Alabama Family Rights Association gives OK to split-custody bill
The Alabama Family Rights Association released a rundown Friday on a bill it is backing that would make split custody the starting point in child custody cases. SB 186, sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, would put mothers and fathers who split up on equal footing by making a 50/50 divide the starting point in child custody cases. The release notes the testimony from Julie A. Palmer, a former elected judge who despite signing up to testify as an opponent of the bill, ended up praising it for provisions that would create a presumption that both parents are fit to make parenting decisions, and the reordering of factors judges consider when assigning custody, among other things. AFRA also highlighted the testimony of 17-year-old Tamar Watts, who spoke from the heart about her experience with week-on-week-off custody with her parents. “I believe this schedule has given me an opportunity to have a healthy relationship with each parent that I would not have gotten seeing one parent only every other weekend,” she said. “While there is no easy way for a family to deal with divorce, SB 186 is the only way to handle it,” she continued. The future Auburn University student went on to say that the every-other-weekend model is outdated, citing that the current 20 percent minimum for parents sharing custody is “not enough time.” The testimony happened during a Wednesday meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, though the committee did not vote on the bill during the meeting. AFRA said a vote is expected next week, possibly when the committee meets March 7.
Email insight: Activist father continues to push for fairer custody laws
Activist, father and Alabama Family Rights Association (ALFRA) President, Kenneth Paschal emailed supporters Wednesday urging them to contact their state legislators and ask them to vote no on House Bill 333, a child custody bill. Sponsored by Andalusia-Republican, State Rep. Mike Jones the bill suggests that children should have “frequent and continuing” contact with their parents; the bill fails to define frequent and continued, and preserves the status quo of standard visitation, which unduly restricts a child to 4-6 days a month with one parent. According to Paschal, “Experts in family systems, psychology, sociology, and the like have presented 40 studies, and 112 social scientists around the world have reached a consensus on shared parenting which states ‘…equal or approximately equal time-sharing with a minor child by both fit parents is in the best interest of the child.’” Read the full email below: Unfortunately, House Bill (HB) 333, a child custody bill, passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee April 20, 2016. The Judiciary Committee ignored evidence based research supporting shared parenting, and the Alabama Law Institute has refused to acknowledge this research. Alabama legislators are being told by the Family Law Committee of the Alabama Law Institute and divorce attorneys like Representative Mike Jones that HB 333 is a “starting point bill,” and future change(s) will follow. The problem with this is that HB 333 is based on opinion NOT legal or evidence-based research. (listen to a 3-minute excerpt of the research here) HB 333 will not equally protect a child’s relationship with both fit parents. Neither will HB 333 act in the best interest of the child as the bill fails to consider scientific research which states “… equal or approximately equal time-sharing with a minor child by both fit parents is in the best interest of the child.” HB 333 has been placed on the calendar and could be up for a floor vote in the Senate today, Wednesday, April 27, 2016. We need EVERYONE to TAKE ACTION this morning and all day today: call and email your elected official in the Senate. Ask them to vote NO on HB 333 or implement a friendly amendment that states: “there is a presumption that children have equal or approximately equal time-shared parenting time with their fit parents”. (view the bill here) Be sure to include a reason why the members should vote against House Bill 333. Feel free to use any of the following reasons to explain why committee members should vote “NO” on HB 333: HB 333 fails to align outdated child custody law with current research, which states “equal or approximately equal time-sharing with a minor child by both fit parents is in the best interest of the child.” HB 333 fails to protect the child’s fundamental right to freely associate with both of their parents. HB 333 maintains the status quo, which promotes parental conflict and deprives a child of a quality relationship with both fit parents. HB 333 fails to define “frequent and continuing” contact, which leads to irregularities in child custody rulings. Meaning, without definition, 5 different judges with same facts = 5 different rulings. Ala Code § 30-3-150. Policy of state: “It is the policy of this state to assure that minor children have frequent and continuing contact with parents”. “Frequent and continuing” contact is not defined. Courts consider “frequent and continuing contact” to include only 1 hour per week, 48 hours twice a month, or could be equal custody. HB 333 does suggest the use of parenting plans, which is good, but when based on outdated, flawed public policy, parenting plans are likely minimally effective, at best. HB 333 does consolidate years of case law into one central location, which may benefit both judges and pro se litigants, as a quick reference, but the bill is rooted in flawed case law that perpetuates the same negative impact of the current status quo. HB 333 does not take into account that there is no statutory requirement for judges or family law attorneys to be trained in family law and attend annual Continuing Legal Education training related to family law. HB 333 fails to provide evidence based guidelines to empower the Courts to meet the needs of each unique case, which leads to a “one size fits all” standard visitation schedule. Representative Office Phone Email Bussman, Paul 334-242-7855 p_bussman@bellsouth.net Holtzclaw, William 334-242-7854 bill.holtzclaw@alsenate.gov Orr, Arthur 334-242-7891 arthur.orr@alsenate.gov Reed, Greg 334-242-7894 greg.reed@alsenate.gov Sanford, Paul 334-242-7867 paul.sanford@alsenate.gov Shelnutt, Shay 334-242-7794 shay.sd17@gmail.com Stutts, Larry 334-242-7862 larry.stutts@alsenate.gov Together we can make our voices heard to protect children from being placed at risk. Thank you for your time and for standing up for all children of Alabama.
