his baby, Madalyn Grace, who was abandoned outside a Bellville church in June, should be reunited by Dec. 22.

After a pretrial conference Thursday afternoon in Richland County Juvenile Court, Wilkins was told he could begin scheduled visits in his home to encourage bonding between the two.

“Am I excited? Yes, I’m excited,” Wilkins said.

Attorney Ann Wendling, the 6-month-old’s court-appointed guardian, told the Bucyrus man the news.

“Visitation with a goal to have her by Dec. 22,” Wendling told Wilkins, Wilkins’ girlfriend Jen Spears and mother Tana Myers as they hugged and cried.

In November, a DNA test confirmed Wilkins was the biological father.

The baby spent more than three weeks at MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital and was placed in a foster-to-adopt home after she was discovered June 17 at First Baptist Church in Bellville.

“It’s going to be the best Christmas ever,” Myers said. “I was nervous and scared. I’m just thrilled.”

Wilkins, who waited in the courthouse lobby throughout the conference, said he has seen his daughter twice — Dec. 5 and Wednesday.

“And she cried,” he said. “She doesn’t know me. I understand that.”

Wilkins expressed gratitude to the foster parents with whom the baby was placed by Richland County Children Services.

“I am thankful for what they did for her. I appreciate it,” he said. “I know she was safe and well cared for.”

Wilkins, 31, said he has been overwhelmed by the community’s support.

“I want to thank the public and (my attorney) Bob Whitney,” Wilkins said.

Whitney said he was happy with the turn of events.

“I’m tickled for him,” the attorney said. “He seems like a decent young man who’ll do the right thing.

“He has custody of her. They’re going to up the visitation and bring the baby to his home.”

Judge Ron Spon said there is a consensus regarding the child’s custody.

“The focus of everyone right now is everyone recognizes we have the father and everyone is in agreement the child should go to the father,” Spon said. “The issue is how we transition the change of custody to the biological father in a way to serve the best interest of the child.”

A final hearing is set for January. Spon anticipates Richland County Children Services will recommend he terminate their involvement and recommend the court designate Wilkins as the legal custodian.

Wilkins previously said he met the baby’s mother in a bar and she engaged in an extramarital relationship with him. He said he knew the woman was married, but believed she was getting a divorce.

The baby's mother, Tabitha L. Potter, 27, of 1117 Mock Road, Bellville, was indicted in November by the Richland County Grand Jury for child endangering and falsification. The case was recently transferred from Richland County Common Pleas Court to Mansfield Municipal Court, according to court records.

Under Ohio’s Save Havens for Newborns law, a parent who abandons a baby is protected from prosecution if he or she voluntarily delivers a child not more than 72 hours old to an emergency medical service worker, peace officer or hospital employee. That procedure was not followed in this case.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Syracuse father loses fight / Court ruling in four-year-old adoption case urges Legislature to clarify law

2008-12-29T15:45:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Syracuse father loses fight / Court ruling in four-year-old adoption case urges Legislature to clarify law
Saturday, December 13, 2008

By JESSE FRUHWIRTH
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau

SYRACUSE -- A father's quest to reunite with his son has apparently come to an end -- the Utah Court of Appeals has ruled against the man whose son was placed for adoption against his wishes four years ago.

One judge noted, however, that the law cited to terminate Nikolas Thurnwald's paternity rights is vague, illusory, highly problematic and invites fabrication.

He urged the Legislature to clarify the law.

"... (S)evering an unmarried biological father's parental rights based on such technicalities serves to reinforce traditional notions about gender and childrearing -- i.e., that women are biologically better suited for raising children," Judge James Z. Davis wrote in his concurring opinion released Thursday.

"(Those) notions are antiquated and harmful to both men and women."

The technicality to which Davis referred is a state law that requires an unmarried biological father who wishes to parent his child to file within at least one business day of the child's birth a sworn affidavit that "set(s) forth his plans for care of the child."

The law states an unmarried father must strictly comply with that requirement, meaning almost good enough is not good enough.

There is no legal definition of what a "plan for care" is, and even though Thurnwald had an attorney write a multipage affidavit, the court ruled that the affidavit did not contain a plan.

Thurnwald is planning to end his quest for his son, for now.

"I've done everything in my power, under the sun, that anybody can do as far as fighting this out, fighting to be his father and raising my child," he said.

"Whatever happened was completely out of my control, and I did everything -- everything -- I could. This is a sad situation. I'm going to wait for the day he's in my arms, united with me -- hopefully sooner rather than later."

Thurnwald plans to place his name on Utah's Mutual-Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry, which one day might help his son contact him.

In the absence of specific details written by legislators, the two other appeals judges who heard the case, Russell W. Bench and Carolyn B. McHugh, wrote that a father must state in his sworn affidavit at least "that he has a source of income and identify who will care for the child while he is working to earn that income."

There is no requirement under Utah law that an unmarried mother detail a plan to care for her child or risk losing child custody.

Thurnwald's attorney, Dan Drage, said Utah adoption law seems to assume all unmarried fathers want the child placed for adoption to avoid the heavy burden of child support payments.

He said when the occasional responsible and interested unmarried father comes along, his rights are often trounced.

"You've got more of a protectable interest when someone wants to repossess a vehicle or collect on a debt. They have to give you notice and give you a hearing, and all you're talking about is a television or an automobile," he said.

"But we're talking about a child here."

Drage said the court acknowledged that it was obvious Thurnwald expressed his desire to be a father at the time of his son's birth.

"He filed (an affidavit), he has fought hard, and there's no doubt what his intention all along was: 'I want to be the dad,' " Drage said.

"Now the court is saying, 'We know what your intention was, but you didn't put it on paper.' We have a piece of paper, but it doesn't say the magic words, and so his true intention is overlooked."

Utah Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, an attorney, recalled Thurnwald's victory before the Utah Supreme Court in 2007.

In that battle, Thurnwald convinced the state's highest court that the Constitution requires that his paternity affidavit be accepted even though he missed the statutory 24-hour post-birth deadline.

Thurnwald's child was placed for adoption on a Sunday before Labor Day, so the earliest he could file his affidavit with the court was Tuesday.

The Utah Supreme Court changed the law from a 24-hour post-birth deadline to a one-business-day deadline on equal protection grounds.

"We really want to balance the legitimate interests of the father, the mother and the adoptive parents -- and the child," Bell said. "And we don't want legitimate interests defeated by a technicality."

At the center of the case is a child who has spent more than four years with an adoptive family and knows no other parents. The court calls him Baby Boy Doe.

Had the court decided in Thurnwald's favor, an analysis of the best interests of the child may have been performed for the first time in the case.

Adam Pertman, of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, said that's too late to consider what's best for children.

He said he's unfamiliar with the Thurnwald case, so he could not comment on the merits of the complaint, but said men are often treated unfairly in adoption law.

"These laws can cause as many problems as they resolve," he said. "These laws are not well-understood and they are not well-publicized, but then men are expected to have followed them really well."

Pertman also said a case such as Thurnwald's should be expedited so that it doesn't take four years to decide.

Davis acknowledged that not knowing the "magic words," as Drage called them, put Thurnwald in an impossible bind.

"The lead opinion clearly observes that N.T.'s petitions are utterly deficient in 'setting forth his plans for care of the child,' " Davis wrote.

"It is entirely unclear, however, precisely what N.T. could have -- or should have -- done differently that would have yielded a different result in this case."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Giving Men a Boost, One Father to Another

2008-12-29T15:41:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Giving Men a Boost, One Father to Another

By IVER PETERSON
LAWRENCEVILLE

CONNIE MERCER is the president and chief executive of HomeFront, a nonprofit service agency for the poor and the near-poor, and after years of helping homeless women and children she began to notice something new: men coming in with their children, men with mistakes and lost years behind them, without much in their pockets, but with a desire to keep their children and to give them a home.

The problem was, who would take these men under his wing, to mentor and advise and encourage them? Shelters, children’s agencies and social service centers were set up for women, and most did not even accept men, let alone counsel and support them.

Ms. Mercer called Keith V. Hamilton, vice president of a psychiatric hospital and a Mercer County freeholder, and asked him to get involved.

Mr. Hamilton said yes, and for the last six months, the married father of two girls has taken under his wing eight men and their children, meeting every other Tuesday and trying to nudge them forward in a world of scarce jobs, expensive housing and scant outside help.

“It’s a way to help men keep engaged with their kids,” said Mr. Hamilton, 53. “There are a lot of agencies that deal with women, because traditionally it is viewed that women are the ones taking care of children. But these guys are the ones with children; they suffer the same problems as women, but society doesn’t see it.”

Most social service agencies regard children with their father as a temporary arrangement, said Brenda Whitaker, director of interim housing at HomeFront. “We have to explain to them that this is a permanent household — men with kids is the new trend.”

Eddie Thompson, 36, was recently laid off from a warehouse job and lives with two daughters, 11 and 12, at home in temporary housing that HomeFront has provided. He learned to tie a tie for his job hunt and put one on for the first time in his life, he said, to meet Mr. Hamilton and a reporter last Tuesday.

“I’ve been a single father for 17 years, and it’s been a long, hard road,” Mr. Thompson said. “And this is the first time I’ve gotten extra help.”

