Fathers should be present at birth.

In a world where absent fathers have become somewhat of a norm. Debrah Lewis provides viewers with some very insightful comments into why fathers might be absent throughout the life of their children. In this talk she outlines the role of the father in the childbirth process and the shortcomings of a system that does not offer fathers with opportunities to be fully engaged parents from birth to adulthood. We ask fathers to be involved in the life of their child, but deny them the right to be at the starting line, the birth. This talk asks to rethink the role of masculinity in the childbirth experience. 

Debrah Lewis is the first Vice President of the International Confederation of Midwives from the Caribbean. After receiving an MSc in Nurse-Midwifery from Columbia University in 1986, she worked in New York as a public and private practice midwife and also volunteered in Africa. Lewis' leadership led to the formation of the Caribbean Regional Midwifery Association and the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Midwives. She is passionate about strengthening the network of midwives in the Caribbean and ultimately, the world.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Lawyers Who Profit at the Expense of our Children.

The late Judge E. Spencer Walton of St. Joseph County, Indiana often remarked that one of the most important duties of an attorney opening a new file was also one of the least appreciated.

Guess which he was referring to?

A.  Keeping the client informed. 

B.  Treating the client as an equal

partner in the matter. 

C.  Reviewing the file regularly. 

D.  Closing the file. 

E.  Copying the file for the client

d. Closing the file.
(The actual answer - and 21% of responses)

Judge Walton’s admonition may actually stand in some considerable contrast to what the general ethic of the legal profession is: dedicated, zealous, and perhaps even endless advocacy.

But we think that at least in family cases he may be absolutely right.  Are families actually assisted by teams of lawyers and a judiciary remaining more or less permanently involved in their affairs?

Family Law (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It seems to us that the legal profession, not to mention members of the public wanting to make aggressive and far-reaching use of the legal profession, could take a lesson from Judge Walton.  And perhaps from the tendency of more progressive physicians to attempt to work with the human body rather than against the human body.

The “Extra Quote” this week speaks to this point.  Chief Justice Burger went to considerable lengths to try to put the brakes on the law’s tendency (sometimes even a well-intentioned one) to get involved in too much of people’s lives.  And then to stay too long.

At the very least, it seems to us that in family matters parents should be encouraged to do all they can, and use all the useful counseling, mediation, and other resources at their disposal, to reassume responsibility for their lives and the lives of their children.

What Kind of Civil Litigator Are You?

Top 30 indications that you are probably a sleazy civil lawyer

 "South Florida Style"

(if 3 or more apply it’s a rebuttable presumption):

A Year Without My Daughter...here's to you Judge Valerie Manno-Schurr.

Hello David ,

I never thought that i would ever believe there were real fathers that really love their children because my parent inflicted so much pain ,abuse that it crippled us mentally I found help in therapy 16 year's of hard core therapy and after it all who won me" i did not stay crippled , what I am trying to say is i admire the fight fathers put up for their children. please keep it going i believe in good fathers now , please continue to give the little angel by your side lucky stars and when she grows up she will sparkle and and she will say my dad gave me so much love and i am going give lots of to my children some day. God Bless you and your children.

Great Job !!

Sincerely,

Marie.

Judge Manno-Schurr

My 8 year-old Family Court Case presiding Judge. The 5th Judge to preside over my simple case; an unwed…Read More

Do her mistakes qualify her for another six years on the bench? Or is it time that Miami-Dade voters look for someone who is more competent…Read More

Judge Manno-Schurr Reversed again for not knowing the law - United Auto Courts Reports

United Auto Courts Reports ~ Valerie Manno-Schurr has made a habit of being reversed in her first term as Miami-Dade circuit judge. The latest instance was on Feb. 29, when the Third District Court of Appeal determined that she erred in a dispute over a homeowner’s insurance claim. Judge Manno-Schurr has been reversed many times on cases taken to appeal. As of late 2011,…Read More

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

The first case to recognize a non-custodial parent’s cause of action based on the tort of…Read More

This means Family Court discrimination against parents and children who suffer from PTSD legal trauma!

