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A Victims-of-Law
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August 2010
FLORIDA
Doctor's Medical License in
Jeopardy
Randy Heysek has refused to pay
child support and alimony, state says.
By
Matthew Pleasant, The Ledger
08-14-10 --
A pre-eminent cancer doctor with a sprawling Polk County
practice could have his medical license suspended for refusing
to pay child support and alimony now totaling about $673,000,
the state says. . . . Randy Heysek, a radiation oncologist
specializing in treating prostate cancer, has fought the Florida
Department of Revenue's attempts to collect the money since it
first began taking action against him last year. . . . The
department's Child Support Enforcement Program began sending
Heysek past-due notices in spring 2009 and has since taken
increasingly aggressive steps against him, including an
unsuccessful attempt to suspend his driver license, said Robert
Babin, a Department of Revenue spokesman. . . . The doctor's
former wife, Mary Heysek, a Plant City resident, and their four
sons - including 15-year-old triplets - should have been
receiving monthly payments of about $35,420 since January 2009.
. . . Heysek, 51, has paid about $60,572 as a result of the
Department of Revenue's efforts, which Mary Heysek has received.
NEW
YORK
Judge Transferred Over
Alleged Actions in Visitation Case Involving Sex Offender
Complaint alleges judge joked
about child pornography during custody proceeding, misstated the
facts of the case and maintained an 'inappropriate' relationship
with the father's attorney
Mark
Fass, New York Law Journal
08-13-10 -- A Suffolk
County, N.Y., judge who was the subject of a searing complaint
by a children's advocacy group has been transferred from Family
Court to the County Court's civil term. . . . A court source
called the immediate transfer "unprecedented" and an indication
of the how seriously the allegations are being taken by the
Office of Court Administration. . . . According to the
complaint, Judge Andrew G. Tarantino Jr. granted a father who
had been convicted of possessing child pornography and
third-degree rape of a minor overnight visitation of his three
children, supervised by his own parents.
Read
the complaint
(pdf) and Tarantino's
earlier ruling
(pdf).
MINNESOTA
Freed Toyota Driver:
My Children Don't Know Me
Attorney Credits ABC News Report
for Helping Koua Fong Lee Win Release from Prison
By
Angela M. Hill, ABC News
08-06-10 --
In his first interview since winning freedom yesterday, Koua
Fong Lee, the Minnesota man jailed after his 1996 Toyota Camry
sped out of control and killed three people, said his two
youngest children don't know their father because he's been
imprisoned on vehicular homicide for the past three years. . . .
"The first thing I'm going to do is talk to them, to get to know
them, to play with them," Lee told ABC News. "I want them to
know I am their daddy. I will teach them what the word daddy
means." . . . After a judge ordered Lee freed from prison
Thursday pending a new trial, prosecutors announced they would
not try Lee again.
OHIO
Ohio Man Gets Probation for
DWI (Daddying While Intoxicated)
Posted by Eric Lipman, Legal Blog Watch
08-04-10 --
Many a mother or father will tell you that the stress of
parenting is sometimes eased by the occasional glass of
chardonnay, bourbon on the rocks or other adult beverage of
choice. Then there's Steven Melendez. . . . Melendez was
arrested last week
in Mansfield, Ohio, while walking around the streets drunk --
pushing his children, ages 1 and 2, in one of those nifty double
strollers. Though reportedly unable to stand without leaning on
the stroller, Melendez told the arresting officers he had
consumed only "a couple of Budweiser beers." (Nice plug, Steve.
Do I hear an endorsement contract in your future?)
July 2010
TEXAS
Musician Maurice Davis, Pens “Missing Children” Song and Later
Discovers Family Secret Brings Song Close to Home
Maurice Davis was compelled
to write a song entitled “Missing Children,” after watching a
late-night episode of, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Then he found
out he was one. Davis also found out that he is a Native
American and a descendant of the legendary Apache Chief and
American hero, Geronimo. Davis has pledged to donate .25 from
each purchase of the song to the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children
PRWEB
07-29-10 --
Musician Maurice Davis, 27, was compelled to write a song
entitled “Missing Children,” after watching a late-night episode
of, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The episode, which featured the
story of a missing child, prompted Davis to work through the
night on the song, which highlights the plight of missing and
abused children and encourages the public to come to their aid.
. . . It was after writing the song, that Davis discovered a
secret from his past that gave the issue of missing children
more personal meaning. When Davis was two years old Texas
natives Johnny and Rebecca Davis adopted him and his two
brothers, believing that they were abandoned by their mother. .
. . Two decades later, while Davis was preparing to record the
song about missing children, he and his brothers received a call
from their biological father, Joseph Suarez. Davis was informed
that he and his brothers were abducted by their mother, given
away for adoption and that his father and biological family had
searched for him and his brothers for 24 years. Davis found out
that he is a Native American and a descendent of the legendary
Apache Chief and American hero, Geronimo.
VIRGINIA
International authorities seeking mother accused of kidnapping
sons
By:
Emily Babay , Examiner Staff Writer
07-28-10 --
More than 5 1/2 years after two Reston brothers went missing,
and nearly four years after a kidnapping warrant was issued for
their mother, authorities are still trying to track down all
three. . . . Authorities say the father of Alec and Dominic
Gardner last saw his sons Dec. 6, 2004. . . . That's when
authorities say their mother, Stefanie Zachariadis Gardner, left
Reston with the boys, then ages 3 and 1. A warrant for her
arrest on international parental kidnapping charges was issued
in U.S. District Court in Alexandria in August 2006. . . .
Zachariadis Gardner and her sons are believed to be in Germany.
. . . A notice that she is wanted in Virginia is listed on
Interpol's Web site. An FBI spokeswoman said this week that the
kidnapping warrant is still active.
CALIFORNIA
Father Seeking Child Custody
Ordered to Get Counseling for 'Deplorable Beliefs'
Mike
McKee, The Recorder
07-01-10 --
A Santa Monica man must undergo counseling for repeated racist
and sexist remarks if he wants to be with his kids. . . . A
split appellate court upheld that order late Tuesday, saying the
man's angry outbursts about women and minorities made it
difficult, if not impossible, to implement a reunification plan
with his twin daughters. . . . "The ability of the father to
work with social workers and school personnel," Justice Paul
Turner, of Los Angeles' 2nd District Court of Appeal, wrote,
"will be enhanced if he understands ... that in a diverse
culture such as in Los Angeles County, he cannot consistently
insult women and all persons who are different from him."
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A
Victims-of-Law Associate |
June 2010
Fatherhood as a Luxury, Not a
Necessity
Armstrong Williams, Townhall.com
06-23-10 --
We all should be absolutely alarmed by the current state of
fatherhood in this country. It is terribly troubling that our
society accepts fatherhood as a luxury, not a necessity. An
involved, loving, active father has become the exception in this
country, and it's time we make it the norm again. . . . On the
surface, there are some things that only a father can provide his
children. Although a mother is vital to a child's development, there
are some activities that a dad just makes perfect. Shooting baskets
or going ice skating becomes more than a bonding experience between
father and child, it becomes a moment when boys learn how to carry
themselves as men, how to strive for a goal, work hard, and
strengthen their male personality. It becomes a moment when
daughters learn how a man should properly treat a woman, interact
with males, try their best, overcome adversity, and strive for their
potential. There is little in life that can simulate these fathers –
child moments that turn ordinary days into treasured lifelong
memories. . . . Like most loving fathers, my father expected a lot
out of me and my siblings. He constantly encouraged me and pushed me
to reach my potential, but occasionally - and only when necessary -
he would use his lash to get my attention. His stern face or grave
words would let me know that my behavior or attitude was out of
line. My healthy fear for him in these rare moments kept me focused
on living a healthy, productive life. I remember his strong grip as
he taught me to shake hands like a gentleman, I remember his huge
arms wrapping me tight after tough family football losses, and I
remember my father's extraordinary courage to do the right thing
regardless of the situation. I would never be where I am today
without my mother, but my father taught me how to be a man.
Modern fathers
increasingly juggle work, life
--
McClatchy Newspapers, GoErie.com
06-23-10 --
"A profound shift is taking place with today's new dads," said Brad
Harrington, co-author of "The New Dad: Exploring Fatherhood Within a
Career Context," released this week. "Men have redefined 'good
father' from breadwinner to role model, friend, mentor." . . .
Harrington's research of new fathers found a strong cultural
perception that when men become dads, little will change at work. .
. . Peter Rega maneuvers through South Florida traffic like a man on
a mission. It's nearing 5 p.m. and Rega, a divorced father, has
wrapped up his sales calls and is on his way to pick his son up from
after-school care. Cell phone to ear, Rega tells his customer he
will call back in an hour, once he successfully shuttles his
12-year-old son, Peter, home for dinner and then to karate lessons.
. . . "I'm a top salesman," Rega said. "For me, my phone rings 24/7.
I have to train my customers that there are certain hours I'm not
available." . . . A new report shows that fathers, much like Rega,
are dramatically feeling the pull between work and family. Indeed,
men reported their levels of work-life conflict have risen
significantly over the past three decades, while the level of
conflict reported by women has not changed much.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Fathers 4 Justice are on song
Daily
Echo
06-17-10 --
PARENTS from across Hampshire have lent their voices to a new song
being released by campaign group Fathers 4 Justice. . . . The Anthem
For Justice song is being launched by the Hampshire-based campaign
organisation for Father’s Day this Sunday as an Internet download
track. . . . Mothers and fathers from across the county travelled to
London to record the song this week and film a video for the single,
which is promoting equal rights for parents.
MINNESOTA
Stabbed by Client’s Ex-Husband, Lawyer, 54, Has
‘Horrible Injuries’ But Is Recovering
By Martha Neil, ABA
Journal
06-17-10 --
A Minnesota attorney suffered "horrible injuries" but is
expected to survive being stabbed a dozen times in her
Fridley office a week ago, according to Anoka County
Sheriff's Lieutenant Paul Sommer. . . . Within an hour
or so, a client's ex-husband confessed to the attack on
Terri Melcher that took place a little after 5 p.m. last
Friday. Sheikh Nyane, 32, is being held in lieu of $1
million bail on two counts of attempted murder and two
counts of assault, reports
WCCO. He was reportedly upset over having
recently lost custody of his child. . . . "He just
walked into the office, found her and attacked her with
a knife," Sommer tells the station. The knife was broken
in the attack. . . . The 54-year-old lawyer was treated
for a head injury and stab wounds to her face, throat
and chest, reports the
Pioneer Press. . . . A criminal complaint
says Melcher told investigators her attacker at one
point held her down as he cut her throat, the article
states.
Start a Revolution on Father's Day
by Rebecca Hagelin, Townhall.com
06-16-10 --
What we need when
Father’s Day arrives
on Sunday is nothing short of a
family revolution, led
by America’s fathers. . . . Ours is a broken culture — of
fathers and mothers with broken vows,
families with broken bonds, and
children with broken hearts.
. . . For every 100 babies born in America, 60 are born to a
broken family. That
is, they are either born out of wedlock, or to a family that will
soon suffer divorce. Our
teen pregnancy rate is
the highest in the Western world. Our
little girls are looking and behaving like sex kittens at younger
and younger ages. Boys
are afraid of marriage, addicted to pornography and have few or no
manners. There are about
1.2 million abortions in America
every year. . . . Mothers feel overwhelmed as they seek to "do it
all" — earn a paycheck, nurture the children, manage the finances
and keep the family together. Much of that is
the fault of a radical feminist movement
that perverted the battle for equal treatment into a battle for
total independence from men. Many men just sat out what became a
destructive force, and now all of us — men, women and children — are
suffering the painful results as we realize that we really do need
each other after all. . . . Imagine how our culture would be
transformed if fathers refused to be bullied by angry feminists and
took more of a loving role of responsibility in their own homes.
What if husbands started pouring out unconditional and constant
love on their wives in
the same manner in which Christ pours love out for his people?
PENNSYLVANIA
For parents, justice not served
Paperwork goes unfiled, appeals are dismissed.
