American Fathers 4Change with a mission of helping to bring awareness that by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible, and committed fathers it will improve the well being of children.
"The man as he converses is the lover; silent, he is the husband." ~ Honore de Balzac
At Above the Law, Sam Wright notes that family law bureaucrats and judges routinely ignore the constitutional rights of parents in making decisions on…
WASHINGTONPOST.COM
In a recent post on the notorious Maryland case where authorities have repeatedly detained two children in order to force the Meitiv family to stop them from walking home alone, I noted that the parents have the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent on their side. At Above the Law, experienced public interest lawyer Sam Wright agrees that the parents have the Constitution on their side, but cautions that bureaucrats and lower court judges routinely ignore such petty issues as constitutional rights when it comes to enforcing the their conceptions of “the best interests of the child”:
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, law professor Ilya Somin notes that the application of child welfare laws is subject to some (seemingly) robust constitutional constraints: there’s case law providing that the Fourteenth Amendment protects the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit and that it also, in the words of Justice O’Connor’s plurality opinion in Troxel v. Granville, creates a “presumption that fit parents act in the best interests of their children.”
This is a good article on an important topic – domestic violence (Yahoo, 10/26/15). It’s not without its flaws, but overall, it’s a good effort by author Jenna Birch to communicate some of the basics to a large audience. Domestic violence is important to family court issues because it’s often raised there as a tactic to gain an advantage in a child custody case. In the past, countless family lawyers have admitted the use of domestic violence allegations in family courts for precisely that reason.
Birch’s main point is that men and women equally are victims of domestic violence.
According to the CDC’s statistics — estimates based on more than 18,000 telephone-survey responses in the United States — roughly 5,365,000 men had been victims of intimate partner physical violence in the previous 12 months, compared with 4,741,000 women. By the study’s definition, physical violence includes slapping, pushing, and shoving.
More severe threats like being beaten, burned, choked, kicked, slammed with a heavy object, or hit with a fist were also tracked. Roughly 40 percent of the victims of severe physical violence were men. The CDC repeated the survey in 2011, the results of which were published in 2014, and found almost identical numbers — with the percentage of male severe physical violence victims slightly rising.
“Reports are also showing a decline of the number of women and an increase in the number of men reporting” abuse, says counselor and psychologist Karla Ivankovich, PhD, an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, Springfield.
Of course we’ve known this since the late 1970s. Indeed, the very first broad-based, scientifically reliable survey done for the National Institute of Mental Health in 1976 revealed parity in victimization and perpetration by men and women. Since then, literally hundreds of studies have produced similar data.
Despite the science on DV, public policy took root in the false claims of extremists who insisted that virtually all perpetrators were men and virtually all victims were women. Amazingly, some 40 years later, that public policy is still stuck in that false past. Therefore, in the United States, there are still only two DV shelters for men, (one opened in Florida recently) compared with hundreds for women.
Progress! Finally, there is mention in the media of concerns about Family Courts. Way to go New Jersey. Way to go NJ4Kids/NJ4ParentalEquality.The rest of us can kick it up too. Be seen where your at.
Posted by Disgusted Dads on Thursday, October 15, 2015
October is domestic violence awareness month. In the true spirit of raising public awareness, Shrink4Men,AVoiceForMen and DAHMW (the Domestic Abuse Hotline for Men and Women) would like to shine a spotlight on a group of individuals who comprise approximately half the victims of domestic violence. A group who is afforded very few resources and are typically ignored and/or ridiculed when they speak out about their victimization — often by the very individuals seeking to raise public awareness about the insidious social malady of domestic violence.
Who is this invisible and marginalized group of domestic violence victims pushed to the periphery of public awareness?
Men.
[*If you are already aware about the difficulties male victims of domestic violence face, please scroll to the end of this article to find out how you can help.]
Men are turned away from most domestic violence shelters. Men do not meet eligibility to receive aid from most domestic violence support organizations by virtue of being men, which is nothing short of overt discrimination, sexism and bigotry.
To the best of our knowledge, there are no court advocacy programs for male victims of domestic violence. Men (and their children) are not eligible for state and federal stipends for safe housing from their female abusers. There are no free or subsidized counseling programs nor are there free legal services/legal aid for male victims of domestic violence.
In the United States, there is only one shelter for male victims of domestic violence (the Valley Oasis Shelter in Antelope, CA) out of the approximately 1,800 shelters available to women and their children nationwide. Canada also used to have a domestic violence shelter for men that was run by the late Earl Silverman.
The threat to parental rights in America is a result of the precarious current standing of these rights in the courts.
The Supreme Court has identified specific categorizes of rights that are protected by the Constitution. A right may be fundamental or non-fundamental, and it may be either an explicit right or an implied right. The right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental, implied right.
Fundamental rights include, among others, the freedom of speech and expression, the right to participate in elections, and the right to be shielded from racial discrimination. Before infringing on these rights, the government must first demonstrate that it has an interest "of the highest order" and that it is using the "least restrictive means."
The burden of proof is placed squarely on the shoulders of the government. On the other hand, non-fundamental rights receive far less protection. The government only needs to show that it has a rational reason to restrict non-fundamental rights: the burden of proof is on the citizen to show that the state’s actions are irrational and illegitimate.
ABOUT IMPLIED RIGHTS
The Court also recognizes a distinction between explicit rights and implied rights. An explicit right – such as the freedom of speech or the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment – is expressly stated in the black-and-white text of the Constitution. An implied right, on the other hand, must be drawn from other general provisions of the Constitution, which imply (in the Court’s determination) that the right exists. The Court then undertakes to define what protections this implied right merits. Throughout our history, courts have consistently ruled that implied rights are entitled to the same protection as explicit rights.
We Publicly Declare that every election everywhere from this day forward will center around whether or not the candidate has lived a life of pushing for Family Court Reform that focuses on 50/50 Shared Parenting!!!
"The family courts continue to award sole custody to one parent after separation or divorce, ignoring the proven harm sole custody does to children compared with shared parenting (joint physical custody). And where does this authority come from? A so-called 'award' of sole custody to one parent is actually the removal of constitutionally protected parental rights from the other parent without any demonstration of a compelling state interest if both parents are fit." ~ Ned Holstein
This site is for the naming and shaming of contact deniers - parents, solicitors, judges, Cafcass officers, MP’s and any other parties involved in contact denial and the forcible separation of children from their fathers.
It is clear to us that the lack of enforcement of legally bindingcourt orders between children and their fathers is encouraging resident parents to deliberately break the law with impunity, often with the encouragement of their legal representatives. No longer. Where court orders have been breached and where contact has been denied for no good reason, the names of those concerned will be published here along with the names of anyone else involved directly or indirectly with contact denial. Contact denial is a serious human rights violation.
When naming parents, you will need to be in possession of a court order for contact which we may need you to supply. Please note, all content is moderated so there will be a delay before your content appears.
"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home." (Tecumseh).
American Fathers Liberation: ALL Men’s Rights are Human Rights. ’nuff said http://bit.ly/1JgMgEm
