A Child's Right

Michigan Parental Rights Resolution HCR 45 Action

Dear Friend of Parental Rights in Michigan,

Through your phone calls and the diligent efforts of our allies at
Citizens Alliance for Life and Liberty (CALL), a resolution calling
for the Parental Rights Amendment has made significant progress in the
Michigan legislature. Currently, the resolution - HCR 45  - has 60
cosponsors in the 110-member House, a clear majority.

However, HCR 45, championed by Rep. Dave Agema, must pass the House
Judiciary Committee to reach the floor for a vote, and that committee
is headed by Rep. Mark Meadows. As the chairman, Rep. Meadows has the
authority to decide whether the resolution will receive a hearing, and
whether or not it will be put to a committee vote.

We believe HCR 45 will pass if we can get it to a vote, so we need
your help to pursuade Rep. Meadows to give it that chance.

Next Thurs., April 29, at 11:30 Director Steven Dennison of CALL has a
30-minute appointment with Rep. Meadows to discuss this issue. April
29 is also Rep. Meadows' birthday.

Here, then, is what we need you to do:

Send a card as soon as possible wishing the Representative a happy
birthday;
Include in it a cordial request that he grant HCR 45 a vote in the
Judiciary Committee
Forward this email to as many friends and family members in Michigan
as you can and ask them to join you.
Please send your cards to:

The Honorable Representative Mark S. Meadows
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909-7514.

Rep. Meadows may not be your local representative, but he represents
all of Michigan as the chair of the Judiciary Committee, especially in
deciding on matters like HCR 45. Your efforts are invaluable in
helping Michigan to pass this resolution in support of parental rights.

Sincerely,

Jason Heki
Regional Coordinator

Best Interest Of The Family Radio

http://www.bestinterestofthefamily.com/
At Best Interest Of The Family Radio, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing quality programming that educates and inspires needed Family Court Reform that unites parents with their children and exposes corruption within systems and processes that are otherwise in place to serve the needs of all families.

Never give up on your children just because a Child Protective Services (CPS) worker, Department of Human Services (DHS) agent, Friend Of The Court (FOC) worker or Family Court Judge is making subjective rulings over the lives of your children and your parental role.

Together we will bring about the change needed to reclaim our families and build an America our kids will be proud of. Tune into BEST INTEREST OF THE FAMILY Radio where we believe "Children Need Both Parents!!"

Join us for Tuesdays broadcast at 8PM est.

Midwest Father's Conference 2010

Here is the information on this years conference in Michigan at the Oakland School's Conference Center 2111 Pontiac Waterford, MI. Midwest Father's Conference 

Download 10th Midwest Fathers Conference

Alabama Family Rights Association (ALFRA)

Michael A. Polemeni
PO BOX 13149
Huntsville, AL 35802

Alabama Family Rights Association (ALFRA)
1-800-992-1190
http://www.alfra.org
Alabama Children need your help - Reform Alabama Family Law

I do not practice law and do not give legal advice. Information given to you by me is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, and by contacting me, no attorney-client relationship will be created between us.  At no time do I  review your answers for legal sufficiency, draw legal conclusions, provide legal advice or apply the law to the facts of your particular situation.
My statements is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

RADAR ALERT: "First they ignore you, ..."

RADAR ALERT:

"First they ignore you, ..."

Two weeks ago, Slate.com's short-lived
<http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote1sym> 1 publication
"Double X" published an article by Kathryn Joyce entitled "'Men's Rights'
Groups Have Become Frighteningly Effective."
<http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote2sym> 2

This was not Slate.com's finest hour. One thing this article could never be
accused of is objective reporting.

On Nov. 5th, the very same day the Double X article appeared, Salon.com's
Broadsheet published an article by Judy Berman entitled "'Men's rights'
groups go mainstream"
<http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote3sym> 3 that adds no
new information, and simply seems to be an effort to repeat the Double X
article to Salon's readers.