Mr. Hamilton said his meetings with the men and their children are informal — a gathering, sometimes over a meal, and a chance to talk about the challenges of life and fatherhood. Two weeks ago he took his group bowling, and last week he was Santa Claus at HomeFront’s Christmas party, with each child receiving a gift he or she had specifically requested that was purchased by donors.

At first, the talk was general, Mr. Hamilton said. But then he found the men were calling him for private conversations. So now he meets privately with the men as well as with a group, to mentor and encourage them to persist on the road of paternal responsibility.

“I just try to keep them going down the path they’re on,” he said.

It has been a learning experience for Mr. Hamilton too, he said.

“You see things differently when you’re up close,” he said. “On one of the first conversations we had I gave them my phone number and told them to call me if they needed to talk. And they were, ‘Uh, well — are you going to call us back?’ Because these guys aren’t used to people returning their phone calls, and having an extended conversation with them. I had to learn that.”

TO hear them tell it, the hopes of the two men from the group who came to meet Mr. Hamilton last week were surprisingly modest. Lionel Little, 34, a warehouse worker, is the father of a boy, 14, and a girl, 12. He said he wanted only one thing.

“I just hope my son graduates from high school,” Mr. Little said. “I’m working, I like the work, but my main focus is the boy. He’s 14 and there’s a lot of things on the street that I don’t want him to encounter. So he’s my No. 1 priority.”

Mr. Thompson’s wish list for Christmas was also as simple as a prayer, and as complicated as life itself. “Stability,” he said. “Just to be able to keep on providing for my kids, and protecting them, teach them that they can’t be out there fighting, to walk away if they can, don’t be a follow-the-leader.”

Being part of a men’s group, under the guidance of someone who is like a successful older brother, makes Mr. Little feel a bit safer.

“Keith’s got our back now,” he said. “I’m not scared to be out there now.”

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Custody wars

2008-12-29T15:39:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Custody wars
Montreal businessman Francois Larivee is in a protracted international custody battle. The number of parental abduction cases is rising globally

Karen Mazurkewich, Financial Post

Part two of the Continental Divide series on the strains of international relationships
---
Francois Larivee is fighting for the return of his five-year-old son from Brazil. But being on the right side of the law is cold comfort to the 38-year-old businessman. He has won two court decisions in Brazil, and has followed The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction to the letter of the law, but Mr. Larivee's child custody battle, which has stretched over four years, shows no signs of being resolved.

"It's a nightmare," says Mr. Larivee, who works in finance in Montreal and has seen his son only three times since his former partner kidnapped his son and moved back to Rio de Janeiro. "Every day you wake up you think of this," he adds. Every time I call, it takes me days to recover it's so traumatic, says Mr. Larivee. "It's sad because [my son] always asks: 'Daddy, why are you not here with me?' "

Cross-border custody battles are on the rise in Canada. With more people working and travelling around the globe, there is an explosion in divorces that have an international dimension, says Jeremy Morley, who runs an international family law office in New York. "The world is getting smaller and there is mixing of different backgrounds," he adds. But with the growth of bicultural marriage comes cross-border divorce. Money and alimony is one thing, but as Mr. Larivee discovered, the worst part of separating from a spouse who no longer wants to live in the same country as you is the tragic problem of custody.

In 2001, Mr. Larivee started dating Ione, a Brazilian woman who had been working five years as an architect in Montreal. Two years later, after learning she was pregnant, the couple bought a house and moved in together.

But their relationship turned "tense" following the birth of their son. In January, 2004, she travelled to Brazil for an extended 12-week trip. But when she returned to Montreal two months later, their relationship fell apart.

By August, Mr. Larivee had moved out, arranging visits with his young son three to four times a week. Before they even had a chance to explore custody arrangements, his ex-partner, on the ruse of taking a short trip to the U. S., fled illegally to Brazil with their son.

Mr. Larivee learned of her deception only when he showed up at their former home after a long weekend and found his son's belongings were missing.

Mr. Larivee called the police, but his attempts to have his son returned to Montreal -- even for a basic custody hearing -- have been thwarted. "At the time, I thought it would take a month or two to bring him back," he says. I never wanted it to be public, but now I think there is nothing to do but to turn to the media, he adds.

Parental abductions are on the rise globally. The U.S. has the highest reported number of incidents in the world with 169 applications filed in 2003 -- according to the most recent statistics compiled by The Hague Abduction Convention. This represents a 13% rise since 1999. The U. S. also received 286 applications to have children returned to another country, representing a 23% rise during the same period. By contrast, Canada received 56 requests from another country seeking to have a child returned and has made 43 applications to have a child returned from another country, representing a 3% rise in cases over that four year period.

The Hague convention on child abduction was drafted in 1980 to deal with the issue of parental kidnappings in cases in which the parent has rightful custody and the child in question has been taken out of the country where she/he has been residing. Since the convention was created, 74 countries have become signatories.

Under the rules of the convention, the child must be returned to their country of residence within six weeks. The convention does not decide child access. Its goal is to ensure that the courts where the child was living will have the right to make that decision. "Those countries that subscribe to the Hague convention, submit and agree to a common set of laws that will govern the return of children removed from one jurisdiction to another and that gives some certainty to parents whose children have been taken without their consent," says Calgary lawyer Edward McCann.

There are still many countries such as Saudi Arabia and Lebanon that have not signed the convention, and children kidnapped to those countries are often never returned to their country of residence. But in most cases, when a country is a signatory of the convention, the child is repatriated, says Caroline Harnois, lawyer at Montreal-based Lavery, de Billy. The delays are typically longer than six weeks, but Ms. Harnois has only had one case that has defied the law: the case of Mr. Larivee.

"This is quite an exceptional case," says Ms. Harnois, who is representing Mr. Larivee. "We have two other abduction cases we've worked on recently, one in Germany, and one in the U. S.," she adds. But in the German case, the child was returned within six weeks, and in the U. S. case, the child was eventually returned after 10 weeks. "What is difficult with this Brazilian case is that we are stuck with the delays ... there's always a recourse available to the mother," she says.

Even Ms. Harnois is flabbergasted with the postponements and runaround she's encountered. Although Brazil is technically a signatory of The Hague convention, "there is a duality of the court system over there," she says. The jurisdiction battle was the first delay.

Mr. Larivee's ex-partner, Ione, had been granted a custody judgment by a family court in Rio de Janeiro, claiming the father had abandoned them. Ms. Harnois had to fight to have the case extracted from family court and heard at the federal court level.

By March, 2007 -- almost 2½ years after their first filing -- the federal court ruled that the child should be returned to Canada. The child could not leave until any appeals were heard. By October, 2007, the Federal court of appeal threw out Ione's arguments and demanded that the child be returned to Canada.

Mr. Larivee's heart lifted as he flew to Rio to pick up his son. It was supposed to be a stealth operation, but when the court officers arrived to take custody of his son, Ione had taken the boy and fled once again. Her lawyer, however, sat parked in front of the house and informed the officers that the door was open. According to Ms. Harnois, Ione's father, who was also at home, told the officers: "Francois is a good guy, but my daughter is a lioness and she'll fight until the end; you'll never have that child."

Two days later, Ione obtained a decision from the vice-president of the federal court of appeal suspending the decision to have the child removed to Canada.

Not only did she get another reprieve, she's working on two more appeals -- one with the Supreme Court of Justice in Brasilia and the second at the Federal Supreme Court in Rio. She's seeking to have the previous judgments overturned.

The revolving doors of Brazil's justice system have not stopped turning.

Mr. Larivee's case, while unusual, is not the only one pending in Brazil.

David Goldman, a father from New Jersey, has also been fighting Brazilian courts for the return of his son, Sean. In June, 2004, Mr. Goldman's wife, Bruna Bianchi Carneiro Ribeiro, travelled to Brazil on vacation with their son. The day they arrived, she called back home and informed her husband she was not returning. He has never been permitted to see his son, and a panel of five judges at the Superior Court in Brazil awarded custody to Bruna in a three-to-two decision.

The Goldman case has made media headlines in the U. S., and he's gone on talk shows such as Dr. Phil to present his story. Mr. Goldman did not get the same positive court outcomes in Brazil that Mr. Larivee has had to date, but he was certain he would finally get custody of his son after learning his ex-wife, who had remarried in Brazil, had died in childbirth in August, 2008.

But the case has since taken an ugly twist. In September, Mr. Goldman learned that his wife's widower, Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, ironically a family lawyer in Brazil, had filed to get Mr. Goldman's name taken off his son Sean's birth certificate and have it replaced with his own so the child could remain with him in Brazil. Mr. Silva was awarded temporary guardianship.

"He's from an influential family and they are using their power and connections to make it more difficult [for me]," says Mr. Goldman who argues that his case is a basic violation of human rights. "It seems this far in Brazil, possession is nine-tenths of the law," he adds.

Mr. Larivee is holding out hope that his son will one day be returned. He's burned through $150,000, and still there is no end in sight. Brazil's record on judgments on The Hague cases has been spotty. In addition to the Goldman case, a return to Israel was refused, a return to Norway was partly granted--for summer periods only -- and the outcome of another request from the U. S. remains indeterminate.

