Divorced Dads: Family Champions

Men's News Daily ^ | July 14, 2003 | Roger F. Gay

[Van Jenerette]

...for Marriage & Family Class reading. Thanks!

[Support Free Republic]

Aww man! Enough of the fundraiser posts!!!

Only YOU can make fundraiser posts go away. Please contribute!

[nickcarraway]

It's important the pro-father groups not become just the opposite of groups like NOW. Things NOW has done are just as bad for women. The idea is come up with pro-family laws, not one that ``favor'' men or women.

[Search4Truth]

Outstanding essay. The degradation of American men continues unabated, to the detrement of us all.

[LiteKeeper]

SITREP

[Orlando]

Great report, and as a veteran and minority father I can report to you, this is the main reason(s) why the inner-cities are falling apart so fast. The good fathers are being taken-out and groups like the NAACP, ACLU and the Democrat control cities are NOT addressing this at all, why?....why?

[thoughtomator]

Interesting stuff. I wonder if anyone has tried a 14th Amendment equal protection argument in such a case.

[texgal]

"Interesting stuff. I wonder if anyone has tried a 14th Amendment equal protection argument in such a case.

Yes, there is the Galluzzo case in Ohio and I will be filing later this year on the unconstitutionality of no-fault divorce laws in Texas stating that my 1st, 4th 9th and 14th amendment rights were violated when my huband who was and had been committing adultery was granted a divorce under no-fault statutes.

[Pikachu_Dad]

"taken out"? You mean MURDERED !!!

[RogerFGay]

bump to an old gang

Yes -- in fact in the Georgia case cited, the trial court found the guidelines unconstitutional based on violations of due process, equal protection, the right of privacy, and an unconstitutional taking of property under the Georgia constitution.

[FReepaholic]

>>...The United States is unique in having established the first reverse Islamic culture in which women hold all family rights and men have none...<<

Wow, I never thought of it that way, but you're absolutely right.

Excellent report, Roger.

[FourPeas]

For all the talk about the importance of preserving family, the strange thing is that only fathers' rights advocates show serious interest through their words and actions.

I am certainly not a feminist; I firmly believe that fathers are fundamental to raising healthy children, especially boys; and I think no-fault divorce is a travisty; however this statement (and additude) is laughable. The vast, vast majority of fathers' rights organizations appear to only be interested in what works best for the father, not the family as a whole. Whether it be money, child custody, visitation or whatever, they may couch it in the language of being "for the family", but I find it laughable.

Is divorce "fair" in our society? No, certainly not. It's not far for the children; it's not fair for the mothers; it's not fair for the fathers. Should the way we, as a society, view and implement divorce be changed? Absolutely, but I don't see following the models of fathers' rights organization as being an improvement, just a different system.

[Orangedog]

Just curious...what specific proposals of the father's rights groups do you take issue with?

[Orangedog]

Yes, there is the Galluzzo case in Ohio...

I live in Ohio but I'm not familliar with that one. What was the outcome?

[Orangedog]

Nice article...sums things up accurately. Has the case been appealed to federal court or are they going to let this one wither on the vine?

[FReepaholic]

>>...The vast, vast majority of fathers' rights organizations appear to only be interested in what works best for the father, not the family as a whole...<<

From what I've seen, father's rights organizations seek to have fathers become more a part of their children's lives.

Seems to me that would "work best" for the "family as a whole"...at least the children.

So, what's wrong with that?

[Orangedog]

I gave up hoping for the system to get better a while ago. Nothing short of a sane, constitutional ruling by the Nine in DC will stop this from getting any worse. I'll bet they refuse to hear it. But considering some of the rulings they have handed down in the past few weeks, if they do take this up, there is no way they will do anything but affirm the Georgia SC since these cases take place in civil court and have become an enormous part of social end ecconomic policy at the federal, state and local levels. To do otherwise would be similar to declaring the federal income tax unconstitutional...it's just too big a part of government and a politically acceptable way control how people live and to transfer wealth without any risk of voter backlash for either political party. Governments NEVER relinquish this kind of power once they have it (short of the government collapsing, ala Soviet Union). Almost every state is in fiscal trouble, and no one is going to do anything to risk losing the $4 billion in federal subsidies that those states receive just on the support collection end alone. Can anyone here honestly see five of the Nine handing down a ruling telling 50 states to scrap the bogus income-shares system, forcing them to recalculate every support order to account for actual costs and to take into consideration the money that fathers need to directly support their kids while they stay them?...hardly...maybe 50 years ago, but not today and not with the current court.

As for me, I'm just going to try and make the best of a system and and society that are totally biased against fathers and try to enjoy the 99 days a year that they have so graciously allowed me to be a dad. Over the next 4 years and two months until my only child turns 18, that gives me 404 days that I'll have with her....I'll cherish each one.

To be absolutely blunt, ANY man who knows who how crooked this system is and doesn't get a vasectomy is a damn fool. The monetary risk are enourmous, but they are pale and down-right trivial in comparison to the emotional and psychological toll they will have to pay when their business arrangement (we used to call this "marriage") falls apart. I'm just glad I don't have a son who will have to go through this mess when he grows up.

[texgal]

I live in Ohio but I'm not familliar with that one. What was the outcome?

To the best of my knowledge the Galluzzo Case is still working its way through federal appeals. I'm in contact with attorneys who filed amicus brief on behalf of Marriage Our Mission on this case and will check with them as to status.

Kathlyn Smith
President
Marriage Our Mission

[Orangedog]

Please let me know what you find out. I'll be interested to know what happens when one of these finally is ruled on at the federal level.