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Glenn
on Geraldo on Florida School
Case;
10% of 10 Year-Old Boys on Ritalin |
| |
| February
14, 2006 |
| |
Ten
Percent of 10-year-old American
Boys are on Ritalin or Similar
Drugs--What Are Our Schools
Doing to Our Boys?
According
to
Warning Urged for ADHD Drugs:
Panel Cites Risks, Fears of
Overuse (Washington Post,
2/10/06), 10% percent of 10-year-old
American boys are on Ritalin
or similar drugs and a federal
expert advisory panel is citing
"reports that they may
have caused sudden deaths
or serious complications."
According to the Post:
"Several
drugs widely used to treat
attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder should carry a prominent
'black box' warning because
of reports that they may have
caused sudden deaths or serious
complications, a federal expert
advisory panel recommended
yesterday.
"The proposal to require
a warning on medications such
as Adderall and Ritalin took
the Food and Drug Administration,
pharmaceutical companies and
advocates by surprise. The
panel voted 8 to 7 to call
for the labeling change after
reviewing reports of several
dozen patients who suffered
cardiac arrest, toxic reactions
or sudden death while using
the medications.
"Members
of the board said the recommendation
was driven as much by worries
that the drugs are being overused
in the United States as by
the possible side effects:
About 10 percent of 10-year-old
American boys are taking such
medications, and there have
been recent sharp increases
in the number of adults taking
them.
"'On
the surface, it is hard to
believe,'" said Curt
Furberg, professor of public
health sciences at North Carolina's
Wake Forest University Medical
School, who voted for the
black-box warning. 'What is
also interesting is this condition
is not really recognized in
other countries -- you wonder
what we are treating. I am
sure there are patients who
need these drugs, but it is
not 10 percent of all 10-year-old
boys.'"
From
my experience as a teacher
I can tell you that there
are some kids for whom the
drugs are useful--I've seen
it firsthand. On the other
hand, for most boys it is
useless and counterproductive.
I've long campaigned against
these drugs, and it seems
that every time I discuss
this problem on a radio show
some aggrieved mother or father
calls up and tells me that
the school wants him or her
to put their kindergarten
or first grade son on Ritalin.
It's an outrage. The problem
is not our boys--the problem
is that our schools refuse
to adapt and accommodate boys'
educational needs and learning
styles. In my column
The 'Boy Parent Dilemma'
(Los Angeles Daily
News, 9/6/02)
I noted:
"Modern
schools are not suited to
boys' personalities and learning
styles. This can be seen from
the time boys enter school,
when many of them are immediately
branded as behavior problems.
The line of 10 kids who had
to gather every day after
school in my son's first grade
class for their behavior reports--all
boys. The names of kids on
the side of the chalkboard
who misbehaved and would lose
recess--all boys. The kids
as young as five or six who
must be drugged so they will
sit still and 'behave'--almost
all boys...
"This afternoon, millions
of us will pick our little
sons up from school and hope
to hear that it was a good
day. Yet many of our boys
will have spent much of the
day being scolded and punished,
often for doing nothing more
than being boys. And with
each of these mistreated little
boys--waving their arms and
running toward us across the
yard, happy to be away from
that place where everything
feels so unnatural and they
somehow always seem to be
doing something wrong--comes
the boy parent dilemma."
|
|
Glenn Discusses False Allegations
on Geraldo at Large
I appeared
on Geraldo at Large February
7 to discuss the Florida case
where a father attacked a
teacher's aid who had been
accused of inappropriately
touching his teenage daughter.
It turns out that the charges
were apparently false--according
to the Associated Press'
School clears aide hit by
dad: Officials say Teen lied
about abuse (1/28/06):
"A
teenager who accused a teacher's
aide of molesting her, prompting
the girl's father to march
into school and punch the
man in the face, made it up,
officials said.
"School surveillance
cameras show the aide was
not even in the room when
the 15-year-old said she was
touched inappropriately, said
Roger Dearing, Lakewood Ranch
High School's superintendent.
"'We have found that
(the aide) is not guilty of
what this young lady has accused
him of doing, that her accusations
are false,' Dearing said.
"The Sheriff's Department
also found no evidence of
wrongdoing, and the School
Board said the girl may have
lied to get back at the man
for disciplining her...
"Dearing said the district
has statements from students
and the security camera footage
that show the aide could not
have been in the classroom
at the time."