Since the Double X article appeared there have been several analyses of its
flaws, the most recent being Cathy Young's article in Forbes: "Feminism
should be about equality-for males too"
<http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote4sym> 4 which says:

"More than a quarter-century ago, British feminist philosopher Janet
Radcliffe Richards wrote, 'No feminist whose concern for women stems from a
concern for justice in general can ever legitimately allow her only interest
to be the advantage of women.' Joyce's article is a stark example of
feminism as exclusive concern with women and their perceived advantage,
rather than justice or truth."

In "Journalistic Misrepresentation at Slate's New Woman-Oriented Publication
'Double X'" <http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote5sym> 5,
RADAR's Mark Rosenthal explained how the article had misrepresented his
comments and also took issue with the article's characterization of Murray
Straus as someone "who has written extensively on female violence," saying:

"The characterization of Straus as someone who has written extensively on
female violence is like characterizing Susan B. Anthony as someone who wrote
extensively on temperance - true but misleading because of what it leaves
out. Straus has devoted his professional career to the study of all forms of
family violence - parent-to-child, child-to-parent, sibling-to-sibling, as
well as partner violence in all its configurations - male-to-female,
female-to-male, and mutual. He has never focused exclusively on female
violence."

And in a series of articles beginning with "Slate.com & Salon.com Criticize
the Fatherhood Movement (Part I)"
<http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote6sym> 6, Glenn Sacks
critiques the quality of the reporting, saying:

"The articles discuss various aspects and actors in the [men's and fathers]
movement, and also quote and misquote me. ... I specifically, repeatedly,
and emphatically told Joyce that any linkage between the men's & fathers'
movements' grievances and Sodini is not my view, but I guess she was
determined to jam it in there anyway."

Mahatma Gandhi is reputed to have said: "First they ignore you, then they
ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." The joint Slate/Salon
attack pieces are a good indication that we're well past stage 1.
Congratulation to all RADAR supporters and allies for getting us this far.
Let's keep it up!

_____

1 <http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote1anc> "Double X
closes up shop",
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2009/11/16/double_x_folds/index.html

2 <http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote2anc> "'Men's
Rights' Groups Have Become Frighteningly Effective.", Slate.com,
http://www.doublex.com/section/news-politics/mens-rights-groups-have-become-
frighteningly-effective

3 <http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote3anc> 'Men's
rights' groups go mainstream, Salon.com,
http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2009/11/05/mens_rights/index.ht
ml

4 <http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote4anc> "Feminism
should be about equality-for males too",
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/mens-rights-feminism-equality-violence-opin
ions-contributors-cathy-young.html

5 <http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote5anc> "Journalistic
Misrepresentation at Slate's New Woman-Oriented Publication 'Double X'",
http://www.breakingthescience.org/DoubleXMisrepresentation.php

6 <http://www.mediaradar.org/alert20091123.php#sdendnote6anc> "Slate.com &
Salon.com Criticize the Fatherhood Movement (Part I)",
http://glennsacks.com/blog//?p=4359 <http://glennsacks.com/blog/?p=4359>

_____

Date of RADAR Release: November 23, 2009

R.A.D.A.R. - Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting - is a
non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve
the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence.
http://www.mediaradar.org

US HR 739 SAFE DV Industry Act

H.R. 739 ‘SAFE’ Act – Ignoring…

An Industry

Battered by Reality

H.R. 739, the SAFE (Security and Financial Empowerment) Act has been introduced in the House to address alleged discrimination against victims of abuse.

But if we want to curb domestic violence, we first need to ask why existing domestic violence policies and programs have done such a poor job in helping victims and stopping abuse.

Evidence of the pervasive problems began to mount six years ago:

1. Ms. Foundation for Women: Minorities Harmed by Arrests

The original VAWA law provided millions of dollars to law enforcement agencies to implement mandatory arrest laws. But such policies have turned out to be ineffective, and the impact on minority communities has been devastating. 

