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December 2007

FLORIDA

Letter: Divorce court manipulated by 'state-appointed bullies'

Mike Lincoln’s Letter to TC Palm

12-29-07 -- I’m a divorced dad and I cannot express how much of a nightmare and how inherently wrong family law operates in both Vero and in our country.

We live in a no-fault state meaning that I can divorce you because you snore at night without having to establish a case. But to see my kids more after a final judgment of divorce, I have to show a substantial change in circumstance warrants it — meaning I have to build a reason to present to the court.

My saying “because I am their father” is not good enough reason to see my kids more and to have equal time. The court sees that as making things unstable for the children. But doesn’t divorce make things unstable for all? Yet the court has no problem handing those out in this no-fault state.

I live two miles away, have no criminal record, yet I do not get equal time with my children. So the court issues “standard court visitation,” Meaning I can see them every other weekend and every Wednesday night for two hours. Can you imagine seeing your spouse every two weeks? Can you build a meaningful relationship through that?

A lot of the times custodial parents become state-appointed bullies by manipulating a winner-take-all system through constant increase in child support and threats. Very little protects the non-custodial parent. You end up living in fear and usually forfeit time with your children for peace of mind. You want to tell me about “deadbeat” dads and I’ll tell you about “state-appointed bullies.”

The question is why do the courts operate this way? Is that good for all involved? Divorce is not criminal; family law needs to change. �

KANSAS

Family's case illustrates SRS dilemma

By Tim Potter, The Wichita Eagle

12-29-07 -- Since 2004, a Wichita father has contended that the state wrongly took his two daughters, then 14 and 8, and put them in foster care for several months. . . . Things got worse when his 14-year-old daughter contracted a sexually transmitted disease twice and became pregnant while in foster care, he said. . . . A joint legislative committee has recently proposed paying him $16,850 as reimbursement for expenses he incurred fighting the state. . . . His children were returned to him and his wife in 2005. . . . The case raises the question of whether the state, in investigating alleged child abuse, is sometimes too quick to take steps removing children from homes, said state Rep. Steve Huebert, R-Valley Center.

Father Who Left Son Denied Share of 9/11 Victim Funds

Mark Fass, New York Law Journal

12-21-07 -- A New Jersey man who abandoned a son who later died in the terror attack on the World Trade Center may not collect a share of the son's $2.9 million September 11th Victim Compensation Fund award, a Brooklyn judge has ruled. . . . "[T]he court concludes that the [father], not having been a part of [his son's] life, is not entitled to benefit from [his] tragic death," Surrogate Margarita Lopez Torres held in Estate of Caldwell, 660/2002. . . . Kenneth Caldwell, 30, lived in Brooklyn and worked at Alliance Consulting, on the 102nd floor of the trade center's north tower. Caldwell called his mother shortly after American Airlines Flight 11 struck his building; his remains were never found. . . . Under the federal law that established the fund, Caldwell's $2.9 million federal award became part of his estate. Because he died without a will, his estate was to be divided between his next of kin -- his divorced parents.

Hill's Brother A Deadbeat

Owes 158g In Kid Support & Alimony

By Dareh Gregorian

12-21-07 -- Owe, brother! . . . Hillary Rodham Clinton's youngest sibling is a deadbeat dad who owes tens of thousands of dollars in child support to his politically connected ex, The Post has learned. . . . In a disclosure that could prove embarrassing for his sister, Anthony Rodham has stiffed his former wife, Nicole Boxer, out of $75,000 in child support, as well as $55,000 in alimony, a source close to the case said. . . . Including interest and various fees and expenses, the presidential candidate's brother now owes Boxer - the daughter of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) - more than $158,000, the source said. . . . The revelation that Rodham is delinquent with his payments won't be a welcome development for Hillary Clinton, coming as the too-close-to-call battle for the Democratic presidential nomination reaches a fevered pitch and with the first votes to be cast in Iowa in exactly two weeks.