During the Geraldo interview
I discussed the problem of
false allegations and also
told a couple of stories about
things I saw when I was a
teacher. One of them
happened early in my career
when a male administrator
took a few of the new male
high school teachers aside
and told us the following
story. (Note: in some schools
administrators often teach
a class or two):
"One
time I was in my office and
one of my students, an 11th
grade girl, came to see me.
She was upset about the bad
grade she was getting in my
class, and wanted me to change
it.
"She
grew increasingly demanding
and ended up threatening me
that she would make a charge
against me if I didn't give
her the grade.
"When
I still refused, she stood
up, tore her shirt, started
screaming 'Help, Help, he's
attacking me' and ran towards
the door of the office. As
she made for the door I saw
25 years of hard work and
devotion to my students go
down the drain.
"Miraculously,
there happened to be a female
teacher right outside the
door who had been waiting
to talk to me. When the girl
opened the door the female
teacher stood in her way and
told her that she had heard
everything. It saved my career
and my livelihood."
I've covered
the issue of false allegations
in numerous columns and on
the air. To learn more, see:
|
The American Coalition for
Fathers and Children
The American Coalition for
Fathers and Children is
dedicated to creating a
family law system which
promotes equal rights for
all parties affected by
divorce. Contact the
ACFC at 1-800-978-3237 or
visit them on the web at
www.acfc.org.
The Second Wives Club
The Second Wives Club is
what women in blended families
are looking for: Remarriage,
divorce, child custody,
and step parenting discussed
in a solution-oriented,
mature, and intelligent
way; articles and news written
by thought-provoking experts
and journalists; personal
accounts and advice from
some of life's most interesting
women.
www.SecondWivesClub.com
Responsible, Intelligent,
Insightful Help for Men
from a Woman Who Can Think
Like One
Therapist Shari Schreiber,
M.A. addresses gender issues
in her male-friendly Forum,
such as: sex, making your
marriage work, online dating,
men blackmailed into marriage/fatherhood,
dangerous/Borderline disordered
women, weight issues and
MUCH more. |
Britney Spears Endangers
Her Baby, Blames it on Men
According
to the Reuters article
Spears explains driving
with infant son in her lap:
"Pop
star Britney Spears, reacting
to a furor over photos showing
her driving a car with her
infant son in her lap, insists
she's a good mother and
that the incident was the
result of 'frightful encounter
with the paparazzi.'
"Pictures published
in the New York Post and
elsewhere Tuesday showed
Spears at the wheel of her
sport utility vehicle, holding
her 5-month-old baby, Sean,
on her lap. A man identified
as her bodyguard is shown
next to her in the front
passenger seat.
"According to the Post,
Spears drove for at least
two miles along the Pacific
Coast Highway in the oceanfront
area of Malibu on Monday.
"A source close to
Spears, 24, told Reuters
that the incident occurred
after the singer had driven
to a Starbucks shop with
her son strapped properly
into his car seat in the
back of her SUV.
"She moved the baby
to her lap after stopping
at the coffee shop to let
her bodyguard go inside,
then became unnerved as
photographers swarmed around
the vehicle as she waited
for him to return, the source
said. When the bodyguard
got back in the car, Spears
quickly drove off with her
son still in her lap.
"'I had a horrifying,
frightful encounter with
the paparazzi while I was
with my baby,' Spears said
in a statement issued through
her publicist. She said
Monday's episode reminded
her of an incident last
summer in which she was
'trapped' in her car by
a throng of photographers.
"'I instinctively took
measures to get my baby
and me out of harm's way,
but the paparazzi continued
to stalk us, and took photos
of us which were sold to
the media,' she said. 'I
love my child and would
do anything to protect him.'"
A few comments:
1) As
usual, when in trouble,
blame a man
2) Spears
said "I was terrified
that this time the physically
aggressive paparazzi would
put both me and my baby
in danger. I instinctively
took measures to get my
baby and me out of harm's
way...'I love my child and
would do anything to protect
him.'" How exactly
is driving two miles on
winding Pacific Coast Highway
"protecting your baby?"