Sanders: End Discrimination Against People with Disabilities -- Sen. Bernie Sanders called for an end to all forms of discrimination including against people who may have a disability.  THERESPECTABILITYREPORT.ORG

"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never in nothing, great or small, large or petty never give in, except to…Read More

Can't I See My Grandmother and Grandfather?

Do Grandparents Have the Rights They Should?

The experts report on the state of grandparent rights in the U.S. today

See state-by-state guide to grandparents' rights.

Coming Soon: As a service to our readers, Grandparents.com is establishing the American Grandparents Association^TM with the goal of becoming a key resource for grandparents who are physically removed from their grandchildren and would like to find a way to visit them.

Richard Kent, a family lawyer at Fairfield, Conn.-based Meyers Breiner & Kent, frequently goes to courtroom battle for grandparents seeking visitation with, or custody of, grandchildren.

"The state of grandparents' rights is terrible," says Kent. Under the current laws, if a couple's adult daughter dies, he says, those grandparents could be denied visitation with their grandchild by the child's father.

Even if they had what most people would consider a classic grandparent-grandchild relationship and, let's say, saw their grandchild every Sunday afternoon. But in the eyes of Connecticut law, says Kent, unless grandparents have functioned as de facto parents — meaning they lived with their grandchildren or took care of them while the parents were at work — they are treated no differently than strangers.

"I think it's absurd that a boy's father can legally keep his grandparents out of his life," says Kent, who wrote Solomon's Choice: A Guide to Custody for Ex-Husbands, Spurned Partners, & Forgotten Grandparents (Taylor Trade Publishing).

Families crumble for any number of reasons: divorce, the death of a parent, drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration. Grandparents in the U.S. do have rights and can seek visitation with grandchildren, but those rights vary from state to state. Understanding your basic rights can help ensure that your relationship with the grandchildren doesn't end should that with their parents. Of course, every case involves a unique set of facts and grandparents who find themselves suddenly cut off from grandchildren should consult a lawyer to discuss the course of action their specific situations require.

When Grandparents' Rights Changed

In June 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision on grandparents' visitation rights in the Troxel v. Granville case. This canceled out a Washington State law that permitted judges to grant visitation to any interested party so long as the visits were in the best interest of the child — even if the parents objected.

The Troxel v. Granville decision was ambiguous because while the majority of the justices agreed that Troxel should be decided a certain way, each had a different reason for doing so which resulted in six written opinions.

Grandparents4Justice Worldwide    parentalrights.org's photo —  Divorce & Corruption a Persistent Pursuit for Justice: Corrupt Lawyers and the Absurd Legal Decisions in the Fraternal Order of Matrimonial Law  Alienated Grandparents Anonymous, Inc. National Headquarters-FL.

Family Court ~ A Bizarre System Encourages Parents To Use Disturbing Tactics

With Steven Sumner Discussing

Bullied to Death:

Chris Mackney's Kafkaesque Divorce

• Interview about Bullied to Death: Chris Mackney's Kafkaesque Divorce on Mynd Talk

• Tsimhoni Custody Case Deteriorates

• Tomasello’s custody nightmare continues

• William Neil Shelton’s very ugly divorce takes a new turn

• The Kafkaesque nightmare of family court

• AVFM News and Activism with Paul Elam – Michael Volpe on Chris Mackney

• The Systemic Bias of the New Jersey Family Court System

Conservatives aren't just fighting same-sex marriage; They’re also trying to stop divorce?!

For years, social conservatives have been fighting to prevent certain people from getting married. But they’re waging a parallel battle, too: Trying to keep married couples together.

In cooperation with the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage, socially conservative politicians have been quietly trying to make it harder for couples to get divorced. In recent years, lawmakers in more than a dozen states have introduced bills imposing longer waiting periods before a divorce is granted, mandating counseling courses or limiting the reasons a couple can formally split. 