NEBRASKA  

Supreme Court claims jurisdiction over Canadian father

By Oskar Garcia / The Associated Press

12-17-07 --  The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday said the state has jurisdiction over the Canadian father of a Nebraska girl, allowing him to face a lawsuit in the United States for a sexual assault that allegedly happened in Canada. . . . The sexual molestation allegations made in the cross-country child-custody case persuaded the Nebraska Legislature to take a rare step earlier this year and extend the reach of Nebraska’s courts. . . . The Nebraska Supreme Court said in its opinion that it’s in the interest of the 9-year-old girl that the case be handled in Nebraska rather than Canada. The judges said it was reasonable for the father to face civil action here. . . . The ruling overturned a Lancaster County District Court decision.

Biden's Bill Will Exacerbate Domestic Violence Problems

by Glenn Sacks & Mike McCormik, NewsWithViews.com

12-16-07 -- When it comes to domestic violence legislation, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and Senator Joe Biden (D-Del) owns an asphalt company. Biden’s latest domestic violence bill is the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act, which amends Biden’s Violence Against Women Act to create an extensive network of volunteer attorneys to help abused women. The attorneys would provide free legal help in forging divorce or separation agreements and in winning child custody. . . . According to Biden, S.1515, which will soon be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is co-sponsored by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, will enlist 100,000 volunteer attorneys. The bill is supported by the American Bar Association, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, and the National Organization for Women, which is currently running a campaign in support of the bill. . . . S.1515 will do some good in aiding abused low-income women. The problem is that the bill will also greatly exacerbate the already widespread problem of false domestic violence claims being used to strip decent, loving fathers of custody of their children. There is no mechanism within the bill to distinguish between false accusations and legitimate ones. . . . Currently, domestic violence service providers assist women who claim to be abused. Let’s say Bob and Jane are married and have two kids. If Bob abuses Jane, Jane can go to a local shelter and receive legal assistance in obtaining a personal protection order (aka restraining order) against Bob. Bob is forced to vacate his house immediately. A couple weeks later there is a hearing to determine if the protection order will be made permanent, and the domestic violence service provider again furnishes assistance for this hearing. At these hearings, the protection orders are usually extended.

From Welfare State to Police State
By Stephen Baskerville

Welfare reform in the United States has shifted the role of welfare agencies from distributing money to collecting it—not from taxpayers but from divorced fathers. Despite the stereotype of the “deadbeat dad” as a wealthy playboy squiring around his new trophy wife in a bright red Porsche, federal officials have acknowledged that most unpaid child support is uncollectible because it is owed by fathers who are as poor as or poorer than the mothers and children.

OKLAHOMA

Single dad recovering from tough year

By Ginnie Graham World Staff Writer

12-8-07 -- After 10 years of being a single parent to two boys, the toughest challenge for Brian Timms came with his own medical crisis and the death of his father. . . . Timms underwent surgery in 2006 to remove six inches of his colon for diverticulitis. . . . He later developed neuropathy, or nerve damage, which has manifested itself as numbness on his right side and pain all over. . . . Timms's career of restaurant management came to an end, and medical bills started piling up. . . . "I wouldn't have gotten through it if I didn't have kids who depended on me," Timms said. "It's been family and really good friends who have helped me survive." . . . After downsizing from a house to an apartment and cutting down other expenses, Timms started attending Tulsa Community College. . . . He will graduate with an associate degree in the spring and plans to attend Northeastern State University to work on a bachelor's degree in social work. . . . "I'm doing the best I can to go back to school to get an education," Timms said. "It is hard, but an education is the only way I can generate an income. Social work is a way I can work with people and help them. . . . "I may end up with a ton of student loans," he said. "But I decided I may as well go to school when I can and not just lie here, feeling bad and just being. . . . "I needed to do something about it." . . . Timms is getting by financially month to month with school loans, food stamps and about $500 a month in child support from his ex-wife.