Mr. Larivee has been learning Portuguese to better communicate with his growing son who's not been taught English or French, although his ex-partner is fluent in both languages. Although he hasn't seen his son much over the years, Mr. Larivee is inspired by the affection the little boy apparently holds for him.

When it comes to love and custody, the Brazilian courts are not playing fair. Mr. Larivee is worried that even if he does eventually win his case, the court won't send the child back to Canada on the grounds that too much time has passed and it would not be humanitarian to remove him from the country he's grown up in.

Mr. Larivee is haunted by his ordeal, yet he only shrugs when asked if there was anything he would do differently.

"I've done everything I could do, everything right," he says. "Maybe, don't marry a Brazilian."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Syracuse father loses fight / Court ruling in four-year-old adoption case urges Legislature to clarify law

2008-12-23T15:49:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Syracuse father loses fight / Court ruling in four-year-old adoption case urges Legislature to clarify law

By JESSE FRUHWIRTH - Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau

SYRACUSE -- A father's quest to reunite with his son has apparently come to an end -- the Utah Court of Appeals has ruled against the man whose son was placed for adoption against his wishes four years ago.

One judge noted, however, that the law cited to terminate Nikolas Thurnwald's paternity rights is vague, illusory, highly problematic and invites fabrication.

He urged the Legislature to clarify the law.

"... (S)evering an unmarried biological father's parental rights based on such technicalities serves to reinforce traditional notions about gender and childrearing -- i.e., that women are biologically better suited for raising children," Judge James Z. Davis wrote in his concurring opinion released Thursday.

"(Those) notions are antiquated and harmful to both men and women."

The technicality to which Davis referred is a state law that requires an unmarried biological father who wishes to parent his child to file within at least one business day of the child's birth a sworn affidavit that "set(s) forth his plans for care of the child."

The law states an unmarried father must strictly comply with that requirement, meaning almost good enough is not good enough.

There is no legal definition of what a "plan for care" is, and even though Thurnwald had an attorney write a multipage affidavit, the court ruled that the affidavit did not contain a plan.

Thurnwald is planning to end his quest for his son, for now.

"I've done everything in my power, under the sun, that anybody can do as far as fighting this out, fighting to be his father and raising my child," he said.

"Whatever happened was completely out of my control, and I did everything -- everything -- I could. This is a sad situation. I'm going to wait for the day he's in my arms, united with me -- hopefully sooner rather than later."

Thurnwald plans to place his name on Utah's Mutual-Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry, which one day might help his son contact him.

In the absence of specific details written by legislators, the two other appeals judges who heard the case, Russell W. Bench and Carolyn B. McHugh, wrote that a father must state in his sworn affidavit at least "that he has a source of income and identify who will care for the child while he is working to earn that income."

There is no requirement under Utah law that an unmarried mother detail a plan to care for her child or risk losing custody.

Thurnwald's attorney, Dan Drage, said Utah adoption law seems to assume all unmarried fathers want the child placed for adoption to avoid the heavy burden of child support payments.

He said when the occasional responsible and interested unmarried father comes along, his rights are often trounced.

"You've got more of a protectable interest when someone wants to repossess a vehicle or collect on a debt. They have to give you notice and give you a hearing, and all you're talking about is a television or an automobile," he said.

"But we're talking about a child here."

Drage said the court acknowledged that it was obvious Thurnwald expressed his desire to be a father at the time of his son's birth.

"He filed (an affidavit), he has fought hard, and there's no doubt what his intention all along was: 'I want to be the dad,' " Drage said.

"Now the court is saying, 'We know what your intention was, but you didn't put it on paper.' We have a piece of paper, but it doesn't say the magic words, and so his true intention is overlooked."

Utah Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, an attorney, recalled Thurnwald's victory before the Utah Supreme Court in 2007.

In that battle, Thurnwald convinced the state's highest court that the Constitution requires that his paternity affidavit be accepted even though he missed the statutory 24-hour post-birth deadline.

Thurnwald's child was placed for adoption on a Sunday before Labor Day, so the earliest he could file his affidavit with the court was Tuesday.

The Utah Supreme Court changed the law from a 24-hour post-birth deadline to a one-business-day deadline on equal protection grounds.

"We really want to balance the legitimate interests of the father, the mother and the adoptive parents -- and the child," Bell said. "And we don't want legitimate interests defeated by a technicality."

At the center of the case is a child who has spent more than four years with an adoptive family and knows no other parents. The court calls him Baby Boy Doe.

Had the court decided in Thurnwald's favor, an analysis of the best interests of the child may have been performed for the first time in the case.

Adam Pertman, of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, said that's too late to consider what's best for children.

He said he's unfamiliar with the Thurnwald case, so he could not comment on the merits of the complaint, but said men are often treated unfairly in adoption law.

"These laws can cause as many problems as they resolve," he said. "These laws are not well-understood and they are not well-publicized, but then men are expected to have followed them really well."

Pertman also said a case such as Thurnwald's should be expedited so that it doesn't take four years to decide.

Davis acknowledged that not knowing the "magic words," as Drage called them, put Thurnwald in an impossible bind.

"The lead opinion clearly observes that N.T.'s petitions are utterly deficient in 'setting forth his plans for care of the child,' " Davis wrote.

"It is entirely unclear, however, precisely what N.T. could have -- or should have -- done differently that would have yielded a different result in this case."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Father seeks custody of sons in Alamo case

2008-12-23T15:37:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Father seeks custody of sons in Alamo case

BY ANDY DAVIS

A worker at the Trane Inc. plant in Fort Smith, Jose Avila left the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries about eight years ago, when he and his wife separated.

While he kept in touch with her and their five sons, he wasn't aware of any abuse within the ministry, said Avila's attorney, Pamela Fisk of Texarkana, Texas.

Now the boys have been placed in foster care by the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which contends that the practices of the church, including beatings for seemingly minor infractions, put children at risk of abuse.

A hearing on the child custody status of the oldest of the Avila boys, who will turn 18 this month, is set for today in Miller County Circuit Court. Jose Avila will ask for custody of the teen today, Fisk said, and he plans to seek custody of his other sons in future court proceedings.

"He's very concerned and wants to get them placed back in his home," Fisk said.

The five brothers are among 36 children taken into protective custody amid an investigation into allegations of physical and sexual abuse within the ministry.

Six girls, ages 10 to 17, were taken into protective custody on Sept. 20 after federal and state authorities raided the ministry's compound in Fouke. Tony Alamo, the ministry's 74-year-old leader, was arrested in Arizona five days later on charges that he transported an underage girl across state lines for sexual purposes.

Since then, 30 more children have been taken into state custody. Avila's 17-year-old son was among three boys taken into custody Nov. 18 at the Juvenile Court Center in Texarkana, where they had been attending a hearing on the custody status of two of the girls taken in the September raid.

The other four Avila boys and their mother were found at a residence in Arkansas on Friday evening. The Human Services Department is looking for 92 or more children whose parents are associated with the ministry.

A woman who lives at the church compound in Fouke said the Avila boys are "precious well-cared-for children."

"One of them is a specialneeds child," said the woman, who declined to give her name. "We hope they are taking care of that child, because he is very attached to his mother."

Human Services Department spokesman Julie Munsell confirmed that one of the boys has a disability, but she didn't have further details Tuesday.

At a hearing today, Miller County Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson could order the 17-year-old Avila boy to be returned to one of his parents or to remain in foster care until Dec. 28, when he will turn 18, Munsell said.

When he is 18, the boy could ask for his case to be closed, or he could remain in the fostercare system while he attends college or trade school or works toward his high school diploma, Munsell said. In that case, the state would pay for his educational and living expenses, but the judge could impose restrictions on his association with the church.

Along with the adjudication hearing, the Human Services Department will ask Johnson to hold an initial hearing for the 17-year-old's four brothers, Munsell said.

At that hearing, Johnson would decide whether probable cause exists to believe the boys were at risk of abuse or neglect and whether they should remain in foster care pending further court proceedings. If the boys remain in foster care, an adjudication hearing for them will be held within 60 days.

Fisk said Avila and his wife, Becky, had attended the ministry's church in Fort Smith. Avila left the church and separated from his wife, but they remained married, and Avila had "frequent contact" with her and his children, Fisk said.

"He wasn't aware of any of the abuse that was going on in the ministry," Fisk said.

A phone message left for Becky Avila at the church in Fort Smith wasn't returned on Tuesday.

Becky Avila was with her 17-year-old son when he was taken into custody at the Juvenile Court Center, Fisk said, but she did not attend an initial hearing on his custody status on Nov. 24. Johnson could appoint an attorney for her at the hearing today, Fisk said.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Attorney for 2 counselors calls perjury case 'bologna sandwich'

2008-12-23T15:29:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Attorney for 2 counselors calls perjury case 'bologna sandwich'

By JESSICA SAVAGE - The Lufkin Daily News

The attorney for two Lufkin counselors indicted for lying under oath during a child custody case compared the grand jury charges to a bologna sandwich on Thursday.

"There's an old saying that a district attorney could have a grand jury indict a bologna sandwich," said defense attorney John W. Tunnell. "This case is a bologna sandwich."

