|
|
|
Marketing Family Law Reform & Got Milk? / Notes on Trip to DC.
From: Webmaster (webmaster@kids-right.org)
This is a message from a mailing list, members@kids-right.org Unsubscribe instructions at bottom of message. ====================================================================== Good People & People of Faith, This message has info on: 1. Marketing our "product" to Members of Congress - Got milk? 2. A Call for Action - Gary Ewing (recently from jail). 3. Notes on Mother's day trip to DC - Mary Jo Marceau-Hawthorne 1. Marketing our "product" to Members of Congress - Got milk? ------------------------------------------------------------- We are not "America's Dairy Farmers" and we don't have enough money to buy "suits" and "paper down" politicians with our contributions. We can't buy their attention ...so many people think Congressional action is not possible for us. If your "model" of reform is based on "Got milk?" -- you are right. It will never happen in any meaningful way. What would make Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton or Representative James Walsh of New York make time for us (make time for YOU) on their busy schedules? It is really pretty simple. Get several loving parents in some type of demonstration outside "one of their offices" in "their state" and when questioned by reporters mention "their lack of response." If some folks are willing to risk jail as part of NonViolent Action (by carrying a picture of children peacefully inside a building) -- that increases the risk to the "Senator" of a very public trial and potentially even more media attention. That is the political process. That is how representative government was designed to work. Place their chance for reelection at risk. We are blessed with an issue worth sacrificing for and one of major importance: Our right to an undisturbed relationship with our own children. Is a lobbyist for the Dairy Industry going to spend a night in jail for the cause - I don't think so. Will a loving parent be willing to sacrifice a night of freedom for the sake of their children? But we must be "loving", we must be there "for our kids." A story on the 5 o'clock news about angry protesters condemning the system and making a scene and being hauled off to jail (frothing at the mouths) -- will not generate public sympathy and will make it very easy for the Senator to ignore. We are starting to plan events of this type for this fall. Right now we are trying to approach Members of Congress in Washington to give them a chance to respond. We encourage you to sign up at the web site (http://www.AKidsRight.Org/dad2002). Anyone is welcome, we also need coordinators. If your group has been involved in talking with legislators at the state level, your help is welcome. The more groups the better. 2. A Call for Action - Gary Ewing (recently from jail). ------------------------------------------------------ We received this very timely message from Gary a few days ago: DEAR ACTIVISTS, All the talking on the internet is not going to get us anywhere!!!! We must bring our plight to the politicians, the media, and demonstrate by mass civil disobedience. I myself was in jail for non-support (with many other fathers) and I didn't hear from almost anyone. NO PROTESTS, NO LETTERS TO THE JUDGE OR MEDIA, NO NOTHING!!! Fathers are being arrested every day in New Jersey and most of us sit and do nothing but complain to each other. This is a shame!!!!! If we are to bring about CHANGE it is not going to happen on the Superior, Appellate, Supreme Court level. It must happen on the political level. And the only way that's going to happen is if we all make a lot of noise. And so far that has not happened!!! THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY! GaryEwing@webtv.net 3. Notes on Mother's day trip to DC - Mary Jo Marceau-Hawthorne --------------------------------------------------------------- The following was submitted by Mary Jo (MMARCEAU@OCDUS.JNJ.COM) We, John Murtari with 'A Kids Right', my son, Brian, and myself started out to our 10am appointment with Senator Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania but had difficulty parking the car at the metro in College Park. When getting to the metro parking area you must arrive early or there will be no parking to be found. After getting off the metro at Union Station, we tried to meet up with Shannon Ricci, her mom, Cindy and a friend, Victor, in front of the Senate Office Buildings. They drove into Washington DC from West Virginia. They also had difficulty finding parking and didn't catch up to us until much later. We arrived at the Senate office a bit late and had to wait in the reception area until the Legislative Correspondent, Jennifer Shevchek came out to greet us. While waiting, Senator Specter arrived and graciously proceeded around the reception area shaking everyone's hand. Jennifer came and we were taken to a small conference room. Jennifer then asked us the purpose of the meeting. I explained that we came seeking family court reform and the affirmation of our constitutional rights as parents to raise our children. I also added that Child Protective Services and Family Placement Services lacked accountability for their actions and are given too much power. Ms. Shevchek felt that this was a state issue and we should go back to our state and see local representatives. John explained that the family rights act that 'A Kids Right ' has drafted, reaffirms a parents constitutional right to raise their child and a child's right to be with their parent. Ms. Shevchek then explained that we would be more effective if we brought our issues to the Judiciary Committee staff of which the Senator is a member. John asked if the Senator could help by bringing these issues before the committee and recommend congressional hearings. Ms. Shevchek then said she felt the Senator was just too busy at this time and felt that our best plan would be to submit these issues ourselves. She said she would leave the packet we gave her with another staff member and assured us that the Senator would be made aware of our information. We asked if we could follow up in a month and she agreed. We left the building and started a four-block walk to the next meeting in one of the House Office Buildings. The Senate buildings are on the North end of the Capitol Building and the House Office Buildings are on the South side. Our next stop was an 11:30am appointment with Congressman James T. Walsh. We met Patrick Gavin, a Legislative Assistant for the Congressman of the 25th district of New York State. We sat in the cafeteria and talked to Mr. Gavin affirming once again the constitutional right of a parent to raise their child, the right to due process under the law before that right is taken away, and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Mr. Gavin felt that this was again a state issue and not a federal issue. John brought up the point that in similar situations in the past, the federal government had stepped in to reaffirm constitutional rights in granting the women's right to vote and the Civil Rights Act. John and I had put together an information packet, which contained statements from other concerned citizens and names and addresses of supporters as well as signed petitions and individual