F & F Passes 7 Bills in 2010, as Schwarzenegger Signs 3 More F & F Bills

October 19th, 2010
by Glenn Sacks, MA, Executive Director

This year Fathers and Families led the passage of seven different family law bills nationwide, as Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed the remaining three California F & F bills. F & F was also instrumental in helping defeat three harmful bills. The seven bills we were instrumental in passing include:

1. Alimony Reform (CA. SB 1482): Parents who face alimony increases after their child support ends will now be able to demand a vocational examination for their ex-spouses, and judges are required to calculate alimony based on the examiner’s estimate of the ex-spouse’s earning capacity.

2. Child Custody Protection for Military Parents (CA. AB 2416): Creates a rebuttable presumption that upon a servicemember’s return from deployment, child custody and visitation orders will revert to the original order. Allows judges to award a deployed parent’s parenting time to grandparents or stepparents so that deployed parents can’t have their contact with their children severed by the custodial parent. This also helps to maintain and nurture children’s bonds with their deployed parent’s family.

3. Child Custody/Visitation Reform (CA. SB 1188): Will help prevent family court litigants from using a parent’s disability as a way to deprive them of child custody or visitation.

4 & 5. Protection Against Family Court Financial Abuses (Arizona HB 2358 & Indiana HB 1165) F & F helped pass bills in both Arizona and Indiana which protected disabled veterans from family court financial abuses. Both bills were inspired by and modeled on SB 285, a bill we helped pass in California in 2009.

6. Child Support Reform (CA. SB 580) The high cost of medical care is a burden for everybody, but the healthcare obligations family court judges throw onto noncustodial parents can be devastating. SB 580 will ensure that noncustodial parents aren’t saddled with an unreasonably high percentage of their children’s medical care costs.

7. Child Support Reform (CA. SB 1355) Many young fathers who were incarcerated for nonviolent offenses face crushing child support debts which accrued (at 10% interest) while they were behind bars. These debts make it difficult for them to play a meaningful role in their children’s lives. This bill suspends child support from accruing while the obligor is institutionalized.

Legislative work isn’t just about passing good bills—it’s also about defeating harmful ones. There is a nationwide reactionary backlash against recognition of Parental Alienation, and California is the battleground where it is being fought. The California National Organization for Women and the powerful, well-funded Center for Judicial Excellence in Northern California are leading the backlash, and Fathers and Families has been at the forefront of fighting it. Bills F & F helped defeat this year include:

1. Parental Alienation in Family Court (CA. AB 612): AB 612 would have prevented target parents of Parental Alienation from even uttering the words “Parental Alienation” in family court, and custody evaluators and mediators would have been prohibited from citing alienation.

2. Custody Evaluators and Parental Alienation (CA. AB 2475): A complicated bill but the bottom line is that it would have led to child custody evaluators and mediators being punished for making findings of Parental Alienation.

3. Children and Medical Care (MA HB 930): Fathers & Families opposed and testified against HB 930, a bill supported by the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association that would have further marginalized noncustodial parents in relation to their children’s medical needs.

As good as 2010 has been, 2011 will be better. We have an ambitious, exciting legislative agenda for 2011 on which we will soon be soliciting member input. The Fathers & Families model works. We want you to be a part of it–to get involved, please click here.

Together with you in the love of our children,

Glenn Sacks, MA
Executive Director, Fathers and Families

Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Founder, Chairman of the Board, Fathers and Families

Bookmark This Post:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Bills/Initiatives, Elections, Politics, Court Cases, Family Court Reform Movement, Family Law/Divorce/Separation/Child Custody, Fathers & Families Advocacy Group. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

F & F Passes 7 Bills in 2010, as Schwarzenegger Signs 3 More F & F Bills « Fathers & Families.

CALIFORNIA JUSTICE ON BRINK OF COLLAPSE

Internet exclusive Full Disclosure® Video News Preview (4:07)
Release Date: April 07, 2010

Please make a tax-deductible contribution to the Full Disclosure Network®
A non-profit tax exempt 501©(3) educational organization

Click here to watch entire 1 hr interview by segments of 8 minute each.
participate in survey & leave your comments below

Los Angeles, CA Having filed a Federal Lawsuit against L.A. County Sheriff Leroy Baca and the Sheriff’s Department the Full Disclosure Network® was finally allowed access to an “on camera” interview with one of L. A.’s Political Prisoners, Richard I. Fine. Having never been convicted of a crime, he has been held in solitary “coercive confinement” in the Central Men’s Jail for more than a year, as punishment inflicted by L. A. Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe for exposing the corrupt practices of the Judges, the Sheriff and the County.