Tunnell's clients Mark Sutton and Juanda Morgan, who are married to each other and have a counseling practice together, have both been indicted for aggravated perjury. An Angelina County grand jury handed down two counts of the charges against Sutton and five counts against Morgan.

Angelina County District Attorney Clyde Herrington was not available for comment Thursday, although he usually does not comment on cases that are currently under investigation.

Sutton testified in a child custody case earlier this year that the father of the children involved had raised his voice "in a very loud and harassing manner" during the course of a counseling session, according to an indictment handed down by a grand jury Tuesday. Morgan testified that during her counseling session with the father "he began to yell very loudly at me," the report stated. Sutton and Morgan also said under oath they would characterize the father's type of behavior as consistent with a person who has rage, the report stated.

A tape recording of the session, reviewed and investigated by a Texas Ranger, revealed "such statement as being false," the report stated.

Morgan responded to a request for comment made Wednesday in a phone message left Thursday morning. She said she and her husband would not be avoiding comment on the case.

"This is a story that really affects the entire mental health counseling community here in Lufkin, in my opinion," she said. "Even though it looks like my specific problem at the moment, I think it indicates what a lot of mental health professionals are up against when occasionally a parent expects you to be a hired gun on the stand rather than a mental health professional."

The indictment issued Tuesday is not expected to affect the custody court case, which has already been resolved. The father did get custody rights to the children.

In an interview Thursday, Tunnell said the father involved in the custody case had secretly tape recorded the counseling sessions. While a person involved in a one-on-one conversation with someone is legally allowed, under Texas law, to tape record conversations without the other party knowing, Tunnell said he believes it is unethical to tape record a conversation with advice of an attorney.

Tunnell also said he is not afraid of what is on the tape, adding that if the prosecution does not introduce it into evidence, he would.

Tunnell said he will be representing Morgan in the case and expected her husband, Sutton, to hire additional counsel. The attorney said he was disappointed an indictment was returned, and planned to defend Morgan, who is a good friend.

"We look forward to a fair trial with every confidence that they will be completely exonerated by an impartial jury," Tunnell said. "As an attorney in this area for many years, I am concerned at the careless ease with which our fellow citizens can be indicted and then, as happens so often in Angelina County, be found not guilty by a jury of peers.

"I have been a criminal defense attorney for nearly 30 years. If God should grant that I practice another 30 years, I hope to finally learn exactly where a person can go to get their reputation back."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Two counselors indicted for lying in custody case

2008-12-18T15:11:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Two counselors indicted for lying in custody case

By JESSICA SAVAGE
The Lufkin Daily News

Two Lufkin licensed counselors have been indicted by an Angelina County grand jury on charges they lied under oath while testifying in a family child custody case earlier this year.

Mark Sutton and Juanda Morgan, who work together, have been charged with aggravated perjury. Sutton has been charged with two counts and Morgan with five counts.

Sutton testified in a child custody case the father of the children has raised his voice "in a very loud and harassing manner" during the course of their counseling session, according to an indictment handed down by a grand jury Tuesday. Morgan testified that during her counseling session with the father "he began to yell very loudly at me," the report stated. Sutton and Morgan also testified they would characterize that type of behavior as consistent of a person with rage, the report stated.

A tape recording of the session, reviewed and investigated by a Texas Ranger, revealed "such statement as being false," the report stated.

No further details about the outcome of that custody case were immediately available Wednesday.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Family Law Task Force getting flak for recruitment, ‘insider’ panelists

2008-12-18T13:05:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Family Law Task Force getting flak for recruitment, ‘insider’ panelists

By Malcolm Maclachlan

A Task Force created to address alleged widespread problems in the state family courts system is taking flak from the same groups who have been calling for reforms.

Such criticism was widely expected when the Elkins Family Law Task Force was created last May. Men’s and women’s groups have been fighting a highly-politicized battle for years over problems in the courts that decide divorce and child custody proceedings.

While advocates on both sides agree that there are numerous serious issues in the family courts, they often have opposing views on what those problems actually are. But they do seem to agree that the process has been too closed, that there have been problems with a series of focus groups and that the Task Force includes far too many insiders. The 38 members include 16 judges, 12 attorneys, 10 staff members of various family courts—and no advocates or family court litigants.

“When you ask that same entity to investigate itself, and then you put on the panel judges who have historically protected the institution and themselves over the public good, how much substantive change is really going to occur?” said Patty Bellasalma, president of the California National Organization of Women (CA NOW).

Fred Sottile, president of the Los Angeles chapter of Fathers for Justice, referred to CA NOW as a “hate group.” Yet he said basically the same thing when asked about the Elkins Task Force.

“The Task Force is made all of judges and prosecutors,” Sottile said. “There are no people who have been victimized by family law. The Task Force is a group of people with no perspective. These people are all in the business who get paid by the business.”

Both Sottile and Bellasalma said they did not become aware of the Task Force until after the January deadline. Several advocates from women’s groups applied or were nominated, including Jean Taylor from the Center for Judicial Excellence and Connie Valentine of the California Protective Parents Association.

Katie Howard, special consultant with the state’s Center for Families, Children & the Courts, said that several litigants, both women and men, did apply to be members of the Task Force, but a decision was made to confine the membership to professionals.

“Many people who applied for the Task Force were, of course, disappointed not to be appointed, and I can understand that,” Howard said. “But I think that the many ways the Task Force is seeking input.”

The Elkins Task Force grew out of a California Supreme Court case decided last summer. It’s named for one of the litigants, a Contra Costa County father engaged in a custody battle whose attorney argued that the evidence code required in all civil cases was not being properly used in family courts.

As part of the ruling, Chief Justice Ronald George ordered the creation of the Task Force to look into use of evidence and other issues in the family courts. He asked William Vickrey, administrative director of courts, to choose the Task Force members.

The Elkins Task Force has now convened three times in San Francisco; in June, September, and November. Whether or not these meetings were open to the public caused more confusion with the advocates. The Protective Parents Association’s Valentine said she tried to attend the Nov. 19 meeting at the Judicial Council headquarters in San Francisco, but was given conflicting information about the schedule and was told part of the meeting was closed.

Valentine said the closure was an apparent violation of Proposition 59, the 2004 state “sunshine initiative.” Having already been denied a place on the Task Force itself, Valentine said it was important that advocates be able to track the proceedings and provide input.

“If they knew what the problems were, they probably would have fixed them,” Valentine said.

Howard said that Prop. 59 does not apply to the Task Force because it maintained previous exemptions to the Public Records Act for the judicial branch. She said the Nov. 19 meeting consisted mainly of small break-out sessions, with a public comment period later in the day.

“The Task Force needed the opportunity to throw out all sorts of ideas they weren’t ready to go public on,” Howard said. “Going forward, we will have open Task Force meetings.”

More criticism has arisen over a series of focus groups arranged via an outside contractor to help the Task Force assess problems with the courts. Eight focus groups of current and former family court litigants have been conducted in six counties, two of them in Spanish; 39 women and 18 men have given testimony.

The focus groups were arranged by Santa Cruz-based Ceres Policy Research. Women’s groups have raised objections to a Nov. 12 focus group in Pasadena that interviewed only six men, all members of various “father’s rights” organizations—a fact which leaked out onto the active and contentious online communities on both sides.

In a letter to the Task Force, Bellasalma charged “The solicitation of known advocacy group members is a breach of research protocols, if the intent was to solicit as unbiased a sample as possible.” She went on to call the recruitment “blatantly one sided, as no women’s rights groups were noticed,” and said it brought all the work done by Ceres into question.

Some of the men interviewed were members of Sottile’s 250 strong Father’s for Justice chapter. While he said they were initially “very excited” about participating, their enthusiasm was quickly tempered by the tone of the questions, which he said focused on subjects like how to more easily get money out of fathers.

“The impression was that the interviewers were looking for ways to exploit the fathers even more,” Sottile said. “The questions were very slanted.”

Howard said that while they have generally been happy with Ceres work and plan to continue using them, though it was never intended that there would be a focus group consisting only of father’s rights activist. She said they were planning on two additional focus groups in January to address the imbalance of known advocates, including one in San Francisco to consist of women’s groups. But Bellasalma said her’s and other women’s groups were unlikely to participate. A call to Ceres seeking comment was not returned as of press time.

Howard also provided what she said was the list of questions used by Ceres. It contained eight questions about the court experience and how it could be improved, with no mention of child support.

In many ways, the battle over the Task Force mirrors the larger battle between men’s and women’s organizations. Both sides say their members are victimized by a system that doesn’t follow proper procedures, ignores evidence and seems to be designed to drag out the process and bleed participants of their resources. Standards and operations are not consistent between different counties, a key factor Howard said the Task Force is designed to address.

But Sottile charged that men are essentially silenced in proceedings, given little chance of getting child custody and specifically targeted for their wealth with court-mandated psychological evaluations and other expensive services. There is little or no investigation into false child or spousal abuse charges in what he characterized as “war on fathers” conducted by “the domestic violence industry.”
Women’s groups, meanwhile, say that children are routinely placed with men who physically and sexually abuse them—especially when the fathers are wealthy and well-connected.

