Wednesday
Monday
The profound urgency of Florida DCF reform
With much chest-thumping, Gov. Rick Scott last week signed a law clipping auto-tag fees by about $25 per vehicle in Florida. He used the opportunity to blast former Gov. Charlie Crist for raising those fees five years ago.
What Scott cynically failed to mention during the bill-signing charade was that all the top Republicans standing at his side had also supported the auto-tag hikes. It was the depth of the recession, and the state desperately needed revenue.
Scott is desperate to appear gubernatorial because Crist, running as a Democrat, will likely be his opponent in the November election. The auto-tag fee cut was the centerpiece of a tax-relief agenda being pushed by the governor, who trails Crist in the early polls.
Two of the GOP lawmakers who were crowing about this grand windfall for motor-vehicle owners have an infinitely more important job in the days ahead. House Speaker Will Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz have a chance to do something truly crucial and good.
They can shape a law that saves actual lives — the lives of endangered children.
Bills that would strengthen Florida's child welfare laws are winding through both houses of the Legislature after publication of the Miami Herald's shocking investigative series, "Innocents Lost."
The newspaper documented the deaths of at least 477 children whose parents or caregivers had a history with the state's Department of Children and Families. During the six-year period studied by reporters, DCF consistently under-reported the number of victims in its files who died because of violence or negligence by parents and caregivers.
In 2008, for example, the state said the death toll was 79. Using DCF's own records,Herald reporters found 103 fatal cases that year.
Then, in 2009, the state reported that 69 children whose families had prior contact with DCF had died. Reporters counted 107.
The uncounted die just as wretchedly — and as unnecessarily — as the counted.
One of the most awful, notorious cases involved Nubia Barahona, a 10-year-old Miami girl who'd been tortured and starved by her adoptive parents. Soaked in poisonous chemicals, her decomposing body was found inside a black garbage bag on a pest-control truck.
Three years after the murder, the DCF still hasn't sent her case to the Florida Child Abuse Death Review Committee. Incredibly, Nubia's death remains officially uncounted.
The child-welfare system has been overwhelmed and broken for a long time, but that hasn't stopped lawmakers from hacking millions in DCF funding. But this year, Florida has accumulated an extra $1.3 billion in revenues, so there's no excuse not to take action to stop the killings.
Scott has proposed $40 million to hire more DCF investigators and improve their training. That's a start, but drug-treatment and counseling programs are also needed for those who've been allowed to keep their children while under supervision.
The sad truth is there aren't enough good foster homes to let the state move all the kids now living with reckless parents in high-risk situations. In recent years, the DCF has bent over backwards to hold dysfunctional families intact, too often with lethal consequences.
In 83 cases found by the Herald, a little boy or girl died after one or more parents had signed a so-called "safety plan" pledging to take better care of the child. The Senate version of the reform bill aims to make these safety plans more than just a piece of paper. The measure would require prompt and complete reporting of certain child deaths, and offer tuition-aid incentives for social workers who want to become child-abuse investigators.
Still, the Senate bill provides only $31 million in extra funding for child protection. The House version calls for $44.5 million.
"It's tragic where Florida finds itself," Weatherford said last week.
He and Gaetz have the clout — and a moral obligation — to make other lawmakers understand the profound urgency of DCF reform. Children who are known to be in danger are dying, and the state can't even properly count how many.
With $1.3 billion in unanticipated revenue lying around, the governor and Legislature can afford to invest more than a drop in the bucket to help Florida's most helpless children.
Lowering auto-tag fees by 25 bucks might be cause for giddy back-slapping in Tallahassee, but saving even one child from a tortuous death would be a more noble accomplishment.
And one you can't put a price on.
Hiaasen writes for the Miami Herald.
Representative Ritch Workman of Melbourne goes into more detail about the bill.
Posted May 29, 2013.
Posted May 29, 2013.
