Free Republic

Every argument supporting gay marriage—‘Love is love,’ ‘we deserve equal protection under the law,’ and ‘we’re not harming anybody’—also supports group marriage. The Massachusetts town of Somerville has become the first in the nation to legalize polyamorous relationships. It’s evidence of the slippery slope social conservatives warned would follow legalizing gay marriage.Polygamy was the obvious evolution of redefining marriage. After all, every argument supporting gay marriage—“Love is love,” “we deserve equal protection under the law,” and “we’re not harming anybody”—also supports group marriage.Somerville’s legal recognition of polyamory came about on June 25 while the city council was changing its domestic...

A man who provided sperm to a lesbian couple in response to an online ad is the father of a child born to one of the women and must pay child support, a Kansas judge ruled Wednesday. Topeka resident William Marotta had argued that he had waived his parental rights and didn’t intend to be a father. Shawnee County District Court Judge Mary Mattivi rejected that claim, saying the parties didn’t involve a licensed physician in the artificial insemination process and thus Marotta didn’t qualify as a sperm donor, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. ‘‘In this case, quite simply, the parties...

A bill presented in the House would allow the adoption of a child to take place without the consent of the father, if he has not previously developed a consistent and substantial relationship with the child. The definition of “consistent and substantial relationship,” has not been specifically defined in Missouri law. The bill seeks to express clearly the actions a father must take to develop a consistent and substantial relationship. Unless actively thwarted from doing so by the mother, the father must provide: Consistent prenatal financial support Payment of prenatal and natal medical care for the mother and baby Child...

Earlier this year, a four-page document with a bland title, "Stipulation for Dismissal with Prejudice," was filed in a civil matter percolating on the King County Courthouse's ninth floor. Hardly anyone took notice. Most everyone had moved on. But that document — filed by lawyers tangled up in the estate of Stuart Greenberg, a nationally renowned psychologist whose life ended in scandal — signaled the end of a tortuous undertaking. Greenberg had proved such a toxic force — a poison coursing through the state's court system — that it took more than three years for lawyers and judges to sift...

Since before the election in the Spring that turned Labor out of office in favor of a Conservative/Liberal Democratic government, British voters have been promised a thoroughgoing reevaluation of family law. Begun under the Brown government, the review of family law has been largely cloaked in mystery. But last week, Lord Justice Wall, President of the Family Division gave a speech to the organization Families Need Fathers that sketched the outlines of the coming changes, and many news outlets picked up on his remarks. But most of those were at best suggestive and, as is so often the case, reporters...

Please, I need a name of a ruthless yet fairly honest (is that an oxymoron) family law attorney in the Buffalo NY area, ASAP would be great. Thanks in advance for any help.

DIVORCED FATHERS and their children deserve a better deal than they're getting from the courts. A shared parenting bill in the state House would create a "rebuttable presumption" - that as long as both parents are fit and it is practical, both parents are entitled to equal custody of the children. Currently, custody almost always goes solely to the mother when she objects to shared parenting. more stories like thisA "rebuttable presumption" is an easy concept. The court starts with the common sense position that it is usually in the best interest of children that they be raised equally by...

11-year-old Libby Mashburn is at the center of a child-custody battle with far-reaching consequences. Libby's mother says she lost primary custody of her daughter because she was deemed to be too religious.[A Judge in Alabama ruled that Libby could not be taught the Bible by her Baptist mother.] Libby tells INSIDE EDITION, "I think children should be able to choose who they want to live with." Libby's mom Laura Snider is a member of an [large] ultra-conservative Baptist church in Alabama. Libby spends several hours each week attending sermons. On weekends, she goes to Sunday school.[She attends church at...

American Muslims Believe They Found A Way To Establish Shariah Law in the USA. Quote: And while our attention is diverted by our clueless leaders and the apologists and appeasers of Islamism, this is what’s happening behind our backs. http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/featu..._system/0013143 Issa Smith writes in the American Muslim that Native American courts can be used as a precedent for Islamic courts in the US. Although the Muslim community in North America is vastly different from the Indian community, I feel that in developing a plan for the implementation of Muslim family law, we can in some ways imitate the paradigm of...

MADISON, Ala. — On a January night nine years ago, Laura Snider was saved. A 27-year-old single mother at the time, Mrs. Snider felt she had ruined her life through a disastrous marriage and divorce. But in her kitchen that night, after reading pamphlets and Bible passages that her boss had pointed her to, she realized she was a sinner, she said, she prayed for forgiveness, and put her trust in Christ. Four years later, the conservative brand of Christianity Mrs. Snider embraced became the source of a bitter, continuing custody battle over her only child, Libby Mashburn. Across the...