In 2003, the Ms. Foundation for Women concluded: “Criminalization of social problems has led to mass incarceration of men, especially young men of color, decimating marginalized communities.”^[1]

2. OMB and DoJ: No Evidence of Effectiveness

In 2004, the Office of Management and Budget rated the effectiveness of abuse shelters supported by the Family Violence Prevention and Services Program. The OMB rating states flatly, “Not Performing: Results not Demonstrated.”[2]

That same year, Angela Moore Parmley of Department of Justice admitted, “We have no evidence to date that VAWA has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women.”^[3]

3. National Academy of Sciences: Programs ‘Driven by Ideology’

The following year the National Academy of Sciences released its report, Advancing the Federal Research Agenda on Violence against Women. The report concludes that many domestic violence programs are “driven by ideology and stakeholder interests rather than by plausible theories and scientific evidence of cause.”^[4]

4. Researcher: ‘Factoids from Nowhere’ are Common

In 2007, University of Pennsylvania researcher Richard Gelles published a report documenting the widespread use of misleading and false claims by representatives of the domestic violence field. Professor Gelles concluded such “factoids from nowhere” could turn out to be “harmful to women, men, children, and the institution of the family.”[5]

5. CDC: Women More Likely to Abuse

Later that same year, the Centers for Disease Control released a national survey on partner aggression. Published in the May 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the study found that women were the aggressors in 7 out of 10 cases of one-way partner violence.[6]

This study confirmed over 200 other studies showing women are at least as likely as men to engage in partner violence. And last month, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was murdered in his sleep by his ex-girlfriend.

Despite such compelling evidence, the domestic violence industry consistently refuses to acknowledge that violence-prone women need help.

6. Lawsuits

In recent years, a number of lawsuits have been filed against domestic violence programs.

·         In California, a ground-breaking lawsuit resulted in the Third Court of Appeals ruling that domestic violence programs in the state were engaged in illegal sex discrimination.

·         In West Virginia, a pending lawsuit alleges discrimination and dissemination of false and misleading information.

7. Florida IG: Cover-Ups

Last month the Florida Inspector General released the results of investigations of two abuse shelters in the state: Another Way and Harbor House.

Both investigations document attempts by top managers to thwart the reporting of child neglect and abuse that had occurred within the shelters. The similarity of the cases raises questions why two abuse shelters were engaged in such cover-ups.

8. California: Draconian Budget Cuts

Facing a $14.5 billion deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently cut the budgets of almost all state departments by 10%. But when it came to abuse shelters, the governor opted to slash all – that’s 100% -- of the state funding.

One wonders if the governor will now demand accountability and proof of effectiveness before restoring funding to these abuse programs.

12-Point Plan to Rescue VAWA

Beset by a myriad of complaints, lawsuits, and budget cuts, the domestic violence industry has fallen into dire straights. But the industry refuses to acknowledge a problem even exists.

The upcoming renewal of the Violence Against Women Act provides a historic opportunity for lawmakers to institute long-overdue reforms. These are the changes that are needed:

1. Respect the wishes, decisions, and autonomy of victims.
2. Assure policies and programs are based on sound science, not rigid ideology.
3. Assure policies and programs are culturally-sensitive to the needs of African-Americans and other minorities.
4. Assure fairness and equal opportunity in funding for culturally-sensitive domestic violence programs.
5. Assure that services are made available to all groups. Avoid discrimination on the basis of race, gender, or sexual orientation.
6. Assure programmatic and financial accountability.
7. Assure the criminal justice system respects due process protections. Phase out mandatory arrest laws that have been proven to be harmful.
8. Assure training and community education programs provide accurate information, and do not promote harmful gender stereotypes.
9. Assure that persons who provide services to victims and offenders have the necessary academic credentials and training.
10. Reform VAWA’s immigration provisions to restore due process and protect the rights of the falsely-accused.
11. Base services on a careful needs assessment that takes into account the many factors that can cause intimate partner aggression.
12. Respect the integrity of the family. Encourage counseling over incarceration.

HR 739 shrugs off the pressing need to revitalize the faltering domestic violence industry. We ask you to assure the upcoming Violence Against Women Act addresses the 12-point plan for VAWA revitalization.

Do victims of abuse deserve anything less?

