Posted on 12/22/2005 4:31:18 AM PST by ShadowDancer
Divorced Dad Appeals Ban On Girlfriend When His Kids Stay
POSTED: 6:49 am EST December 22, 2005
DETROIT -- A divorced father will fight a ruling that keeps his girlfriend away from their shared Michigan home when his two daughters visit overnight.
When he became involved with another woman after the divorce, Christian Muller's ex-wife sought the court order based on a Michigan law from 1838 that makes "lewd and lascivious cohabitation" a crime. The ex asked a court to forbid Muller from having overnight visitation with his children when his girlfriend, Michelle Moon, was present.
A judge ordered that both parents be prohibited from having overnight visitation with their children when they have unrelated overnight guests of the opposite sex.
When the children stay overnight, Moon sleeps in her car, her boyfriend's van or at her parents' house.
But an ACLU official said the law violates the constitution by letting the state interfere with parents' relationships with their children.
The father, who did not have the funds for an attorney, represented himself in an unsuccessful appeal before the Michigan Court of Appeals. The ACLU is now representing him.
The civil liberties group is appealing to the state Supreme Court on behalf of Muller. It said it will argue that the decision conflicts with prior rulings and legislation, and that it relies on an unconstitutional statute.
The judge was speaking toward the girlfriend not the father, so how's that interfering with the father's relationship with his kids?
Of course, if the mother decides to enter in to a lesbian relationship, there is a new-found constitutional right to do so that trumps all statutes.
The ACLU's right on this one.
-Eric
Maybe being shacked up is a very important value that he wants to pass on to his children.
And what kind of person would sleep in her car, in Michigan, instead of getting a motel room for the night?
I wonder if this law has ever been applied in the reverse, the mother can't have a live in boyfriend?
Jack
The standard is always "best interests of the child". I think the judge is right on this and it is often part of custody agreeements that the parent shall not cohabit with someone not related by blood or marriage. Pretty standard.
The ACLU is right about this case (though they are wrong about almost anything else).
yea sure thing, lol
A judge ordered that both parents be prohibited from having overnight visitation with their children when they have unrelated overnight guests of the opposite sex.
What if the mother were gay? The ruling only covers overnight guests of the same sex. That's a pretty big omission.
[The ACLU is right about this case (though they are wrong about almost anything else).]
I agree. The ACLU is, unfortunately, necessary...when they aren't defending serial killers and terrorists.
The ACLU was apparently needed when a woman was fired last year from a Virginia sherriff's office because she wasn't married to her live-in boyfriend. The sherriff liked her but she was "violating" some century old law that he felt he had to uphold. I'd like to hear how that case is going. When you start firing good Republicans because they aren't married to their opposite-sex housemate...BEFORE you fire actual liberals among your staff...that is a problem.
Photos? before I decide..
And remember, the aclu isn't perfect. mathematically speaking they are bound to take the correct position a percentage of the time. Think of 1000 monkeys at typewriters, would they eventually write some Shakespeare??
Why are they right?
Ditto to your post
Oooops, I meant opposite sex.
""Why are they right?"
Ostensibly based on this statement only, I would agree with their position. It does not take into account the hidden agenda, of course and the aclu does not apply this position equally to all.
"But an ACLU official said the law violates the constitution by letting the state interfere with parents' relationships with their children."
The same kind of a person that lives like they are married, but are not.!!!!!
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