- FILED UNDER
Alimony Reform Is Coming [Video]
POSTED JUNE 11, 2013 IN DIVORCE VIDEO YOUR FAMILY & THE LAW BY AMBER STATLER-MATTHEWS
Alimony Reform Is Coming [Video]
Amber Statler-Matthews reports on push for alimony reform from permanent alimony to durational alimony.
Deborah Leff Israel founded the Florida chapter of the Second Wives Club, now called the Florida Women for Alimony Reform. Deborah explains alimony changes are needed to weed out people who truly need longer term support from those who are able-bodied and can work but get away without doing so–because of the law.
Lawyers.com videojournalist Amber Statler-Matthews reports on the changes in alimony law, looming in the horizon.
Deborah reconnected on Facebook with a friend, whom she had not seen for 26 years. They fell in love and were engaged in 2010. Three years later, they are still engaged. That’s because Deborah realized if she married her fiance and he fell into financial hardship — the permanent alimony granted to his ex-wife could become her responsibility.
Deborah’s club is part of a growing, national movement to reform alimony laws. The women in the group believe permanent alimony is wrong for several reasons:
- The alimony checks continue until the payee remarries, even if the payor becomes sick or retires.
- Increasing lifespans and co-habitation mean payments get extended much longer.
- Permanent alimony ties former spouses to unhealthy relationships.
- Court ordered alimony payments rely too much on the judge’s discretion.
Family law attorney, Lori Barkus, says new legislation, which creates uniformity and gives people standards and guidelines, is needed. She feels the laws should also allow judge’s discretion, in cases that warrant it.
iStockphoto/ Thinkstock
Reformers are pushing for the following:
- Durational alimony allowing enough time for a long-term homemaker to establish a career, then payments should end.
- Alimony based on established formulas that take into account the length of the marriage, and the age of supported spouse.
- A set date for payments to end.
- Removal of judicial discretion on the payment terms.
Women are now making up larger numbers in the workforce. A recent study shows that 40% of married women out earn their husbands. Change in alimony is coming.
Sunday
Leading Women for Shared Parenting
On May 10, 2013 a group of prominent women unveiled a new organization calling for equally shared parenting as the guiding principle in family law policy and statutes.
Leading Women for Shared Parenting debuted with an impressive list of supporters. From writers, to researchers to legislators and numerous female attorneys, the organization is demonstrating shared parenting is supported across multiple sectors of society.
The group's initial public effort centers on an electronic campaign to endorse a broad policy statement supporting Shared Parenting. LW4SP anticipates thousands of women will show their support for shared parenting by electronically signing the online statement.
Prior to its public launch, 19 women from LW4SP sent a group letter to Florida Governor Rick Scott urging him to sign the bill on his desk containing shared parenting language.
Leading Women for Shared Parenting is an organization whose supporters recognize Children Need Both Parents.
Leading Women for Shared Parenting was founded to dispel the widespread myth that it is only - or even mainly - disgruntled fathers with limited access to their children who promote equal shared parenting as the default model for separating parents.
That is simply not the truth.
Polls in the United States, Canada and other western countries consistently demonstrate overwhelming support in the general population for equally shared parenting. Both fair-minded men and women across all social and cultural lines understand that mothers and fathers are equally important in the lives of their children.
Polls in the United States, Canada and other western countries consistently demonstrate overwhelming support in the general population for equally shared parenting. Both fair-minded men and women across all social and cultural lines understand that mothers and fathers are equally important in the lives of their children.
 |
| Here's a Leading Women for Shared Parenting hub and spoke illustration of issues stemming from a lack of Shared Parenting. |
For some years a number of prominent women in media and politics have been championing this issue in the public forum of ideas and in policy-making circles. Eventually they sought a common platform from which they could bring their support for equal shared parenting to effective attention and positive legislative action.
Thus LW4SP came into being, with more than 150 influential women lending their names in support of the equal shared parenting principle.