For more information, contact:

African-Americans for

VAWA Reform

P.O. Box

8701

South Charleston, WV

25303

(304) 342-7752

www.aavreform.org

---

References

[1] Ms. Foundation for Women. Safety and justice for all.

New York

, 2003. http://www.ms.foundation.org/user-assets/PDF/Program/safety_justice.pdf

[2] Program Assessment: Family Violence Prevention and Services Program. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/summary/10002150.2004.html

[3] Parmley A. Violence against women post VAWA. Violence Against Women Vol. 10, No. 12, 2004. p. 1424.

[4] Kruttschnitt C, McLaughlin BL, and Petrie CV (eds). Advancing the Federal Research Agenda on Violence against Women.

Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 2005, p. 6.

[5] Gelles RJ. The politics of research: The use, abuse, and misuse of social science data—The cases of intimate partner violence. Family Court Review, Vol. 45, No. 1, 2007.

[6] Whitaker DJ et al. Differences in frequency of violence and reported injury between relationships with reciprocal and nonreciprocal intimate partner violence. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 97, No. 5, 2007.

In My View: Dad deserves better deal in Illinois law

http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x931198271/In-My-View-Dad-deserves-better-deal-in-Illinois-law 
 

In My View: Dad deserves better deal in Illinois law 
 
By Staff Report
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
 
Jun 19, 2009
 

Father's Day focuses our attention on the importance of the role of fathers in children's lives. As perennial as the traditional Father's Day gifts, pronouncements on the virtues of fatherhood by elected officials such as Barack Obama are offered to reinforce its value. When tied to proposed legislation, these statements have often included a suggestion that many fathers need to act more responsibly.
 
Likewise, the current presumptions of Illinois family courts that ensure divorced fathers' access to their children influence our perceptions of the value of father engagement. Their minimum standards for the parenting roles of separated fathers underwrites the value by which all fathers, married and separated, are measured.
 
The de-facto minimum parenting schedule used by Illinois courts is every other weekend with a weekly non-overnight visit. This is what most fathers have to contend with. This minimal number of overnights with their children is, according to at least one national child development specialist, a child-unfriendly schedule befitting of only disinterested fathers.
 
Illinois judges, family court protocols and many legislators have continued to acquiesce over the past decades to this inadequate standard that can be a barrier to fathers acting more responsibly.
 
Our courts presumed parenting schedule prevails regardless of the father's close geographic proximity and track record of responsible fathering. It is a cookie-cutter presumption that states, in effect, fathers need not put their children to bed, help them with their homework, nor help get them ready for school the very activities associated with being a responsible father.
 
The Children's Rights Council (CRC) of Illinois provided new minimum guidelines to reform judicial protocols at the Illinois Family Law Study Committee in Waukegan on Jan. 26 of this year. The directors of the CRC of Illinois also listened to the testimony of child development and parenting experts, including prominent psychologists Dr. Alan Ravitz of New York University and Dr. William Pins of at Northwestern University, at the committee's hearing in downtown Chicago. 
 
The expert testimonies provided to the Illinois Family Law Study Committee offer Illinois' judges, attorneys and legislators the academic research and examples needed for serious reform. They need only the will power to create new child-friendly parenting time standards, to demand mandatory parenting agreements, and to adopt other reforms that have met with success in other states.
 
Along with reforms to court protocols, respected clinicians at the Family Institute at Northwestern University have developed alternative processes that would help redirect vengeful, sociopath and uncooperative parents away from corrosive litigation which is ill-suited to family dissolution, and toward constructive co-parenting solutions. Rather than children's future lives with their parents being steered by overworked legal professionals who often lack the special training to deal with ... these disputes (Firestone and Weinstein), processes such as Integrative Family Therapy could provide a system of intermediate-term counseling blended with mediation to help parents put the kids first. 
 