By
Terrie Morgan-Besecker, Law & Order Reporter, Wilkes Barre
Times-Leader
06-16-10 --
Mary Tullis was devastated last August when a Luzerne County judge
terminated her rights to her son and daughter. . . . She and the
children’s father, Jeff Harris, had been working to resolve the
problems that led Luzerne County Children and Youth to place the
children in foster care. She was confident the state Superior Court
would overturn the decision on appeal. . . . She never got the
chance to argue the merits of her case, however, because the
assistant public defender assigned to represent her failed to file
the required court papers, resulting in her appeal being dismissed
outright. . . . A Times Leader investigation revealed she is not
alone. . . . Since 2005, 15 of the 53 parents who challenged the
termination of their parental rights or the involuntary adoption of
their children have seen their appeals dismissed because the Public
Defender’s Office or other court-appointed attorneys failed to
follow proper court procedure, according to a review of cases filed
with the state Superior Court. . . . The revelation prompted newly
appointed county Chief Public Defender Al Flora Jr. to launch an
investigation. He is reviewing records, including those identified
by The Times Leader, to determine if anything can or should be done
to seek to restore the appeals. . . . The newspaper’s review showed
that in nine of the 15 cases at issue, the appeals were filed, but
later dismissed because the attorneys failed to file the required
legal briefs that detail the errors the trial judge allegedly
committed. . . . In another six cases, the appeals were “quashed” –
a legal term that refers to the dismissal of an appeal for failure
to comply with some other aspect of appellate court procedure, such
as filing the appeal late. . . . The lack of action by the attorneys
means the parents were deprived of their right to have the Superior
Court review the lower court ruling to determine if it was properly
entered – a result an advocate for parental rights described as
“appalling.”
NEBRASKA
Neb. judge reprimanded for behavior in custody case
Kerri
Rempp Chadron Record, Rapid City Journal
06-14-10 --
Dawes County District Court Judge Brian Silverman has been
officially reprimanded by the state's Judicial Qualifications
Commission for remarks he made in a child custody case last year. .
. . The commission's opinion was released last week. The incident
occurred during a hearing in a child custody case in February 2009
in the case of Cari Goodwin v. Derek Goodwin. According to
the commission's opinion, Derek refused to acknowledge a December
2008 agreement regarding custody and a purge plan for child support.
Silverman informed Derek, who was behind in his child support, if he
proceeded with a trial on custody issues, the agreement would be
revoked and he would be sent to jail. Derek filed a complaint saying
Silverman raised his voice and addressed him in "an impatient,
discourteous, angry and condescending tone and demeanor." . . . The
commission agreed that Silverman's behavior violated the judicial
code of conduct requiring judges to uphold the integrity and
independence of the judiciary, to avoid impropriety and the
appearance thereof and to perform the duties of the office
impartially and diligently.
NEW YORK
Ex-Wife Ordered Jailed for Alienating Children From
Father
Mark
Fass, New York Law Journal
06-08-10 --
A Long Island, N.Y., judge has sentenced a woman to six weekends in
jail for repeatedly undermining her ex-husband's relationship with
their two daughters. . . . Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Ross in
Nassau County ruled that the mother, Lauren R., willfully violated a
court order by deliberately alienating the elementary school-age
children from her ex-husband, Ted R. . . . Ross held Ms. R. in civil
contempt and ordered her to report to the Nassau County Correctional
Facility every other weekend this summer. . . . Her term was to have
begun on Friday, but was temporarily stayed pending appeal by a
judge from the Appellate Division, 2nd Department, on Thursday.
NEW YORK
Alleged 'Other Man' Had Duty to Tell Husband if He Had Herpes, Says
Judge
Noeleen
G. Walder, New York Law Journal
06-07-10 --
A man who says he contracted a sexually transmitted disease after
his wife had an affair with her allegedly infected psychiatrist can
bring a negligence action against the doctor, a state judge has
ruled. . . . The man, Carl Levine, claimed that Dr. Robert Werboff
had a duty to warn him that he had herpes simplex before having
unprotected sex with Levine's wife. . . . Looking to "common
concepts of morality, logic, and ... the social consequences of
imposing the duty," Westchester County Supreme Court Justice
Nicholas Colabella agreed that Werboff owed a reasonable duty of
care to Mr. Levine. . . . "There is nothing unfair about extending
such a duty of care to a spouse of the infected person," the judge
wrote in
Levine v. Werboff, 24873/09.
Nassau County judge jails mother who falsely accused
ex of sex abuse and alienated him from kids
Daniel
Weaver, Albany CPS and Family Court Examiner
06-07-10 --
In a decision that will surely generate controversy and fuel gender
wars and the ongoing debate over parental alienation, Nassau County
Supreme Court Judge,
Robert Ross, has sentenced a woman to six weekends in
jail for alienating her children from their father. . . . The court
went into great detail describing the mother's behavior toward her
ex-husband, the defendant in Lauren R. V Ted R. The mother's
behavior reached a crescendo, according to Judge Ross, when she made
a false report of sexual abuse against the father to Child
Protective Services. . . . The factual findings concerning the
mother's behavior as stated in the decision by Judge Ross are
extensive but worth reading in their entirety as they form a basis
for his decision. . . . Concerning the plaintiff's (mother's)
behavior, Judge Ross stated:
"Plaintiff intentionally scheduled
their child's (N.'s) birthday party on a Sunday afternoon during
defendant's weekend visitation, and then refused to permit defendant
to attend. She demanded that N. be returned home early, in order to
"prepare" for her party, but D., the other child, was enjoying the
time with her father and wished to remain with him until the party
began.
OHIO
Divorcing dad wants to take kids to Saudi Arabia
Culture clash at root of Cincinnati custody fight
By Dan
Horn • Cincinnati.com
06-05-10 --
When Rima Shaheen and Talal Bawazir go to court later this month to
resolve their divorce, they will fight over more than which school
their four kids attend or which parent gets to take them to movies
on weekends. . . . Shaheen wants the kids to stay with her in
Cincinnati, where they have lived for the past six years. . . .
Bawazir wants to take them to Saudi Arabia, where he says he can get
a good job. . . . Judge Elizabeth Mattingly will make the call, but
she says she's not happy about her choices. . . . "You have got very
few good options here," she told Shaheen at a court hearing in
March. "It's not a perfect world." . . . The big legal questions in
the case - who should get custody and what are the rights of the
other parent - come up in countless custody battles every day in
Hamilton County's domestic relations court.
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May 2010
TEXAS
Once-powerful Republican
lobbyist's life in ruins
By R.G.
Ratcliffe, Houston Chronicle
05-25-10 --
For nearly 20 years, San Antonio lawyer W. James Jonas III was one
of the more influential Republican lobbyists in Austin and
Washington. . . . Jonas' life now is the wreckage of a messy divorce
prompted by battles over two autistic children, new age medicines
and another woman in his life. He has lost his job, his clients and
his freedom, jailed for 180 days for more than $100,000 in unpaid
child support. . . . “A lobbyist in jail is a devil without a
cause,” said Jonas, clad in an orange uniform and talking over a
scratchy visitor's booth phone in the Bexar County Jail this week. .
. . Jonas says the judicial portrayals of him as a “deadbeat dad”
are misplaced when he has paid his wife almost $500,000 in child
support and medical care for their children the past three years. .
. . Jonas, 48, blames his incarceration on a vindictive spouse who
wants to hold him to support and medical payments of $11,000 to
$18,000 a month despite a decline in his income.
WISCONSIN
Milwaukee mayor, Brewers hit road for fatherhood
By Chris
Jenkins, AP Sports Writer, USA Today
05-21-10 --
Ferris Bueller would be proud: Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett is
hitting the road to catch a Brewers game in Minneapolis on Saturday.
. . . OK, so Barrett isn't really taking the day off. He's using the
trip to promote the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, a program
designed to keep at-risk fathers involved in their children's lives.
. . . Barrett, Brewers executives, Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's
basketball coach Rob Jeter and a group of 50 fathers and their kids
will fly to Minneapolis, talk fatherhood and responsibility during a
breakfast with players Rickie Weeks and LaTroy Hawkins, then attend
the Brewers-Twins game. . . . Barrett is bringing one of his
children and will speak about his own family experiences. But he
doesn't want the conversation to be one-sided.
NEW JERSEY
Parent Can Sue Ex for Turning Children Against Him
Mary Pat
Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal
05-10-10 --
One parent can sue the other for allegedly poisoning his
relationship with their children, an appeals court said May 3 in the
first New Jersey recognition of a cause of action for infliction of
emotional distress for such conduct. . . . A lower court had
dismissed the claim as barred by the Heart Balm Statute, but the
Appellate Division, in
Segal v. Lynch, A-805-08, said the statute applies
only to claims based on the loss of a marital or conjugal
relationship. . . . "We thus see no legal impediment in permitting
one spouse to bring an action against the other which asserts only
emotional distress as the measure of damages," Judge
Jose Fuentes wrote in a published opinion joined by
William Gilroy and Marie Simonelli. . . . But the court affirmed
dismissal under the parens patriae doctrine, which allows courts to
intervene when necessary to protect children. "Application of this
principle to the case at hand leads us to one inexorable conclusion:
Plaintiff's cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional
distress must be barred as inimical to and irreconcilable with the
best interests of the children involved in this suit," they said. .
. . As a result, Moses Segal was not allowed to pursue the claim
against Cynthia Lynch, the mother of his two minor children.
IDAHO
Man faces contempt of court for not forcing daughter to wear ear
implants
KHQ
Right Now
05-05-10 --
8-year-old Emma has been deaf since birth and has cochlear implants
in both ears. An attorney for Emma's mother, Jennifer Miller, who
has primary custody of Emma, says medical personnel have deemed it
essential that she consistently wear the device in order for her to
develop both verbal and social skills. . . . Emma's father, Shaun
Mclaughlin, is also deaf. When Emma is in his control the two
communicate using American sign language. . . . In August of 2009
during a custody trial the two parties agreed that Emma would be
required to wear the implants during waking hours. . . . When it
became clear that her father was not forcing her to wear the implant
in her left ear while in his custody, Emma's mother filed a claim
against Mclaughlin for contempt of court.
TENNESSEE
Father is Detained in Japan Trying To Reclaim Kids
Written
by Amy Munday, HULIQ
05-05-10 --
A Japanese law is keeping Christopher Savoie's children in Japan
with his ex-wife who fled there after approval from a Tennessee
court judge. The divorce between Christopher and his wife was bitter
then ended with threats of taking the children out of the country,
which she did. . . . Christopher took the matter into his own hands
after his ex-wife left the country. He went to Japan and took his
kids back on their way to school then was arrested a short time
later. . . . Japan hasn't complied with international law for any
half-Japanese children that are taken into the country. The father
feels it might be a feeling of entitlement. . . . The other problem
with the Savoie children being in Japan is there are no rights for
visitation. Christopher's ex-wife is not being held by law to share
the rights of her children with their father. . . . A divorce in
Japan leaves full custody of children directly to the mother.
Fathers have no rights of the children. Christopher explains that
Japanese fathers have written him and explained their similar
stories.
April 2010
KANSAS
Father and son reunited after boy went missing for two years
By: Beth
Wurtmann, WNYT
04-29-10 --
Richard Rodriguez described the first moments after he and his son
reunited after more than two years. . . . "He immediately jumped up,
ran right to me, started crying. Very touching, emotional moment,"
he said. . . . The boy's mother reportedly took the boy from their
Pittsfield home, without the father's permission. After a long
search, the eight-year-old was located in Emporia, Kansas, and
returned to his father. . . . "We'll figure it out," said Rodriguez
to his son as they left a Kansas building, "we're going to go get
some pizza, right? We are going to fly on a plane...fly home." . . .
When the boy went missing, Rodriguez says he was shocked to learn
that because he wasn't married to his son's mother, she technically
had custody.
NEBRASKA
Nebraska appeals court overturns child custody ruling
By Nancy
Hicks / Lincoln Journal Star
04-28-10 --
Mere possession of an illegal drug does not mean the state can take
custody of a child, according to a Nebraska Court of Appeals
decision. . . . The father, whose full name is not used in the
opinion, was picked up with a small amount of crack cocaine in March
2009. . . . That summer the Douglas County Juvenile Court determined
that his infant son lacked proper parental care and supervision and
took custody of the child. . . . The Appellate Court, in a split
decision released Tuesday, overturned that ruling . . . . Juvenile
Judge Donna Taylor based her decision that the child faced potential
harm because the father might be incarcerated on a drug conviction.
. . . However there was no evidence that the father was actually
charged with any crime.