Early and eager supporters of the concept included a number of well known women.
Barbara Kay, an award winning Canadian journalist and columnist with the National Post signed on immediately.
Dr. Linda Nielsen, Wake Forest University social scientist, expressed support and offered a number of positive suggestions.
Molly Olson, Founder of the Center for Parental Responsibility and a long time advocate for equality based improvements in family law came aboard.
Phyllis Schalfly, Founder of Eagle Forum and a woman Time Magazine named as one of the 100 Most Influential Women of the 20th Century, joined enthusiastically.
Early supporters also included: Maryland Delegate Jill Carter, Kris Titus of the Canadian Equal Parenting Council, and Jill Egizii of the Parental Alienation Awareness Organization USA.
Others Include:
Sheila Peltzer
Terry Gaspard, MSW, LICSW
Erin Pizzey
Gwendolyn Landolt, Esq.
Rachel Alexander, Esq.
Dr. Janice Fiamengo
Sen. Sylvia Allen
Paulette MacDonald
Karen Selick, Esq.
Rep. Phyllis Pond
Ruth Langford
Terry Gaspard, MSW, LICSW
Erin Pizzey
Gwendolyn Landolt, Esq.
Rachel Alexander, Esq.
Dr. Janice Fiamengo
Sen. Sylvia Allen
Paulette MacDonald
Karen Selick, Esq.
Rep. Phyllis Pond
Ruth Langford
We only support organizations who show an understanding that children need both parents, and that either parent is equally capable of the choice to perpetrate hate or declare peace.
A new group is emerging that may finally change the way Family Courts treat mothers and fathers. Currently, the default in most states is to award the lion's share of the time with the children to mothers, and require the father to pay child support. This is unfair to fathers, and has resulted in massive abuses within the system, leading to fathers committing suicide and being imprisoned. A new organization I am a part of, Leading Women for Shared Parenting, seeks to remedy this inequality by having women and mothers speak up in favor of shared parenting. When legislators realize that women themselves are in favor of reversing this bias, they should finally change the laws to make the default a presumption of 50/50 equally shared custody.
Fathers' rights organizations have tried for years to change the status quo, but have not quite pulled it off, no doubt due to the growing stigma against men in society. They have been marginalized by being called sore losers and deadbeats who only want to lower their child support.
Continually, between 78 and 87 percent of both men and women support shared parenting – and there is no statistical difference between the sexes. Dr. William Fabricius, an Associate Professor of Psychology of at Arizona State University, discovered these results when polling residents in Pima County, Arizona. He also found that polls taken in Canada and a vote in Massachusetts revealed very similar results. But sadly, Fabricius writes, “there is a very sizable gap between current popular views strongly favoring equal custody, as reflected in polls and votes on custody allocation, and actual legal outcomes.”
The reason we don't have shared parenting is because it's a big business. Family law attorneys make too much money off the years of legal fighting, and the state bar associations help their own keep their greedy claws controlling the system by lobbying state legislatures to oppose shared parenting bills.
There is significant research showing that shared parenting is best for kids. There are over three dozen medical studies which indicate that shared parenting arrangements – joint decision-making and near-equal parenting time – provide the best outcomes for children. The studies also reveal that parenting time of every other weekend, commonly ordered by judges, is harmful to children.
Saturday
Fatherless Father's Day ~ #1 Social Problem in America
"Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance." ~ Ruth E. Renkel
Fatherlessness is the #1 social problem of our time because it is the root cause of at least 20 other social problems.
How will you fix this??