The benefits of updating Illinois family court protocols are many. They include decreased transfers of children between separated parents, greater father involvement in their children's schooling, fewer animosity-generating court battles, greater communication and incentives for parents to cooperate with each other, more father engagement, fewer Disneyland dads, improved post-divorce adjustment, fewer outcomes that scar children, less elevating of one parent into a monopolizing role and clearer signals to all parents that children in Illinois need a meaningful relationship with both parents.
 
Illinois is poised to place fatherhood onto a more solid footing. Adoption into law of recommendations from the Illinois Family Law Study Committee would send a positive signal that promotes fatherhood as a value. But will our legislators go far enough in adopting significant improvements to current Illinois family law? Do they have the political fortitude to revise our statutes so that Illinois family courts become significantly more child-friendly?
 
All of these reforms and alternatives to judicial processes could be put into law. But like all changes to the status quo, there will be resistance. Concerned citizens will need to advocate that legislators should provide Illinois children of separated parents the opportunity for the responsible fathers they deserve and set a positive example for all families.
 
Mike Doherty is chairman of the Children's Rights Council of Illinois (www.equalparentingillinois.org). He can be reached at
 
[email protected].
www.myspace.com/familyrights
 
http://www.youtube.com/user/joemaflage

Tea Parties and Parental Rights

Smaller government, less taxation and coalition building discussions should happen while attending your local Tea Party. Check it out; show up with your t-shirt, buttons, signs and information and be a leader.

Tea Party Convention this Saturday
Sat., June 13 – Capitol City Baptist Ministries, 5100 Willoughby Road, Holt

If you haven't registered yet, this is your chance to be further informed by expert speakers, meet fellow activists and grow the movement...all for just $10. At the organizers’ request, AFP–MI staff will help lead two panel discussions, so we hope to see you there. Visit www.teapartyconvention.com for more info.

Upcoming Fourth of July Tea Parties
At last count, we know of 16 Tea Parties that are scheduled or being organized across Michigan for July 4th.

Manchester Gather @11am; Program @ noon
American Legion Post 117, 203 Adrian St.
Info: Bruce- cell: 734-972-1844; home: 734-428-9573

Clare 1–3pm
5th Street Park
Info: Adele Allen- 989-386-9030; [email protected]

Holland- noon
Centennial Park
Info: Bart Spencer- 616-218- 5118
[email protected]

Kalamazoo
6–8pm Bronson Park
Info: Gene Clem; [email protected]

Owosso noon–2pm
2355 E. Main St
Info: Bea Vajgart- 989-729-8897, [email protected]

Northville 12:30–3:30
Northville Community Park
Info: Maribeth Schmidt; [email protected]

Port Huron 4–7pm
Smiths Creek Rd at I-94 (Kimball Twp)
Info: Lee Sheldon- 810-385-4406, [email protected]

Traverse City 4:00pm Traverse City Civic Center

Taylor 11am

Lansing 1–3pm State Capitol Bldg.

Jackson (TBA) Info: Kathy Houle- 517-764-0623

Niles (TBA) Info: Jo Flock- 269-683-4242

Big Rapids (TBA); Grand Rapids (TBA); Hudsonville (TBA); North Branch (TBA)

East Tawas *Mon., July 6 Harbor Park

Support? System Down Needs Your Support Now

Give these Dads a Voice!

A shocking new documentary, Support? System Down shows men’s lives ripped apart by the family court system. Many men are locked away in jail and unable to see their kids. Deprived of a basic human right –being a parent, their human rights as fathers are cast asunder. The very ties that bind them to family, to humanity, to society are all threatened when they can’t meet child support. These fathers may have the best of intentions to pay child support, but switched or changed jobs or got deployed overseas and got caught up in a system with limited opportunity to express how and why their circumstances changed. Unable to pay, they’re locked away. A simple sounding rhyme… and a questionable crime… in these uncertain financial times. 

There’s a pervasive mentality that views them as “dead beat dads”. Their pictures are hung up at the post office on the “most wanted lists”. The system itself is creating a modern day debtors prison as if our prisons aren’t crowded enough as it is. This is de-humanizing to fathers.