A particular battle is going on over the concept of “parental alienation syndrome,” a term generally used to describe a mother allegedly turning children against the father with lies and pressure. The term is not officially recognized in psychiatry, despite efforts by men’s groups.

Bellasalma said it was far more complicated than a battle of the sexes—something she had to witness firsthand when her brother was “totally destroyed in New Jersey family court.”

“When you don’t have an open process, whatever you believe the courts are conspiring towards, that’s what you’re going to believe is happening,” Bellasalma said. “Personally, I just believe the courts are going to protect the courts over anything else. There are judges for men, judges for women, judges who don’t work at all, and good judges. It’s Russian Roulette.”

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - The Family Court Of Injustice

2008-12-18T13:00:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - The Family Court Of Injustice

Darryl Brown, in black coat, on the grounds of Leake and Watts visiting his Daughter, who complained of being in pain and denied medical attention, as Darryl's Brother and another resident listens.

[It is important to note, Leake and Watts’ staff has a reputation for its criminal behavior toward the children in their care. Approximately three years ago, a counselor was having a relationship with one of the female residents and when she went absent without leave (AWOL) she lost her life on a Bronx street inside the counselor’s car after it flipped over several times.]

By Donald Winkfield

It is a known fact – fathers are more likely to get an adverse decision in a Family Court dispute.

Many good fathers find themselves getting railroaded too many times in this non-criminal venue. The court’s mission is to operate "in the best interest of the child." I would like to ask, can anyone in the Family Court show us how many families they save? I personally know of many families the courts have torn apart – the Family Court’s interest is with those who have benefited from troubled relations and children in need of a little guidance.

Darryl Brown now knows he is not an exception to the rule. Since November 2006, Brown has found himself locked in an un-winnable battle with his daughter’s mother, Arlanda Murray; the Department of Education (DOE); the New York City Corporation Council, which is the city’s Law Department; the Administration for Children Services (ACS); Lawyers for Children – a private organization funded by the state; and, Leake and Watts – a private institution in Yonkers New York being referred to as a "Residential Treatment Center," where he says his daughter is being held, beaten as punishment, and drugged for "treatment."

Here’s the irony of this story. Brown petitioned the Family Court complaining about how his daughter’s mother was treating her and filed for sole child custody of the child. The mother in turn responded with her own set of tricks – making counter complaints and allegations as Brown witnessed the system turning on him. It is sad to say too many fathers have learned they do not have a friend in Family Court.

There are no winners when love is lost, followed by abusive words and very troubling allegations, which opens the door to a state system where too many functionaries are heartless. One allegation against Brown as Court records state, referring to his daughter, that he "inappropriately supervised her by bathing her – washing her arms, back and legs with a sponge when the child was fourteen." Brown denies the allegations saying his daughter was old enough to do those things for herself.

Personally, I think the word "Family Court" is a misnomer that should be replaced with "Domestic Court." There are no statistics as to how many families the court keeps together.

On July 18, 2008, in Judge Rhoda J. Cohen’s courtroom, the "Subject Child," as I will now refer to the girl, was called to testify against her father. This was a big day for the Family Court and the city’s and state’s agencies involved. This child was sworn in and directed to take a seat on the stand next to the judge. It was this day, the Subject Child told the judge her father did nothing to her, that she loved her father, and that she wanted to leave Leake and Watts and go home.

But, this was not the testimony the judge, law guardian, ASC or Corporation Council wanted to hear. According to court records, the questioning of the Subject Child appeared leading and pressed.

But the Subject Child was not under any medication this day and answered the questions the best she knew how. "…. do you remember telling him that your father would wash you?"

The Subject Child replied: "When I was little." She repeated this response numerous times.

The judge interjected: "And how old, when you say you were little?"

The Subject Child replied: "When I was a baby."

The Subject Child was then pressed again by the judge and the attorney as to how she could remember her father washing her when she was a baby? The Subject Child replied: "Because people used to tell me."

Judge Cohen now speaking to the Subject Child with a stern and controlling voice says, " …. I want to remind you that you’ve taken an oath; you swore to tell the truth in these proceedings. And that’s all I am asking you to do, is to tell the truth."

It is funny; the judge reminds a child of taking an oath, when it appears the professionals involved with this case forgot they too had taken an oath. This case has many problems.

When the Subject Child did not testify as expected, Judge Cohen moved to remove what the Subject Child had stated under oath and directed the attorney to put in evidence that which would clearly impeach the testimony she had just given. "Since the father is not represented by an attorney, these questions are improper because they are not in evidence," Judge Cohen stated, and went on to tell the attorney: "If you want to submit something into evidence to which you can refer to, I will allow you to do that."

"I would ask that the duly certified and delegated New York Presbyterian records be admitted as Petitioner’s 1," the lawyer tells Judge Cohen, who asked Brown: "Do you have any objection to the hospital records being marked in evidence?"

The Subject Child was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) and while under medication she was interviewed and questioned about her father. The medication appeared to have been so strong, the Subject Child did not remember talking to anyone and stated, "I do not speak to strangers."

"I have objections to it. It doesn’t state the doses of medication she was under during the interview," Brown stated. Judge Cohen had already made up her mind and was going to admit the hospital record into evidence. "Sir, listen to me. I want to explain something. The records are not being offered----The portions of the records that discuss medication are not being put in evidence," Judge Cohen stated.

However, Brown wanted Judge Cohen to put the medication the Subject Child was on when she was being interviewed in the presence of her mother on the record. "Was it videotaped or recorded?" Brown asked of the NYPH interview.

"No, your Honor, it was just written," the attorney stated.

"Then I would object to this, your Honor," Brown stated.

"All right, then the father’s objection is overruled," Judge Cohen stated, leaving the door wide open for an appeal to be taken.

The attorneys who brought the charges against Brown discovered right in the middle of the trial and after their star witness had completed her testimony, that there was a "Conflict of interest," and asked the Judge Cohen to be excused from the case.

"The child spoke to a party who is very close to a member of someone in our office. There is a real conflict here," the attorney told the judge, presenting a great prejudice to the case. However, Judge Cohen took it in stride: "All right. So lawyer for children is relieved."

Then a Legal Aid attorney who was already sitting in the court took over the case. You have to ask yourself, when will court reform begin?

Judge Cohen had seen nothing more than a caring and maybe over protective father, Brown before him. Yet, in his mind, he saw an abuser.

The girl had been removed from her home by the New York City Department of Education (DOE) as a result of the allegations against the father. She is being deprived of parental care and deprived of education. She remains confined at Leake and Watts.

The Subject Child has made many complaints of her own to the staff at Leake and Watts and to her father alleging that she has been assaulted by staff. "He grabbed me from behind and put me in a choke hold. My neck and back is hurting and they won’t take me to the hospital," she told the father talking about an incident with a staff member at Leake and Watts.

The incident occurred weeks ago – Leake and Watts refused to get The Subject Child any medical attention because this will generate a medical record.

Telephone calls and e-mail messages I sent to the Leake and Watts media relations department requesting a response went unanswered.

On November 13th, Judge Cohen wrote in an order, The Subject Child, "has been in the custody of her mother throughout these proceedings – she has never been in the care of ACS. This fact is a lie.

It is important to note, Leake and Watts’ staff has a reputation for its criminal behavior toward the children in their care. Approximately three years ago, a counselor was having a relationship with one of the female residents and when she went absent without leave (AWOL) she lost her life on a Bronx street inside the counselor’s car after it flipped over several times.

It is not clear whether Leake and Watts notified this child’s family of her death in a timely manner, and somehow their state accreditation continues to be approved.

The Subject Child should be released from Leake and Watts, admitted to a hospital to be de-toxed of all the drugs that are being pumped into her body and a new Social Worker and Law Guardian should been appointed.

There never was any real evidence of sexual abuse or endangering the welfare of this child put before the Family Court. If so, the judge would have had Brown arrested on the spot. Yet, Judge Cohen refused to dismiss the matter before her and appeared to be practicing the law – from the bench.

The Family Court is not a Criminal Court and has a duty to identify troubled relations without trying to make one of the parties a criminal. On October 1, Murray petitioned the court for an order of protection trying to make Brown appear as a threat. She claimed being, " very fearful for her and the child’s safety." The order was dismissed October 3 by Judge Cohen.

How much does it cost the tax payer to keep cases like this on the calendar for years? Add up the dollars going to: Judges, lawyer, lawyers, guardians, social workers, case workers, doctors, infinitum.

We need to carefully examine what the Family Court means when it says, "In the best interest of the child." There wasn’t anyone in the courtroom whose greatest interest was for this child other than her father.

He just appeared at hearing after hearing being accused, berated, and castrated as a father, and never once did he give up on his daughter. Brown advocated for his daughter inside and outside of the Family Court raising issues pertaining to her wellness; housing, education and mental health – reaching out to any media who would listen.

Murray, the mother, complained about the media being present in the court and refused to answer questions pertaining to receiving monies to keep her daughter on medication and her rent being paid as part of a program.

I reached out for a comment from Murray, but her telephone was out of service and she could not be reached.

Write a letter to the judge and ask her to dismiss this case: Honorable Judge Rhoda J. Cohen, 60 Lafayette Street, New York New York 10013 – 9th Floor, part 6.