NEW YORK

Court says sperm donor liable for child support

By Sophia Chang

12-1-07 -- A Nassau County man who said he donated sperm to a female co-worker as a friendly gesture -- and then sent presents and cards to the child over the years -- is legally considered the father and may have to pay child support for the college-bound teenager, according to a judge's ruling. . . . "What's the saying? No good deed goes unpunished," said Deborah Kelly, a Garden City lawyer for the man, who acknowledged that he is named as the father on the child's birth certificate. . . . Like all the involved parties, the man remains anonymous because of privacy concerns. . . . Nassau County Family Court Judge Ellen Greenberg ruled on Nov. 16 that despite the mother's willingness to have the child's DNA tested, the man was barred from seeking a paternity test to determine if he is truly the father because the results could have a "traumatic effect" upon the child, who is now 18 years old and lives in Oregon with the mother. The next step is a meeting with a support magistrate to determine the amount of child support payments -- if any -- the man would have to pay until the teen turns 21, Kelly said.

November 2007

KANSAS

Rehearing sought in sperm donor case

Associated Press

11-26-07 --  A parents’ rights lawyer from Chicago is seeking a rehearing of a Kansas Supreme Court decision that upheld a state law concerning parental rights of sperm donors. . . . The court said last month that the law, which doesn’t give sperm donors any parental rights unless there’s a written agreement, is indeed constitutional. In a 4-2 opinion on Oct. 26, the court said the decision upholding the 1994 law is the first of its kind in the nation because no other state has ruled on a provision requiring a written agreement between mother and donor. . . . Attorney Jeffery M. Leving of Chicago has asked the court for a rehearing. Leving is representing donor Daryl Hendrix, who is in a dispute with Samantha Harrington over whether they had an oral agreement leading to parental rights for Hendrix. . . . Hendrix and Harrington were friends for a number of years, and he agreed to donate his sperm to help her become pregnant. Harrington gave birth to twins in May 2005. . . . No written agreement was signed between them, although Harrington is an attorney.

FLORIDA

Judge Rules Broward Mayor Does Not Have To Pay Child Support

By Elgin Jones   

11-16-07 -- After several years of litigation and countless delays, a Broward judicial General Magistrate has issued a ruling that relinquishes Broward County Mayor Jos-ephus Eggelletion from having to pay support for a child he fathered with a woman outside of his marriage. . . . General Magistrate Barbara M. Beilly, in her Nov. 6 ruling, stated that Eggelletion does not have to pay child support because the mother previously claimed that another man – her ex-husband – was the father. The mother also filed a claim against her ex-husband for child support. . . . Eggelletion did not return calls seeking comment. His attorney, Patricia Gainer-Gaddis, could not be reached. . . . “I think it’s sad, and like my daddy always said, ‘Every man should take care of his children,’ ” said the mother, Angelita Sanders, from her Savannah, Ga. home. . . . She and her attorneys vowed to appeal. . . . “It’s not fair that you have some men out there struggling to keep from being locked up while trying to support their children, then to have a court rule that a county mayor does not have to take care of his responsibilities,’’ Sanders said. “I can’t imagine how any man could be pleased with such a ruling.”

PENNSYLVANIA  

Suspended lawyer jailed in divorce money dispute seeks furlough

The Associated Press

11-9-07 -- (AP) — A suspended Delaware County attorney accused of hiding $2.5 million from his ex-wife is asking for Thanksgiving and Christmas furloughs from his nearly 13 years of imprisonment on a civil contempt charge. . ..  H. Beatty Chadwick's attorney, Michael Malloy, says his 72-year-old client is a model prisoner and helps operate the Delaware County Prison law library. . . . He says Chadwick suffers from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and his imprisonment since 1995 without trial, review for parole or other alternatives is excessive and unreasonable. . . . Attorney Albert Momjian says Chadwick's ex-wife, Barbara Jean Crowther Chadwick, will oppose any release unless Chadwick reveals the whereabouts of money he's accused of transferring out of the country. Chadwick maintains the money was invested unwisely and was lost.