3) Apparently
Britney's allegations about
the photographers weren't
true. According to the BBC,
"X17, the agency who
took the photographs, have
denied her claims. 'These
pictures were taken in a
very peaceful context, in
which photographers exhibited
no aggressive behavior,'
a statement read. Kelly
Davis, vice president of
X17, said only two photographers
were involved, one of whom
happened to be in the coffee
shop car park when Spears
arrived. 'At the point where
she made the decision to
drive with the baby in her
lap, there was only one
photographer and he wasn't
even shooting,' said Davis."
4) Most importantly, even
if the photographers were
trying to aggressively photograph
her, so what? This is a
reason to put a baby's life
in danger? Stand there and
be photographed--big deal.
5) Interestingly,
this is the same scam that
Princess Diana's defenders
used after her death--somehow
the "threat" of
being photographed justified
Diana & Co. driving
at dangerous speeds.
6) News
reports now say that Britney
is now taking "some"
responsibility for the incident.
"Some"? Who exactly
is supposed to take the
rest?
When in Doubt, Blame a Man
Though
the incidents are totally
unrelated, Spears' "Blame
a Man" act reminds
me a little of Terry Barton,
the 18-year veteran of the
Forest Service who intentionally
started a forest fire which
would ultimately destroy
137,000 acres and led to
the deaths of several firefighters.
(Barton pleaded guilty to
two federal charges for
setting the fire and lying
to investigators, as well
as to a state charge of
fourth-degree arson). In
my column
Colorado Arsonist Terry
Barton's Smart Strategy:
When in Trouble, Blame a
Man (Cybercast News
Service, 7/3/02) I
wrote:
"Terry
Barton might not be a very
good forest ranger, but
she certainly is a good
observer of contemporary
social attitudes. Having
committed a crime, the US
Forest Service employee
knows that the best way
to arouse public sympathy
and deflect attention away
from what she has done is
to blame a man.
"First she tried to
pin the crime on a male
camper in a gold minivan.
Luckily for this individual,
who was facing the possibility
of a stiff prison sentence,
meticulous and ardent Forest
Service investigators exposed
Barton's claim as false.
"Confronted with this
evidence, Barton decided
to switch male scapegoats,
saying that she caused the
blaze when she burned a
heartbreaking letter from
her estranged husband.
"Remarkably, some people
are buying it."
|
Help, Resources for Dads
The
National Fathers' Resource
Center is a division
of
Fathers For Equal Rights,
Inc. (FER), located
in Dallas, Texas, with offices
in both Dallas and Houston.
In existence for over three
decades, it has services
and resources for dads nationwide
and is one of the largest
and most active fathers'
rights organizations in
the U.S.
www.fathers4kids.org
The Secrets of Happily Married
Men
How can a man achieve a
long and happy marriage?
If you've been checking
out advice columns
or seeing a therapist, you
may have been looking in
the wrong place. Despite
all the advances in brain
technology, and all of that
we have learned about developmental
psychology--men and women
are given the same advice
about solving problems.
But when we ask men what
works for them, we hear
a different story.
www.secretsofmarriedmen.com
|
Drexler Assures Newsweek
that Boys Don't Need Fathers
Last
week I mentioned that Newsweek
did a story on the boy crisis
in education (see
Some Vindication for Boy
Advocates). As we've
noted before, the presence
or absence of a father in
a child's life has a huge
impact on a child's school
performance. In the story
it was noted (accurately)
that "An adolescent
boy without a father figure
is like an explorer without
a map."
At this
Peggy Drexler, author of
the anti-father book
Raising Boys Without Men:
How Maverick Moms Are Creating
the Next Generation of Exceptional
Men, couldn't resist
opening her yap, sending
a letter in which she assured
us (of course) that boys
don't need fathers. Read
Drexler's letter
here. I've criticized
Drexler and Raising Boys
in my columns
Are Boys Really Better off
Without Fathers? (San
Francisco Chronicle, 8/31/05)
and
Raising Boys Without Men:
Lesbian Parents Good, Dads
Bad (World Net Daily,
9/10/05).
In dismissing
the importance of fathers,
Drexler stresses that single
or double mothers can raise
boys effectively. As I noted
in one of the above columns,
"of course there are
many single and lesbian
mothers who can and do effectively
raise boys, just as there
are many 'traditional' couples
who can't. But children
raised by a mother and a
father fare much better,
on average, than children
raised by single mothers.
As comedian Chris Rock famously
noted, yes, certainly women
can raise children without
men, but that doesn't make
it a good idea. Drexler
encourages women to choose
to have fatherless children,
a choice which is clearly
not in children's best interests."