States such as Arizona, Louisiana and Utah have already passed such laws, while others such as Oklahoma and Alabama are moving to do so.

If divorces are tougher to obtain, social conservatives argue, fewer marriages will end. And having more married couples is not just desirable in its own right but is a social good, they say. During his presidential campaign, former senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) emphasized finishing high school and getting married as cures for poverty. “If you do those two things, you will be successful economically,” he declared at a 2011 event in Iowa.

A legislative movement against divorce may seem like a non-starter in a country where half of married couples avail themselves of this right, but as with legal challenges to Obamacare and the rise of the tea party movement, today’s fringe idea can quickly become tomorrow’s mainstream conservatism.

Divorce has long been a cultural touchstone in America. Social conservatives regularly advocate a return to a more traditional system of divorce — namely that it be extraordinarily difficult to get. For example, the only way an Alabamian could get a divorce under the state’s original 1819 constitution: “No decree for such divorce shall have effect until the same shall be sanctioned by two thirds of both Houses of the General Assembly.” Even a battered wife — who, of course, couldn’t vote — would have to petition her all-male state legislature and get supermajority approval before being freed from matrimony.

For most of American history, to obtain a divorce, one party had to prove to a judge that the other party was at fault, meaning he or she had committed certain grievous acts that irreparably harmed the marriage, such as adultery or being convicted of a felony. Emotional or physical abuse wasn’t always enough; even adultery or abandonment could be insufficient if a spouse reluctant to get divorced convinced a judge that his or her partner was similarly culpable. And as historian Glenda Riley showed in her 1991 book “Divorce: An American Tradition,” loveless couples often found creative ways to persuade judges to end their marriages: As recently as the 1950s, some couples would stage a bust, complete with hotel room, “mistress,” photographer and private detective who would testify in court about the husband’s (or wife’s) supposed illicit deeds.

This system began to crumble during the 1960s. In 1969, California became the first state to legalize no-fault divorces — permitting divorce without requiring proof of wrongdoing such as adultery — in the Family Law Act, signed by Gov. Ronald Reagan. Within a decade, 45 other states had joined California. By 1985, 49 states had legalized no-fault divorce; New York did just four years ago.

No-fault divorce has been a success. A 2003 Stanford University study detailed the benefits in states that had legalized such divorces: Domestic violence dropped by a third in just 10 years, the number of husbands convicted of murdering their wives fell by 10 percent, and the number of women committing suicide declined between 11 and 19 percent. A recent report from Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress found that only 28 percent of divorced women said they wished they’d stayed married.

167 Red Flags of Parental Alienation

Miami-Dade County Support Group Meeting for Victims of the Family Court System

PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME IS PRODUCED BY A DYSFUNCTIONAL PARENT, BUT IT IS A DISORDER IN THE CHILD.

If the child can withstand the alienating parent’s lies and manipulations, then bad parenting is certainly taking place, but Parental Alienation Syndrome is not. It becomes Parental Alienation Syndrome when the child capitulates and begins to participate in the campaign against the targeted parent. This is where the real damage occurs to a child’s developing personality and young mind and heart.

Dr. Richard A. Gardner did pioneering work identifying Parental Alienation Syndrome in the mid-eighties. He characterized the disorder as a cluster of symptoms:

• A campaign of denigration waged against the target parent.

• Weak, absurd or frivolous rationalizations given for the deprecation.

• The child’s lack of natural ambivalence for both parents.

• The child displays “independent thinker” phenomenon.

• The child reflexively supports the alienating parent throughout the parental conflict.

• The child displays no guilt about cruelty to and exploitation of the target parent.

• The child employs scenarios borrowed from the alienating parent.

• The animosity includes the friends and family of the target parent.

As this page can only, by its very nature, be brief and non-technical, if you know a child whom you believe is being alienated against one of his or her parents I urge you in the strongest terms to get expert advice from the child mental health community.