articles. We gave a package to each Senator and Congressman we met that day. Again we asked if we could check on the progress of this issue with Congressman Walsh's office in June, before Father's day. We explained our goal was congressional hearings. Mr. Gavin thanked us for coming and promised to talk to the Congressman about or issues. We then headed for our next appointment in the Senate Office Buildings and to meet Shannon, Cindy and Victor who had finally found parking and were on their way there. We met in front of the Supreme Court Building. Shannon told us of how her three small daughters were taken by Child Protective Services. She had taken the youngest to the emergency room one evening for an illness and was asked to leave the child overnight for observation. The next day Child Protective was called. They showed up at noon, and by 3pm the children, all three, were taken into custody. The emergency room physician felt that there may have been child abuse. Shannon said the physician never appeared in court but phoned in his concerns to the judge. Shannon's mother Cindy had wanted to take the girls but CPS told her no since she was not an approved by the county as a foster parent. Cindy wanted no money to take care of her grandchildren but the county insisted she had to be approved and would be paid. We next, headed for the Senate Office of Senator Byrd of West Virginia to get the name of the contact staff person, Debbie Miller, whom Cindy and Shannon could contact. We also followed up with Senator Jay Rockefeller's office also representing West Virginia to obtain the name of the contact person, BJ Richards, and left information packets at both offices. We had a 1 pm appointment with Legislation Assistant Kyle Kinner in Senator Edward's office, the Senator from North Carolina. Cindy, Shannon, Victor, John, my son Brian who is twelve, and myself, attended the meeting. Mr. Kinner offered the same argument that we had heard before: "that this wasn't a federal issue but this seemed to be a state government issue". We again said that even though we felt some of the reforms we were asking for focused on the state run governed services such as family court and Department of Social Services, that the more important issue of constitutional rights as specifically defined in the fourteenth amendment of the constitution as the right to life and liberty was key and focused on the right to raise our children as interpreted by the Supreme Court in much of case law. Also, mentioned was the Mondale Act and CAPTA which are federal government laws that fuel the out of control systems at the state level. All of this ran well over state lines. Shannon told her story about the loss of her children. John mentioned another mother who is a non custodial parent and her plight in trying to see her children in North Carolina when she couldn't file papers in family court without an attorney and couldn't afford one. The county would not appoint her an attorney unless she had lived in a shelter. Mr. Kinner said he was not convinced that there was a federal scope in the issues we raised. We asked if we could stop back again in June to check on the Senator's opinion about these issues and the packet we were leaving. Mr. Kinner also suggested that we pursue Senators Hatch, Layhee, and Rockefeller since they were on a committee that could be helpful. At 2pm we had an appointment in the Senator from New York State's office, Senator Schumer. We met with his staff person and again presented the issue of constitutional rights being ignored at the county level in family court rooms and the problems of being assumed guilty instead of innocent before being proven guilty. The Legislative Assistant said that it would be very hard to write and pass laws at the federal level and directed us to go back to our state governments. John Murtari tried to draw his attention to the similarities between the proposed Family Rights Act and two laws enacted by the federal government, the Civil Rights Act and women gaining the right to vote. Both, the Civil Rights Act and the amendment giving women the right to vote were enacted by the federal government when expediency was needed to ensure the liberty of the people. John pointed out that the Family Rights Act that he is proposing would re-affirm the constitutional rights of parents and families. If you are interested, you can read more about this act at John's website, kids-right.org. I also mentioned the foster care system and what a former foster care mother thought of the current system, that it had become dirty and cloudy. We mentioned returning to follow up in June and left a packet of information. I also left information on the Prokoshevs, a family in New York that I had met and talked with who had been through the current Child Protective nightmare. At 3:15pm, we stopped at New York State Senator Hilary Clinton's office. Our appointment had been canceled by the staff person Catherine Brown, but we left a packet of information for her. Our next appointment was in with (upstate) New York State Congressman Tom Reynold's office and staff person Kelly Dixon, a legislative assistant to the Congressman. I had run out of packets at this time since we had miscounted and didn't account for Senator Bryd's and Senator Rockefeller's office stops. I made a mental note to next time have extra since you may not know what will come up. So I promised to send a packet on returning to New York. This meeting was attended by John Murtari, my son Brian, and myself. Again we reiterated our issues. Ms. Dixon asked us many questions and seemed truly interested. She spent a great deal of her time with us and we are truly appreciative. She seemed to have true heartfelt compassion, concern, and understanding. She explained that as most others did she felt that this may be a state issue and not a federal issue. She reassured us that she would talk to the Congressman about the issues we raised even though this was outside his realm of special interest. We rushed to meet our next appointment, which was with (downstate) New York State Congressman Maurice Hinchey and Sara T. Curtis his executive assistant. We were scheduled to meet with the Congressman as well but he was delayed on the floor of the house voting. We talked to Sara for about twenty minutes and promised to send her a packet. We also asked if we could follow up in June. We proceeded to Union Station where foot sore and tired we found the train back to college park. We arrived back at the car and it was safe and sound and started on the seven and one half hour ride back to Rochester, NY. I would highly recommend to anyone who feels strongly about their case to go to Washington DC and meet with your senators and congressman. Show them how important this is to all of us as families who care about or children. It is not hard. All you have to do is call for an appointment, fax a letter with the issues you would like to discuss and get a few others to go with you to share the cost. In June during the week of father's day others will be going. My prayers go with them. Mary Jo Marceau-Hawthorne MMARCEAU@OCDUS.JNJ.COM ================================================================== 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 : Thu Jan 02 2003 - 03:12:01 EST |