Perhaps
Chris Rock explains it best--to
hear Rock on fatherlessness,
click here (Warning--explicit
language).
|
DadsDivorce.com informs
fathers about their rights
during divorce litigation
while providing them with
concrete, practical resources
to get results in the courtroom.
DadsDivorce.com is a
popular meeting place for
fathers facing divorce.
BE THE FIRST TO KNOW
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send an email to
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New Feminist Scam: Shared
Parenting Advocates are
'Fathers Supremacy Groups'
In the
latest "Ask
Beth" column in
the Boston Globe, extreme
feminist Garland Waller
writes:
"Fathers
supremacy groups promulgate
Parental Alienation Syndrome.
Lawyers and judges mistakenly
believe it has some merit,
even though the American
Psychological Association
discounts it.
"What is important
is that parents who are
abusers use it to 'prove'
that the person bringing
up the abuse is an 'alienator.'
So if a loving, protective
parent alleges abuse, that
parent can lose custody
because he/she is an 'alienator,'
and an abuser can get custody."
I've been noticing this
phrase--"Fathers supremacy
groups"--more and more.
For example the Michigan
National Organization for
Women uses it in this
Action Alert regarding
Breaking the Silence: Children's
Stories. I would love
to see Waller or NOW try
to find some examples of
advocacy of "fathers'
supremacy" advocacy
in the materials of some
of the major shared parenting/fatherhood
groups.
Does
anybody remember that
long, long ago, feminist
groups actually encouraged
fathers' involvement in
their children's lives?
Seems like ancient history...
Glenn Discusses 'Gray Divorce'
on Montreal's Newstalk CJAD
800
I discussed
gray divorce and my co-authored
column
The Rise in 'Gray Divorce':
It's Always Hubby's Fault
(Cincinnati Post, Kentucky
Post, 1/30/06) on the
Kevin and Trudie Show on
CJAD 800, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada on February 8. I
like both Kevin Holden and
Trudie Mason but their views
of divorce in general is
an example of what we wrote
in the article--"media
commentators agree on one
thing--when the husband
divorces his wife, it's
hubby's fault. When the
wife divorces her husband,
well, it's hubby's fault
too."
Still I give Trudie
credit--she seemed very
interested in and sympathetic
to the problems divorced
fathers have in maintaining
meaningful relationships
with their children.
|
Female-to-English Dictionary
Dr. Shoveen goes behind
the words that women use
to reveal their hidden meanings
and thought processes.
Help for Boston Dads
Boston family law attorney
Nick Palermo is a shared
custody advocate who believes
that divorced dads are parents,
not visitors. The Law Offices
of Nicholas Palermo is a
dedicated and committed
trial law firm which has
worked to make shared custody
for all fit parents the
law of the land.
LAW OFFICES OF NICHOLAS
PALERMO |
Woman Whose Husband Was
Trapped Underground in Recent
Mining Accident Has New
Appreciation for Men
The
sacrifices men make to support
their wives and children
are greatly underappreciated
both by the media, our family
courts, our politicians,
and by women themselves.
Jennifer sent me the following
letter:
"Through
my most recent life experience,
I have found a brand new
appreciation for so many
men.
"My
husband was stuck underground
in a fire 1/2 a mile below
the earth's surface at a
Potash mine. It was
in a 25 mile radius of tunnels
under there filled with
black smoke so thick the
rescue teams could not even
see their lights on their
hats. The smoke was
so thick at the shaft (cage,
or elevator) that
the second rescue team had
to go down to rescue the
first team.
"It
was the world's largest
oven with heat so hot the
earth was shifting under
their feet but these men
did not stop. Thirty-two
men were missing and presumed
dead (those men were contractors
for a company called Dynatec)
The foreman at Dynatec who
was down there with the
32 when the fire broke out
instantly ordered the men
to fight the fire.
They were nowhere near equipped
to do so. With the heat
and the smoke, they never
had oxygen masks or anything--just
fire extinguishers.
"Realizing
this, the foreman ordered
his men to start setting
up Brattice (sealed off
smoke proof walls). They
made 7 walls of Brattice
and sealed off all air vents
so the smoke couldn't come
through then went to refuge
in a room that had oxygen
tanks (enough oxygen for
only 36 hours max).
Our rescue teams (11 total)
were out for 27 hours, some
down well after their oxygen
limit.
