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GA Gov. Signs F & F-Inspired Child Custody Bill
At Fathers and Families we receive many letters from divorced or separated military servicemembers with painful but preventable family law problems. Currently, Georgia is one of the few remaining states that has no protections in statute.
To address these problems, Department of Defense Liaisons Office legislative representatives and Fathers and Families legislative representative Michael Robinson worked to introduce Georgia’s SB 112 and HB 282. Both bills largely mirror Fathers and Families’ California AB 2416, which was passed into law last fall. Many months in the making, the bills will help protect military parents’ child custody rights during and after deployments.
Because of the rapid progress of SB 112, a decision was made to focus on that bill rather than additionally moving HB 282 and risk bills having competing amendments. Last week Governor Nathan Deal signed SB 112. We applaud the Governor, and also Representative John Yates and Senator Joshua McKoon for sponsoring the bills.
F & F’s Holstein Quoted on Shared Parenting in Boston Herald
 Fathers and Families Board Chairman Ned Holstein, MD, MS was quoted in the Boston Herald concerning H02684, F & F’s shared parenting bill, and S00851, another divorce-related bill which we do not support.
From Chris Cassidy’s Divorcing parents, don’t try this at home (Boston Herald, 5/16/11):
Custodial parents caught up in contentious divorces would need a judge’s nod to date or carry on a sexual relationship inside their own home under a bill Beacon Hill pols will take up this week.
Wrentham Selectman Robert Leclair said his bill is meant to prevent domestic violence and shield children while the divorce is under way. “It’s not intended to abridge the rights of anybody,” he said. “If they want to have an extra-marital affair, just get away from the home.”
The bill, which lawmakers will hear Wednesday, would bar custodial parents from “conducting a dating or sexual relationship within the home” until the divorce is settled.
“It could go that far if the courts found it detrimental to the children,” said Leclair, who said he had a bitter divorce. Leclair is the former president of Fathers United for Equal Justice, which disbanded in the 1990s.
But he’s not earning much support from similar fathers-rights groups. Ned Holstein of Fathers and Families called the bill a distraction from the shared parenting bill — creating a legal assumption of equal custody rights — that lawmakers also will take up Wednesday.
“By and large, family courts have washed their hands of who’s sleeping with whom,” said Holstein.
State Sen. Richard Ross sponsored the bill for his constituent, but has taken no position on it. Leclair has submitted it repeatedly in recent years to no avail.
To comment on the story, click here. To write to reporter Chris Cassidy about the piece, go to chris.cassidy@bostonherald.com.
To learn more about our shared parenting bill, click here.
Cassidy’s piece is fair enough, but he errs in describing Fathers and Families as a “fathers-rights group.” We are instead a family court reform organization which seeks equality for both mothers and fathers. Certainly there’s no “right” which we have ever demanded for fathers which we wouldn’t also demand for mothers or which mothers do not already have. |
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| Massachusetts Action Alert |
Massachusetts Action Alert: Shared Parenting Bill to Be Heard--We Need Your Presence, Your Phone Calls
Fathers and Families’ Shared Parenting bill (H02684) will have its public hearing by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary on Wednesday, May 18 at the State House in Boston. We want your help for this critical hearing. We need you to:
- Call the members of the Judiciary Committee (as well as your local legislators) and let them know that you support H02684.
The contact info. for all Committee Members is here. To find your own state senator or representative, click here. Tell us how your interactions went by emailing us.
- Be there on Wednesday, May 18 at 1 pm in the Gardner Auditorium at the State House when the bill is heard. For directions, click here. Tell us you will be attending by emailing us.
You don’t need to be an expert on the text of our shared parenting bill (the pros and cons, etc.) because you won’t be questioned by legislators.
Please feel free to call us with any questions about the hearing at (617) 542-9300.
Together with you in the love of our children,
Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Founder, Chairman of the Board |
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