Re-blogged from:

by Vincent Schiele to my children & To those that may be concerned

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/03/3264705/judges-decision-in-sexual-predator.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

167 Red Flags or Examples of Parental Alienation

The Alienating parent will exhibit specific behaviors, signs and symptoms than those of the children and the target parent.  The following examples of Alienators behavior are called Red Flags.  The more of these a parent exhibits or enacts, the higher the probability of PAS occurring.  Below is a list of over 150 most often used tactics to alienate children from a parent.  A score of 10 or more is an indicator of PAS Impeding with visitation, despite orders Denigrating the other parent in front of anyone who will listen, including the children, as well as calling the TP or step-parent derogatory names in front of the child. Filing allegations of abuse while constantly dragging the ex into court for child support or alimony.  (Note: A truly abused individual wants to have nothing to do with the abuser, making face-to-face confrontation out of the question.) Stopping any contact with the children and the ex’s extended family or friends who disagree with them Believing that they are above the law, and that all orders/laws were made for everyone else but them. Impeding Communication with the children, including blocking access to school records and meetings and events. Grilling the children about their visit, asking the children to spy or collect evidence. Refusing visitation because the ex spouse has been unable to afford the child support or not made a payment. Statements of constant hatred and vengeance about the ex-spouse Refusal to disclose their home address

And, with 40% of working women out-earning their husbands, women are more and more becoming alimony PAYORS.

FLORIDA’S ALIMONY PAYORS
– ON THE GANGPLANK OR TREADING WATER

As a non-profit organization, Florida Alimony Reform’s lifeboat pulls alimony PAYORS out of treacherous waters by providing education, support and the political platform to stimulate legislative change.

Their mission is to improve Florida’s alimony law memorialized in the 1860’s and slightly tweaked in 2012 – so that both party’s – the potential PAYOR and RECIPIENT of alimony – are equally considered before alimony is awarded and during their lifetime for changes in circumstances.

With a new alimony bill submitted for review to the Florida legislative in September 2015, opposition continually makes alimony a feminist issue – but it seems to be more about who has the most money.

And, with 40% of working women out-earning their husbands, women are more and more becoming alimony PAYORS.

During a recent committee meeting, women testified tearfully about hardships for their children – and while family matters tend to be emotional for men and women, it is important to note that Florida’s Alimony Law has nothing to do with Florida’s Child Support Law.

In addition to increasing the fairness and reducing costs for divorce and alimony proceedings, if passed, the new alimony bill would not be retroactive, and will not result in termination of alimony for senior women, who represent less than 1% of alimony recipients.

The new alimony bill has a lot of support behind it, as Florida’s citizens are PAYORS that must live with the uncertainty of how they can pay – once they no longer can work.

In other words, how the State of Florida should consider changes in their circumstances – for example, when PAYORS are burdened with dramatic drops or complete stops in income, at retirement when social security starts, and when permanent or temporary medical and handicapped conditions arise.

Worse, rarely do the RECIPIENTS changes in circumstances come into play – such as when a RECIPIENT is fully supported by a live-in partner and no longer needs alimony to survive – or when a RECIPIENT is qualified to work but holds off looking for a job because they would lose alimony.

Current law does not afford the PAYOR nor RECIPIENT to plan for the future. If elected officials do not bring some measure of predictability and fairness to the equation, both sides can end up bankrupt when the PAYOR’s income stream ends.

Support Florida Alimony Reform at FixAlimony.com, or call 800-239-0867.

First Husbands Advocacy Group - Florida Alimony and Custody Laws Reform We LOVE and THANK Representative Ritch Workman for all his hard work, determination, and passionate support for Alimony Reform.

This is his speech from the 2015 Legislative Session.

It is powerful, heartfelt, and inspiring. The legislators and the Florida Bar Family Law Section are in agreement about the need for alimony reform. It is long overdue.

On January 12, 2016 the Florida Legislature session begins and we are confident Alimony Reform will finally be a reality. 

There is overwhelming support for Representative Burton's HB 455 and Senator Kelli Stargel's companion SB 668. 

https://youtu.be/9iBlfPVYwIg