Darryl Brown has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court against the Commissioner of ACS. He is searching for an attorney to assist him in getting his and his daughter’s life back.

More to come.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Key parenting tips for fathers

2008-12-17T16:21:00.001-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Key parenting tips for fathers
By REBECCA TORR

BAHRAINI fathers will learn more about child rearing and parenting at a first-of-its-kind programme to be launched at the end of next month.

The Father Support Programme (FSP) will be taught in Arabic, free to Bahraini fathers interested in child development, child rearing, parenting and better family practice.

The 13-week FSP focuses on empowerment through discussions and debates, as well as activities to carry out with their child.

FSP enables fathers to be better informed about child development and education, to put this information into practice, to improve their communication with their children, spouses and social circle and to adopt a more democratic attitude.

Participating fathers are provided with training that increases their level of knowledge on child development, furnishes them with communication skills, and consequently causes them to adopt a more democratic attitude.

The programme mainly targets fathers who have children between the ages of two and 10, but others that feel they can benefit are welcome.

FSP is one of the subsidiary programmes under the Mother Child Education Programme (MOCEP) umbrella, which is under the Mother Child Education Society.

MOCEP founder and director Dr Julie Hadeed said the fathers' programme had been initiated because husbands had seen the difference it had made to their wives and families and wanted to get involved.

"It is a 13-week course, not 26 like MOCEP and it's a lecture and debate series, rather than cognitive learning with the child," explained Dr Hadeed.

"They (the fathers) have to rethink and relearn and unlearn what they have been taught.

"It gets them to think about the experience they had with their own fathers and look at how effective their discipline strategies are and focus on the type of words they use.

"The course focuses on the father's role, the importance and impact on the children, parenting style, accepting children's behaviour, active listening, role playing and other areas. It's based on great research and illustration.

"It's for all social classes, every father needs it."

She said while the programme was primarily for fathers with young children they could also take the course to help other children in their family.

"The application will be on what the father decides the need is for," said Dr Hadeed.

"He might have a role as an uncle or have a child that is terminally ill, or the child might have difficult behaviour."

The programme will be held in the evenings at various centres, with fathers attending once a week.

FSP is backed by local doctors, professors and religious leaders and the primary sponsor is Esterad.

Those wishing to join FSP or MOCEP should contact, 17692151.

MOCEP is a 26-week home-based educational programme that provides mothers with a carefully planned schedule of daily lessons, for teaching their children pre-readiness skills required before entry into primary school.

The goal is for mothers to work constructively and positively with their youngsters at home while partaking in building early child development skills.

The programme is designed for families who cannot afford pre-school provision or care for their children.

It specifically targets Bahrainis and residents from all countries in the region are eligible to apply.

The programme is free to families that qualify and mothers and children are provided with a complete set of lesson materials, workbooks and storybooks for home teaching.

Training with the materials is provided at the weekly meetings along with information on various topics regarding childhood education and health.

Transportation to local centres for weekly meetings is also provided.

More than 1,200 mothers have gone through the MOCEP programme since it was established in Bahrain 10 years ago.

The programme has been operating in Saudi Arabia for the past four years and the Saudi Arabia Philanthropic Women's Society in collaboration with the country's Education Ministry is planning to launch the programme nationwide.

MOCEP is held in co-operation with the Mother-Child Education Foundation (MOCEF) in Turkey and is the Arabic training centre for the GCC.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Not Your Dad's Divorce

2008-12-17T16:15:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Not Your Dad's Divorce
How changes in child-support laws, and a push by fathers for equal time, are transforming the way this generation of ex-spouses raise their children.

Susanna Schrobsdorff
Newsweek Web Exclusive

Most parents will never forget the details of the day their children were born. For those who divorce, there's another day—equally vivid, totally different—that etches into memory: when they have to tell their children their mother and father are splitting up. What I remember is pacing through our apartment the night before, watching my girls sleep. The older one was 8 and still slept as she had when she was a newborn, arms thrown high above her head. The little one, just 4, was curled at the top of her bed, leaving two thirds of it empty.

Their dad and I had read the divorce books and rehearsed our speech about how none of this was their fault, that we loved them. All of this was true, but it seemed insufficient. He and I made a big calendar, as advised, with mom days in red and dad days in purple. In the half-light of that sad morning, I opened the calendar and realized that this crazy quilt would be a map for our lives from now on.

In the morning, we sat the girls on the sofa and told them. They cried, and were confused, but they didn't ask the big questions we thought they would. They wanted to know where they'd live, and whether they would still have the same last name. When we showed them the calendar, our older girl turned it a few pages ahead to her birthday month, which we hadn't colored in yet. She panicked. "But Mom, is my birthday red or purple?" Her dad and I looked at each other and said, "Both. We'll both be there." She would not rest until we filled the day in with red and purple. And with that, our new family life was born.

Birthdays had been part of the initial conversations my ex-husband, Jorgen, and I had had about how the schedule would work. When his parents divorced in the 1970s, they adopted the standard every-other-weekend-with-dad setup. He remembered missing his father tremendously and didn't want that for our kids. We talked about sharing time with them more equally—legally it's called joint physical child custody, as opposed to the more common joint legal custody, where the child may live primarily with one parent, but both parents make big decisions, like which school the child goes to, together.

Joint custody meant that the girls would be spending several nights a week with their dad. Switching would require collaboration and communication about homework and school projects and the thousand other things that kids need from day to day. To make it work, we'd have to live near each other for the next 13 years, until the youngest girl was off to college. It was a commitment not unlike marriage, and, given that feelings were still raw post-divorce, neither of us thought it would be easy.

No child custody schedule is. It can involve long commutes and budgets strained by the costs of maintaining two households. The traditional dad-gets-every-other-weekend formula is logistically easier than what Jorgen and I planned. But ours is an increasingly common arrangement. "It's not like it was 20 years ago," says Leslie Drozd, editor of the Journal of Child Custody. "There's no longer the same presumption that young children must be with their mother."

Courts are changing as well; in the small percentage (5 percent) of custody cases that do go to litigation, judges are now more inclined to disregard gender and look at who's the better parent, says Gary Nickelson, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. "Now they look at parenting skills. Who took care of the children before the divorce?" Most often, children still end up living primarily with the mother; according to the most recent census, moms are the official primary residential parent after a divorce in 5 out of 6 cases, a number that hasn't changed much since the mid-'90s.

Nationwide, the proportion of divorced spouses who opt for joint physical custody, where kids spend anywhere between 33 and 50 percent of their time with one parent and the rest with the other, are still small—about 5 percent, according to an analysis of data from the '90's on post-divorce living arrangements by clinical psychologist Joan B. Kelly in the journal Family Process in 2007. But in California and Arizona, where statutes permitting joint physical custody were adopted in the '80s, a decade earlier than in most states, the joint-physical-custody rates were higher, ranging from 12 to 27 percent.

Formal custody assignments don't tell the whole story of increased involvement by divorced fathers. Research to be published in the journal Family Relations in 2009 shows that there have been significant increases in how much nonresident dads (those who don't have primary custody) are seeing their kids. In 1976, only 18 percent of these dads saw their children (ages 6-12) at least once a week. By 2002, that number had risen to 31 percent.

"It's likely that more fathers are seeing their children midweek for dinner or an overnight. It's a change that really started in the 1990s," says Robert Emery, one of the coauthors of the 2009 Family Relations study (along with Paul R. Amato and Catherine E. Myers). "There's been a cultural shift—a father's involvement with their children is seen as important and positive," says Emery who is also the author of "The Truth About Children and Divorce" (Viking Penguin, 2004).

The laws governing child support have also evolved and affected child-custody arrangements. In the last 15 years or so, most states have passed legislation that ties child-support payments to how much time a child spends with the nonresident parent paying the support. So if a father spends more than a given threshold of nights with his kids, he can have his child support adjusted according to formulas that vary by state.

The change in support law has been applauded by fathers' rights groups. But Jocelyn Elise Crowley, author of "The Politics of Child Support in America" (Cambridge 2003) and "Defiant Dads" (Cornell University 2008), notes that women generally suffer more economic hardship after a divorce; even an incremental reduction in child-support payments could knock their standard of living down significantly. As it is, 27.7 percent of custodial mothers live below the poverty line, compared to only 11.1 percent of custodial fathers. And she notes that much child support goes unpaid. More than $30 billion in child-support payments was due to custodial parents last year. Only $19 billion was paid. Still, that's better than it was for women in the '60s. Before the 1984 federal Child Support Enforcement Amendments, there was virtually no enforcement of support awards or comprehensive tracking of unpaid support.

Crowley says the problem with linking support payments and time spent with kids is that in some cases it can create a "less than pure incentive for fathers to ask for more time with their children." Gary Nickelson of the AAML says men have come into his office saying they want custody of their kids half the time so that they can pay half the support. "I tell them to find another lawyer," he says. "If that's why you're in it, you're not going to win." Most men, though, he says, "just want a fair shake. They want to be involved with their kids."

