[AKidsRight.Org] Fallacy of Reform: "best interest of the child" / Galluzzo Update / Upcoming Events / Your messages.

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Good People & People of Faith,

This message includes info on:

1. New Web Forum - please try it out!
2. Announce your Event - we can help.
3. Fallacy of Reform - "best interest of the child."
4. Galluzzo case update - appeal filed.
5. Nice web sites - you may enjoy them!
6. Our Mailbag - your messages.

1. New Web Forum - please try it out!
-------------------------------------
We have updated our forum software to avoid some of the "junk" postings
that had clogged the earlier version.  Right now it is empty and no one
likes to be "first at a party" -- we welcome you to sign on and share
your thoughts!

http://www.AKidsRight.Org/forum.htm

2. Announce your Event - we can help.
-------------------------------------
We get a LOT of email and it is hard to keep up with other events or
have the proper information to share with others.  If you or your group
would like to have a message sent out on our list, please just complete
our submission form:

http://www.AKidsRight.Org/events.htm

3. Fallacy of Reform - "best interest of the child."
----------------------------------------------------
Boy, you hear that line a lot!  Once you walk into a Courtroom because
of a divorce/separation/child abuse allegation -- that Judge is now
empowered to decide what happens to your relationship to your children
based on the "best interest of the child".

Most folks on this list got there because of divorce/separation, but a
good number of parents have also been caught up by child abuse
allegations.  And here is what a lot of "regular" people may not know.
You can be accused of abuse and charged in criminal court.  You can
stand by your innocence and even be found not guilty at trial -- but
that finding does not guarantee you will get to be a normal parent to
your children ever again.

Your innocence may be a factor in the Judge's decision, but for the most
part they have wide latitude to decide based on the "best interest of
the child."  Imagine that!

Perhaps we need to realize that "parents" are the ones entitled to
decide what is in the "best interest of their child."  Before a Judge,
Psychologist, or Social Worker can interject their opinion of what your
child's "best interest" is -- you FIRST have to be proven an unfit
parent?

Your feedback welcome!

4. Galluzzo case update - appeal filed.
---------------------------------------

From:  "Michael Galluzzo" <magalluzzox@hotmail.com>

To All:  On March 1, a "Notice of Appeal" was filed for the 6th Circuit in
response to the decision to dismiss the case.  This constitutional challenge
to Ohio custody statutes, which permits the arbitrary designation of a
custodial parent upon affidavit and without a hearing, is the first case to
reach a merit decision on the rights of parents to retain equal custody in a
divorce without a finding of unfitness of one parent.  The Decision, Motion
for Reconsideration, and Decision on the Reconsideration can be found at
http://www.pacegroup.org/pacegroup_141.htm along with other filings in the
case.

...

Financial help is seriously needed to defray future cost that will be
associated with this challenge. Just a few dollars would be greatly
appreciated!  I would like to thank Mike for the generous contribution.
More then half of the contributions have come in from outside Ohio which
tells us we have plenty of support across the country.

If you would like to help, please send your contribution to:
Galluzzo Defense Fund
P.O. Box 710
St. Paris, Ohio 43072

5. Nice web sites - you may enjoy them!
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From: Todd Eckert <toadster_1@yahoo.ca>  on Civil Disobedience

      http://eserver.org/thoreau/civil.html

      http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/civ-dis.htm

From: Tony Coe (President, EQUAL PARENTING COUNCIL) tonyc@EqualParenting.org

      http://www.equalparenting.org/

> "This ruling proves beyond doubt that the key defect in the present
> law must be put right.  There must be a legal presumption in the law
> that children shall have "contact" (which we say should be called
> "PARENTING TIME") with their parents, "Unless the parent has been
> adjudged unfit in a jury trial in a criminal court".

> Otherwise, you hand control back to the very judges who have caused
> all the trouble.  Judges should be required to order shared parenting
> time in favor of both fit parents AT THE FIRST HEARING.

From: Mary Jo Marceau-Hawthorne (Vice President VOCAL New York)
<mmarceauhawthorne@yahoo.com>

     http://profam.org/Default.htm

> The Howard Center is a great resource for family support.
> When the state or its agent attempts to exercise a right or
> responsibility that belongs to the family, albeit with good intentions
> to address a vexing social problem, its effect is to undermine and
> displace the family and make matters worse."

6. Our Mailbag - your messages.
-------------------------------

A sampling of messages answered by our contact person, Kevin Purdy
(contact@AKidsRight.Org):

------------ O'Keefe Sojourner   kmicaelpeterson@hotmail.com

> I am a freelance writer, and a retired physician.  I am a strong
> advocate of non-violent civil disobedience, and have been politically
> active all my life.  Currently, I am involved in the Court system and
> Child Protective Services, because one year ago I made a phone call
> that changed my life: I decided I needed help with alcoholism, and I
> called a local inpatient rehab facility.  Within an hour, there was a
> Sheriff and a CPS worker at my front door.  I was not allowed
> admission into the rehab center I had contacted, because a relative of
> my ex-husband was a counselor there.  Instead, my baby was taken from
> my custody that same day.  Over the past year, I have worked
> diligently within the system to regain custody of my baby.  It has
> been an excruciatingly frustrating experience, plagued by inaccurate
> reporting, manipulation, deception and haphazard and bumbling
> administrative processes.  I am interested in becoming involved on a
> public level in efforts to reform Child Welfare policies, and advocate
> for better enforcement of those that support parental rights.

------------ John Curach  Dadsareforever@yahoo.com

> Hello everyone. I am in Santa Barbara California. I have a ten year old
> daughter that I am not allowed to see after doing so for all her life. Stupid
> judge controlled by court "officials" who act as if they are god. SO when my
> daughter was thinking she wanted to die because her mom and others were
> telling her she would have to wait until she 'grows up', they took her away
> completely and try to get her to forget her father completely as her 'cure'.
> I want to be in contact with other parents who have been shut away from
> their kids in the central coast. Maybe to demonstrate or whatever, but how do I
> do this?

> One thing that really grosses me out is how 'unaffected' people think a
> father is just supposed to wait until the kid 'grows up', and trys not to
> bring the subject up with the child because it will make them(the child) upset.

If it were any other society or another gender involved, it would be
called kidnapping pure and simple. Imagine how upset anybody would be to
have their child kidnapped. Now imagine, at the same time, they lost
their wife, their home, many of their friends, and a huge amount of
money. That is exactly what I and thousands of other fathers have
experienced. Of course, I don't need to tell you. It's a national
tragedy.

Becoming involved with AKidsRight.org was a positive step. It is a
children's right group that is seeking positive change in the family law
system. Welcome aboard.

Together, we can change this atrocity known as "family law."  The only
true child support is equal parenting.  Kids deserve both parents.

                                         Webmaster
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