MICHIGAN  

Appeals court rejects Michigan man's child support lawsuit

By Kathy Barks Hoffman, The Associated Press

11-7-07 -- Set to start his defense Monday, Reno pawnshop owner Darren Mack instead abruptly ended his murder trial by accepting a plea deal that calls for a life prison term and gives him the chance to criticize the forces he claims drove him to his crimes. . . . The 46-year-old one-time multimillionaire was on trial for killing his wife and wounding the couple's divorce judge, Washoe County Family Court Chuck Weller. Mack is expected to use his sentencing in January as a public forum for criticizing the Family Court system. . . . Mack pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder for the June 12, 2006, throat-slashing of 39-year-old Charla Mack, and he entered an Alford plea to attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon for the sniper-style shooting of Weller. An Alford plea does not involve an admission of guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors could prove their case if it went to trial. . . . "I do understand right now in my state of mind that shooting at the judiciary is not a proper form of political redress," Mack said in Clark County District Judge Douglas Herndon's courtroom. . . . Mack made an unusual request as part of the plea deal that he be allowed to speak at length during sentencing, where he is expected to focus on Weller, whom he has described as a corrupt, unfair and tyrannical jurist. . . . "There are some very important things to say, and I've remained quiet through this whole thing," Mack said. . . .

NEVADA  

Mack pleads to wife's killing, judge's shooting

By K.C. Howard, Review-Journal

11-7-07 -- Set to start his defense Monday, Reno pawnshop owner Darren Mack instead abruptly ended his murder trial by accepting a plea deal that calls for a life prison term and gives him the chance to criticize the forces he claims drove him to his crimes. . . . The 46-year-old one-time multimillionaire was on trial for killing his wife and wounding the couple's divorce judge, Washoe County Family Court Chuck Weller. Mack is expected to use his sentencing in January as a public forum for criticizing the Family Court system. . . . Mack pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder for the June 12, 2006, throat-slashing of 39-year-old Charla Mack, and he entered an Alford plea to attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon for the sniper-style shooting of Weller. An Alford plea does not involve an admission of guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors could prove their case if it went to trial. . . . "I do understand right now in my state of mind that shooting at the judiciary is not a proper form of political redress," Mack said in Clark County District Judge Douglas Herndon's courtroom. . . . Mack made an unusual request as part of the plea deal that he be allowed to speak at length during sentencing, where he is expected to focus on Weller, whom he has described as a corrupt, unfair and tyrannical jurist. . . . "There are some very important things to say, and I've remained quiet through this whole thing," Mack said.

NEW JERSEY

Millionaire Pursues New Marital Tort: Alienation of Children's Affection

Maria Vogel-Short, New Jersey Law Journal

11-7-07 -- In a suit that could create a new marital tort in New Jersey, a noncustodial father is suing his children's mother for alienation of their affection for him, which he says should allow him recovery of psychological damages. . . . There is no legal precedent in New Jersey for an alienation-of-affection suit by one parent against the other, but New Jersey has allowed other interspousal tort actions, such as for physical abuse, and plaintiff's lawyer Steven Resnick says the facts of his case warrant such treatment. . . . "We've tried other remedies and are asking to set a precedent," says Resnick, a partner with Budd Larner in Short Hills, N.J. . . . He says his client filed suit in the Law Division on Oct. 26 because, after 14 months of litigation, he's frustrated with the usual matrimonial venue, the Chancery Division's Family Part. . . . "There's no serious mechanism for punishment in the family court," says Resnick. "Nobody takes alienation of a parent's affections seriously, and no one asks what kind of damage this does to the children."

GEORGIA  

Lawyer Still on the Hook for $28,000 per Month in Child Support

Georgia appeals court vacates cut in payments to be made by attorney Willie Gary

Alyson M. Palmer, Fulton County Daily Report 

10-31-07 -- Georgia appeals court judges have vacated a reduction of Florida plaintiffs attorney Willie Gary's $28,000 monthly child support burden. . . . Diana Gowins and Gary agreed on the $28,000 figure after she gave birth to Gary's twins in 2000. But after Gary complained, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Cynthia D. Wright last year cut Gary's monthly payments to Gowins, to $5,000 per month plus private school tuition. . . . The Court of Appeals opinion by Judge John H. Ruffin Jr. said that Gary needed to show a change in circumstances requiring a modification of the support figure -- such as a change in the twins' needs -- not merely that it was excessive. . . . The court said Wright might consider a capital gain Gowins received on an investment and the possibility that Gowins realized a gain on equity in her home in deciding whether improvements in Gowins' financial status warranted a modification.