For fathers and the children who love them and need them, Massachusetts sometimes looks a lot like feminist hell. In this series, Ned Holstein, Executive Director of Fathers & Families, points to four um...problematic...Massachusetts family law bills. The first bill Holstein cites limits the freedoms of all dads--even married dads and "dads" with no children! From Holstein: Here are four candidates for the most dubious family bills in the Massachusetts Legislature....I would like to hear from those in other states – tell me about the legislative doozies in your state. Then we will determine the winner of “most ridiculous family...

No other topics I write about so consistently provoke passionate personal response as those dealing with systemic discrimination against men. When, for example, I point out double standards for boys and girls in the health care system, or expose the use of bogus statistics around domestic violence, my inbox fills with male gratitude simply for acknowledging an obvious fact: Our culture is profoundly misandric.Of the myriad forms of discrimination men cite, one looms over the rest: The egregious treatment meted out to fathers in the throes of contested child custody following the "no-fault" divorces most of them did not...

Marriage is a foundation of civilized life. No advanced civilization has ever existed without the married, two-parent family. Those who argue that our civilization needs healthy marriages to survive are not exaggerating. And yet I cannot, in good conscience, urge young men to marry today. For many men (and some women), marriage has become nothing less than a one-way ticket to jail. Even the New York Times has reported on how easily "the divorce court leads to a jail cell," mostly for men. In fact, if I have one urgent piece of practical advice for young men today it is...

Presidential hopefuls seeking to win conservative voters were quick to voice criticism of an Iowa county judge’s ruling to allow gay “marriage” in his county despite the state’s ban on same-sex civil “marriage.” Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was the first to denounce the decision by Polk County Judge Robert Hanson, who last Thursday ruled that the state’s decade-old same-sex “marriage” ban violated the couples’ constitutional rights. Romney even voiced support of a federal ban on same-sex “marriage.” “The ruling in Iowa is another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Same-sex marriage was legal here for less than 24 hours before the county won a stay of a judge's order on Friday, a tiny window of opportunity that allowed two men to make history but left dozens of other couples disappointed after a frantic rush to the altar. At 2 p.m. Thursday, Judge Robert Hanson ordered Polk County officials to accept marriage license requests from same-sex couples, but he granted the stay at about 12:30 p.m. Friday. By then 27 same-sex couples had filed applications, but only Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan of Ames had made...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Polk County judge has struck down Iowa's law preserving marriage for only a man and a woman. He ordered the county recorder's office to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Six gay and lesbian couples went to court for the right to legally marry in Iowa. Lamda Legal filed a lawsuit in 2005 on behalf of the couples in Iowa, saying they deserve equal protection under the law. Des Moines laywer Dennis Johnson represented six gay couples who filed the lawsuit after they were denied marriage licenses, and he says Hanson's ruling is a moral...

Since the CIR drafters are so intent at giving amnesty to illegals while closing all practical roads to legal immigration, wiping out all hope of those that patiently done all by the book, whether American on legal immigrant: Draft Bill Proposal International Divorce Immigration Relief Act (IDIRA) The purpose of this law is to allow children regular, meaningful contact to both parents, also where families become separated over international boundaries in times of globalization. It also improves the ability of parents to financially support children legally residing in the United States, for example, allowing a parent living in a underdeveloped...

I hope this is not an inappropriate use of this site. If so, please disregard or delete this posting. My family has been torn apart by the state of Wisconsin. Our 12 year old daughter has been taken away by the state and is only days away from being given psychotropic and other drugs against our will. We are in the process of securing legal representation and we surely would appreciate any advice or referrals from fellow Wisconsin freepers. We are looking at local attorneys, of course, but this site has been such a great source of information for me...

He was much larger than me and had a beefy football-player build and short dark hair -- the bouncer type. He was going to get physical if I objected. He was ready to push as we walked quickly past the long row of tables covered with guns and ammunition, past the woman collecting money for admission. Talk to him, I said to myself. Talk to him. I kept telling him I didn't work for the newspapers as he herded me to the exit. "No pictures," he kept repeating. "No pictures," he insisted one last time as he opened the heavy...

<p>The recent announcement from the National Center for Health Statistics that the out-of-wedlock birth rate is at an all-time high is bad news for America’s children. It would be easier to understand, perhaps, if it were naive teenage mothers who were creating this trend. However, according to the new NCHS study, the trend--which is creating 1.5 million babies a year--is being driven by adult women, many of whom are in their 30s and 40s and are choosing single motherhood. They should know better.</p>