In a four minute video preview Full Disclosure Network® presents excerpts from the one-hour jail-house interview with Richard Fine where he succinctly describes how the judges and government officials in California have brought the entire justice system to the brink of collapse.

Fine, who holds a PhD in international law and who served as an anti-trust prosecutor at the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. offers a simple solution to rid the state of the corruption perpetrators. He points to those who have participated in the massive judicial bribery scheme that has prevent the people from getting justice. He cites the tremendous cost to the California taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars over the last two decades where judges have been paid under the table, while standing for election to their offices every six years. And he warns that America who fought for independence from the King of England has now returned to a country without a functioning justice system and how it has undermined the essence of the democratic process.

The one hour interview is being featured on community cable stations throughout California, and in major cities throughout the country, on the Internet and copies on DVD are available for purchase at the top of this web page.

Watch all six segments and preview below

Preview (4:07 min)

Segment #1 (8 min)Richard Fine Describes the first days of confinement that denied his "due process" rights and his ability to file legal actions on his own behalf

Segment #2 (8 min) Systematic Judicial bribery scheme for past 20 years is described here along with the 2009 California Senate Bill SBX2 11 provides all government/judicial officials retroactive immunity from criminal prosecution for the bribery scheme.

Segment #3 (8 min) Penal Codes vs "Coercive Confinement" presents conflict for LA County and 70 year old inmate Richard Fine who develops health problems during the year of incarceration. As a "political prisoner" in Los Angeles County Central Men's Jail it takes it toll on him and his family.

Segment #4 (8 min) Inmate Richard Fine describes how the judicial bribery scheme undermines the Democratic election process and how County officials use the budget process to transfer illegal money to the judges who do their bidding.

Segment #5 (8 min) Richard Fine describes his background as a Federal anti-trust prosecutor and the threats and dangers encountered while serving at the Department of Justice in Washington D.C./p>

Segment #6 (8 min) Fine describes sources and motivation for judicial bribery along with the resulting desctructive impact on American Democracy.

Victory—Crucial Bill from Opponents of Recognizing Parental Alienation Defeated!

July 26th, 2010 by Glenn Sacks, MA, Executive Director

Fathers and Families and its legislative allies have succeeded in killing one of the worst family law bills in modern history–California’s AB 612. The bill, put forward by the well-funded advocacy group Center for Judicial Excellence (and supported by the California National Organization for Women), would have banned Parental Alienation from being mentioned in any way, shape, or form in a California family court. Because of California’s tremendous influence in shaping the laws of other states, this loss would have led to a mushrooming of similarly damaging legislation in other states.

Fathers and Families’ legislative representative Michael Robinson helped cobble together a coalition of family law professional organizations and experts to oppose the bill. We were able to bottle the bill up in the Senate Judiciary Committee last year and keep it there until last week, when it died. To learn more about the bill, see our co-authored column Preventing courts from considering parental alienation will harm kids (Capitol Weekly, 2/25/10).

The defeat of AB 612 is a victory for the family court reform movement and for children everywhere. Victories cost money, as does our deep, professional involvement inside the political system—please support our successful work by making a tax-deductible contribution by clicking here.

This is the second time in two months that Fathers & Families has been instrumental in defeating a Center for Judicial Excellence bill—in June, we helped kill AB 2475, which was also related to Parental Alienation. To learn more, see F & F Helps Defeat Radical Bill from Opponents of Recognizing Parental Alienation.

Whereas Fathers & Families’ family court reform bills have been moving swiftly through the California legislature, the Center for Judicial Excellence is now 0-2 in the 2009-2010 legislative session.

The CJE claims that there’s a “crisis” in family courts, and that courts are handing over custody of children to physically and sexually abusive fathers. They promote reforms which will make it easier to deny parents shared custody or visitation rights based on unsubstantiated abuse claims. As we’ve noted before, there is no empirical basis supporting this claim. The vast majority of the cases that groups like the CJE put forward as alleged examples of this “crisis” of abusive fathers winning child custody are being badly misrepresented–to learn more, click here.

The events surrounding AB 2475 and AB 612 are further validation of Fathers and Families’ emphasis on the need for the family court reform movement to employ full-time legislative representatives and engage in the political process on a professional level. To support this work with your tax-deductible gift, please click here.

