[AKidsRight.Org] NBC Today/ Valentine's Day Action/ New York Lobby/ Canadian Court Decision

webmaster@AKidsRight.org

Good People & People of Faith,

This message contains information on:

1. NBC Today Show looking for parent's input - Civil Right to be a parent?
2. Action for Valentine's Day - Syracuse & New York City.
3. New York - Annual Lobby Day for reform.
4. Canadian Court - NO to joint custody if there is conflict?

If your group has an event you would like us to announce to the
members of our list,  please complete the submission form at:
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/events.htm

1. NBC Today Show looking for parent's input - Civil Right to be a parent?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[We'd encourage you to go to the link below and make the point of
your parenting issue -- I've been denied the right to be a EQUAL
parent to my own children.  Isn't it time we thought about
protecting Family Rights in the United States? - Ed.]

Submitted by: Linda Henderson <lhenderson719@yahoo.com>

The Today show has an upcoming month long show on parenting tips and
concerns and is excepting emails about thoughts, worries, wisdoms on
parenting.  I thought it might be interesting for non custodial
parents to write in and see if they will listen.  Basically the
concerns would be how do you raise your children when you don't get
to see them very much or how to deal with your children when the
other parent is slowing alienating your child away from you.  I
think if enough people wrote to them they might listen especially
since divorce is one of the biggest problems today and many children
are facing it.  Here is the link to send your questions, concerns,
etc.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6769709/

2. Action for Valentine's Day - Syracuse & New York City.
--------------------------------------------------------
Planning is still going on for group events in Syracuse and New York
City for Valentine's Day.  Check the site for background:
http://www.AKidsRight.Org/actionc_syr

In New York City we are trying to get a group of Mother's and Father's
to join Cathy Hughes (chughes@AKidsRight.Org) at a meeting with Senator
Clinton's local staff.  Our goal is to talk about the love we have for
our kids, the pain of separation, and the need for Federal Civil Rights
protection so we can be EQUAL parents to our children.  Please contact
her at the email address above if you are interested.

John Murtari (jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org) is also continuing activities
that day in Syracuse.  Folks are invited to drop off letters at the
Senator's local office and John will be again writing "I LOVE YOU
DOM" in the Federal Plaza. Please contact him for details.

3. New York - Annual Lobby Day for reform.
-----------------------------------------
[The following is usually a well attended event with a lot of groups
and people present.  If you want to get involved with the
legislative aspects of reform in New York you may want to attend -
Ed.]

Submitted by: Randall Dickinson <dickins895@aol.com>

The Coalition of Fathers and Families New York, Inc., will sponsor
this year's annual Legislative Education and Awareness Day on Tue.,
3 May 2005, from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., in the well of the
Legislative Office Building, downtown Albany, N.Y.  A press
conference is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., and a rally is being
organized to take place on the east lawn of the Capitol Building at
12:00 noon.

This event is intended to provide an opportunity for you and your
family to demonstrate support for legislative initiatives to reform
New York's family and matrimonial law and to emphasize to your
elected representatives that you expect them to respond accordingly.
Key elected representatives and Legislative Leaders are being
invited to speak, and will be on hand to discuss issues of interest
and concern to all non-custodial parents and their families.  Those
planning to attend are encouraged to take advantage of this
opportunity by contacting their individual elected representatives
and making the necessary arrangements to meet with them.

On behalf of fathers and their families throughout the State of New
York, I wish to take this opportunity to extend a formal invitation
for you to join us at this important event.  It is my sincere hope
that by providing you with ample advance notice you will set this
date aside on your calendar, and that you will be able to
participate.

Randall L. Dickinson, Vice President, Chairman, Legislative Affairs Committee

4. Canadian Court - NO to joint custody if there is conflict?
-------------------------------------------------------------
[ The following decision is nothing 'New' coming from a Court.
Hopefully it will encourage all of us to work with our legislators
in getting our rights protected.  No GREAT right was ever created in
a Court room. This issue of 'conflict' makes for nice court
discussion and debate. The Judges obviously felt strong enough about
their feelings to issue this decision.  As parents, how do we
demonstrate how strongly we feel? - Ed.]

Submitted by: <bjenkins@axxent.ca>

The Toronto Star, Feb 1, 2005

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1107213017076&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

"Ruling puts limits on joint custody Parents must get along, judge
says No panacea for divorcing couples"

TRACEY TYLER, LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER

Warring couples shouldn't be awarded joint custody of a child unless
they can show they're able to co-operate as parents, the Ontario
Court of Appeal has ruled.

In a decision that's expected to produce a sharp decline in the
number of joint custody orders across the province, the court said
that judges, before making such orders, must have some evidence that
parents are able to communicate effectively.

Courts can't simply order joint custody in the hope that such an
arrangement will force parents to put aside differences for the sake
of the child, Justice Karen Weiler wrote on behalf of the court.

The court's 3-0 decision yesterday reverses a lower court ruling
that awarded joint custody to a Toronto couple who couldn't be in a
room together without screaming - and what one expert calls a
disturbing social trend.

"Joint custody has been on the rise. It's become an increasingly
popular thing. And there has been this underlying assumption that if
one of the parents wasn't parenting well, that joint custody was a
way to improve parenting," said Deidre Smith, a Toronto family law
lawyer. "But if parents can't co-operate, let's not experiment with
their child."

Joint custody "should remain an option for Canadians who work
together, but should not be an option for parents who don't work
co-operatively," added Smith, whose client, Patricia Kaplanis,
gained sole custody of her daughter, Victoria, as a result of
yesterday's decision.

Kaplanis and the child's father, George Kaplanis, separated after a
tumultuous 3 1/2 year marriage. At one point, a marriage counsellor
threw them out of his office because of their uncontrollably abusive
exchanges, the court noted.

George Kaplanis sought joint custody, but Patricia Kaplanis resisted
on the basis that they couldn't communicate without shouting.

At a trial in 2003, Justice Ellen MacDonald of the Superior Court of
Justice concluded that Patricia Kaplanis had an interest in not
co-operating with Victoria's father because it could weaken her
claim for sole custody.

But joint custody shouldn't be ruled out simply because two parents,
"fresh from the wounds of their failed marriage," find it difficult
to be civil, MacDonald ruled, saying that both Patricia and George
Kaplanis had a responsibility to ensure Victoria had a relationship
with both parents.

In addition to ordering joint custody, the trial judge ordered them
to attend counselling to improve their parenting skills and ordered
that decision about Victoria's schools, activities and hobbies were
to be made by a counsellor if her parents couldn't agree.

But she made her ruling without any evidence that the couple had
ever been able to get along, Weiler said.

"The fact that one parent professes an inability to communicate with
the other parent does not, in and of itself, mean that a joint
custody order cannot be considered," she said, writing on behalf of
Justices Robert Armstrong and Robert Blair.

"On the other hand, hoping that communication between the parties
will improve once the litigation is over does not provide a
sufficient basis for the making of an order of joint custody," she
said. "There must be some evidence before the court that, despite
their differences, the parents are able to communicate effectively
with one another."

The court also ruled that MacDonald exceeded her jurisdiction by
ordering the couple to attend counselling.

In a ruling from a companion case released yesterday, the court
dismissed an appeal from another mother, Maria Pia Ladisa, seeking
to set aside a joint custody order. In that case, the parents did
have a history of communicating and putting their children's
interests ahead of their own, Weiler said.

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