Top upvoted questions will be delivered to the candidates
Social problems including: teen suicide, mass murder, crime, drug usage, parental suicide, teen pregnancy and even over 50% of all mental health problems in the U.S. today. The divorce industry is essentially a a criminal racket that is destroying society for its profit motives! Literally! Fatherless Homes Now Proven Beyond Doubt Harmful To Children Children from fatherless homes are*: - 15.3 times more likely to have behavioral disorders - 4.6 times more likely to commit suicide - 6.6 times more likely to become teenage mothers - 24.3 times more likely to run away - 15.3 times more likely to have behavioral disorders - 6.3 times more likely to be in a state-operated institutions - 10.8 times more likely to commit rape - 6.6 times more likely to drop out of school - 15.3 times more likely to end up in prison while a teenage - 73% of adolescent murderers come from mother only homes - 6.3 times more likely to be in state operated institutions There is a fundamental liberty right guaranteed to both parents by the 14th Amendment. This is the right to the care, custody, and nurture of their children. According to the Supreme Court of the United States: Absent a Compelling State Interest of harm or potential harm to the child, the State may not intervene in the privacy of family life. Overall, research studies show that children of joint custodians are better adjusted than children of sole custodians on each of the following measures: general adjustment; family relations; self-esteem; emotional adjustment; behavioral adjustment; and divorce-specific adjustment. Another benefit of Joint Physical Custody is that it improves child support compliance. Researchers have found a positive correlation between the frequency of a parents contact with a child and the payment of child support.
Friday
Disparate Treatment of Pro Se Litigants
Hey, I clicked on the link that I sent awhile ago re "Disparate Treatment of Pro Se Litigants," and it wouldn't pull up...
Posted by Bob Saunders on Saturday, June 29, 2013
Posted by Pro-se America on Saturday, July 4, 2015
Hey, I clicked on the link that I sent awhile ago re "Disparate Treatment of Pro Se Litigants," and it wouldn't pull up...
Posted by Bob Saunders on Saturday, June 29, 2013
Wednesday
What is Family Court Really Like?
NCFM Advisor GORDON E. FINLEY Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Emeritus — Governor waging war on men vetoed alimony reform
May 29, 2013
By NCFM
Editor: Yet again Florida’s Medicare Fraudster lies to the citizens of Florida and continues his war on men (“Scott vetoes bill to end permanent alimony,” 5/2/13). His veto letter implicitly lies by suggesting that a half-century of Family Law and Family Court Practice has been a level playing field where both men and women have been treated equally, fairly, and that when men signed permanent alimony agreements they did so of their own free will and free of any duress. Anyone familiar with Family Court Practice knows that this lie is as bald faced as Scott himself.
Well… it works this way in Florida. Even though our legislature unanimously voted in support of alimony reform there were a few women and a bunch of family law attorneys who make gazillions of dollars from the present system. So I vetoed it.
The letter below was published in The St. Augustine Record on Friday, May 10, 2013 and is followed by the article to which it responded.
Gordon E. Finley, Ph.D.
Governor waging war on men - By GORDON E. FINLEY Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Emeritus - Florida International University, Miami
Scott also wrote “Current Florida law already provides for the adjustment of alimony under the proper circumstances.” Were one to fact-check this direct quote from his veto letter, one would obtain a score of zero out of one hundred. Permanent alimony — which Scott favors — really is permanent and ends only with the death of one spouse. It is virtually impossible to modify permanent alimony no matter if you have Alzheimer’s disease or your income drops substantially or to zero. Pay or Gov. Scott will send a man (but never a woman) to debtor’s prison.
Gov. Scott is so desperate to get the “woman’s vote” that he is willing to wage a war on men and prey on men who already have been preyed upon by an unjust Family Court System.
I hope that his wife divorces him and takes him for every penny he’s got.
Perhaps then, and only then, will he understand that Family Law — which he so fervently embraces — really is a war On men.
Scott vetoes bill to end permanent alimony
TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Gov. Rick Scott vetoed a bill late Wednesday that would have ended permanent alimony in Florida.
Scott vetoed the measure (SB 718) just four hours before the midnight deadline to approve or veto it. The bill automatically would have become law if Scott had done nothing by then.
If it had become law, Florida would have become the fifth state to abolish permanent alimony.