Together with you in the love of our children,

Glenn Sacks, MA
Executive Director, Fathers and Families

Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Chair of the Board, Fathers and Families

Bookmark This Post:

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 9:37 am and is filed under Bills/Initiatives, Elections, Politics, Court Cases, Family Law/Divorce/Separation/Child Custody, Fathers & Families Advocacy Group, Parental Alienation/PAS/PAD. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Fathers & Families Is 5 for 5 so far in Current California Legislative Session

May 11th, 2010 by Glenn Sacks, MA, Executive Director

Fathers & Families has co-sponsored and/or been instrumental in introducing and working for the passage of five family court reform bills in the current California legislative session. Our bills address child custody reform, child support reform, protection from family court financial abuses, and others. Below is our progress:

1) SB 1188–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee by unanimous consent

2) SB 1355–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously

3) AB 2416–Passed Assembly by unanimous consent, passed Assembly Judiciary Committee by unanimous consent

4) SB 578–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee

5) SB 580–Passed Senate Judiciary Committee

These victories did not happen by accident. They are the result of months and years of planning and lobbying by Fathers & Families’ legislative representative Michael Robinson and assistant legislative representative Nicole Silverman.

As we’ve repeatedly seen, California family law has an enormous impact on the laws of other states–California victories are national victories. F & F is creating real, tangible family court reform today, but our deep, professional involvement in Sacramento requires money–contribute to the organization which fights for you by clicking here.

Together with you in the love of our children,

Glenn Sacks, MA
Executive Director, Fathers & Families

Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Founder, Chairman of the Board, Fathers & Families

Melissa Hodgdon
Deputy Director, Fathers & Families

Bookmark This Post:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under Bills/Initiatives, Elections, Politics, Court Cases, Child Support, Family Law/Divorce/Separation/Child Custody, Fathers & Families Advocacy Group, Military Parents/Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

California Capitol Rally for 'Parental Alienation Awareness Day

Fathers 4 Justice, CA and Families 4 Justice is organizing a candlelight vigil to be held on the sidewalk in front of the west side of the California State Capitol, on Sunday, April 25, at 8 p.m. in recognition of the 4th Annual Parental Alienation Awareness Day.

Simultaneous vigils will be held throughout the United States in order to bring attention to this vile and hostile behavior most often practiced by one parent against another during and after many child custody battles and cases. Supporting organizations include: Live Be at Dads, A Parents Right, and the Justice Reform Coalition.

For the past few years, several U.S. governors have proclaimed or recognized April 25 as Parental Alienation Awareness Day, including Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia. In addition, there have been two Canadian Proclamations-one in Edmonton, Alberta, and Oakville, Ontario, and an international proclamation issued by the Bermuda Islands.

Parental alienation is a group of practiced behaviors that are damaging to children's mental and emotional well-being, and can interfere with a relationship of a child and either parent. These behaviors most often accompany high conflict marriages, separation or divorce. The children are frequently subjected to various alienating behaviors and bullied into being separated from one loving parent by another.

Parental alienation and hostile, aggressive parenting, deprive children of their right to be loved by, and show love for, both of their parents. These destructive actions by the alienating parent (the parent who is responsible for the manipulations and bullying) are considered a form of child abuse - as the alienating tactics used on the children are disturbing, confusing and often frightening, and rob children of their sense of security and safety.

"Parental Alienation behaviors, whether they are verbal or non-verbal, cause a child to be mentally manipulated or bullied into believing that a loving parent is the cause of all of their problems, and/or are the enemy; someone to be feared, hated, disrespected and/or avoided. It clearly is a form of child abuse," said Donald Tenn, a father of three, including a beloved 6 year old daughter from whom his wife has alienated him from.

All children have the universal right to love and be loved by both mother and father. Statistically speaking, there is much support for the statement "two parents are better than one."

"We encourage Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to join the governor's of 13 other states and issue a state proclamation recognizing April 25 as National Parental Alienation Awareness Day. We further encourage the Governor and the California State Legislature to work on behalf of all children in California to put an end to this assault on children. After all, children are our future and they see much of the world through our eyes," said the sponsors.

F & F Introduces 5th CA. Family Court Reform Bill

F & F Introduces 5th CA. Family Court Reform Bill

April 12th, 2010 by Glenn Sacks, MA, Executive Director

Fathers & Families’ mission is to protect children’s right to the love and care of both parents after divorce or separation. One of the ways fit parents are sometimes driven to the margins of their children’s lives is by one parent using the other parent’s disability or partial disability as a pretext to deny them custody or visitation with their children.

While some disabled people are truly unable to care for their children, many are not. Fathers & Families is joining with disabled rights advocates, veterans groups, and California Senator Rod Wright (D-Los Angeles) in sponsoring SB 1188 to solve this problem.

Existing California family law codes do not address the issue of disabled parents, leaving the door open for unnecessary and often expensive litigation, even in cases where the disabled parent had been successfully parenting the children for many years prior to the separation or divorce.

