[AKidsRight.Org] Events in New York & Canada/ Alabama, Nevada & Wisconsin Laws

webmaster@akidsright.org

Good People & People of Faith:

1. May 3 - LEAD lobby day in Albany, NY. 
2. May 6 (Fri. before Mother's Day) - Syracuse, Field of Dreams, bring chalk!
3. May 9 - NY Matrimonial Commission meeting in NYC.
4. June 4 - March to Parliament starts in Canada!
5. Shared Parenting Bills - Alabama and Nevada
6. Virtual Visitation in Wisconsin - why hug your kids when an LCD will do?

Many event announcements in this message.  We would like to especially
call attention to our group event on May 6th in Syracuse -- hope to
see you there! We are moving steadily closer to getting a meeting
between parents and Senator Hillary R. Clinton.

Again, we encourage you to fill out our Event form to make event
submission easier and quicker, available at:
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/events.htm

1. May 3 - LEAD lobby day in Albany, NY. 
----------------------------------------
[John Murtari, our group Coordinator will be attending this event and
hopefully Cathy Hughes, another Coordinator.  This is a good event
to meet people and associate a face with an email address.]

Submitted by: Diginty@yahoo.com

Summary::       Legislative Education and Awareness Day (L.E.A.D.)
Date-Time::     May 3rd 2005
Location::      LOB building State Street Albany, NY
Group-Name::    FaFNY and NYCRC
Web-Site::      http://fafny.org/
Description::   Family Legislative Education and Awareness Day set for
May 3, 2005

FaFNY.org takes the L.E.A.D. in educating the NYS Legislature on the
importance of families to children!

IF YOU ARE A CHILD, PARENT OR GRAND PARENT WHO HAS BEEN MISTREATED IN
FAMILY OR SUPREME COURT REGARDING DIVORCE/SEPARATION/CUSTODY OR
SUPPORT  YOUR DAY HAS FINALLY COME: 

Let your voice be heard at this year's LEAD in Albany, NY.  (The event
is free and open to the public) 

FaFNY, Taking the LEAD in Educating the NYS Legislature (Legislative
Education and Awareness Day) 

WHEN: Tuesday May 3, 2005 from 9:00AM to 4:00PM.

WHERE: Well of the Legislative Office Building (LOB), State St.,
Albany, NY. 

WHO: Past attendee’s included FaFNY, Children's Rights Council (CRC),
Family Policy Council, Office of Child Support Enforcement
(information available), fathers, mothers, grandparents and children
and other family advocates from across NY and the northeast. 

PRESS CONFERENCE AT 11:00AM (LOB) with PRO FAMILY LEGISLATORS.
Refreshments will be served throughout the day. 

FaFNY, together with other pro family individuals and organizations,
will have displays and informational material available in the Well of
the Legislative Office Building in Albany, NY speaking of the
importance of terminology such as "parenting time", pre-divorce
parental education to lessen the impact on children, the value of BOTH
parents (Shared Parenting) to children and the need for Family Court
Reform and Court Restructuring and safeguards for victims of
unilateral "no fault" divorce. 

Attendees are free to meet with legislators throughout the day to hear
and discuss pro-family issues and legislation. 

Child and Family Advocacy Organizations wishing to participate should
contact Mr. James Hays at (518) 383-8202 to register to be included in
presentations or display materials. 

The event is free and open to the public. Individuals wishing to
attend need not pre-register. 

CONTACT PERSONS:

Mr. James Hays, Event Coordinator: Phone (518) 374-2346 E-mail
DadLobby@localnet.com  

2. May 6 - Syracuse, Field of Dreams, bring chalk.
-------------------------------------------------
May 6th (Friday before Mother's Day) - We hope to get a nice group of
Moms and Dads to the Federal Building to help Senator Clinton see how
important reform is.  Please bring a brief (two page) summary of what
the "system" did to your family.  Make sure to include a color picture
of you and your kids.  As a group we will drop those off at the
Senator's offices on the 14th floor.

We will then return to the Federal Plaza and those who wish can take
some children's chalk and write "I LOVE YOU" to their kids and
"Sen. Clinton - Help Us!" on the ground.  We hope to fill the Plaza
with heartfelt messages and have a repeat of TV coverage from a prior
event (http://www.AKidsRight.Org/video.html)

Especially for all you Moms who may not even be able to see your kids
over the weekend (or have very limited 'visitation') -- let them know
how much you care (and let yourself know).

Event details and registration at
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/actionc_syr

3. May 9 - NY Matrimonial Commission
------------------------------------
Submitted by: Dan Romand  <romad63@yahoo.com> 

The Matrimonial Commission is charged with examining every facet of
the divorce process in New York and recommending reforms to correct
existing problems. Chaired by Associate Justice Sondra Miller, of the
Appellate Division, Second Department, the panel will consider, among
other topics, the many complex issues involved in custody disputes,
including the role and qualifications of forensics experts and law
guardians.