TENNESSEE
Dad who tried to take kids from Japan sues judge
By
Kristin M. Hall, Associated Press, eTaiwan News
04-28-10 --
A Tennessee man who was arrested in Japan when he tried to take his
children back from his ex-wife is suing the local judge and an
attorney who handled the divorce. . . . Japanese prosecutors
eventually dropped the case against Christopher Savoie after he
tried in September to enter the U.S. Consulate with his 9-year-old
son and 7-year-old daughter. . . . Ex-wife Noriko Savoie had
violated a U.S. court custody decision by taking the children to her
native Japan a month earlier. . . . The lawsuit says the children
are still living in Japan with their mother. . . . Savoie filed a
federal lawsuit this month against Williamson County Circuit Court
Judge James G. Martin, who served as both the mediator during the
divorce and then later as the judge that lifted a restraining order
barring the ex-wife from taking the children to Japan. . . . Savoie
claims that Tennessee Supreme Court law states that mediators should
refrain from acting in a judicial capacity in cases in which they
mediated. He also claims negligence because the judge was aware of
the risk of child abduction in this case.
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SAVE
THE CHILDREN

A Victims-of-Law
Associate |
UTAH
'Baby Emma' case puts state adoption laws between father, child
By Jerry
Markon, Washington Post Staff Writer
04-14-10 --
John Wyatt raced to the hospital, excited to be a father but worried
about the mother. . . . His girlfriend had promised to call him the
moment she went into labor, but she'd turned off her cellphone.
Wyatt had been calling it for hours. Finally, an operator at Potomac
Hospital in Woodbridge confirmed the news: His girlfriend was there,
and his daughter had been born. . . . When Wyatt arrived at the
hospital that morning of Feb. 11, 2009, he got the shock of his
20-year-old life: Administrators insisted that no such baby was
there -- and no such mother. . . . Court records show that Wyatt's
daughter, Emma, was born Feb. 10, at that very hospital, and that
she spent the next week at two Woodbridge hotels before being put up
for adoption -- in Utah. "We just want Emma to come home," says
Wyatt's mother, Jeri. "My son wants his child. I want to see my
granddaughter." . . . More than a year later, a cross-country court
fight over the child known as "Baby Emma" has yet to settle the
question of whether the strawberry-blond, blue-eyed girl was
illegitimately taken from her father or legally put up for adoption
by her mother, 20-year-old Emily Colleen Fahland, a George Mason
University student. The highly unusual dispute pits Virginia against
Utah; a Stafford County judge in December awarded Wyatt custody of
Emma and cited a federal kidnapping statute in ordering the state to
bring her back from Utah.
ILLINOIS
Appeals court upholds finding
that cops framed Riley Fox's dad
Steve
Schmadeke, Chicago Breaking News
04-07-10 --
An appeals court today agreed with a federal jury's 2007 finding
that Will County police framed Kevin Fox for the rape and murder of
his 3-year-old daughter Riley, but reduced the damages awarded to
Fox and his wife from $12.2 million to $8 million. . . . The 7th
Circuit Court of Appeals chastised the investigators on the case,
implying that their decision to quickly rule out Riley's 2004 death
as the work of a sexual predator was "absurd." . . . The court, in a
52-page decision by Judge Terence Evans, also found that detectives
lacked probable cause to arrest Fox using the "exceedingly weak
evidence" they had assembled. . . . Fox was arrested four months
after the death of his daughter, who was sexually assaulted, bound
with duct tape and drowned in a Wilmington creek. Fox gave police a
videotaped confession that he said was fabricated. The videotape was
not shown during the civil trial.
TEXAS
‘Child'
in support case is a granddad
81-year-old mother says payments are 60 years overdue
By Mike
Tolson, Houston Chronicle
04-05-10 --
Fights over children — who gets custody, how much for child support
— are at the heart of any family law court on any given day. The
faces change, but the stories and disputes rarely do. . . . So it is
on today's docket in the Los Angeles courtroom of Judge Elia
Weinbach. At least on paper. The dispute between Rosemary Douglas
and Urban Joseph Grass over back child support seems familiar: She
claims he never paid; he says he never knew. . . . In this case,
however, the mom has a head of gray hair and has been collecting
Social Security for more than a decade. The father was born in the
heart of the Jazz Age, when a fellow named Coolidge resided in the
White House. And the “child” in question is that only on some
yellowing piece of paper. In real life he is a retired grandfather.
. . . “He was ordered to do something. He didn't do it,” said the
81-year-old Douglas. “He didn't challenge it, not legally anyway.
I'd always thought about this. It was never far from my mind.
Finally I decided, why not? Why not try one more time?”
|
 
A Victims-of-Law
Associate |
March 2010
ILLINOIS
Judge:
Father Cannot Take Daughter to Easter Mass
FOX
Chicago News
03-25-10 --
A local father involved in a messy divorce has been barred from
taking his 3-year-old daughter to church on Easter. . . . Wednesday,
Joseph Reyes asked a judge if he could take his daughter to Catholic
Mass on Easter Sunday. The judge refused his request. . . . Reyes
and the child's mother had agreed to raise their daughter in the
Jewish faith. . . . Reyes had her baptized in the Catholic Church,
and a temporary restraining order was then issued to stop him from
exposing her to other religions.
MARYLAND
Child support payments could go up significantly
Proposed legislation rewrites guidelines for courts to use; covers
wealthy for first time
By Julie
Bykowicz | Baltimore Sun
03-22-10 --
Some child support payments in Maryland could soon go up - a change
that state Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald called "long
overdue." . . . For the first time in two decades, lawmakers are
poised to revise the guidelines that courts use to set child support
when divorcing or unmarried parents cannot agree on an amount. Those
guidelines are based on household expense data from the 1970s, and
although they accommodate rising incomes, advocates say they don't
account for the escalating costs of raising a child. . . . Human
Resources officials estimate there are about 500,000 child support
orders in Maryland - a mix of private agreements and court cases. .
. . "We think the changes are reasonable and fair and about time,"
said Donald, who led a work group over the past year to revise the
guidelines. Her agency administers about half the state's child
support cases.
NEW YORK
Children's 'Exhausting' Schedule Leads to Loss of Father's Custody
Rights
Vesselin
Mitev, New York Law Journal
03-17-10 --
The father of two Long Island junior tennis prospects has been
stripped of custody by a New York state judge who found their
rigorous training schedule to be "overly burdensome, exhausting and
completely unacceptable." . . . The Cavallero brothers -- Giancarlo,
10, and Jordy, 5 -- were required to leave school early to spend six
hours a day at tennis practice and play tournaments on the weekends.
Giancarlo, with five junior tournament wins before turning 10, was
likened to a young Andre Agassi in a 2007 Daily News article.
******** The case is
Cavallaro v. Pena (pdf), V-00390-09.
DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
Lawyer for 'D.C. Madam' Slapped With 3-Year Suspension
Jeff
Jeffrey, The National Law Journal
03-12-10 --
Montgomery Blair Sibley, best known for his
representation of the late "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey,
had his law license
suspended for three years by the D.C. Court of Appeals on
Thursday. The court's decision is a reciprocal disciplinary sanction
that stems from a 2008 decision by the Supreme Court of Florida to
pull his license in that state for three years. . . . Sibley's
license was suspended in Florida because he failed to pay more than
$100,000 in child support payments and because he repeatedly filed
"vexatious and meritless" lawsuits against judges who have been
assigned his cases. Sibley has argued that the Florida disciplinary
process violated his due process rights and failed to prove that his
conduct warranted discipline.
OHIO
Christian Husband with Covenant
Marriage Agreement vs. Routine No-Fault Divorce
by Bai
MacFarlane
03-03-10
-- A Christian husband is
citing Ohio Law to protect his family from no-fault divorce. Months
ago, Paul Neumann was fully supporting his stay-at-home wife and
their daughter in their North Olmsted home. Now he is a defendant in
Cuyahoga County divorce court. He sumbitted his wife's signed
wedding covenant agreement to the court because she promised to
uphold her obligations in accordance with the "Commandments of God
given in His Word" and "the divine laws and ordinance for the
governance of marriage." . . . Neumann is giving the court an
ultimatim: either his wife committed fraud on their wedding day and
tricked him into marriage, or she intended to be married in
conformity with the rules of their church (see
filing 1.4 MB).
If she committed fraud, the parties were never really married and
the court can't take away his property and force him to pay alimony.
. . . In Ohio, argues Neumann, it is criminal for Christian pastors
to conduct wedding ceremonies without requiring couples to get a
state marriage license. Ohio Law specifies that parties can marry in
conformity with the rules of their church. . . . "We wanted a
Christian marriage" Neumann said in and interview. "I'm shocked that
another Bible believing Christian would bring the world into my
marriage rather those in the church who are experts in resolving
marital conflict according to the 6000 year principles of God's
Word."
Bai
MacFarlane writes at
Mary's Advocates.
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February 2010
LOUISIANA
Louisiana must issue birth
certificate to men who adopted baby boy, federal court rules
By Gwen
Filosa, The Times-Picayune
02-18-10 --
A federal appeals court Thursday ordered the state to issue a birth
certificate to two men who adopted a Louisiana-born baby boy in 2006
only to have the registrar of vital statistics refuse to give them
the document because they were unmarried. . . .
The 5th Circuit Court's
decision upholds U.S. District Court Judge Jay Zainey's 2008 ruling
in favor of Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith's request for a Louisiana
birth certificate that identified both as the boy's parents. . . .
Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell appealed Zainey's
decision, arguing that state law wouldn't allow such an adoption in
the first place. . . . The San Diego couple adopted the boy, born
prematurely in Shreveport in 2005, via a court in Kingston, N.Y. But
when they sought an amended birth certificate from Louisiana, the
Office of Public Health and Vital Records Registry said that state
law forbade it, citing their status as unmarried men.
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January 2010
Doritos Slaps Children In
The Face
The
New American Sport
by Marc
H. Rudov, NewsWithViews.com
|

A
Victims-of-Law Associate |
02-09-10 --
Our society has sunk to a new low. Six years ago, during the
halftime show of Super Bowl 38, the world went berserk when Janet
Jackson exposed her nipple to Justin Timberlake and all of TV-land.
Yesterday, however, during Super Bowl 44, when a young boy
slapped a man’s face
in a Doritos commercial, the same world reacted with laughter and
approval. . . . Hitting men with impunity is the new American sport.
Just ask Elin Nordegren, Tiger Woods’s wife, who hit her husband and
chased him with a golf club that she wielded to smash his car window
— a feat that would landed any man in jail. Just ask Mary J. Blige,
who
punched her husband in the face,
in full view of nightclub witnesses — a feat that would have landed
any man in jail. . . . Doritos pulled a similar misandrist stunt in
Super Bowl 43,
as I illustrated to Bill O’Reilly
on Fox News, when it’s high-priced spot featured one man hurling a
snowglobe at the crotch of another. If you laughed at that one, too,
you demonstrated your pure disregard for men. . . . If all of this
is so funny, reverse the genders and run the same commercials again.
Let’s all have a big laugh. What network, agency, and advertiser
pinheads are greenlighting these anti-male commercials? Send me
their names; I will publish them.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Former WilmerHale Partner Loses Child Support Ruling
Leigh
Jones, The National Law Journal
02-01-10 --
A former
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partner has failed
to convince the D.C. Court of Appeals to throw out a deadbeat-dad
contempt order leveled against him.
. . .
William A. Wilson III, now a partner
at
Wilson International Law, appealed an earlier decision by
D.C. Superior Court Judge Kaye Christian, which found that he
willfully failed to pay retroactive child support totaling
$156,000. Christian later dissolved the contempt order after Wilson
paid $83,972, an amount on which he and his ex-wife settled.
. . .
In its Jan. 28 decision, the D.C.
Court of Appeals found "no reason" to disturb Kaye's 26-page ruling,
which determined that Wilson had been fully able to pay the $12,617
per month to support his three minor children.
Report:
More fathers given primary child custody
Avvo -
01-19-10 --
Addressing an emerging trend in child custody cases, a recent report
by a team of attorneys specializing in family law found that
increasingly more fathers are receiving primary custody of their
children after a divorce. . . . The report by Short Family Law and
Attorney Litigators stated that although in the early 1990s most
states discarded the Tender Years Doctrine, which led courts to
grant custody to mothers in cases involving young children, the
practice of favoring mothers seemed to persist. . . . However, some
estimates now put the number of fathers given primary custody at
about 50 percent. . . . According to the report, "Presently, a
growing number of families have stay-at-home dads and mothers who
fill the role of primary earner and household provider. And as the
number of domestic dads has increased, so has the legal system's
willingness to award fathers child custody."
ILLINOIS
Children best served by
mom's lesbian relationship?
