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Dear Committee
Members,
When the leading lights of
a supposed "Parenting"
group stand before an audience
to disparage, in venomous
terms, a bill for shared physical
custody, you can bet there's
something fishy going on.
No less an authority than
the National Probate Judges
College, in a study co-sponsored
by Boston Univ. School of
Law, reported that Shared
Custody was in the best interests
of the children, the parents,
the courts, and society in
general. Many, many
more studies have come to
the same conclusion.
However, there's lots of money
to be made from separating
fathers from their children.
Not only from federal incentives
for collecting child support,
but fees accumulated by lawyers,
psychologists, GAL's, etc.,
and the money paid to the
courts by the child support
collection agency. That's
one reason for opposing shared
custody.
The second reason is something
commonly called "The
Gender War". This
battle pits feminists against
all males, fathers in particular.
They believe in female superiority,
not equal rights. They
believe, as one judge once
said, that even an abusive
mother is preferable to a
father for custody of children.
Part of their rhetoric has
more in common with the Communistic
idea of a "transfer of
wealth", than the best
interests of the children.
In this case, the transfer
is FROM fathers, TO mothers,
regardless of income or ability
to pay. In short, they
oppose shared custody because
they fear loss of the immense
profits, both financial and
political, to be gained from
maintaining mother-only custody.
To them, children are mere
pawns.
You will soon have an opportunity
to REALLY stand up for the
best interests of the children,
when HB 529 is returned for
a re-vote. I realize
that it will be a tough decision.
You will have to decide to
vote in favor of the children,
or to sell them out for thirty
pieces of silver. The
opponents of this bill are
numerous, well organized,
and well financed. Many
are on the state payroll,
testifying at taxpayer expense,
or supported by grants of
public monies. The proponents
are, mainly, the fathers who
love and cherish their children;
who wish to remain an active
part of their lives.
Not just a checkbook and a
"visitor".
The Supreme Court Citizen's
Commission on NH State Courts,
of which I am a member, has
been holding "listening
sessions" in cities around
the state. So far, the
VAST majority of complaints
have come from fathers who
have suffered the loss of
their children to the family
courts, and found those courts
to be absolutely lacking in
consideration for the best
interests of the children.
Apparently, HB 640, the bill
sponsored by the Task Force
on Family Law, which your
committee passed last year,
is not working. You
were informed in hearings
that the bill was just a re-hash
of the same old, same old,
with some new language thrown
in to dress it up. You were
informed that that bill needed
the provisions of HB 529 to
make it workable. Well,
it's not working, and you
need to pass HB 529.
Paul Clements |