> Can a person from another state testify? 

Yes we had someone fly in from NC, another from NJ, and another group
brought someone from Calif.

> Can I attend? 

Absolutely and bring as many other folks as you can - hearings are
open to the public. We had about 40 people at the Albany hearing and
close to 70 between 2 groups in WP. We are hoping to have 100 in
buffalo and 150in NYC.

> Is there a website or other way that I can get to read what happened
> at these hearings? Or do they have minutes?

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ip/matrimonial-commission/index.shtml

WP hearing will be posted in about a month - problem with reading the
transcripts is you wont get the emotion that was in the room. My group
also taped the entire hearing in WP and will be showing parts of it on
our TV show.

4. June 4 - March to Parliament starts in Canada!
------------------------------------------------
Submitted by: "Wayne Cook" <waynevcook@rogers.com>

Wayne Cook "March to Parliament" for June 4th National Kid's Day!

17 Days!
17 Miles per Day!
17 Years Denied!

On May 8th, I will start the long journey from Toronto, Ontario in
Canada, to our nation's capital, in Ottawa.

For 17 days, I will march 17 miles daily, to mark the 17 years that I
have been denied being part of Nicole, Lara & Cristina's lives.

Each of the approx. 250 miles, I will dedicate a mile to a family.
Along the route of the March to Parliament, I hope that many of you
will "walk a mile with me"! The route follows the US/Canada border, so
I hope to meet many of you from New York state.

We need as much media attention (Television, Radio, Print Media) as
possible, to rally the troops, for the Rally on Parliament Hill, on
June 4th, National Kid's Day!  The official announcement will be made
next Monday, April 18, 2005, but your help in getting the word out, is
critical to our success.  In Solidarity,

May 18  Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada (Media Event)
May 19  Pickering, Ontario (Ajax area)
May 20  Whitby/Oshawa (Meeting Autoworkers/Media)
May 21  Bowmanville
May 22  Port Hope (Cobourg area)
May 23  Baltimore
May 24  Brighton
May 25  Trenton
May 26  Shannonville (Belleville area)
May 27   Odessa (Napanee area)
May 28  Kingston
May 29  Gananoque (Meet US Fathers on US/Canada bridge, under the UN, US,
Canadian  flags) Media Event
May 30  Mallorytown (Brockville area)
May 31  Maitland
June 1    Spencerville (Prescott area) Media event repeated on the
US/Canada
bridge, with Non-custodial Moms.
June 2    Kemptville
June 3    Manotick (North Gower)
June 4    Nepean/Ottawa*

June 4th 12 noon, National Kids Day Rally on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada.
Thanks,

Wayne Cook
Father of Nicole, Lara & Cristina...Denied 17 Years!!!
------

Support from: "Rob G Miller" <rob@websalberta.com>

Wayne Cook is going to walk 250 miles............... 250 miles to
prove to his kids that he loves them and to show us that we can make a
difference. Not an easy thing to do. I believe in this man, this man
and this group dedicated to bringing all groups to collaborate can
make a difference. I believe he can .... yes I do ... but only if we
get behind him.   

His sacrifice will mean something to his kids but it will mean nothing
to ours if we don't show support.  

Please, if you're nowhere near Ontario or cant take a few hours of
your time to walk a mile on a pleasant afternoon to show that you CARE
then send him a note to spur him on. Its not hard, just reply to this
post to show us all that there is support for this kind of action.  It
doesn't matter in you're in Canada or not. Wayne is doing this for
every child who's lost any kind of access to either parent.  

Please give him your support. There is only 1 month left before the
march begins.  

You don't have to say much. Just say "we are behind you Wayne". I know
I would certainly appreciate that simple gesture if I were about to
take on that kind of challenge.    x

5. Shared Parenting Bills - Alabama and Nevada
----------------------------------------------
Submitted by: "J.J." <parentalalienation@yahoo.com>

Accountability - Bill pushes open hearings in custody cases
http://www.helpstoppas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=261

AL House Bill 650, the "shared parenting" bill
http://www.helpstoppas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=262

Nevada Shared Parenting Bill
http://www.helpstoppas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=244

6. Virtual Visitation - why hug your kids when an LCD will do?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by: Dr. Malcolm Hatfield <hatfield@pol.net>

Several people, including one father in Wisconsin have written a bill,
LRB 1294 that encourages judges to order "virtual visitation".  One of
the major authors of this bill, sells software and hardware to enable
this "virtual visitation".

He is using the father's rights group in Wisconsin to help to
legislate this bill, which serves as free advertising for his software
and also encourage judges to allow move aways, since this virtual
visitation will allow kids to "spend more time with their father".

This type of thing is further denigrating to dads who are seen as
"useless appendages" in the lives of children.

-- 
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