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow
01-08-10 --
An official with the Illinois
Family Institute (IFI)
says it's outrageous that a judge has permitted a mother to
take her children from their dad in order to move in with
her lesbian partner. . . . Recently Karen Kelsky, the
ex-wife of Taro Iwata, took him to court in a custody
battle. Kelsky has become a lesbian and was granted custody
of the couple's two children, and will also be allowed to
move to Eugene, Oregon -- 1,800 miles away from her
ex-husband -- to live with her lesbian partner.
Fatherhood by Billboard?
by Marybeth Hicks, Townhall.com
01-07-10 --
The billboards are everywhere. On one, a child's tiny toes
rest atop the big, burly feet of a man, suggesting a playful
moment between a dad and his toddler. Another portrays a
laughing boy being chased by what appears to be his
boisterous father. In another, a dad and son hop across the
grass on bouncy balls in a larger-than-life spontaneous
moment. . . . All of these images are captioned, "Take time
to be a dad today" and refer to the Web site
www.fatherhood.gov. . . . Positive images of fathers
engaging with their children are a welcome message in a
culture where families struggle to remain intact and mothers
generally bear responsibility for childrearing. . . . Then
again, I'm certain that our Founders are gathered in some
corner of heaven wringing their hands and wondering how we
evolved into a government that teaches its citizens how
fulfill our most basic human responsibilities. . . . What
next? Take time to brush your teeth today? Take time to blow
your nose today? Take time to visit the potty today? . . .
There's a reason they call it a "nanny state." But sure
enough, this ad campaign is a major component of the
National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) funded
by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services'
Administration for Children and Families' Office of Family
Assistance (OFA).
|

A Victims-of-Law
Advertiser |
December 2009
NEW
JERSEY
An emotional homecoming for Goldman and his son
Maryann Spoto, Star-Ledger Staff
12-30-09 --
"Our home." . . . Those two words from his 9-year-old son
made a five-year, politically charged, multi-continent
custody battle all worth it for David Goldman of Tinton
Falls. . . . Returning to the Monmouth County home with his
son Monday night after a much-publicized, international
custody struggle, Goldman finally heard the words he longed
to hear when his son, Sean, asked where they lived. . . .
Goldman, 42, said he was overwhelmed. . . . ""Just to hear
him say "our home,' '' Goldman said yesterday, his voice
cracking and his eyes filling with tears. ""I waited five
years to hear that.'' . . . With the safe return of his son,
Goldman also said yesterday he would work with U.S. Rep.
Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) to get legislation passed that
would help other parents in his situation. . . . ""My
assistance is offered to Congressman Smith, however
possible,'' Goldman said at a news conference in his
attorney's Red Bank office. ""He is a hero. He didn't have
to give up his Christmas. He missed his Christmas.''
Guest Viewpoint: After divorce, fathers too often
excluded from parenting
By Jason Aulicino, The Register-Guard
12-30-09
-- According
to the Strengthening Families Act of 2003, “Nearly 24
million children in the United States, or 34 percent of all
such children, live apart from their biological father.
Forty percent of children who live in households without a
father have not seen their father in at least one year, and
50 percent of such children have never visited their
father’s home.” . . . The Census Bureau, in 2006, found that
five of every six custodial parents are mothers (83.8
percent). One in six are fathers (16.2 percent), and 37.9
percent of fathers have no access or visitation rights. . .
. Simplified, the result of divorce for the majority of
children is a fatherless home. . . . If you are divorced and
are the noncustodial parent, then you probably have
experienced first-hand the inequity that exists in divorce
and child custody cases. Restrictive visitation rules — or
parenting plans, as they are now called — often accompany
sole custody awards regardless of circumstance. Many status
quo parenting plans are not based on a presumption of shared
parenting, nor do they promote a father’s presence in a
child’s life after divorce.
TEXAS
Foster Grandparents team with Kids First program to provide
support
by Kathleen Thurber, Midland Reporter-Telegram
12-27-09
-- As Reggie
Webb kicked the soccer ball with his 12-year-old daughter
while his 10-year-old finished crafting a Christmas card one
recent Thursday evening, Foster Grandparent Mary McFarlin
watched from the doorway and smiled. . . . "It's fun when
you come and see the parents and kids involved," McFarlin
said, turning her gaze to the adjoining room where a father
shared pizza with his two kids. "When you see the families
grow closer together it's good." . . . Across the hall at
Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, where the program
meets, Geneva Mills or "Granny G" shifted her video camera
as she observed while a mother and her 11-year-old daughter
finished a craft. . . . The two are among a group of
Midland's Foster Grandparents who have added volunteering at
Centers for Children and Families' Kids First Program to
their list of weekly activities. The program, which recently
received a $10,000 grant from the Texas Bar Foundation,
provides supervised visitation for non-custodial parents.
NEW
JERSEY
Brazil custody case: David Goldman gets custody of
son Sean
Brazil's chief justice upheld
late Tuesday a lower court order handing 9-year-old Sean
Goldman over to his American father. The Brazil custody case
has been dragging on for five years, reflecting the
difficulty of international custody disputes.
By Daniel B. Wood Christian
Science Monitor Staff writer
12-23-09 -- The
ruling by Brazil’s chief justice in favor of an American man
seeking to gain custody of his son has important resonances
in an era of increasing international marriages, say several
legal experts. . . . Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes late
Tuesday ruled that nine-year-old Sean Goldman should be
handed over to his New Jersey father, lifting a stay on a
lower court’s order and raising the prospect that the two
could be reunited within days. . . . The ruling comes in a
five-year custody battle over Sean, who in 2004 was taken by
his mother, Bruna Bianchi, to her native Brazil. Ms. Bianchi
later divorced his father, David Goldman, and remarried. The
boy remained in Brazil with his stepfather and other family
after his mother's death last year, while his American
father sued in both US and Brazil courts to get him back. .
. . The case garnered international attention, and
threatened to disturb Brazil-US relations. . . . “Although
the Brazilian judicial system finally reached the right
decision, its failure to act expeditiously contributed to
this tragic story,” says Christopher Schmidt, a legal expert
with the US law firm of Bryan Cave LLP.
GEORGIA
Former NFL Player Henry Appeals Child-Support Ruling
Lawyers asked Ga. high court
to review order that Travis Henry pay $3,000 per month and
fund a $250,000 trust
Andy Peters, Fulton County
Daily Report
12-22-09 -- It's
not uncommon for judges handling child-support cases to
order the noncustodial parent to establish a trust from
which the other parent can make monthly withdrawals. But a
lawyer for former
NFL running back Travis Henry thinks DeKalb
County Superior Court Judge Clarence F. Seeliger went too
far in 2007 when he ordered Henry to pony up $250,000 to
create a trust for one of his children and to make monthly
$3,000 payments. . . . Seeliger said Henry's history of
delinquent payments despite making a huge salary made the
trust necessary in case he is late again paying for the
child -- one of nine he has fathered with nine women,
according to Seeliger's final judgment of paternity and
legitimation.
NEW
JERSEY
Dad falls more than
$700,000 behind in child support
By John Petrick, The Record Staff Writer
12-17-09 --
He might just be the mother of all deadbeat dads, at least
in Passaic County. . . . The Lavallette man has been locked
in county Jail after a state judge found that he owes
$746,058 in back child support payments to his family in
Wayne. . . . “It’s the highest amount I’ve ever seen, and
I’ve been here for 15 years,” said Presiding Family Judge
Michael K. Diamond in state Superior Court in Paterson,
speaking outside of court. . . . Mark J. Taggart is being
held on a charge of willful nonsupport until he can pay at
least $225,000 of what he owes, under Judge Diamond’s order.
He first appeared before the judge after being picked up on
an open warrant for unpaid child support following a
statewide sweep on Dec 2, and must appear before Diamond for
a review of his case every 14 days. His most recent court
appearance was Wednesday, when he was still unable to post
the minimum. . . . But that’s only the latest chapter in
what appears to be a complex past. Diamond said part of the
reason Taggart’s former wife has been in Family Court 20
times trying to track him down since their 1999 divorce
might be because he’s lived in so many places since then.
Jailed Father on Hunger Strike
by Bruce Eden, National Writers Syndicate
12-17-09 --
Protesting Denial of His Parental and Other Constitutional
Rights. Mr. Amir Sanjari, was divorced after a 17 year
marriage. He's a UK Citizen who was originally invited to
the United States to Stony Brook University, New York for a
research position. .
. . Now he's destitute
and on a hungar strike in jail to protest the
unconstitutional denial of fathers' rights and more.
. . . Initially,
Sanjari and his ex-wife shared equal custody of their
children and had similar incomes. Nevertheless he was
ordered to pay $1,000 a month in child support. Such a
payment is the first sign that something is seriously amiss.
. . . But when he
lost his job and applied for a reduction in "child support",
it was denied. This denial is also not unusual, wrong, but
not unusual. His ability in the recession to get a job to
cover the outrageous child support payment faded. It brought
on hardships for him.
. . .
Eventually his ex-wife won
sole custody of the children, he says, by lying about him
while he was out of the country on vacation.
. . . Sanjari, a
competent man, was not idle though. He learned the law to
fight for his children and his rights to see them and care
for them on his own. He fought in the Indiana family court,
its district court, and eventually in federal courts. He had
to go on the run to stay out of jail for not paying what he
couldn't pay - a common circumstance for fathers under such
'child extortion' orders. He spent time helping other
parents with their family court cases while he was on the
run. . . .
Unfortunately, though
well-versed in constitutional and federal legal processes,
it became apparent that he'd get no due process to protect
rights clearly denied to him. For the child support he
couldn't pay, he's been sent to jail.
. . . Amir is now on a
hunger strike to try to expose his plight and that of other
fathers under this tyrannical anti-father system that
separates fathers from their children and turn them into
criminals.
<MORE>
Bruce Eden, Civil Rights
Director
DADS (Dads Against Discrimination)--New Jersey
NEW
JERSEY
U.S. dad says he hopes to bring son home
CNN
12-17-09 --
An American father said he
hopes to be bringing his 9-year-old son home from Brazil on
Thursday after a long international custody battle that has
involved U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and many
Brazilian courtrooms. . . . A Brazilian court on Wednesday
ordered that the boy, Sean Goldman, be returned to the
custody of his father in the United States. The father,
David Goldman, spoke to CNN's "American Morning" on Thursday
shortly after his plane touched down in Brazil. . . . "I
hope that this is the last trip I'll have to come down
here," Goldman said. . . . In an earlier conversation with
CNN's Anderson Cooper, Goldman said, "I hope this time I
will be able to go down to Brazil and come back home with my
son. Hopefully the rule of law, god, nature, human decency
will be followed, and Sean will come home to reunite with
me, his only parent."
|
 
A Victims-of-Law
Advertiser |
FLORIDA
Where's the justice?
Klaus H. Mehlhorn Opinion, Hernando Today
12-2-09 --
Re:
"Concerned Father: Don't
let my son go,"
by Tony Holt in the Nov. 22 edition of Hernando Today. . . .
I am of the impression that this man, Nasser Samad, is
genuine in his expression. As a parent having gone through
this, I can feel his pain. I give my thanks to Tony Holt for
exposing this "insensitive justice." Holt is a true patriot
for this, and the judge is a total pinhead, as Bill O'Reilly
would put it. . . . I cannot believe this judge, Daniel
Merritt Jr., will not at least request a guardian ad litem.
I also cannot believe this judge will not let the
11-year-old boy testify. In addition, I cannot believe this
judge will not hear counseling sessions with the boy's
therapist. This judge absolutely allows an injustice to
exist and does nothing about it. I don't know all the facts,
but from what I have read and from the experience of having
gone through this same scenario, I must dismiss the judge
and applaud the father and his lawyer. . . . At this
juncture, if I were the father's lawyer, I would not stop
arguing this point until the judge's wrong is corrected. I
would continue to do this until Judge Merritt sees the
light. I would do this before the Paris flight and at this
point, I would do it for the cause at no further charge. His
client deserves better, as he and his son have suffered
enough. There is moral and ethical law and there is legal
law. Moral laws are absolute like gravity is. Legal law is
arbitrary and based on politics and money and is
manipulated. It's easy to draw the line here.
|
 
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November 2009
TEXAS
Father putting his life back together after daughters recant stories
of molestation
By Diane
Jennings / The Dallas Morning News
11-27-09 --
"Paul Parks" spent almost three years in prison for molesting his
two young daughters. He spent another 15 years living with the
stigma of being a registered sex offender. . . . All because of what
they now say is a lie. . . . Last year his now-adult daughters
changed their story and he was exonerated. Such recantations are not
unusual, but being declared innocent by the courts is rare. . . .