NORTH CAROLINA

Wrongly convicted man freed after 18 years sued for child support

10-26-07 -- A man who spent 18 years in a North Carolina prison for the rape of a child he never met now faces another trial: a lawsuit demanding that he pay 18 years of child support. . . . A judge ordered Dwayne Allen Dail released from prison in August after DNA showed he didn't assault the 12-year-old girl. Gov. Mike Easley pardoned him this month. . . . Dail hopes to receive $360,000 from the state, based on a law that allows him to collect $20,000 for every year he spent in prison. . . . His former girlfriend, Lori Michaels, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Wayne County District Court demanding that Dail pay support for their son, Chris, who was born after Dail began serving his jail sentence. . . . The lawsuit was served on Dail in Fort Myers, Fla., where he moved after his release -- and where his son now lives with him.

TEXAS  

Proposal is problematic

By Mike Mccormick And Glenn Sacks, Special To The Star-Telegram

10-23-07 -- Texas voters will decide Nov. 6 whether to approve Proposition 13, a dangerous measure that would harm innocent men by greatly eroding the rights of those accused of domestic violence. The measure grants judges the ability to hold without bail those accused of nonviolent, trivial or accidental violations of temporary restraining orders. . . . Under current Texas law, the only defendants ineligible for bail are those accused of capital crimes. In addition, judges have discretion to deny bail to those who have been both charged with a felony and convicted or indicted for a previous felony. To deny bail, there must be "evidence substantially showing the guilt of the accused." . . . Prop 13 obliterates this and opens the road for many innocent men to be held without bail. Under Prop 13, a Texas father can be booted out of his house on an ex parte protective order -- a court action in which only his adversary appears before the judge -- and then be jailed without bail for violating the order by calling his children or going to their Little League game.

CALIFORNIA

Deadbroke dads

The system makes Darryl Gay pay child support. But it’s more than he can afford and his daughter doesn’t get the money. Is this how it’s supposed to work?

By David E. Cook

10-15-07 -- Six-year-old Tynea fidgeted at the dinner table, bored, counting a stack of crackers on her plate. A Warner Bros. cartoon murmured faintly from the living room of the Mack Road apartment where she was visiting her father, Darryl Gay, for the weekend. . . . Tynea’s parents never married and broke up soon after she was born. Gay, 41, continued to visit his daughter almost daily, and, though there was no child-support order, contributed to her upbringing by buying diapers, clothes, formula and other necessities. . . . “I was buying my daughter whatever she needed because I was there every day,” Gay says. “I knew what her needs were. I was buying what she needed.” . . . But then, Gay says, Tynea’s mother moved out of town without telling him, taking his daughter and her six other children from different relationships with her. Two years and two private investigators later, Gay finally found Tynea living in Oakland with her mother. He was eager to renew his relationship with his daughter and begin contributing what he could to her upbringing. . . . That’s when the welfare bureaucracy put its boot up Gay’s backside.

PENNSYLVANIA

It Begans - 1st Lawsuits Against Child Support

Posted on KrightsRadio.com Blog

Take notice this is only the beginning of filings across the nation!!!

Two Lancaster County, Pa fathers claim conspiracy in child-support and Seek $7M for legal fees, punitive damages.

By Jack Brubaker, Staff, Lancaster New Era

10-15-07 -- Two county men have sued 15 defendants — including the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas and their own lawyers — accusing them of conspiracy in child support cases. . . . R. Michael Cain, of Louise Avenue, and Stephen J. DiDomenico, of Lititz, say the defendants worked together to inflate demands for child support payments from wealthy male business owners and professional men. . ..  They charge gender bias. . ..  The lawsuit, filed Sept. 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, specifically names Judge Wayne G. Hummer Jr., who has presided in family court over Cain’s and DiDomenico’s cases. . . . But the men also are suing the entire Court of Common Pleas, the county’s Office of Domestic Relations, the Lancaster Bar Association, three law firms, their spouses and their spouses’ lawyers. . . . They also are suing their own former lawyers for committing “malpractice,” accusing them of not fully representing them as part of “the conspiracy of all of the defendants.” . . . The men filed the suit pro se — by themselves, without aid of an attorney.