In a letter to Senate President Don Gaetz, Scott commended bill sponsors Ritch Workman in the House and Kelli Stargel in the Senate — both Republicans — and said there are “several forward looking elements of this bill.”
But alimony “represents an important remedy for our judiciary to use in providing support to families as they adjust to changes in life circumstances,” Scott wrote. “As a husband, father and grandfather, I understand the vital importance of family.”
Scott could not “support this legislation because it applies retroactively and thus tampers with the settled economic expectations of many Floridians who have experienced divorce,” he wrote. “The retroactive adjustment of alimony could result in unfair, unanticipated results.”
Florida law “already provides for the adjustment of alimony under the proper circumstances,” Scott wrote. “The law also ensures that spouses who have sacrificed their careers to raise a family do not suffer financial catastrophe upon divorce, and that the lower-earning spouse and stay-at-home parent will not be financially punished. Floridians have relied on this system post-divorce and planned their lives accordingly.”
The proposed law also would have set limits on the amount of alimony and how long one would receive financial support from an ex-spouse.
The bill would have made it harder to get alimony in short-term marriages. And it would have prevented alimony payments from lasting longer than one-half of the length of the marriage.
It also would have required judges to give divorced parents equal custody of their children absent extraordinary circumstances.
“I’m actually surprised,” said Jason Marks, a divorce attorney in Miami, about the veto. The bill had passed the House 85-31, with members of both parties crossing over. The Senate approved it 29-11.
“My assumption is, you haven’t heard the last of it,” Marks said. “Most family law practitioners will agree that uniformity in determination of alimony is a good thing.”
The bill said that in a short-term marriage, defined as less than 11 years, the assumption is that alimony would not be awarded. If alimony were granted, it would not be more than 25 percent of the ex-spouse’s gross income.
For marriages that last between 11 and 20 years, there’s no assumption either way in the bill, but alimony would not have amounted to more than 35 percent of the ex-spouse’s gross income.
And in marriages longer than 20 years, there was an assumption in favor of alimony, though not more than 38 percent of an ex-spouse’s gross income.
Moreover, the bill did not automatically end alimony when the paying ex-spouse retired, but that person could have asked a judge to reduce the payment or even end it. The judge could have considered age at retirement, ability to pay alimony and the financial situation of the person receiving alimony.
Alimony reforms are needed yesterday.
Lifetime alimony is a lucky lottery draw that pays forever for doing nothing.
OPEN
PRESS DAY IN
MONMOUTH COUNTY FAMILY COURT
Friday,
June 7th, 2013 at 8:00 a.m.
Come
Witness a Protected Mobster, Blatant Corruption, Abused Children, and a
Disrespected, Exploited Mother All In One Spot
Come
One, Come All and
See What Family Court Is Really Like
(AND
TEN DOLLARS THE COURT RESCHEDULES THE COURT HEARING TO KEEP THE PRESS OUT SINCE
1500 REPORTERS ARE ON THIS EMAIL BLAST)
Patricia
Pisciotti's motion seeking the return of custody of her three children will be
heard on Friday, June 7th before Judge Justus in Monmouth County NJ. Disgraced Judge Escandon granted Mobster Nicholas
Pisciotti custody despite just being released from prison and his refusal to
continue in the Federal Witness Protection Program. Pisciotti confessed to
killing one man, brutally beating another and a slew of other crimes while a
member of organized crime. He testified against the head of an organized crime
family and several others to avoid serving 40 years in prison. In Federal Court
he admitted that there were known hits on his life, yet he cares so little
about his children that he puts them in danger daily. Come see Monmouth County
Family Court in all it's glory. This
will be the first time the courtroom is open.
Families
Civil Liberties Union - www.fclu.org - Copyright
© 2013 FCLU, All rights reserved. - Our
mailing address is: - FCLU - PO BOX 1011 New
York, NY 10036
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