"They
did finally get our men
out. Nobody was killed
and I tell you it was sheer
intelligence that saved
every last one of those
lives. Even men who
drink beer everyday after
work and who are often belittled
saved the lives of our men.
"Crazy
things that ran through
my mind all night. We didn't
know if we were going to
see our husbands again.
Sure they told the media
they were perfectly safe
but they didn't really know
that for sure I know
now just how much I really
do love my husband and just
how smart and brave he is.
I haven't left his side
since 7:00 AM Monday morning
and I think we get along
a lot better. I did
take him for granted and
I plan on treating him like
gold for the rest of our
lives.
"You
are right--we do belittle
men. Thank God we left that
night on happy terms and
didn't have an argument
before he left for work.
Never leave on bad terms,
because you never really
know if you are going to
see that person again.
And always kiss and hug
your spouse when you say
good bye. I was sure
happy I did and I know 72
wives that will from now
on.
"Just
thought you might want to
hear something about men
on a more positive note.
I know you are sick of men
being cut down. I
deeply love my husband and
I will treat him like gold
from here on in."
Jennifer's
story reminds me of Terry
Helms, one of the Virginia
miners killed in January.
According to the Associated
Press' "After Reports
to the Contrary, Only One
Miner Survives" (1/4/06):
"Nick
Helms, who waited all day
for news of his father,
Terry, said his father,
a strapping 50-year-old,
had endured numerous injuries
in a 30-year career and
hated mining because of
the dangers, but refused
to quit because the job
put food on the table.
"'He gave his life
in there so I could go to
the movies,' Mr. Helms,
25, said of his father.
Switching to the present
tense, Mr. Helms added,
'He is very selfless.'"
For generations men risked
their safety and their lives
to provide for their wives
and children, and some still
do today. In my column
Hate My Father? No Ma'am!
(World Net Daily, 4/8/02),
I wrote of the "feminist
re-writing of the pre-feminist
past as a virtual dark ages
where men lived like nobles
and women were their serfs."
I noted:
"Tens of millions of
male blue collar workers--who
put their bodies on the
line in the coal mines and
steel mills so their wives
and children could live
in safety and comfort--have
been turned into oppressors.
Their wives and children,
for whom these men sacrificed
so much, have been turned
into their victims.
"Edited out of our
history are the tragedies
of millions of American
men who were killed or maimed
on what early trade unionists
called the 'battlefield
of labor.' The miners who
died in cave-ins, explosions,
or of black lung disease.
The sailors and fisherman
who died at sea. The oil
refinery workers killed
in explosions. The factory
workers killed in industrial
accidents. The construction
workers who died carving
train tracks and then highways
through majestic mountain
cliffs or the scorching
desert. The construction
workers who died building
our bridges, dams, high
rises, stadiums, and apartments.
"
Also on the subject, see
my column
The Price of Fatherhood--a
Father's Reply to
Ann Crittenden's 'Mothers'
Manifesto' (Los Angeles
Daily Journal, San Francisco
Daily Journal, 1/10/02)
and my co-authored column
Indiana Woman's 'Housework
Strike': Maybe It's Husbands
Who Should Strike (Gary
Post-Tribune, 11/8/02).
|
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|
Shared Parenting Advocate/Family
Law Attorney Lisa Scott
Launches RealFamilyLaw.com
Shared
Parenting Advocate/Family
Law Attorney Lisa Scott
has just launched
www.RealFamilyLaw.com
to expose the truth about
what is happening in our
family law system. Lisa,
the all-time leader in appearances
on His Side with Glenn Sacks,
says that she was "tired
of having her stuff rejected
by elitist bar publications
and politically-correct
newspapers" and decided
to start her own website.
One of
Lisa's specialties is confronting
the false allegations of
domestic violence that are
used to drive so many men
out of their children's
lives. In Lisa's article
Confessions of a Family
Law Reform Activist or,
How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love the Parenting Act
she explains:
"When
I graduated from law school
in 1987, the Parenting Act
had just been passed by
the Washington State Legislature...[it]
was supposed to be the end
of custody battles between
parents. They were supposed
to work things out, for
the best interests of their
children.
"Well, apparently,
a whole lot of divorcing
parents didn't get the memo.
Within a few years of beginning
practice, I had been involved
in numerous custody battles.