Human Rights Crimes - Nifong - & You

by David Heleniak 

10-12-07 --On September 25, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on domestic violence, . . . HRES 590, that stereotypes men as wife-beaters. With its passage, savvy prosecutors and judges will clearly perceive the political winds as blowing against men, as they have been for some time. . . . The Nifonging of the three lacrosse players from Duke University did not rise out of a vacuum. Rather, it was the product of two systemic problems in America, the tendency amongst many prosecutors and judges to replace the concern for justice with the concern for self-promotion and career advancement, and, in cases of certain politically charged crimes, anti-male bias. . . . Illustrative of the bias, on September 25, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on domestic violence, HRES 590, that stereotypes men as wife-beaters. A thorough analysis of the resolution by RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting) found that 18 of its 23 statements are either misleading or simply wrong. Two in particular unfairly smear fathers: . . . "Whereas 40 to 60 percent of men who abuse women also abuse children."  . . . "Whereas according to one study, during court ordered visitation, five percent of abusive fathers threaten to kill their spouses, 34 percent of abusive fathers threaten to kidnap their children, and 25 percent of abusive fathers threaten to physically hurt their children." . . . With the passage of HRES 590, savvy prosecutors and judges will clearly perceive the political winds as blowing against men, as they have been for some time.

September 2007

FLORIDA

Judge: Cuban farmer should get daughter back

9-28-07 -- (AP) -- The father of a 5-year-old Cuban girl at the center of an international custody battle did not abandon or neglect her, so he should get her back, a judge ruled Thursday. . . . Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen said she would not immediately return the girl to her father, Cuban farmer Rafael Izquierdo, who wants to take her back to Cuba. . . . The girl went into foster care after her mother brought her to the U.S. in 2005 and then attempted suicide days before Christmas. . . . She has been living with foster parents in Miami for the past 18 months and they want to keep the girl here. . . . The Florida Department of Children & Families said Izquierdo abandoned the girl and officials want the girl to stay with her foster parents, Joe and Maria Cubas, a wealthy Cuban-American couple. . . . The state's attorneys said removing the girl after such a long time would cause her serious emotional trauma.

CONNECTICUT  

Judge grants father custody in state's longest divorce case

9-26-07 -- An 86-day, $13 million divorce trial has ended with a judge awarding a Westport travel magnate sole custody of his four children and the right to keep most of his fortune. . . . In a written ruling, Judge Holly Abery-Wetstone said Nancy Tauck's claims that her ex-husband possessed child pornography and molested two of his children were "false and spurious." . . . "This case represents not a victory for either parent, but a tragedy for everyone involved," Abery-Wetstone wrote. . . . She awarded Peter Tauck sole custody of the couple's children, ages 5 to 10. She said that as a result of Nancy Tauck's actions, two children were put through interviews for sexual abuse and all started therapy. . . . The trial easily beat the previous state record of 37 trial days for a divorce case and may have set a national record as well.

MASSACHUSETTS

State targets Top 10 deadbeat dads

By Dave Wedge, Boston Herald Chief Enterprise Reporter

9-12-07 -- From a Newburyport account executive to a Jamaica Plain construction worker, the state has launched an all-out attack to track down the state’s Top 10 deadbeat dads. . . . The slippery set owes nearly $650,000 in unpaid child support for 19 kids and all the evasive dads are believed to have fled the Bay State, according to Lt. Gov. Tim Murray. . . . The top deadbeat, according to Murray’s office, is Joseph M. Chodat, a 42-year-old Newburyport technology account manager who is more than $190,000 behind on his weekly $768 payments for four children, which includes 13-year-old twins. . . . Arrest warrants for all 10 were issued today and their names were entered into a national criminal database. Each faces fines of up to $10,000 and 10 years in prison. . . . “A parent who fails to meet the financial needs of their children - and that often means failing to meet their childrens’ emotional needs as well - endangers the well-being of those children, and that is not how we build safe communities,” Murray said. “The 10 individuals on this new poster, who together owe $646,913 in unpaid child support for 19 children, have gone to great lengths to hide their identities and their wallets.”