Kenneth Paschal: Government needs to stop hurting Alabama families
Parental rights in Alabama are under assault. These fundamental rights are consistently treated as “ordinary” by federal and state government, which essentially provides government with unlimited power to undermine the family unit. We all know laws and the court system are intended to protect citizens, but when it comes to families, husbands and wives, and fathers and mothers, laws and their enforcers can sometimes become harmful instigators. This harms children, parents, families and society. Power over the family unit is best placed in the hands of the parents not government. In 2011, Senate Joint Resolution 65 (SJR 65) was approved by the Alabama legislature, which requires proper proof of harm before the government will intervene in parental decision-making. (As acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), that held, “The primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition.”) The signing of SJR 65 sent a strong message to Washington. The state of Alabama acknowledged the fundamental right (God-given) of parents (meaning, granted by God and cannot be take away without compelling reason) to direct the upbringing and education of their children, is protected by the Alabama and U.S. constitutions. The Alabama Supreme Court has declared parental rights are fundamental in prior rulings; however, the Legislature has never before defined the level of protection granted to parents. I am appreciative of our Legislature and governor for publicly announcing to citizens a defined standard in SJR 65, “the right of the parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution of the United States and the state of Alabama”. Because SJR 65 is not codified in Alabama statutes, the result of such failure to “Secure Parents’ Fundamental Rights” is allowing the courts and other state agencies to routinely over-reach their responsibilities. Examples include a court order stating parents are not allowed to have a glass of wine during dinner; parents not allowed to send their children to church on Wednesdays; discontinuation of homeschooling of a teenager based on an argument that he needed more diversity; a 14-year-old is not required to share health information with his or her parents. This is why Senate Bill 135 and House Bill 213 were filed this year and why they are so important to Alabama’s families. They would protect parents’ fundamental rights (God-given) in Alabama. We need to strongly urge our Legislature to increase the protections of family values by declaring in this State, what they have already declared to the U.S. Congress, any political subdivision of the state, or any other governmental entity or institution shall not infringe upon the fundamental rights of fit parent’s to direct the upbringing, education, and physical and mental health of his or her minor child subject to strict scrutiny without demonstrating a compelling governmental interest, as applied to the child involved, is of the highest order, and the same is narrowly tailored in the less restrictive manner. SB 135 and HB 213 have seen opposition from the divorce industry and Alabama Association of School Boards. SB 135 is assigned to the Human and Health Services committee and chaired by Sen. Gerald Dial, a Republican and a Baptist. HB 213 is assigned to the House judiciary committee and chaired by Rep. Mike Jones, a Republican, family law attorney, and a deacon of his church. Both bills have seen support from across the state and country to include the Homeschool community and the Alabama Federation of Republican Women (AFRW). AFRW passed a resolution in support of Parental Rights in Alabama during its Legislative Days event April 1 and 2. Citizens of Alabama have requested weekly that Dial and Jones place these bills onto their committee agenda. The Alabama citizens’ requests so far seems to fall on deaf ears. I encourage everyone reading this to write and call their members as well as committee chairmen Dial and Jones to ask them to support these bills and bring them up before the session comes to an end. Retired Army 1st Sgt. Kenneth Paschal is the director of governmental affairs of the Alabama Family Rights Association. Information on the organization and its efforts can be found here.