Not just disagreements between
spouses, but knock-down,
drag-out custody wars with
all the trappings: allegations
of child abuse, neglect,
drug abuse, alcoholism,
mental problems, and that
800-pound gorilla of them
all: domestic violence.
"Virtually every time
I represented a father in
a parenting case, he was
accused of abuse. I began
to anticipate the dreaded
'crimes list,' that litany
of alleged wrongs committed
by my client against the
wife and children, beginning
with 'he kicked me in the
stomach while I was pregnant'
(15 years ago) culminating
with 'his abuse is escalating,'
'I'm fearful for my safety,'
and of course, 'he's inappropriately
touching the children.'
It's as though these allegations
were produced by the same
scriptwriter, since so many
of the buzzwords were repeated
over and over.
"As I would learn later,
they often were produced
by the same writers, the
'battered women's advocates,'
who appeared to be taking
a few extreme cases of domestic
violence and applying them
across the board. Men who
physically battered their
wives started by verbally
battering them, so in their
twisted logic, every man
who verbally 'abused' his
spouse necessarily must
be physically battering
her too. Women who wanted
an easy way of out a marriage,
and to assure custody of
the children, eagerly signed
up for 'victim's benefits.'
All the woman had to do
was say she was abused,
and the domestic violence
advocates eagerly welcomed
a new customer. Never mind
that the wife was playing
fast and loose with the
real facts...Every factor
determining the children's
residential time with each
parent could be trumped
by one nearly irrefutable
claim: domestic violence."
|
|
First-Grader Suspended For
Sexual Harassment
According
to the Associated Press:
"A
Brockton, Massachusetts
first grader was suspended
for three days after school
officials said he sexually
harassed a girl in his class
by allegedly putting two
fingers inside the girl's
waistband while she sat
on the floor in front of
him.
"The boy's mother,
Berthena Dorinvil, said
she 'screamed' about last
week's suspension from Downey
Elementary School, and added
her son doesn't know what
sexual harassment is.
"'He doesn't know those
things,' she told The Enterprise
of Brockton. 'He's only
6 years old.'
"School officials declined
comment to The Enterprise,
citing the child's age.
"'They would have not
suspended the child without
doing an investigation,'
said spokeswoman Cynthia
McNally.
"Dorinvil said the
school principal, Diane
Gosselin, called her to
pick up her son Jan. 30.
She said her son asked the
principal if the police
were going to come get him.
"The principal told
Dorinvil the girl complained
to the teacher after her
son touched the girl's waistband,
hitting her skin, in a room
full of children.
"Dorinvil said her
son told her he touched
the girl's shirt, not her
skin, after the girl touched
him.
"'He was playing with
her,' Dorinvil said."
The boy's
mother is standing up for
him and has some choice
things to say during an
interview--click here to
watch.
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Glenn Discusses New California
Move-Away Decision on the
Michael Reagan Show
I discussed
the new California Supreme
Court move-away decision
in Brown vs. Yana on the
Michael Reagan Show on the
Radio America network on
February 6.
Sacks, Allred Debate New
California Supreme Court
Move-Away Decision
I debated
Gloria Allred, who won the
Burgess case, on KABC radio
here in Los Angeles Friday
evening. On Friday during
the day Gloria and I were
paired against each other
in a KABC TV news piece.
Both times Gloria was....(sigh)
Gloria. She's good at what
she does but at this point
I've debated her on these
issues so many times that
I usually can guess what
she's going to say next.
For example,
Gloria often says that restrictions
on move-aways unfairly restrict
custodial moms from moving,
while not restricting noncustodial
fathers. I answer that in
these cases both parents
are free to move wherever
they want--it is the children
who may not be moved if
a court determines that
it is against their best
interests.
Gloria
often says that restrictions
on move-aways keep custodial
parents "held hostage"
in their neighborhoods,
and that they should be
able to "move on with
their lives." I respond
that both parents retain
responsibilities to their
children after divorce which
are sometimes inconvenient
or limiting, and ask "Would
we argue that noncustodial
parents' responsibility
to pay child support holds
them 'hostage?' Do we condone
the behavior of divorced
parents who decide to drop
out of their children's
lives or stop paying child
support because they've
decided to 'move on with
their lives?'"