Fathers and Families is just one of many organizations for fathers who believe that they're not getting a fair shake. Dr. Ned Holstein, a public health physician who heads the 4,500-member group, says it represents men who want more time for the right reasons. He attributes the fact that statistics still show that about 85 percent of primary physical custody goes to women, to the variety of factors leading fathers to cede custody to mothers.

Some dads do jump right into the single life, leaving the bulk of the child-raising to the mothers. But Holstein believes they regret it: "They enter into divorce with the fantasy that they can buy a sports car, go to singles bars and spend their time dating and still have a close relationship with their kids, only seeing them every other weekend, but it doesn't work." And it's a bit of bravado, says Holstein. "You take them to a bar, and they'll start crying because they know they've essentially lost their kids, that their relationship has dwindled. There are legions of men for whom this is a really painful thing."

Why don't the men who are unhappy with the arrangements they have fight for more time? (Currently about 7 percent of sole custodial parents are men.) Holstein says the legal system deters them. "The lawyers are telling them, 'You can't fight this, you won't get it, and it will cost you a lot of money and heartache.'" While the numbers show that men who do fight for primary custody win as much as women do, Holstein says those cases are self-selecting: "They've been told in advance they have a chance at winning because they were Mr. Mom before the divorce—or there's an obvious problem with the mother."

Nickelson of the AAML disagrees. He says that mother bias has largely gone by the wayside. "Thirty-five years ago, when I started practicing, there was gender bias. Mom got the kids unless there was something really wrong with mom, but now most states have provisions that say gender can't be the determining factor in deciding who is going to be the primary custodial parent."

To be sure, the minority of cases that do end up in family court can quickly get ugly—and expensive. The battle over who's the better parent often ends up as a mud fight where the goal is to prove that the other parent is unfit. Couples who do get this far have likely already exhausted various methods of alternative conflict resolution—some states even mandate pre-court mediation—and are at each other's throats.

Often, both sides hire expensive psychologists. Charges of abuse, both child and spousal, can fly. And now, exes have a whole new array of weapons thanks to computers. Surveys from the AAML this year and last found that more than two thirds of their members have seen an increase in digital evidence (often gathered by spyware) brought into court—from browser histories to cell phone records.

Deedra Hunter, coauthor of "Winning Custody" (St. Martin's Griffin, 2001), coaches women who are embroiled in these kinds of battles. She warns clients that everything they do could be brought into court, from their e-mails to their antidepressant prescriptions to the case of wine they bought online for a party. "I say you're no longer living a life, you're living a case." She says women should keep meticulous records to prove that they're using their child-support money for the kids, and use a camera with a date stamp to prove that the children's father is getting access to the kids as ordered. The experience is traumatic and can go on for years if one partner is unable to let go, she warns. In one extreme case, she recalls, a child died and the parents went to court to fight over the ashes.

Now there's a new charge: parental alienation, more often aimed at mothers than fathers, whereby one parent accuses the other of turning the children against them. Experts say there's a certain amount of bad-mouthing of the other spouse in any divorce and Dr. Jonathan W. Gould an author and partner in Child Custody Consultants, a North Carolina-based group that provides expert testimony in custody cases, explains that this behavior can be very damaging to kids. It happens when a parent loses perspective and can't separate his or her own feelings about the ex from the child's needs. "They truly believe they're protecting the child by filtering access to the other parent." But absent cases of abuse, kids do best, he explains, when they have unfettered access to the other parent—when they feel they can call when they need to talk, or e-mail, without repercussions from the other parent.

"Children build internal working models of mommy and daddy, and it's important that these structures are as strong as possible. If you don't have access to dad, then the structure is going to be robust for mom, but not dad," says Gould. From a child's point of view, what matters is that the child knows that both parents can care for him equally, no matter what the exact time split. Gould, who does custody evaluations for the court system, adds: "If they don't have a room or don't know the neighbors where their father lives, it can feel like they're visiting an uncle."

Holstein of Fathers and Families argues that making kids feel at home at dad's house is difficult when support payments can eat up as much as 40 percent of his after-tax income. They may have to leave the neighborhood for smaller quarters, leaving the children's friends behind. To change that, and to give dads more time and an adjustment in child support according to the new laws, Holstein feels the courts should start with a presumption that there will be joint physical custody. Much of the research on the subject shows that a majority of kids who have grown up in joint physical custody arrangements report that they are satisfied with the way it worked, while kids who grew up in an "every other weekend arrangement" were more likely to be dissatisfied and want more contact with their fathers.

Still, joint custody may not be for every family. Paul Amato, a leading researcher on the subject and a professor of sociology at Penn State, argues that because joint custody is generally granted to parents who request it and are cooperative with each other, it's unclear whether it would work for every couple. Forcing uncooperative couples into a joint arrangement could end up creating more parental conflict, which most experts agree is the most damaging part of a divorce for kids. "I do not think it's a good idea to impose joint physical custody on unwilling parents," he says. "This strategy is likely to do more harm than good."

The willingness of both parents to cooperate is the key factor in how kids adjust to a divorce. Nickelson reminds parents that they should start creating a collaborative relationship with an ex-spouse early on. "You're not going to sign the child-custody agreement, whatever it is, and be done with your wife or husband. I tell my clients, if you're lucky, you'll be sitting next to them for graduations and marriages and all kinds of achievements, so learn to get along."

It's not easy to tame the natural resentments that flare up. My family has had to learn a new way to be together. But after three years of separation and divorce, we've celebrated one middle-school graduation, a first day of kindergarten, several Halloweens and six birthday parties. It's starting to feel close to normal. Sure, those first few birthday parties had some brutal moments, but now, with one girl only a few years away from leaving for college, nobody in our odd group is in any rush for that day to arrive when we're not together for big events.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Settled Down, a Father Strives for Something Better

2008-12-17T15:30:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Settled Down, a Father Strives for Something Better

By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ

The Joseph family kitchen is a 6-by-6-foot closet off a cramped bedroom in an apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. There are Cheerios and peanut-butter crackers, and a minifridge filled with take-out boxes. Above the microwave hangs a picture of a man walking in clouds.

“Help me believe in what I could be, and all that I am,” the framed text reads. “Teach me to take one day at a time.”

With five children and monthly expenses that dwarf his paycheck, Clifford L. Joseph has turned to that motto each day for inspiration.

He has come a long way from the recklessness of his 20s and the nomadic hop, from apartment to apartment and job to job, that consumed his 30s.

Now, Mr. Joseph, 39, a clerical associate at the Department of Environmental Protection who earns about $650 a week, hopes to get a better job and earn enough to leave behind the worries of feeding his family.

“I’m getting a slow start,” Mr. Joseph said. “I’m assuming the best is yet to come.”

Raised by foster parents in Rochester, N.Y., he felt a void left by his biological parents and struggled to focus on his studies.

He became frustrated as he saw his social circle get caught up in drugs and violent behavior. His own behavior teetered on the rambunctious. At 19, he had his first child, and over the next two years, he had two more.

The pressures of young parenting, coupled with persistent misgivings about his identity, were overwhelming. He decided to act, asking a friend who worked at a hospital to search a database for Doreatha Covington, his biological mother.

Within minutes, he had her phone number, and the next day, the two met. At their reunion, she introduced him to the rest of the family. She died a few months later, after years of drug abuse, but he remains in touch with other family members.

Seeking a fresh start, Mr. Joseph moved to New York City in 1996. The burdens of raising young children (he shares child custody with the two mothers of his children) and a fractured romantic life impeded his progress. He took temporary jobs and moved several times as he sought to shield his children from drugs and violence.

In 2006, finding himself on the brink of homelessness, he moved back to Rochester while he looked for permanent work in New York City. Two violations on his record (one for unpaid parking tickets in 2005; the other for disorderly conduct in 2004) stalled his search. “It was depressing; it was hard,” he said. “I hate starting over.”

He suffered another setback in 2006, when unpaid utility bills led to his electricity being shut off, and he had to boil water to keep warm. This resulted in an outbreak of mold that ruined about $1,200 worth of clothes, books, toys and a mattress.

Later that year, Mr. Joseph turned to the Community Service Society, one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, and received $1,800 for a new futon and one month’s rent on a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn.

“It took some of the stress off,” he said. “It helped me live a quieter life.”

In early 2007, he found the job at the Department of Environmental Protection.

His children — Porche, 19; Quandell, 18; Kiara, 17; Tyler, 11; and Asia, 10 — appreciated the stability. The two who still live with him, Tyler and Asia, have excelled in school.

But the influx of monthly bills — $700 for rent, $240 for MetroCards, $100 for his phone — still far exceeds Mr. Joseph’s ability to pay. He hopes that by passing a real estate exam and marketing his acting skills on the side (he has performed in several community plays), he will be able to find a job that will pay for a bigger apartment with a real kitchen.

“You just have to be thankful for certain things,” he said. “You think of other people who have worse situations. You count your blessings.”

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Holstein in Newsweek on Joint Custody; New Study--Father Engagement Vital to Kids

2008-12-17T10:56:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Holstein in Newsweek on Joint Custody; New Study--Father Engagement Vital to Kids
December 15th, 2008 by Glenn Sacks

Ned Holstein, MD, MS, Executive Director of Fathers & Families, is a central figure in the new Newsweek article Not Your Dad's Divorce: How changes in child support laws, and a push by fathers for equal time, are transforming the way this generation of ex-spouses raise their children (12/15/08).