MISSOURI  

Law firm fights for dad
Cordell & Cordell opens in Arnold

By Sarah AuBuchon

9-12-07 -- Divorcing dads in Jefferson County can now seek legal counsel geared especially toward making sure men get a fair shake. . . . Cordell & Cordell, a law firm dedicated solely to domestic litigation for men, has opened its 12th office at 3500 Jeffco Blvd. in Arnold. . . . "We're innovative in the sense that this is all we do," managing partner Scott Trout said. "We are solely devoted to men and we bring to the table something different. We make sure our attorneys take steps to get the guy the best possible representation in a divorce." . . . Trout said the courts can be biased toward women in a divorce. . . . "Historically, there has been some bias in the past that the woman stayed home and took care of the kids," he said. "Today both work or even dads stay at home. Most influential organizations protect women's interest just because moms traditionally were the caretakers and they ignore dad." . . . Trout said that many times, men are simply uniformed about divorce law and will simply do what their attorney tells them.

Love Song To The Son I Never Knew

By Carey Roberts, NewsWithViews.com

9-9-07 -- Last month my column highlighted the often-neglected voices of fathers in the abortion debate. Afterwards, several men contacted me to recount their painful memories. . . . Wayne Auman of North Carolina was one of those courageous men. His memories are so vivid and his pain so poignant, I invited him to share the story in his own words: . . . It all began in 1981, I was dating an incredible girl, and we planned to eventually marry. We had been together over a year, and we were crazy in love. Then one September day she approached me with tears in her eyes and told me she was pregnant. You could have knocked me over with a feather. . . . After the shock wore off, I suggested we get married and start our family. I was stunned when she refused. I tried to tell her she would love our baby so much, and most of all, that abortion is murder. She cried at me to stop, saying that she had made up her mind, it was her body, and this was the “easy” solution to her problem. . . . She also told me I was making a difficult decision harder by “preaching” to her. In retrospect, I didn’t preach nearly enough. If I had tried harder, she may not have gone through with it. I will always regret not fighting harder to save the life of our son. . . . When the day came to do the procedure, I was depressed, scared, and worried about my girlfriend. Upon entering the non-descript waiting room, I felt a dozen pairs of female eyes suspiciously evaluate me. The atmosphere was dark, dreadful, and depressing. The feeling of shame was palpable. Muted whispers and muffled sobs were heard in a far corner.

CANADA

Determined dad finally wins rightful custody

Appeal court sees hope for girl, 10, in new life with father

Joey Thompson, The Province

9-5-07 -- Normally, he'd be preparing this semester's lessons for a fresh batch of college students. . . . But yesterday found the Lower Mainland instructor hanging out with his daughter -- shopping for a school uniform and gym gear -- after a panel of top judges ordered the 10-year-old released from the clutches of a manipulative, monster mom and placed with her dad. . . . It was the first time Mr. A, 56, had seen his girl in 21/2 years. . . . Readers may recall an earlier column detailing a lower court judge's wacky decision, after a 22-day trial, to grant the mom sole custody while conceding Ms. A's twisted conduct was aggravating the girl's troubling tendency to rock to and fro incessantly and pick at her flesh until it was raw and bleeding. . . . Despite the obvious symptoms of distress, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Preston concluded it would be better to let the revenge-ridden mother continue parenting M than to seize the child and insist she live with her dad, whom she had been tutored to hate. . . . Preston, in rejecting the father's bid for custody and/or mandatory visits, figured the switch in custody was doomed to fail, that the youngster was apt to run away and rejoin her mom or wind up on the street. . . . Thankfully, the Court of Appeal found the legal logic loony, albeit the judges used softer language to describe their colleague's rationale.

