|
|
|
Conference and Action for Reform - April 15/16
From: Webmaster (webmaster@AKidsRight.org)
This is a message from a mailing list, members@kids-right.org http://www.kids-right.org/ To unsubscribe from this list at anytime, send email to Majordomo@kids-right.org with the following 1 line in the BODY of the message (Subject is ignored). unsubscribe members ====================================================================== Good People, This message contains news on the following: 1. April 15/16th - Conference & Action 2. The Politics of Reform 3. Growing our E-mail List 1. April 15/16th - Conference & Action ---------------------------------- Most of you had already received our earlier message on plans to have Moms & Dads petition their government for Civil Rights protection. We plan on walking into the Syracuse, NY, Federal Building with a smile on our faces and carrying a picture of our children above our heads. Response has been good, for details see: http://www.AKidsRight.Org/plan_syr.htm In addition to this event, planned for the afternoon of Monday, April 16th, we are also planning a Conference to discuss ideas associated with Federal Civil Rights protection. The "internet" is fine, but there is no replacement for face-to-face contacts. The web page noted above, also allows you to register to attend the conference or make a presentation there. MOST IMPORTANTLY, it will allow you to make personal contacts with others who share similar goals. 2. The Politics of Reform ------------------------- To achieve "speedy" reform we need to concentrate our effort where it will do the most good. While we will focus on the government process in the United States, most of these same principles will apply to all governments in the "free world." Our legislature, specifically the House of Representatives, has the power to start Civil Rights Legislation and it also has the power to ammend the U.S. Constitution. It was designed to be "easily" influenced by the public, its members are up for election every TWO years. What can we expect in opposition? What follows is a summary of some shared experience from several "lobbying" attempts in New York's State Legislature as part of just trying to get a "presumption of joint custody." It also includes results from talking to Congressional staff members at a local district office. You can expect a "bill" regarding reform to get stuck in a committee before it comes up for a real vote. In the committee lobbyists and interest groups have a LOT of power. Many staff members at the State Level would tell us, "we would love to help you if it ever comes to a vote, but right now it is stuck in committee." In off-the-record conversations we found out the "bill" would probably never get to a real vote because it was opposed by powerful feminist groups. Almost all of whom see any change as a threat to a "women's power." They recognize the strong bias that exists, but see it as a "necessary evil" which offset the overwhelming power of men. NOW MANY OF OUR MEMBERS ARE WOMEN who have been hurt by that same system. Their obvious answer to you would be that it was unfortunate, but "overall" the policy does more good than harm. We found Congressional Representative VERY relunctant to take any type of real position. They MUCH prefer to say it is a state issue and not a problem of theirs at all. Again, many see it like "abortion", it is a polarizing, no win cause. Just stay out of it. TO WIN ON THIS -- we must avoid turning it into a single gender issue. We are all hurt by this. Approaching a Congressional member as mothers AND fathers does a great deal to defuse the "sex" card. We must also voice a position that is hard to argue with (and we have been naturally blessed with that): We are parents who want equal involvement in our children's lives. It is VERY hard to be against that. It is MUCH easier to disagree with "all judges/lawyers are bad," or "men/women have too much power," or "its a divorce industry conspiracy." THE ONLY THING MISSING -- is that we have to really demonstrate to others how much we have been hurt, by showing them our willingness to sacrifice. NO member of Congress is going to want to appear unresponsive to a group of mothers and fathers asking for their help in Civil Rights (it looks very bad if they ask to have them arrested.) Representative may say they can't help get the bill out of committee, but if they are facing strong local opposition, they in-turn will put pressure on their party leadership. BY ASKING THEM - to take a public position in support of hearings into reform, they have to make their position clear. PLEASE -- sign up for our Conference/Action. Plan a similar event for your area, YOUR member of Congress. 3. Growing our E-Mail List -------------------------- Folks, we would really like to get the word out more and would welcome any E-mail lists you might have of people interested in Family Law Reform. Please send them to us at: webmaster@AkidsRight.Org As many of you know, we don't send out a lot of messages and it's easy to unsubscribe. If you have some addresses, please pass them along. They may already be on our list, we do check for duplicates. ================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list at anytime, send email to Majordomo@kids-right.org with the following 1 line in the BODY of the message (Subject is ignored). unsubscribe members
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jan 18 2002 - 08:57:13 EST |
