Amazing, people opposed the presumption of shared parenting argue that it is wrong to limit the judges’ discretion by requiring them to state their reasons for not granting shared parenting (joint custody).  They know that having to go on record would expose the bias.  When you are dealing with something that is and should always be a fundamental right (the right to control the nature of your relationship with your own child), you don’t need research and studies.  That is the nature of “fundamental parental right”.  If large numbers of parents misuse that fundamental right, then use simple assault, neglect, or other criminal sanctions to deal with it, not strip everyone of their fundamental rights.

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What’s best for kids at issue for dads

February 27, 2008

THE GLOBE got it wrong on the “shared parenting” bill (“A fair role for fathers,” Editorial, Feb. 23). You cite law professor Charles Kindregan, who should know better, writing that he “argues that a presumption of joint legal and physical custody could handcuff judges who should be free to consider the best interests of children on a case-by-case basis.” The bill would not take any discretion away from judges, as you noted three paragraphs earlier. Rather, it would require judges to state the reasons for their rulings in the event that one parent got sole custody. (more…)

 This is a case that illustrates how fathers are important.  They can get the job done!

Father rescues abducted girl – Latest news | Bakersfield.com – Kern County news, events, shopping & search

By JAMES GELUSO, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jgeluso@bakersfield.com | Sunday, Feb 24 2008 4:19 PM

Last Updated: Sunday, Feb 24 2008 10:42 PM

Quick action by neighbors led to the swift recovery of a 4-year-old girl and the arrest of the man accused of abducting her in broad daylight Sunday, Bakersfield police said.

Photo by James Geluso

Bakersfield police arrest Robert Perez Rodriguez, 43, on suspicion of kidnapping a 4-year-old girl Sunday. The girl was recovered by her father, and neighbors worked with police to find Rodriguez hiding under a pickup.

Robert Perez Rodriguez, 43, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Bakersfield Police Sgt. Greg Terry.

The girl was playing outside in south Bakersfield with an 11-year-old girl when Rodriguez, who had been loitering in the neighborhood for about 15 minutes, called out to the older girl, police said. The girl went inside and told her mother, who came outside in time to see the younger girl inside the man’s car as he was leaving.

The girl’s father was told about the abduction and launched his own search. He found the car, a maroon Toyota Camry, at Stiern Park, Terry said, and managed to grab his daughter from the car. Rodriguez then took off, and the father left his daughter with a neighbor while he pursued the kidnapper. (more…)

It is interesting that in this recent article about a mother who killed her children rather than let the fathers have them, or even to see them, that the fathers of the children had been battling in court just be able to see their children.  Here’s a quote from one of the fathers:

“I’ve been fighting to see them,” he said. Interviewed while sitting in a car parked outside the scene of the killings, Mr. Demesyeux, 28, of Hollis, Queens, said he had last seen his sons a month ago.

Here’s a quote from the other father:

 “Whenever I tried to get my daughter, Family Court wouldn’t let me,” he said. “The courts wouldn’t hear me out. I blame this on Leatrice Brewer and Family Court.”

It is also very interesting to me that the article writer doesn’t take it into the direction of what is wrong in family court, rather, in our definition of insanity and what to do about it.

It seems to me that this case, along with others that are highlighted in this article, points to a failure in the ability of family courts and family services as a whole to deal with these issues.  It is difficult to know where all this is headed, although it would appear to me that the direction is one no one is going to like: greater scrutiny of everyone by increasingly incompetent, but “well meaning” social service personnel, and more control of personal lives by the state.  This is what happens when you abandon a philosophy of fundamental rights and responsibilities, and replace it with  a nanny state. (more…)

New campaign catch phrase in 2008: ‘This Economy is Stupid’

Jim Untershine, GZS of LB, 02-10-08

Reading Ron Paul’s free online book ‘Pillars of Prosperity‘ was much like reading Stephen Baskerville’s book ‘Taken into Custody‘ – I couldn’t stop reading until I ran out of pages. Both of these American heroes have put forth an ongoing indictment against our government for unconstitutional abuses that target taxpayers of this country – those who dare to save money and those who dare to raise children.

Ron Paul and Stephen Baskerville have both identified the political apparatus and the bureaucratic machinery that have broken so many homes, looted so many savings, and destroyed so many lives in this country. Ron Paul rails endlessly on the floor of Congress about the Federal Reserve system printing money out of thin air to finance ‘big government’ programs that regulate citizens and small businesses here and abroad in an effort to skyrocket the Federal debt. Stephen Baskerville rails endlessly in major publications about the Family Law system assigning child support orders out of thin air to regulate families here and abroad in an effort to skyrocket the child support debt. (more…)

Many of you often wonder about the candidates’ stand on Fathers’ Rights.  About a year ago, Glenn Sacks reported the following quote by McCain (original here) about reforming Family Courts and the laws that make it so easy to exclude the father from the lives of his children:

“Aspiring Republican presidential candidate John McCain contemptuously dismissed fathers’ concerns over family law at a mid-day town hall meeting in Cedar Falls, Iowa today.  Shared parenting activist Tony Taylor asked McCain if he would be bold enough to address the issue of equal access to children for fathers that have gone through divorce.” McCain testily replied: (more…)