For Parks, who requested a pseudonym as he pulls his life back
together, his moment came when a Dallas judge concluded that his
daughters' recantations were credible. In April, the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals set the convictions aside "on actual innocence
grounds." . . . The 54-year-old father of nine, paroled in 1994, got
a call at work last spring telling him that after 25 years of hoping
and praying, his name was cleared. . . . "It feels like I've got my
life back, like I was suffocating and I came back to life," he says.
. . . "I didn't want to die with a lie." . . . Once a lawyer, now a
truck driver, he celebrated by asking his boss for time off to
attend the wedding of one of the two daughters who accused him of
molesting them. . . . Parks' case is every man's nightmare: to be
accused of molesting your own daughters and to have no way to prove
you didn't do it. Even now, he's aware that without conclusive
evidence, like in the flurry of DNA exonerations in recent years,
some people will always wonder if he's guilty.
I traced my dad... and
discovered he is Charles Manson
By Pete Samson. US Editor
11-23-09--
LIKE many adopted children, Matthew Roberts set about
finding his biological parents with a mix of nerves and
excitement. . . . In particular, he hoped that discovering
his father's identity would help him to work out what made
him the man he had become. . . . But nothing could have
prepared him for being told his dad was... serial killer
CHARLES MANSON. . . . Over a five-week period in the summer
of 1969, Manson and his Family of commune followers
committed a series of nine gruesome murders. Victims
included pregnant actress Sharon Tate, wife of film director
Roman Polanski. . . . Matthew, 41 - who bears a haunting
resemblance to his father - sank into depression after
discovering his identity. . . . He has since been in contact
with his dad in a series of letters to his California prison
and Manson has replied - each time chillingly signing off
with a swastika. . . . Now Matthew, who was given up for
adoption as a baby, has told of his horror at finding out he
was the son of a monster. . . . He says: "I didn't want to
believe it. I was frightened and angry. It's like finding
out that Adolf Hitler is your father. . . . "I'm a peaceful
person - trapped in the face of a monster." . . . Matthew
grew up in Rockford, Illinois, and didn't know he was
adopted until his sister told him when he was ten.
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GEORGIA
April Becker-Antoniou: Woman Finds Dad By Googling Herself
Huffington Post (blog) -
Nov 11, 2009
11-11-09 --
April Becker-Antoniou was reunited with her father, who had
spent 30 years searching for her, through a Google search. .
. . Becker-Antoniou's father, Dr. Scott Becker, created a
web site named after his daughter,
AprilBecker.com, as part of his efforts to track
her down. . . . Becker-Antoniou typed the name into Google,
performed a search, and stumbled onto the website Becker had
made in his search for his daughter. . . . Becker's
site contained this
message:
April
Joi (Joy) Becker
Dear
April, When you read this, please send an email to: april@aprilbecker.com.
Im your Dad and I would really like to talk to ya. When I
get your email, I will ask you a couple of questions that
only you would know so I can filter out the crazies out
there. By the way, You have a lil sister that REALLY wants
to talk to you :-) Dad Scott Robert Becker"
After seeing the site,
Becker-Antoniou first contacted her father over email. As
CBS reports, The two communicated by e-mail and
over the phone for the past five days. Becker said he
confirmed her mother's maiden name, her birthday, middle
name and some other specific details only his daughter would
know.
OHIO
Daddy activists facing prison promise ongoing protests
Teri
Stoddard Family Rights Examiner
11-10-09 --
Jury selection continued today for the two daddy activists who
hung banners on a 175' construction crane at Ohio
State University last year to draw attention to civil rights
violations within family court. One banner read "Stop the war
on fatherhood" and the other "Fathers 4 Justice." . . . As
Donald Tenn explained in
18 mos prison possible for CA dad his daughter
Madison was illegally moved from California to Illinois by her
mother. His wife filed a false restraining order claiming fear
of him, he says, when she learned the law wouldn't support her
unilateral decision. . . . When unmarried dad
Paul Fisher was prohibited from being an equal parent
to daughter Demetra he took his case to the Ohio Supreme Court,
and won. But the local family court judge circumvented the win,
claiming a change in circumstances to deny Fisher equal
parenting of his daughter. He now sees Demetra just four days a
month.
VAWA facilitates and funds illegal parental child abduction
- part one
VAWA facilitated and funded
the illegal abduction of Madison Tenn
Teri Stoddard, Family Rights Examiner
11-4-09 --
Fathers 4 Justice daddy
activist Donald Tenn opens up about his own child custody
case as he faces 18 months in prison for an Ohio crane
protest, in this exclusive three-part interview. . . . .
On May 25, 2006 Madison Tenn was illegally moved six states
away from her Sacramento, California home by her mother,
says dad
Donald Tenn. Since that time Shannon Phillips
has committed fraud and perjury in two states, wasted
thousands of tax-payer dollars and kept a little girl from
her loving, stay-at-home, primary caretaker daddy, he adds.
. . . . Tenn is speaking out about his own case he says,
because he's facing 18 months in prison for a peaceful
protest for parents rights. He wants people to know the
truth; that he and Shannon were happily married, "We never
had domestic problems. I'm not a violent person. I believe
in communication. The police were never called to our
home."
Continued in parts
two and
three.
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October 2009
Custody battle arises between father, stepfather
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
10-28-09 --
An odd child custody battle is now before the Pennsylvania
Superior Court. . . . The story begins with a marriage
between Eric Harner and his wife. The couple soon had a
daughter, but divorced three years later, leaving primary
custody of the child with the mother. Alliance
Defense Fund attorney David Dye tells OneNewsNow
that both remarried. However, the former wife died, leaving
the little girl in the custody of her biological father. Dye
says the stepfather then sued for custody. . . . "Well, the
trial court sided with that gentleman, and the trial court
made the little girl go back to live with the stepfather
rather than with her own father, her stepmom, and her half
brother," the attorney explains. . . . He further emphasizes
that nothing has surfaced in the two-and-a-half years of
litigation to indicate the biological father is not worthy
of raising his own daughter. State law permits a third party
to gain custody only under strict circumstances.
RHODE
ISLAND
In this contest, there
are never any winners
Bob Kerr: Providence Journal
10-11-09 --
Mickey Mouse got bounced from the birthday party. Actually,
he never got in the door. He stood there, in full Disney,
and was told he wasn’t wanted. . . . It was one of those
mad, cruel moments from the divorce wars, where people get
competitive over a kid’s happiness. In this case, a father
who couldn’t attend his daughter’s birthday party because of
a restraining order hired a person in a Mickey Mouse suit to
go instead. It was his way of being part of the day without
actually being there. . . . It didn’t work. The fun Mickey
Mouse might have brought to the party was no match for a
mother’s need to keep a father out of sight and out of mind.
. . . There are lots of names for it — payback, revenge,
getting even, sticking it to the ex. It might be the sickest
part of divorce. It is the attempt to lay waste to the idea
that divorced parents can both maintain strong relationships
with their children. It is the attempt to poison kids’
minds. It gets vicious sometimes. . . . And it’s always
expensive. Lawyers and therapists do well with it. A
considerable chunk of a family’s assets can go down the
tubes because an angry parent would rather keep hauling the
case into court than reach healthy resolution. . . .
Officially, it’s parental alienation syndrome. It’s not easy
to diagnose. Sometimes, it’s impossible to determine whether
one parent is more guilty of it than the other. It is filled
with screams and accusations, court-ordered therapy and the
degrading experience of visiting with one’s own sons or
daughters under court-ordered supervision — at $35 an hour.
. . . False charges of abuse are fairly standard.
WEST
VIRGINIA
Judge: W.Va. shelter
rules biased against men
P.J. Dickerscheid, Associated Press Writer, Kansas City Star
10-8-09 -- A
Kanawha County Circuit judge has voided West Virginia's
regulations for domestic violence programs, saying they
discriminate by denying abused men access to publicly funded
shelters and women abusers access to treatment. . . . In a
decision received Tuesday, Judge James C. Stucky said Family
Protection Services Board's rules for licensing domestic
violence shelters, certifying advocates and distributing
state funding distort lawmakers' intent and violate the West
Virginia Men & Women Against Discrimination's right to free
speech. . . . The nonprofit advocacy group sued the state
board last year. . . . Stucky said the state administers its
programs on the premise that only men can be batterers and
only women can be victims by requiring public shelters to
adopt and adhere to the principle of separate but equal
treatment based on gender. . . . "The practical effect of
this rule is to exclude adult and adolescent males from
their statutory right to safety and security free from
domestic violence for no reason other than their gender,"
Stucky wrote in his Oct. 2 ruling.
Alec Baldwin Offers
Divorce Advice in Paperback Book
By Martha Neil, ABA Journal
10-1-09 --
Divorcing actress Kim Basinger was hell, says actor Alec
Baldwin. Plus it cost both of them some $3 million in legal
fees. . . . But in a book that details the wrenching
experience and has just been released in paperback,
A Promise to Ourselves,
he also offers some advice to others about avoiding the
worst of the pitfalls he experienced. Among his suggestions:
File first, get a lawyer who is not only skilled but someone
you like and hire a good therapist.
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September 2009
NEW
YORK
Brooklyn Family Court judge refuses to terminate parental
rights of incarcerated, illiterate dad
Daniel Weaver, Family Court Examiner
9-29-09 --
Kings County (Brooklyn, NY) Family Court Judge J. Alan
Beckoff denied a petition to terminate the parental rights
of an incarcerated father late last week. In the matter of
Jayquan J.,
SCO Family of Services, a foster care agency,
petitioned the court to terminate the parental rights of
Clint J., saying that he had made no efforts to contact his
child and had abandoned the child, therefore his consent was
not needed to put Jayquan up for adoption. . . . "Teresa
Tucker, the SCO caseworker, testified that Jayquan has been
in a non-kinship foster home since entering foster care;
that Respondent had no contact with him in the six-month
period preceding the filing of the petition; that the agency
had not discouraged Respondent from visiting or contacting
Jayquan; that Respondent had not sent any cards, gifts, or
letters to Jayquan; and that no one had come forward on
Respondent's behalf. Ms. Tucker also testified that going
back to May 2006, when Jayquan first came into SCO's care,
Respondent did not have any contact with the child or the
agency and had paid no support." . . . The judge found
Tucker's testimony believable, but said in his decision, the
agency treated the termination of parental rights in a
perfunctory manner, acting as if Mr. J. "was little more
than a technicality that had [to] be covered for the
termination to go forward." . . . The court found the
testimony of Clint J. to be credible, and his testimony
underscores the difficulties that parents who are illiterate
and/or incarcerated face when a petition is filed to
terminate their parental rights. Mr. J testified "that he
told Becky C. that he wanted to get in touch with Jayquan
either directly or through other individuals, but that he
never got any addresses or contact information from the
"foster people" and so did not know how to contact the New
York City Administration for Children's Services ("ACS"). He
said that he had no addresses or phone numbers for ACS
caseworkers and that he wanted to send Jayquan clothing and
cards but did not know where to send anything."
INDIANA
The War against Fathers
by Mike Adams, Townhall.com
9-21-09 --
Dan Brewington is among the latest casualties in a war
against fathers that is tearing our nation apart, family by
family. The Ripley and Dearborn County (Indiana) court
system recently stripped him of his parental rights without
reason or cause. He is no longer able to see his daughters
despite his history of loving care for them and their strong
bond with him. . . . Mr. Brewington has neither a criminal
history nor a Social Services history. He is loved by his
children whom he has taken excellent care of their entire
lives. He has also demonstrated his ability to successfully
parent the children under joint custody with the mother for
the past 2 ½ years. Yet his rights were violated during
divorce proceedings in which Judge Humphrey of Dearborn
County ordered him to have no visitation with his children.
. . . Ordering a man to have no contact with his children is
a very serious matter. So there should be some compelling
reason for such drastic intervention by the state into the
life of a citizen. . . . As part of court documents
submitted during the divorce proceedings, a custody
evaluation report was, of course, submitted. In this report,
a psychologist named Dr. Connor evaluated Dan Brewington’s
parenting abilities. But Dr. Connor was not licensed in the
state of Indiana at the time of his evaluation of Dan
Brewington. So what was he doing stripping a man of his
rights to see his children without proper licensure?