The piece's author, reporter Susanna Schrobsdorff, to her credit, has a shared custody arrangement with her ex-husband. She explains:

When his parents divorced in the 1970s, they adopted the standard every-other-weekend-with-Dad setup. He remembered missing his father tremendously and didn't want that for our kids.

According to the article:

Fathers and Families believes [fathers aren't] getting a fair shake. Dr. Ned Holstein, a public health physician who heads the 4,500-member group, says it represents men who want more time for the right reasons. He attributes the fact that statistics still show that about 85 percent of primary physical child custody goes to women to the variety of factors leading fathers to cede custody to mothers...

Why don't the men who are unhappy with the arrangements they have fight for more time? (Currently about 7 percent of sole custodial parents are men.) Holstein says the legal system deters them. "The lawyers are telling them, 'You can't fight this, you won't get it, and it will cost you a lot of money and heartache.'" While the numbers show that men who do fight for primary custody win as much as women do, Holstein says those cases are self-selecting: "They've been told in advance they have a chance at winning because they were Mr. Mom before the divorce-or there's an obvious problem with the mother."

Fathers and Families' Holstein argues that making kids feel at home at Dad's house is difficult when support payments can eat up as much as 40 percent of his after-tax income. They may have to leave the neighborhood for smaller quarters, leaving children's friends behind.

To change that, and to give Dads more time and an adjustment in child support according to the new laws, he feels the courts should start with a presumption that there will be joint physical custody. Much of the research on the subject shows that a majority of kids who have grown up in joint physical custody arrangements report that they are satisfied with the way it worked, while kids who grew up in an "every other weekend arrangement" were more likely to be dissatisfied and want more contact with their fathers.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - ‘Access all areas’ for media so justice is seen to be done

2008-12-17T10:49:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - ‘Access all areas’ for media so justice is seen to be done

Frances Gibb, Legal Editor

The secrecy of the family courts – in which nearly 95,000 cases are heard in private each year – is to end under reforms announced yesterday that will allow the media access to all levels of the system. The move could mean that social workers and expert witnesses who fail children, and now enjoy the protection of anonymity, will in future be named publicly when criticised by judges.

Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, said that from April the media would be permitted access to all family cases in all courts – from celebrity divorces to hearings over domestic violence or children being removed from families.

“A really important veil is being lifted on what happens in these courts,” he said.

Crucially, media reporting of the cases will be subject to tight restrictions to protect the welfare and privacy of the children and families involved. The people involved in such cases will also be able to apply to a judge to have the media excluded.

Mr Straw indicated that judges were not expected to grant such requests often and, when they did, the cases would be closely monitored. “If it is not working, we will actively consider changes or primary legislation.”

The moves follow a campaign by The Times, begun this year, to reform the family justice system and open up the courts amid accusations that they are operating under a “conspiracy of silence”.

Mr Straw said yesterday: “My view is that public confidence depends crucially on the system being as open as possible – so the case for restrictions has to be a very strong one.”

As for the anonymity given to professionals such as social workers and expert witnesses, he indicated that his view, although the change is not finalised, was that this should be removed. Professional experts such as structural engineers whose competence is questioned – perhaps because someone has been injured – have no anonymity protection.

“I see no reason why other professionals should be immune from public examination unless there are overwhelming arguments in an individual case,” Mr Straw said.

He said that the long-awaited measures, which have been more than two years in consultation and revision, struck a balance between openness and the need to protect the privacy of children and vulnerable adults. Ministers would also consider how adoption proceedings could be opened up.

The change is partly in response to pressure from the media and fathers’ groups to open the family courts so that justice can be seen to be done.

Britain’s most senior family judge, Sir Mark Potter, the President of the Family Division of the High Court, welcomed the announcement but said that judicial discretion to exclude the media should be used where necessary. “I have for some time made clear the support of the senior judiciary for media access to the family courts in the interests of transparency and public confidence in the family justice system,” he said.

But he criticised Mr Straw’s proposal to review the question of whether privacy should remain the rule for adoption proceedings. He said that the judiciary was united in opposing that.

The Family Justice Council, a forum of lawyers and other users of the family courts, condemned the change and said that it was “disappointed to learn that the Government is planning to allow the media into family courts as of right. In doing so, they have disregarded the views of children, young people and the organisations which protect, support and represent them.”

At present the media is allowed access only to the Court of Appeal and magistrates’ family proceedings courts.

In the dark

— A couple whose baby daughter was placed in foster care this year were refused information by the authorities on the ground of confidentiality. Tim Yeo, the couple’s MP in Suffolk South, said that his efforts to help the couple had been thwarted by a system that “prevents natural justice”

— Matthew, a professional in his fifties, was fighting a custody case for several months before he became aware of damaging allegations against him on his court file. A supporter of his former partner had written to the judge, making spurious claims, including one that said Matthew was not to be trusted with his children. Matthew only became aware of the allegations when he requested other correspondence from his file

— A month before Curtis, 17, was born, his sister was placed in foster care and then adopted, after social services expressed concern about a bruise on the child. He was only reunited recently with his sister after she tracked down her family. He found that social services had also tried to place him in foster care despite no evidence against his mother

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Additional charges filed against mother who left toddlers home alone

2008-12-15T16:59:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Additional charges filed against mother who left toddlers home alone

LAS CRUCES - The woman arrested Tuesday for leaving three children home alone now faces five additional charges of child abuse.

Leslie F. Vasquez, 23, of the 2000 block of south Triviz Drive, was arrested Tuesday and charged with three counts of negligent child abuse. On Wednesday, after further investigation by Las Cruces Police detectives, Vasquez was charged with five counts of intentional child abuse.

Detectives learned that Vasquez would routinely become frustrated with her children. On one occasion Vasquez threw one of her 2-year-old daughters to the floor, causing a large bruise on her forehead and visible bruising around both eyes. Vasquez also confined her twin girls to a crib for extended periods of time.

An investigator from the state's Children, Youth and Families Department had gone to Vasquez's apartment Dec. 9 to check on the welfare of one of Vasquez's children. After arriving at the apartment the investigator discovered Vasquez's three girls alone in the unlocked apartment.

Vasquez's 2-year-old twin daughters, a 6-month-old daughter and a four-year-old son were turned over to the child custody of their fathers. Vasquez is incarcerated at the Dona Ana County Detention Center.

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.

Child Custody for Fathers - Men's Rights Party vies for votes

2008-12-15T16:05:00.002-05:00

Child Custody for Fathers - Men's Rights Party vies for votes

'Feminists are destroying this country', says party leader who, despite annual flop in elections, plans to keep fighting for votes until nature's laws prevail, putting 'men on top'

Daniel Edelson

Despite having flunked out of the past three elections, the Men's Rights in the Family Party has decided to offer itself up to the Israeli voter once again this year due to fears that "the feminists are destroying the country."

Head of rabbinical courts added to list of candidates for chairman of Habayit Hayehudi, feminist groups claim divorce refusal increased during his time in office

Full Story

The party's chairman, 54-year old Yaakov Schlusser, has adhered stoically to his ideals throughout the years despite his party's persistent failures.

"Seeing as we live in an extremist feminist state, the entire system is unjust, including the courts, welfare services, the police, and the government," he told Ynet. "The feminists are destroying every good part of this country. A country that doesn't respect its men has no right to exist."

Schlusser is especially grieved by the courts' child custody policies, and claims that one out of every two fathers loses the right to see their children as a result of messy divorces. He says this policy does inestimable harm to the children, especially the males among them.

"Children have a right to see their fathers. Otherwise they will lose their sexual identity. The child that sees a woman in control, in contradiction to nature, may turn homosexual," he claims.

But Schlusser has a plan to counter the damaging effects of feminist court policies. "The first thing I'll do if I get into the Knesset is pass a bill for children to be transferred to the father's custody primarily, and only afterwards every case will be examined," he said.

When asked regarding his thoughts on equality between the genders he said, "In the past I was pro-equality, but I've seen that women don't know how to accept equality. If you're good they try to take over. I know this from the 20 years we've existed."

Schlusser and his esteemed associates have indeed been assisting men with various cases for 20 years, but the chairman believes politics is their true calling. "The cases keep shocking me anew and motivating me to reach the Knesset," he told Ynet.

Schlusser claims that last year his party received 4,200 votes, a far cry from the previous year's 1,250 and enough to plant them in 20th place.

Despite his views, he claims he is not a chauvinist. "The claims that I am a chauvinist are demagoguery. I love women and support relationships, my mother was a woman and I have a daughter," he said. "I'm not against women but nature has rules: The man should be on top, there should not be equality."

Child custody for fathers Child custody laws for dads and husbands. Custody Warriors is a members only site for fathers that want to fight and win equal rights to raise their children. Learn child custody laws, share your child custody experiences with other fathers across the United States & around the World. Learn to prepare for the child custody battle ahead and receive feedback from dads who have shared your experiences. There are hundreds of private members only sites devoted to women and mothers seeking child support and custody. Child custody laws and courts around the world discriminate against fathers in child custody cases. It is time for fathers to unite. There is strength in numbers.