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Father Denounces Move-Aways
on KABC-TV
The best
part of the radio or TV
jousting was the appearance
of Harvey LaForge, a reader
of mine, on KABC-TV. LaForge's
14 year-old daughter was
moved to
Hawaii against his will
four years ago. He had joint
legal and physical
custody of his daughter
and a near equal timeshare
but it didn't matter--mom's
desire for her new squeeze
3,000 miles away was more
important than this girl
having a father.
Many
fathers are hesitant to
discuss their cases in the
media because they fear
retaliation by their ex-wives,
who hold most of the cards
in family court. When I
called Harvey, he gathered
some pictures of his daughter,
jumped in his truck and
drove 60 miles to meet KABC-TV
at my house. Had Harvey's
case been decided under
LaMusga instead of Burgess,
today his daughter would
probably have both of her
parents in her life.
The Sackson Horde is Smarter
Than Me
Thanks
to the dozens of you who
pointed out my stupid error
in last week's enewsletter.
In my discussion of the
LaForge move-away case I
wrote "Had Harvey's
case been decided under
Burgess instead of LaMusga,
today his daughter would
probably have both of her
parents in her life."
Of course, I had it reversed--it
should've read "Had
Harvey's case been decided
under LaMusga instead of
Burgess, today his daughter
would probably have both
of her parents in her life."
Sometimes no matter how
much you proofread things
you still make errors.
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Legal Help for Fathers
If you live in Los Angeles,
Riverside or Orange counties
and you're facing a divorce,
separation, or a child custody
issue, the law firm of Oddenino
& Gaule can help.
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Could a Father Be More Proud?
I found
this Valentine in my
second grade daughter's
backpack the other day.
It's a letter from a sad
little boy in her class
who is new to the school
and doesn't have any friends.
Apparently my daughter befriended
him and made him feel better.
The boy wrote:
"Thank
you for playing with me
when no one would play with
me. You are a good freind.
Talking with me when I was
sad. Thank you for being
my freind when nodotty was
my freind. Eveyone hate's
me but not you. You are
a truw friend. Your friend,
Jon."
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Another Bizarre Father Screwing
According
to the article
Not guilty, but not off
the hook (2/6/06):
"A
man who spent 13 years in
prison after being wrongly
convicted of murder faces
a debt of more than $38,000
in child-support payments
that started accumulating
while he was locked up...
"Larry Souter...was
convicted in 1992 in the
death of Kristi Ringler,
who was found shortly before
3 a.m. on Aug. 25, 1979,
lying in the center of state
Route 37 near White Cloud
in Newaygo County. She died
later that day in a Grand
Rapids hospital.
"Through the years,
medical experts disagreed
about the nature of Ringler's
fatal injury. One said she
likely received the wound
after being struck by an
automobile; another said
the injury matched the shape
of a whiskey bottle found
alongside the highway.
"In 1991, after one
expert reiterated his belief
in the likelihood of the
whiskey bottle theory, Souter
was charged with murder.
"Prosecutors accused
Souter, who had just met
Ringler in a bar on the
night of her death, of killing
her. He was convicted of
second-degree murder and
sentenced to 20 to 60 years
in prison.
"Defense attorneys
fought the conviction and
found that evidence that
could have helped Souter
at trial was lost or missing,
including police reports
suggesting Ringler was hit
by a motor home's mirror.
"A federal judge released
Souter last April 1.
"In 1987, before his
conviction, [Larry] Souter
was ordered to pay $100
a week in his divorce with
Christine Souter. He stopped
paying when he went to prison
in 1992 but didn't ask to
have payments suspended
until 1995.
"Court documents show
that in 1997, he owed $23,000
in back support. As of last
month, interest and penalties
had pushed it to $38,082.25.
"Federal law prohibits
judges from retroactively
wiping out such debts...
"David
Sarnacki, an attorney for
Souter's ex-wife, wrote
in a court filing that his
client 'has endured the
substantial burden of raising
her two children without
defendant's contribution
of child support.'"
I love the quote from his
ex-wife's attorney. Yes,
he didn't pay child support
because he was in prison
framed on a murder charge.
I guess we should be grateful
the lawyer didn't refer
to Souter as a "deadbeat
dad." That'll probably
be next. One would also
think that after seeing
her ex-husband rot in jail
for 13 years for a crime
he didn't commit, she would
feel so damn sorry for the
poor guy that she would
back off. I guess not.
In a
previous article Souter
had discussed putting his
life back together and his
plans. Now he may be headed
back on the road to jail.