The Default Paternity Judgment Innocence Project has been formed for the purpose of ending the cruel practice wherein unsuspecting men are trapped by default judgments into paying 18 years of child support for children who are not theirs, and who in many cases they’ve never even met. . . . This money rarely goes to children, but instead to the state. The problem is a result of bureaucratic bungling and misguided state and federal child support enforcement policies which benefit no one, and which could be corrected at a relatively small cost. . . . The DPJIP has been endorsed by numerous family law and mental health professionals, African-American and Latino community leaders, journalists and others. DPJIP members have written about or been quoted on this issue in numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Reason Magazine, the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Detroit News, the Washington Times and many others. . . . The problem stems in large part from 1996 welfare reforms which mandate that a mother seeking benefits for her child must provide the name of the child’s father so the state can recoup its costs by securing a child support order. . . . However, the process by which the men are notified of the court proceedings against them is very flawed. Many men do not find out that they have been named the "father" of a child until their wages are garnisheed to pay child support. By then it is usually too late. . . . A federal report shows that in many child support enforcement offices, half or more of the paternity judgments are entered by default. Of the 250,000 paternity judgments ordered in California each year, more than two-thirds are entered by default. Even when men obtain DNA tests clearing them of paternity, most courts rarely set aside these judgments. . . . Even the men who do receive the summonses and appear in court still face a stacked deck. Washington, DC attorney Ronald K. Henry, one of the founders of the Default Paternity Judgment Innocence Project, explained the process in his recent Family Law Quarterly article “The Innocent Third Party: Victims of Paternity Fraud.”

8-20-07 - “Enough is enough,” thundered Newark mayor Cory Booker at Saturday’s funeral of Dashon Harvey. The weekend before Dashon, age 20, and two of his friends had been forced to kneel against a wall at a nearby school playground and shot in the head, execution-style. . . . Dashon had been a student at Delaware State University, eventually hoping to become a social worker. . . . City Journal commentator Steven Malanga reveals the social pathology that lies behind those murders: “An astonishing 60 percent of the city’s kids are growing up without fathers … Studies have also found that about 70 percent of the long-term prisoners in our jails, those who have committed the most violent crimes, grew up without fathers.” [Read] . . . Just hours before Mayor Booker was venting his outrage, Robert Pedersen, divorced father of two, was preparing to depart on a 700-mile bicycle trek from Lansing, Michigan to Washington, DC. His objective: to share his story at an August 18 rally in honor of Family Preservation Day.

Father Knows Best
By Mark Thompson

7-19-07 -- Convicted quintuple murderer Vincent Brothers will still have to pay child support for his surviving daughter even though he gave all his money to his defense attorneys. . . . That was the ruling Tuesday afternoon from the Court of Appeals in Fresno. . . . Brothers sold all his possessions—about $150,000-worth—to help pay his legal fees after he was arrested for killing his wife, their three children and his mother-in-law in 2003. . . . He claimed because he gave all the money to his lawyer, he shouldn’t have to pay support to a daughter from a previous relationship. . . . But the appeals court said as long as the defense attorneys hold Brothers’ money in a trust fund until it’s finally paid to them, the interest on that money should go toward child support. / The opinion is Brothers v. Kern, F048970

Why fathers leave
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson

Readers "Blow Off Steam" Over Male-Bashing
By Rebecca Hagelin

6-2-07 -- A few weeks ago, as the controversy over Don Imus and the Rutgers University women’s basketball team was brewing, I wrote a column highlighting a certain double standard. Why, I wondered, does no one take up for one of the only groups of people it’s politically correct to insult -- males? . . . White males in particular, especially if they’re fathers, are routinely portrayed as lazy dolts in the mass media. I’m a wife and mother of two teenage sons who are being raised in an anti-male media culture -- a culture that far too often spews the mantra of radical feminism. The guys in my life are good, decent men. It makes me sick each time “their kind” is attacked in commercials, television shows, print ads -- you name it. . . . “Where’s the outrage?” I asked. I then invited readers to respond. . . . Wow. Did they ever! As a conservative columnist who has written candidly about some controversial topics, I’ve had my share of e-mails. But nothing topped the river of e-mails that flooded my in-box. About 99 percent were completely supportive, thanking me for broaching the topic -- a topic they were grateful to vent about themselves. As more than one reader wrote, “Thanks for letting me blow off steam.” . . . A lot of people were just glad someone stood up and said what was on their minds. “I’m glad I saw your story ‘Imus, white males and PC discrimination’,” a typical reader wrote. “I had begun to think that maybe I was the only one who noticed this or that I was just being paranoid.” Some were upset, but others faced the topic with humor, such one who wrote: “Thanks for standing up for us morons.”

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