NEW
YORK
Criminal Past Does Not
Bar Man From Adopting, Judge Decides
Vesselin Mitev, New York Law Journal
9-3-09 --
A history of crime and drug addiction spanning two decades
should not bar a man from being eligible to adopt, said a
New York surrogate judge who credited the man's attempt to
turn his life around. . . . Since leaving prison for the
last time in 2000, the prospective father has "demonstrably
devoted himself to rebuilding his life," Nassau County
Surrogate John B. Riordan ruled in
Matter of the Adoption
of Unknown
(pdf), 362, allowing the man and his wife to take the first
step toward becoming adoptive parents. . . . The couple had
applied to be certified as qualified adoptive parents, which
would enable them to be placed on a list of prospective
candidates for private placement adoptions.

August 2009
GEORGIA
Childless man released from child support debt
CNN
8-11-09 --A
Georgia man who spent a year in jail for nonpayment of child
support -- despite the fact he has no children -- has been
cleared of the debt, his attorney said Tuesday. . . . Frank
Hatley, 50, spent 13 months in jail for being a deadbeat dad
before his release last month. A judge ordered him jailed in
June 2008 for failing to support his "son" -- a child who
DNA tests proved was not fathered by Hatley. . . . Last
week, Cook County Superior Court Judge Dane Perkins signed
an order stating, "defendant is no longer responsible for
paying any amount of child support." The order permits the
state's Office of Child Support Services to close its file
on Hatley. . . . "We're satisfied with the result for Mr.
Hatley, but still troubled by the state's monumental lapse
of judgment in this case," attorney Sarah Geraghty with the
Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights told CNN in a
written statement. Hatley did not immediately return a call
from CNN Tuesday. . . . His story dates back to 1986, when
Hatley had a relationship with Essie Lee Morrison, who gave
birth to a son. According to court documents, Morrison told
Hatley the child was his, but the two ended their
relationship shortly after the child was born. The couple
never married and never lived together, the documents said.
CALIFORNIA
Abducted child's father faces prison for peaceful protest
8-9-09
--Donald Tenn, the
Sacramento father who
traveled to Washington DC recently for a rally to
confront President Obama on his "fathers need to step up"
comments, will be in a Columbus, Ohio courtroom Monday
morning on charges related to his
4 day protest on a 175' construction crane last
year. . . .
Tenn was a
stay-at-home daddy until Shannon Phillips took
their daughter to Illinois on what was described as a
vacation three years ago. After her arrival Phillips
announced that she had no intention of returning to
California, or of allowing Madison to return. When Tenn
reminded her that California law prevents parental move-aways
Phillips filed her first of many false charges of domestic
violence against Tenn. . . . At one point he had hope. One
judge refused a restraining order and scolded Phillips for
her antics. But after Tenn had one visit with Madison in
Illinois Phillips renewed her campaign of false
allegations. . . . He writes on his website
dedicatedtomadison.com:
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A
Victims-of-Law Advertiser |
July 2009
TENNESSEE
Tennessee ACLU Affiliate Attorney Participates in Abuse of
Children
Contact: Daniel Morgan,
Christian Citizens against Corruption,
423-519-6410,
stopdcsabuse@gmail.com
Christian Newswire
7-31-09 --
Daniel Morgan is a father to three children 4, 6 and 7 years
of age. When his children came home from visitations with
their mother having burns, blistering, lacerations, needle
punctures, bruising and infection. Mr. Morgan reported this
to the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and his
Attorney Peter J. Alliman (TBA #5984). . . . Physicians, Medical records, affidavits, letters and
reports from school administrators, teachers and licensed
clinical social workers all indicated that the abuses
occurred to the children while in their mothers care and
specifically by an adult male companion having past drug
convictions while cohabitating with the children's mother. .
. . Judge Jerri Bryant a Chancery Court Judge ordered that
"the parties minor children shall not be left alone in the
care of the wife's live in boyfriend John Scarbrough and the
children shall not be allowed to ride in a motor vehicle
being driven by John Scarbrough." Several police reports
verify John Scarbrough blatantly violating Judge Jerri
Bryant court order on numerous occasions. . . . When Mr.
Morgan consulted his attorney Peter J. Alliman about the
burns and lacerations to his 2 year old son Mr. Alliman
reply was, "I don't have time to deal with your case on a
day to day basis; there are other people with more serious
problems!" When Mr. Morgan reported that John Scarbrough was
in violation of Judge Jerri Bryant court order by picking up
his 2 year son and his two daughters Mr. Allimans response
was "Just because he doesn't have a drivers license doesn't
mean he can't drive."
Family Court Injustices to Men
by Phyllis Schlafly
7-21-09 --
Did you know that a family court can order a man to
reimburse the government for the welfare money, falsely
labeled "child support," that was paid to the mother of a
child to whom he is not related? Did you know that, if he
doesn't pay, a judge can sentence him to debtor's prison
without ever letting him have a jury trial? . . . Did you
know that debtor's prisons (putting men in prison because
they can't pay a debt) were abolished in the United States
before we abolished slavery, but that they exist today to
punish men who are too poor to pay what is falsely called
"child support"? . . . Did you know that when corporations
can't pay their debts, they can take bankruptcy, which means
they pay off their debts for pennies on the dollar, but a
man can never get an alleged "child support" debt forgiven
or reduced, even if he is out of a job, penniless and
homeless, medically incapacitated, incarcerated (justly or
unjustly) or serving in our Armed Forces overseas, can't
afford a lawyer, or never owed the money in the first place?
. . . Did you know that when a woman applying for welfare
handouts lies about who the father of her child is, she is
never prosecuted for perjury? Did you know that judges can
refuse to accept DNA evidence showing that the man she accuses is not the father? . . . Did
you know that alleged "child support" has nothing to do with
supporting a child because the mother has no obligation to
spend even one dollar of it on a child, and in many cases
none of the "support" money ever gets to a child because it
goes to fatten the payroll of the child-support bureaucracy?
. . . These are among the injustices that the feminists, and
their docile liberal male allies, have inflicted on men. The
sponsor was former Democratic Senator from
New Jersey and presidential
candidate Bill Bradley.
GEORGIA
Man jailed for child support, even though he was not the
father, released
By Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
7-15-09 --A
South Georgia
man who had been jailed for more than a year for not paying
child support — even though he was not the biological father
— was released from custody on Wednesday. . . . “I thank God
for this day,” Frank Hatley, 50, said in a telephone
interview shortly after his release. “It feels good being
free.” . . . Hatley had sat in a Cook County jail since June 25, 2008,
even though a special assistant state attorney general and
the judge knew Hatley was not the child’s biological father.
. . . After showing a judge during a hearing Wednesday that
he was indigent, Hatley was ordered released from
confinement, his lawyer, Sarah Geraghty of the Southern
Center for Human Rights, said. . . . The judge, however,
postponed deciding whether Hatley must still repay the more
than $10,000 in child support the state says he owes. But
Hatley does not have to make any monthly payments until that
issue is resolved, Geraghty said.
PENNSYLVANIA
Attorney Freed After Being Jailed 14 Years for Contempt in
Divorce Case
|

Chadwick's son
William, 41,
embraces dad. |
JoAnn Loviglio, The Associated Press, Law.com
7-13-09 --
A Pennsylvania attorney who was released from prison Friday
after serving
the longest imprisonment on a civil contempt charge in
U.S. history said judges have too much discretion in
cases like his. . . . "If I had been convicted of murder in
the third degree in Pennsylvania, I would have been out in
half the time I was in jail," H. Beatty Chadwick said in a
telephone interview with The Associated Press. . . . A judge
ordered Chadwick's release from a county prison in suburban
Philadelphia more than 14 years after he was jailed for
refusing to turn over millions of dollars in a bitter
divorce battle.
The case prompted dozens of appeals to county,
state and federal courts,
twice reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. . . .
Chadwick, 73, said he will stay with his 41-year-old son,
Bill, for now. He said he plans to find a job, though he was
not sure what sort of work he would do.
Fathers wanted, fathers needed
By Jesse Muhammad, FinalCall.com Staff Writer
7-3-09 --
Father's Day, with its annual commercialized corporate
advertisements and gift giving, has come and gone, but one
group of men in America must continue year-round work to
break the stereotype that they are irresponsible, no-good
and indifferent towards parenting—the group of men is Black
fathers. . . . Black children living in fatherless homes
exceed 50 percent; single Black mothers are increasingly at
the helm of households, not to mention the number of Black
children having to talk to incarcerated fathers through a
double pane of glass. . . . While analysts and the media
often focus on the problem, Dr. Rozario Slack and other
advocates seek to counter the negative image with examples
of Black men who are successful husbands, fathers and role
models. . . . “We can't just continue to point out the
statistics. We already know them. But who is offering
assistance to the men and being the example is the question.
Where are those stories?” asked Dr. Slack. . . . Dr. Slack
is the founder of Rozario Slack Enterprises in Chattanooga,
Tenn. He travels across the country conducting seminars
about marriage, fathering and other issues that impact
children and families. He challenges Black men to develop
healthy, wholesome family, and marital relationships. He has
also published several books that offer real life tools. . .
. “We help young men with pre-birth preparation, ways to
avoid infidelity, financial management, and other means by
which to save their families,” said Dr. Slack. He has been
married over 16 years and has three children ages 13, 10,
and 6. . . . “I am blessed to have an example in my parents
who have been married for 58 years,” said Dr. Slack, who is
also the head pastor of Temple of Faith Deliverance Church
of God in Christ. “Divorce is far from my mind. We have to
show that President Obama is only an example of other great
Black husbands and fathers that exist. With all due respect,
he is not the only one. Let's push them out front.”
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A
Victims-of-Law Associate |
June 2009
ARIZONA
More dads embracing bigger role in kids' lives
By Karina Bland, The Associated Press, Maryville Daily Times
6-29-09 --
It's just after lunch on a Friday, and Johnny Ruiz of
Gilbert is outside with his three boys, pumping up the tires
on their bikes. . . . Like a growing number of fathers, Ruiz
spends a lot of time with his kids, juggling part-time jobs
so he can be home when they get out of school. . . . In most
families, it's still Mom who does the majority of the work
when it comes to raising children, but in more and more
homes, Dad is coming close. Over the past 10 years, experts
say, a new breed of dad has been surfacing: He's more
hands-on right from the start. He's going to appointments
with the obstetrician and reading to his baby in utero. He's
more touchy-feely, hugging and kissing the children as much
as Mom does. He's taking the kids to school, volunteering in
their classrooms and helping with homework.
What is a Good Father? Are You a Good Parent?
by Mark Adams, www.opednews.com
6-21-09 --
Unfortunately, since you’ve been kept in the dark about one
of the most important ways that our Nation’s Framers
provided for us to prevent abuse by government agents and
criminals and the widespread damage that the loss of that
right has caused, you are failing your children. However,
you can redeem yourself by taking action now. . . . What is
a good father or mother? A good father or mother provides a
variety of things that are important to their children, but
mostly importantly, a good father or mother takes action to
make sure that their children are protected from harm. . . .
Certainly, a good father or mother would take action to
protect their children from being beaten, raped or
tortured. However, most Americans are failing their
children in this most important task. Torture is routinely
used by U.S. government agents against Americans, but the
"news" media almost never mentions this serious issue or
that it happens daily to completely innocent, mostly young,
Americans. . . . Since most of you are saying, "No way. That
can’t be true!" I’ll let you in on one of the dirty secrets
that the "news" media cartel has kept you in the dark about.
Celebrating Dad is worth the hoopla
Rebecca Montgomery: Dallas Morning News
6-19-09 -- This
weekend we pay tribute to our dads. Just once a year, they
get a day to rest on their laurels, have lunch at the
restaurant of their choosing and be gifted with items that
will quite possibly gather dust in their closets. . . . But
it is their day, and they deserve it. . . . This year is
actually the unofficial 100th anniversary of the observance
of Father's Day. In 1909, in a small church in Spokane, Wash., a young woman named
Sonora Smart Dodd listened to a sermon on Mother's Day. Her
own mother already dead, she was being raised along with her
five siblings by her father. It seemed to Sonora that
father's should be given the same due and be granted a day
dedicated in their honor. . . . Sonora and those who
supported her spent decades getting the holiday officially
established, and in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a
presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June
as Father's Day. And now we have Hallmark and retail stores
across the nation reminding us how important it is to honor
our dads. . . . I'm not a huge fan of the
over-commercialization of the myriad holidays on this
nation's official calendar. But fathers – and the role they
play in their children's lives – are extremely important.
And if a little hoopla is called for, then so be it. . . .
As a child, I didn't even realize that there were kids
without fathers at home, or fathers who weren't supportive
or present in their children's lives. That is part of the
innocent bliss of childhood – whatever your experience is,
you tend to believe that it is universal. Obviously, as I
grew older, I realized there were fatherless families.