SB 1188 will add Section 3049 to the Family Code. It will read:

3049. In any proceeding to determine child custody or visitation under this part, in which at least one parent is disabled as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.), a court shall not use the disability of that parent as the basis of an award of custody or visitation to another party unless that party establishes by clear and convincing evidence that a grant of custody or visitation to the disabled parent would be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the child.

SB 1188 shifts the burden of proof onto the parent who raises the disability as an issue, serving as a deterrent to a parent seeking to raise the issue as a way to cause unnecessary litigation. It also reduces disabled parents’ litigation costs and helps reduce court calendar time and costs at a time when California is struggling with budget woes.

Fathers & Families often hears from parents who have had their disability unfairly used against them in family court. If this has happened to you, please let us know by filling out our form here.

SB 1188 is the 5th California family court reform bill Fathers & Families has been instrumental in introducing this session. Last week AB 2416, a child custody reform bill, passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously and has been put on the consent calendar for the full Assembly. Other current F & F legislation includes three child support reform bills–SB 1355, SB 578, and SB 580.

This remarkable progress is no accident–Fathers & Families’ legislative representative Michael Robinson and assistant legislative representative Nicole Silverman have spent many months lobbying legislators and gathering support for our legislative agenda.

F & F is creating real, tangible family court reform today, but our deep, professional involvement in Sacramento requires funding–please contribute to the organization which fights for you by clicking here.

Together with you in the love of our children,

Glenn Sacks, MA
Executive Director, Fathers & Families

Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Founder, Chairman of the Board, Fathers & Families

Melissa Hodgdon
Deputy Director, Fathers & Families

Bookmark This Post:

Tags: SB 1188

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 7:54 pm and is filed under Bills/Initiatives, Elections, Politics, Court Cases, Divorce/Separation/Child Custody, Fathers & Families Advocacy Group. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Help California Parents that Serve - Support Child Custody Reform in California

Action Alert: Support CA. AB 2416--Child Custody Reform to Help Parents Who Serve

March 29th, 2010 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & Families

California AB 2416 will help protect the loving bonds that servicemembers share with their children--to email and fax a letter in support of the bill, click here. Please send your letter whether you are a California resident or not.

Fathers & Families has worked closely with the American Retirees Association, Assemblyman Paul Cook, and others on AB 2416, which will be heard in committee on Tuesday, April 6.

At Fathers & Families we receive many letters from divorced or separated military servicemembers with painful but preventable family law problems.

Many parents serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, or other distant locales are anguished that custodial parents have impeded or completely eliminated their contact with their children. When the deployed soldier calls his children at the court-specified time, nobody answers. Letters are written, but they never reach the children. Needless to say, it is extremely difficult for a deployed servicemember to effectively overcome this visitation interference. Given the length and frequency of current deployments, many soldiers lose all contact and sometimes even their relationships with their children, particularly if the children are young.

Other servicemembers return from serving to find that while they once had a custody arrangement which allowed them to play a meaningful role in their children’s lives, the new custody arrangement allows them only a marginal role, if any role at all. To regain their previous custody arrangement they must engage in costly, time-consuming litigation, which increases conflict and dissipates much of the time and money that they would otherwise be spending on their children.

AB 2416 will address these problems in several ways:

AB 2416 authorizes courts to issue orders granting grandparents, stepparents and extended families the ability to exercise a deployed soldier’s normal parenting time. By encouraging courts to issue such orders, we allow children to preserve their loving bonds with their deployed parents, and also protect the important relationships children share with their grandparents, stepparents, and other extended family. AB 2416 will substantially reduce the current problem of deployed servicemembers being unable to enforce visitation/contact orders.

AB 2416 creates a rebuttable presumption that when a military parent is deployed, upon his or her return, child custody and visitation orders will revert to the original order. This protects the crucial role these parents play in their children's lives, and helps prevent a military parent from having to re-litigate their case.

To send a letter to Sacramento in support of AB 2416 , please click here.

America was greatly moved by deployed sailor Bill Hawes' tearful reunion with his little son and little Siri Jordan's reunion with her divorced father Dan Jordan. AB 2416 will help protect precious relationships like these.

Fathers & Families' legislative representative Michael Robinson and assistant legislative representative Nicole Silverman have spent months lobbying legislators and gathering support for AB 2416. F & F is creating real, tangible family court reform today, but our deep, professional involvement in Sacramento requires money--contribute to the organization which fights for you by clicking here.

Together with you in the love of our children,

Glenn Sacks, MA
Executive Director, Fathers & Families

Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Founder, Chairman of the Board, Fathers & Families

This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 8:43 pm and is filed under Divorce/Separation/Child Custody, Bills/Initiatives, Elections, Politics, Court Cases, Fathers & Families Advocacy Group, Military Parents/Military. Both comments and pings are currently closed.