I wrote
about California legislation
designed to deal with the
problem of ex-offenders
and child support in my
co-authored column
Schwarzenegger Should Sign
Bill to Reduce Prisoner
Recidivism (Riverside
Press-Enterprise, 9/21/05).
The Bradley Amendment, under
which child support arrearages
cannot be retroactively
forgiven, is the cause of
countless bizarre injustices,
and often hurts deployed
military personnel. In my
co-authored column
Laws must protect the rights
of military dads (Army
Times, Marine Corps Times,
3/28/05) family law attorney
Jeff Leving and I wrote:
"[Child]
support orders are based
on civilian pay, which is
generally higher than active
duty pay. When reservists
are called up to active
duty they sometimes pay
an impossibly high percentage
of their income in child
support.
"For example, a California
naval reservist who has
three children and who takes
home $4,000 a month in his
civilian job would have
a child support obligation
of about $1,600 a month.
If this father is a petty
officer second class (E5)
who has been in the reserves
for six or seven years--a
middle-ranked reservist--his
active-duty pay would only
be $2,205 before taxes,
in addition to a housing
allowance. Under current
California child support
guidelines, the reservist's
child support obligation
should be $550 a month,
not $1,600.
"A reasonable reader
unfamiliar with the wonders
of the child support system
would probably think 'OK,
but the courts would just
straighten it out when the
reservist gets back--certainly
they wouldn't punish him
for something that happened
because he was serving.'
However, the federal Bradley
Amendment prohibits judges
from retroactively modifying
child support beyond the
date which an obligor has
applied for a modification.
Reservists can be mobilized
with as little as one day's
notice. If a reservist didn't
have time or didn't know
he had to file for a downward
modification, the arrearages
stay, along with the interest
and penalties charged on
them.
"When the arrearage
reaches $5,000--a common
occurrence during long deployments--the
father can become a felon
who can be incarcerated
or subject to a barrage
of harsh civil penalties,
including seizure of driver's
licenses, business licenses
and passports."
To learn more, see below:
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Couldn't Have Said It Better
Myself
From
the editorial
Abduction and fathers' rights
(The Daily Dispatch, 2/4/06):
"When
children are abducted, the
authorities scramble to
recover them safe and sound.
"Most of the time.
"When children are
kidnapped from a custodial
parent, and that custodial
parent is a man, sometimes
it seems that bringing the
abducting mother to justice
and returning sons and daughters
to their father's home is
less a priority.
"A Friday incident
in North Carolina reminds
us of another case that
hits even closer to home.
"The Associated Press
reports that two girls abducted
from their father by their
mother in Ahoskie more than
six years ago were recovered
just this week after they
were found in a car during
a routine traffic stop -
in Lillington, less than
175 miles away...
"...we
have to believe that if
it was the father who took
the children from their
mother, a dragnet would've
caught him long ago. The
courts wouldn't simply have
issued almost meaningless
orders that are all but
ignored by law enforcement
and the courts themselves
until a cop stumbles across
kidnapped children - again,
six years later in the same
state - quite by happenstance.
"Simply put, the law
often fails fathers in custody
disputes.
"Witness the case of
toddler Andy Hakes, who
was taken from his father
Jacob - son of Henderson's
Molly Hakes - by the boy's
mother. Andy's mother bounced
between relatives' homes
in Colorado and Arizona
for six months, ignoring
Virginia court orders to
return her son to his custodial
father. Though the Hakes
family often had leads on
where the boy was being
kept, they said the authorities
in those communities would
flat-out tell them that
they didn't want to get
involved.
"If Andy Hakes or the
Steyne girls had been abducted
by their fathers, it's far
more likely that those men
would've been hunted down
and arrested in shorter
order. When mothers steal
their children from fathers,
it seems at times like nobody's
in any hurry to see that
Daddy gets them back.
"It's wrong to assume
children are better off
- or even safe - with their
mothers, especially when
those mothers are committing
a criminal act in keeping
them."
To write a letter to editor
Glenn Craven, click
here.
I've
written a few columns about
parental abductions, including
The Betrayal of the Military
Father (Los Angeles
Daily News, 5/4/03) and
Shared Custody Could Help
Prevent Abductions (Colorado
Springs Gazette, 9/22/02).
Best
Wishes,
Glenn Sacks
GlennSacks.com
HisSide.com
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