There’s a whole industry being created around the collection of child support. It’s to a state’s advantage to show a higher number of “dead beat fathers” on their dockets. They actually profit from it. But it’s a Catch 22. The more money that’s owed; the more incentive they have from the Federal government to collect it. Along the way abuses can occur all too easily at the fathers’ expense.

So many of these fathers as this documentary shows are not the bad guys they’re made out to be, far from it. They’re victims of a system that gives them little chance to be heard and even less recourse. With the economy in a downward spiral and fathers out of work and/or underemployed their ranks are likely to grow as more and more men get locked up for lack of child support. Limited financially by the very monetary circumstances that put them in jail in the first place – most don’t have legal representation or a chance of pleading their case for leniency in these tough economic times.  Yet, even criminals have a chance of a fair trial. But these guys are treated as criminals and denied their basic civil rights. 

And if being locked up isn’t hard enough, many of these fathers suffer from parent alienation on top of the woes of being in jail.  It’s why many can’t even see their kids when they’re in jail and afterwards, it only worsens their relationship with their children and themselves.  It’s hard to feel good about yourself and work and do the right thing, when you can’t even see your kids.  Parental suicide rates go up 5 Times for parents removed from their children.

These fathers have a basic right to be there for their kids and to be heard by the family court system. See the movie, Support ? System Down. Give these fathers a voice they so desperately need.  See All trailers here.

1) Buy the Sneak Peek DVD for the father’s in your life and the future fathers you might know.

2) Make a donation at the documentary's website. 

Help bring the plight of our fathers facing jail time to the public. Give these dads a chance by seeing, Support?  System Down.

Dr. Baskerville: The Dangerous Rise of Sexual Politics

I just learned that my scholarly article, "The Dangerous Rise of Sexual Politics", has been published by The Family in America, the journal of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society. Despite the date on the issue, it was just recently published. You can request hard copies from the Howard Center.

 

 

The Family in America, vol. 22, no. 2 (2008)
http://www.profam.org/pub/fia/fia.2202.htm

 

The Dangerous Rise of Sexual Politics
Islamic radicalism may be creating a “clash of civilizations,” but sexual radicalism is undermining the social foundation of all civilization.

By Stephen Baskerville, Ph.D.*

*Stephen Baskerville teaches political science at Patrick Henry College. He is the author of Taken Into Custody: The War Against Fathers, Marriage, and the Family (Cumberland Books).

“All politics is on one level sexual politics.” — George Gilder, 1986

Four decades into the boldest social experiment ever undertaken in the Western democracies, the full impact of what was once quaintly known as “women’s liberation” is at last becoming clear. The political class of both the Left and Right have colluded to limit the debate to a series of innocuous controversies: job discrimination, equal pay, affirmative action. Only abortion has any depth, and that debate has been mired in stalemate.

Meanwhile, beneath the political radar screen, the real consequences are finally emerging: a massive restructuring of the social order, demographic trends that threaten the very survival of Western civilization, and perhaps least noticed, an exponential growth in the size and power of the state — the state at its most bureaucratic and tyrannical.

Feminism has now positioned itself as the vanguard of the Left, shifting the political discourse from the economic and racial to the social and increasingly the sexual. What was once a socialistic assault on property and enterprise has become a social and sexual attack on the family, marriage, and masculinity. This marks a truly new kind of politics, the most personal and thus potentially the most total politics ever devised: the politics of private life and sexual relations.

Read the rest here.

 

 

 

************************************************

 

Stephen Baskerville, PhD
Associate Professor of Government
Patrick Henry College
1 Patrick Henry Circle
Purcellville, Virginia  20132

 

 

Now Available from Cumberland House Publishing:

 

 

Taken Into Custody: The War Against Fathers, Marriage, and the Family

STEPHEN BASKERVILLE, PhD

 

“This book is a tremendous and much-needed report on how family courts and government policies are harming children."     -- Phyllis Schlafly, President, Eagle Forum

 

 

Order today at Amazon's special price of $19.56 (regular price $24.95).

For more than 80 articles and studies in mainstream publications on the abuses of the divorce industry, see www.stephenbaskerville.net.