CALIFORNIA
Court Denies Benefits to Child Conceived With Dead Father's
Sperm
Courthouse News Service
6-19-09 -- A
child conceived from the sperm of her deceased father cannot
claim survivor Social Security benefits, the 9th Circuit
ruled. The court rested its decision largely on the mother's
inability to prove that the father had consented to the
birth. . . . A three-judge panel upheld the district court's
denial of benefits to Brandalynn Vernoff and her mother,
Gabriela. . . . Brandalynn was conceived after her
father, Bruce Vernoff, died of accidental causes in July
1995. Shortly after his death, Gabriela directed a doctor to
extract five vials of Bruce's semen, which she used to
undergo in vitro fertilization in 1998. . . . About five
months after giving birth to Brandalynn, Gabriela filed a
claim for child survivor benefits on behalf of her daughter
and herself, as the surviving child's mother. . . . The
Social Security Administration denied their claim, and
Gabriela appealed, claiming her posthumously conceived
daughter had an equal-protection right to the benefits. . .
. But the San Francisco-based federal appeals court
emphasized that a child must be dependent on the insured
parent to be eligible for benefits. Gabriela could not
establish her daughter's dependence, the panel said, because
she was unable to prove that Bruce had consented to the
birth.
Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to
be a dad.
~Author Unknown~
Dad Commits Paternity Fraud, Goes to Prison
By Robert Franklin, Esq. | Men’s News Daily
6-18-09 --
We've seen plenty of paternity fraud before, but always done
by a woman. Usually she tells a guy - or allows her husband
to believe - that the child is his, when it's not. That
way, she gets to choose who she wants to be the dad. If she
prefers Tom to Harry, she tells Tom the baby's his whether
it is or not. . . . The other way a woman commits paternity
fraud is to disappear from the man's life once she's
pregnant. Or, if he asks her whose it is, she tells him
it's someone else's. . . . However it's done, I have only
seen two cases in which a woman paid any type of price for
her deceit. Back in 1990, a West Virginia woman, Anne
Conaty, became pregnant with her
boyfriend's (John Kessel's) child. He made it
clear to her that he wanted to be a hands-on father, but she
had other ideas. She fled to California and placed the
child for adoption in Canada, fully aware that Kessel had
gotten a temporary injunction against the adoption. The
adoption was completed, but Kessel successfully sued Conaty,
winning a judgment for $7.85 million against her and her
California attorney. . . . In one other case, a Georgia man
successfully got a judgment for return of
child support he had paid for a child who was not
his and about whom the mother had lied.
OHIO
Child support law enforced equally, area officials say
By Ryan Carter, Herald Record
Staff Writer
6-15-09 --
"Why don't women who owe child support go to jail?" . . .
Two local men who pay child support recently made claims
that the mothers of their children (who both have been
ordered to pay child support) are treated with more leniency
when they fail to make their child support payments. . . .
"My ex-wife is supposed to be paying child support on three
of my kids," said a Fayette County man who requested
anonymity. "I've been paying child support to her mother who
has custody of the kids. I've already been locked up a
couple of times for not paying." . . . The man also claims
that his ex-wife hasn't paid any child support since 2003. .
. . "She lives in (another state) and when I ask the child
support agency why she can't be arrested, they tell me it's
hard to enforce it when she's out of state," he said. "I
just don't think it's right that they don't arrest her. I'm
taking care of my business now and she isn't. It's not
right." . . . Another local man who has custody of his
youngest child said his ex-girlfriend is also chronically
late on child support payments, yet nothing has been done.
"I'm perfectly fine taking care of my child and I like this
setup," he said. "But if the shoe was on the other foot, I
would most likely be in trouble. If you have a court order
to do something, and in this case it's to pay child support,
you should have to do it or pay the consequences." . . .
However, a look at the records in Fayette County Common
Pleas Court shows that women who are charged with felonies
for non-support are punished with the same severity as men.
Just last week, Judge Steven Beathard sent a
Fayette County woman, Tina
Snyder, to prison for six months for non-support after she
violated her community control. . . . A comparison of men
and women who have the same amount of non-support violations
showed that they were treated by the courts nearly
identically.
Men In Power
By: Dean Tong,
NewsWithViews.com
6-6-09 --
We have seen literally scores of men's rights groups pop up
globally over the past 40 years. From MEN International to
the National Organization for Men to the National Coalition
for Free Men, most of these well-intentioned and
well-meaning groups were not organized, funded well enough,
or politically backed to compete with the rise of the
feminists and the National Organization for Women. That
said, it is important for everyone - men, women, and
children - to ascertain the significance of The Men's
Movement and that men are not just "paychecks and biological
necessities." . . . We have heard of
The Promise Keepers and of the 1995
Million Man March. Even Mel Feit from the
National Center for Men recently appeared against feminist
love
Gloria Allred on Dr. Phil. Now, a brand new
college born group from the University of
Chicago called
Men in Power has surfaced. And the president of
the advocacy group, Steve Saltarelli,
has just been interviewed on National Public
Radio. . . . Saltarelli's group is the first men's group at
the University of
Chicago compared with nine women's advocacy groups at the same. Men in Power
was started to raise awareness of men, professionally
speaking. Saltarelli, who desires to become an attorney,
believes men need help with respect to the fields of
medicine, law and business. He wants to bring in speakers to
address these issues and garner media attention, too.
According to Mark Perry, an economist at the
University of
Michigan in Flint, in April, the national
unemployment rate for men was 10 percent compared 7.6
percent for women. In addition, he said women hold three out
of every four jobs in health care and education. As a still
licensed laboratory medical technologist who worked in
hospitals for twenty-odd years, I can tell you firsthand
women outnumbered men in the labs big time. And Perry said
future employment for men is an issue, too, because since
1981 women hold more bachelor's and master's degrees than
men do.
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May 2009
Editorial: Anti-Dad bias
Why is the father always the
villain on American TV?
By The Washington Times
5-18-09 --
Strong families need strong fathers, but American television
has come a long way from the 1950s series "Father Knows
Best." . . . Now Lifetime TV, a network known for its movies
about women being endangered by men, has sunk to a new low -
a reality program called "Deadbeat Dads." . . . In the
beginning of gotcha TV, viewers enjoyed watching the police
bust down a door and haul away the bad guy on a show like
"Cops." That same format migrated over to Animal Planet,
where the cops bust down the door and arrest the man who has
been starving his dogs or kicking his cats. Now Lifetime is
doing the same thing to divorced fathers. . . . Lifetime
TV's new reality show, "Deadbeat Dads," centers around
National Child Support founder Jim Durham, who finds and
confronts dads who do not pay their child support. Reuters
news agency reports that Mr. Durham "functions as sort of a
'Dog the Bounty Hunter' for tracking deadbeats ... it's
ambush reality TV." However, the reality show, originally
developed at Fox as "Bad Dads" and later dropped, is
Lifetime's attempt to take cheap shots at men while ignoring
the damage the show can cause children, wives and other
family members. . . . The Lifetime TV program ignores the
numbers. More than 90 percent of fathers with joint custody
paid the support due, according to a Census Bureau report
(Series P-23, No. 173). So deadbeats are in the minority.
Also, most so-called deadbeat dads actually are dead broke.
Two-thirds of men who fail to make child-support payments
earn poverty-level wages, according to the Federal Office of
Child Support Enforcement. Most of the others are
unemployed.
 
TEXAS
Whistleblower claims Texas unfairly targeted judges who defend
fathers' rights
Barbara
Thompson, Single Parenting Examiner, Examiner.com
5-25-09 --
Ginger Weatherspoon, a former Assistant Attorney General in Texas,
has filed a lawsuit in Dallas County District Court claiming that
she was fired for refusing to sign a false affidavit accusing Judge
David Hanschen of wrongdoing. . . . Judge Hanschen has been at odds
with the Texas Attorney General's office for several years over what
he claims are unfair and deceptive practices used to award and
collect child support. Some staff in the Attorney General's office
had been collecting affidavits accusing Judge Hanschen of
threatening the AG's office or issuing prejudicial rulings against
AAGs. Presumably their intent was to file a complaint of judicial
misconduct against Hanschen. . . . Several lawyers in the AG's
office claim that they were encouraged or coerced into signing the
affidavit's against their will, but Weatherspoon says that she was
fired for refusing to cooperate. . . . Ongoing conflict between
Judge Hanschen and the Texas Attorney General's Office. . . . The
Texas Attorney General's office prides itself on its relentless
pursuit of deadbeat parents and portrays itself as an advocate for
children. The office's Child Support Division has been nationally
recognized for leading the country in child support collections.
Critics point out that since the office receives federal funds based
on the amount of child support it collects, there is a financial
incentive to close as many cases as possible without regard for the
rights of the parties involved.
TENNESSEE
Child custody case to study constitutional protections
Fathers frequently left
without significant contact
By Bob Unruh, © 2009 WorldNetDaily
5-12-09 --
A court hearing is scheduled tomorrow on arguments that
allege the basic child custody procedures used by judges in
Bradley County, Tenn., are unconstitutionally biased in
favor of one parent. . . .
WND previously reported on the case stemming from a
divorce dispute that attorney Stanley Charles Thorne
believes could impact custody decisions nationwide, because
it calls down the authority of the 14th Amendment's equal
protection clause to help fathers who are good parents. . .
. According to Thorne, the case before Circuit Judge J.
Michael Sharp is testing the court procedures used in the
child custody case of 3-year-old Kate Hopkins, which began
in 2007. . . . After more than two years in court and five
different judges, the case is set for trial beginning May 27
in Sharp's courtroom. But Sharp is hearing the
constitutional issues before the rest of the case is heard.
. . . Attorney Jeffrey Miller will argue on behalf of fit
Tennessee parents and their children, and an attorney from
the Tennessee attorney general's office, Warren Jasper, is
expected to argue on behalf of the standard procedures. . .
. According to a statement from Thorne, one of the
procedures that will be challenged is the "80-day rule"
created by local judges. It automatically takes effect as
soon as a child custody case is filed, allowing one parent
only 80 days a year with the child while the other parent is
allowed 285 days – regardless of circumstances. . . . The
rule, Miller argues, discriminates against one parent,
violating the principle of equal protection as well as due
process, since it is imposed without a hearing. . . . Such
procedures would be banned if Sharp rules the practices are
unconstitutional, Thorne's statement said. . . . Hundreds of
divorce cases are filed daily across the U.S., and according
to
the Children'sJustice.org website, custody
dispute 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 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." . . .
"This case affects not just the people of Tennessee," Thorne
said. "This is huge." . . . 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.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Court Suspends License of D.C. Madam's Lawyer
Mike Scarcella, Legal
Times
5-4-09 --
In a rare opinion addressing allegations of attorney
misconduct, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Friday ordered the law license of Montgomery Blair Sibley,
the civil attorney for the late D.C. Madam, suspended for
three years. Sibley is vowing to fight on to clear his name.
. . . The reciprocal discipline
imposed by the appeals court stems from action in
another jurisdiction. In 2008, the Supreme Court of Florida
suspended Sibley from the practice of law for three years
for contempt of court for failure to pay child support and
for filing frivolous claims and appeals. . . . Sibley, a
D.C. solo practitioner, failed to pay $4,000 a month to his
ex-wife after he moved from South Florida in May 2000, court
records show. Sibley challenged the sufficiency of the
Florida proceedings and argued,
among other things, that he was not given a proper chance to
be heard. He also contends there was an insufficient record
on which to base the allegations against him. He was
admitted to the Florida Bar in 1987 and the D.C. Bar in
1999.
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April 2009
NEW
YORK
State program helps Onondaga County men become better
fathers
by Delen Goldberg / The Post-Standard
4-15-09 --
Perry Rouse says he'd probably be in jail if not for the
Parents Success Initiative of Onondaga County, a state pilot
program aimed at making men better fathers. . . . Seven
months ago, Rouse, a Desert Storm veteran, owed large
amounts of child support for his two daughters but was
unable to make payments. He had no job and no lawyer. . . .
"I was sick. I was dejected. Then, I found a program to help
me," said Rouse, 43, of Syracuse. . . . Today, Rouse is
rebuilding his relationship with his 21-year-old and
creating new bonds with his 3-year-old. . . . "I relate
better to them, I call more often," Rouse said. "Every
minute I have free, I'm with my 3-year-old. My 21-year-old,
I was surprised she actually listens to what I say." . . .
"I thought I was a good father at the time," Rouse
continued, "but I took classes and learned it's more than
just financial support. I need to be a hands-on dad."
INDIANA
Helman Sent Letter Day Before Shooting
Daniel Riordan, Times-Union
Staff Writer
4-13-09 --
The Times-Union received a letter Wednesday morning from the
Cromwell man who had a nine-hour standoff with police
Thursday night. . . . Gary Helman, 50, was shot twice, once
in the hip and once in the leg Thursday night after a
standoff with Indiana State Police near his home in the
Enchanted Hills Subdivision. . . . Helman allegedly refuse
to accept warrants that ISP attempted to serve. . . . Two
Whitley County warrants charge Helman with violation of a
protective order. A third warrant from Kosciusko County
charges him with pointing a firearm. . . . In the letter
sent to the Times-Union, Helman claimed his rights had been
violated by state police and that two state troopers
attempted to murder him with a vehicle. . . . State police
had been at Helman's property a month ago in an unsuccessful
attempt to serve warrants. . . . Police said Helman
reportedly has a history of anti-government,
anti-law-enforcement behavior. Helman reportedly refused to
accept warrants unless served federal officers, police said.
****** In another letter sent to the Times-Union, a man who
identifies himself as Dr. Amir H. Sanjari, claims the issues
with Helman result from a divorce and custody issue. . . .
Sanjari also claims that Helman's mother was "roughed up"
after her son was shot Thursday night. Sanjari quotes an
unnamed source, who was allegedly at the scene of the
accident. ****** The letter by Sanjari alleges wrongdoing by
judges and prosecutors on both county and state levels. . .
. Sanjari's letter states that "no doubt the local media
will perform their long-standing rule of ignoring the facts
regarding such corruption and crimes by the judges and their
henchmen and duly ignore and/or cover up the fact and put on
the official spin."
NEW
YORK
New York State Fatherhood Program Highlighted at National
Conference
Urban Institute Study of
OTDA's Fatherhood Initiative Released
readMedia
4-6-09 --
The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA)
today released the initial findings of the Urban Institute's
study of New York State's "Strengthening
Families Through Stronger Fathers" initiative, the most
comprehensive study of fatherhood programs yet conducted.
The study was presented as part of a panel discussion during
the American Public Human Services Association Spring
conference in Washington, D.C. Monday. Among the report's
findings is that there is an overwhelming demand for
services provided through the initiative - particularly
among minority men with a criminal record. . . . "This
analysis by the Urban Institute will help us to shape the
future of fatherhood programs in New York State and across
the country," said OTDA Commissioner David A. Hansell.
"Fatherhood programs allow us to build on the success of
welfare reform, whose primary beneficiaries have been single
moms, to enhance the economic prospects of low-income men,
and to increase their chances of achieving self-sufficiency
for themselves and their children." . . . New York's
fatherhood program, launched in 2006, funds five pilot
programs to provide intensive employment services and other
supportive services to low-income noncustodial parents, and
provides a refundable tax credit for low-income noncustodial
parents who remain current in paying child support. Pilot
sites are located in Erie, Chautauqua and Onondaga counties
and two are in New York City.
March 2009
VERMONT
Stay-at-home Dad Wins Online Education Scholarship from
GetEducated.com for Unique "Humane Leadership" (Animal
Welfare) Degree
A 41-year-old stay-at-home
dad in Vermont wins Online Education Scholarship from
GetEducated.com for a unique "humane leadership" online
bachelor's degree, aimed at future animal welfare workers.
Online education's growth and stability has allowed colleges
to offer narrowly specialized, unusual degrees, providing
flexibility for consumers seeking new or better careers,
says GetEducated CEO Vicky Phillips.
(PRWEB)
3-19-09 --
You don't have to leave home to get a degree in animal
welfare. Ask Paul Kopulos - a 41-year-old stay-at-home dad
living in Vermont, who is finishing his bachelor's degree in
humane leadership from Pittsburgh's Duquesne University. . .
. Kopulos, like all other students in the unusual program
(which is co-sponsored by the Humane Society of the U.S.),
is earning his degree completely online, while caring for a
two-month-old baby, a two-year-old toddler, and three
shelter pets (two dogs and a cat). The degree is aimed at
people who wish to work in animal welfare or advocacy
positions. . . .
GetEducated.com is rewarding Kopulos' efforts
with a $1,000 Excellence in Online Education Scholarship. .
. . For Kopulos, going to school online worked perfectly
with his hectic lifestyle. . . . "With the kids and
everything else going on in my life, I can do my school when
I need to," says Kopulos. "I can take an exam at midnight or
1 a.m." . . . Online education is appealing to
nontraditional, older students like Kopulos, who are turning
to the Internet for maximum flexibility in training for new
careers. Internet learning has broadened to include a
variety of unique degrees. . . . Vicky Phillips,
GetEducated's founder, says that "a decade ago, a narrowly
specialized degree like this one -- leadership in the animal
welfare sector -- would have been impossible to find. One
physical college could not have found enough students within
commute distance to sustain such a narrow career specialty."
GEORGIA
Student fought long for right to be a father
By Gracie Bonds Staples, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3-18-09 --
You may or may not remember Rashad Head, the 17-year-old
father who a few years ago was waging a fight to see his
son. . . . It seemed a small thing to ask, but five months
after his birth, the court was still siding with the
infant’s mother even though Head had done everything the law
required. **** Just days after Rashad’s ex-girlfriend gave
birth, an adoption agency called Rashad’s father, Geoff
Head, requesting consent to let his grandson be adopted. . .
. Geoff Head refused. He wanted Rashad to do what he’d
always tried to do, take care of his son. . . . Indeed, from
the moment Rashad learned his girlfriend was pregnant, he
had stood by her. When they told their parents, the Heads
supported Rashad. . . . “What we did was a mistake, but I
don’t look at my son as a mistake,” Rashad said then. “I
don’t ever want him to feel he doesn’t have a real place in
this world.” . . . The Heads decided to fight. Leslie Graham
took their case pro bono and on Feb. 24, after almost three
years of legal wrangling, got some good news. . . . Gwinnett
Superior Court Judge George Hutchinson awarded Rashad joint
legal custody of his son, three consecutive weeks of summer
visitation plus every other weekend and the right to change
the toddler’s name to Trey Rashad Head.
ILLINOIS
Father seeks custody of baby rescued from toilet; mother
remains jailed
The father of an infant
rescued from a toilet is seeking custody while the mother
remains jailed in southwestern Illinois on attempted murder
charges.
Seattle Times
3-18-09 --
The father of an infant rescued from a toilet is seeking
custody while the mother remains jailed in southwestern
Illinois on attempted murder charges. . . . Edward Goodrich
of Belleville appeared with his attorney at a custody
hearing Tuesday, but no action was taken and the child
remains in a foster home. Another hearing is scheduled for
April 7. . . . Authorities say 23-year-old Elyse Mamino (MAM'-ih-noh)
delivered a baby girl in a Columbia home's bathroom during a
family party in November and tried to drown her in the
toilet. . . . After her arrest, authorities found the
remains of an infant in Mamino's Belleville home. The cause
of that infant's death remains unclear, and no charges have
been filed in that case.
February 2009
Reporter Apologizes After Fathers & Families Bombards
Sacramento Paper over Anti-Father Article
February 19th, 2009
by Glenn Sacks
In a
Fathers & Families Action Alert last week, I
explained that journalist R.V. Scheide of the Sacramento
News & Review, a prominent California weekly, labeled
Parental Alienation a “discredited, pseudoscientific malady”
in his article
Down by law (2/5/09). I wrote “The author of the
article, R.V. Scheide, probably means well but…doesn’t know
any better–write him (politely).” . . . Hundreds of you
wrote Scheide and/or Letters to the Editor. Today, Scheide
publicly apologized and wrote a (mostly) classy article in
response. Below is his article in italics, interspersed with
my comments –to read the full article without my commentary,
click
here.
Fathers' rights campaigner jailed for abusing young child
2-18-09 --
A FATHERS 4 Justice campaigner has been jailed for sexually
abusing a young child. . . . Lee Doyle, from Sea Mills, was
known for his involvement with the civil rights group and
its protests calling for better rights for caring dads. . .
. Having sexually abused the youngster, he denied any
wrong-doing, leaving the child to face the traumatic
consequences of giving evidence in court. . . . Doyle, 26,
was convicted of causing or inciting a child to engage in
sexual activity as well as engaging in sexual activity. . .
. Judge David Ticehurst imposed the maximum jail term of
four years. . . . He told Doyle: “You were convicted on
clear evidence and the aggravating feature is that your
victim was very young. . . . “The child was forced to give
evidence at a very young age. . . . “It’s abundantly clear
having to give evidence has had a regrettable impact on the
child. . . . “You continue to maintain your innocence when
it’s abundantly clear you were guilty.” . . . The judge, who
said he thought that potentially Doyle posed a serious risk
of harm to young children, made him the subject of a Sexual
Offences Prevention Order keeping him away from youngsters
for 10 years. . . . Doyle was ordered to register as a sex
offender indefinitely.
NEW
JERSEY
After bitter 4-year fight, he finally sees his son again
Dad has ‘beautiful’ reunion
with boy whose mother abducted him to Brazil
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor

2-10-09 --
Choking back tears that had been building up for more than
four and a half years, a New Jersey father tried to describe
the emotions he felt at finally being able to hold and hug
his son and tell the boy how much he loved him. . . . “It
was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen since his birth. It
was incredible. Amazing. I got to see my son,” David Goldman
told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Tuesday by phone from Brazil. .
. . The previous day, accompanied by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith
of New Jersey, Goldman had finally reached the end of a
nightmare that began in June 2004 when his wife, Bruna, left
with their son, Sean, for a two-week trip to visit family in
her native Brazil. She never came back. . . . In all the
years since, Goldman had traveled to Brazil numerous times
hoping to see his son, but all the contact he was allowed to
have consisted of a few brief phone calls. . . .
International dispute / A New Jersey court ruled that
Bruna had to return Sean to New Jersey for a custody
hearing. But despite international law and treaties between
the United States and Brazil that upheld the court ruling,
Bruna refused to either return or to give up custody of the
boy. Instead, she divorced Goldman in a legal proceeding
that violated international law, and married an influential
Brazilian attorney.
The War Against Fathers Continues
An article from the
current issue of Touchstone Magazine: Divorced from Reality
"We’re from the
Government, and We’re Here to End Your Marriage."
by Stephen Baskerville
2-8-09 --
The decline of the family has now reached critical and truly
dangerous proportions. Family breakdown touches virtually
every family and every American. It is not only the major
source of social instability in the Western world today but
also seriously threatens civic freedom and constitutional
government. . . . G. K. Chesterton once observed that the
family serves as the principal check on government power,
and he suggested that someday the family and the state would
confront one another. That day has arrived. . . . Chesterton
was writing about divorce, and despite extensive public
attention to almost every other threat to the family,
divorce remains the most direct and serious. Michael McManus
of Marriage Savers writes that "divorce is a far more
grievous blow to marriage than today’s challenge by gays."
 
January 2009
TENNESSEE
Divorced father seeks equal protection
Custody challenge
cites discriminatory decisions
By Bob Unruh, © 2009 WorldNetDaily
1-28-09 --
A case is developing in a Tennessee divorce dispute
that one attorney believes could impact 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.
FLORIDA
Dad Accused Of Avoiding Child Support Faces Judge
By Mark Douglas
1-20-09 --
"OK" was all David William Earley said when he faced
a judge in Pasco County dressed in jail stripes
today, charged with violating his probation and
failure to pay $165,000 in child support. . . . On
the other hand, his wife and ex-wife have plenty to
say about the consequences of his arrest, the reason
for it and what it means to them. . . . Ex-wife
Sharon Earley said she's been trying to collect
child support for her four kids from Earley for the
past 19 years. Three of them have reached adulthood,
but Earley still owes child support. . . . "We've
had to do without a lot of things," Sharon Earley
said. . . . Earley's current wife Christina Earley
disagrees. . . . "She [Sharon} lives in a nice house in
Palm Harbor and has more jewelry than
God," Christina Earley told News Channel 8 in a
phone interview. "She's not suffering." . . .
Christina Earley owns a hair salon and lives on an
acre of land with Earley and their two daughters. A
horse grazes in the pasture, but she said they
bought the property with no money down and finances
are tight because Earley can't find work as a tile
installer. . . . "He's tried, he's looked around,"
Christina Earley said. . . . Sharon Earley said her
ex-husband has voiced countless excuses over the
years for not supporting the four children they had
together, and judges have heard most of them.
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