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MA. Senate Candidate Scott Brown Co-Sponsored F & F’s Shared Parenting Bill
The race to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat has become a national media story, as polls show that upstart Massachusetts Republican State Senator Scott Brown (pictured) has pulled even with favored Democratic Party candidate Martha Coakley, Massachusetts’ Attorney General. President Obama has come to Massachusetts to try to save the race for Coakley–this in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-1.
Senator Brown has been a co-sponsor of Fathers & Families’ Shared Parenting Bill, has met with F & F Board Chairman Ned Holstein, MD, and has spoken at a F & F meeting. Dr. Holstein explains:
Our Shared Parenting Bill, which Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has publicly pledged to sign, would end the barbaric practice of judges stripping fathers (or sometimes mothers) of custody of their children without a sound, stated basis. Family courts must protect the relationship between children and both parents after a divorce, instead of allowing an angry mother (or father) to push the other parent out.
Fathers & Families recently circulated the message below to its Massachusetts members concerning some of Brown and Coakley’s positions, and we urge our members to vote on Tuesday, January 19.
Distinct Differences Among Senate Candidates
The three candidates hoping to fill the US Senate seat of the late Teddy Kennedy have distinctly different records on some of the issues of concern to Fathers and Families members. In alphabetical order, the candidates’ records are given.
Scott Brown
- Shared Parenting: As a member of the Massachusetts legislature for over five years, Senator Brown has clearly supported a presumption of shared parenting after divorce. In fact, he was a co-sponsor of Fathers and Families’ HB 1460, a bill which calls for just such a presumption. As a child of divorce, he also has supported shared parenting in conversations with me. Members may recall that Brown spoke at a Fathers and Families meeting.
- Restraining Order Abuse: We are not aware that Senator Brown has taken any public position on the abuse of restraining orders.
- Gerald Amirault Parole: We are not aware that Senator Brown has taken any public position on this issue (see below for a description of this matter.)
Martha Coakley
- Shared Parenting: We are unaware that Attorney General Coakley has taken any position concerning shared parenting. We phoned her campaign headquarters requesting information, but so far have not received a return call. Should we receive a response, we will let you know as soon as possible.
- Restraining Order Abuse: Coakley has been a supporter of current restraining order policies as Middlesex County District Attorney from 1999 to 2007 and as Attorney General since 2007. She has also supported mandatory prosecution of restraining order violations, even when those violations are trivial, unintentional, or harmless.
I appeared on the Greater Boston television show with Coakley and hostess Emily Rooney, as well as a member of Fathers and Families who had been the victim of a questionable restraining order. His ex-wife had invaded his home without invitation and had begun rummaging through the contents. Our member called the police to have her escorted out. They did so, but our member ended up as the recipient of a restraining order for this incident. Coakley defended restraining order policies on the show, and did not acknowledge the need for any changes.
- Gerald Amirault Parole: Amirault was convicted of preposterous child sexual abuse charges in the 1980’s in the notorious Fells Acre Case. He was imprisoned for many years. In 2001, the Massachusetts Parole Board stated, “It is clearly a matter of public knowledge that, at the minimum, real and substantial doubt exists concerning petitioner’s conviction.”
Indeed, it is hard to know how anyone could be convicted of raping a young girl with a two-foot butcher knife without leaving any injuries, or of tying naked children to trees within view of a highway and visitors to the childcare center. But Coakley lobbied hard and persistently to keep Amirault in prison to avoid embarrassing the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office that had originally prosecuted him. As a result of her efforts, Amirault spent three more years in jail until he was finally paroled during the Romney administration. The Wall Street Journal recently criticized Coakley’s handling of Gerald Amirault’s parole here.
Joe Kennedy
We are unaware of any public position by Mr. Kennedy on any of the three issues listed above. His campaign manager promised to ask Mr. Kennedy his positions, and we will report those if and when we get a response.
As a 501c3 charitable organization, Fathers and Families expresses no preference for one candidate over another. We do, however, urge you to vote on Tuesday, January 19, keeping in mind that there are many important issues on which to judge a candidate, not just those of concern to Fathers and Families.
See you at the polls Tuesday.
Together with you in the love of our children,
Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Chair of the Board
F & F Helps Introduce New AZ Bill to Protect Disabled Fathers from Child Support/Alimony Abuses
“[J]udges nationwide have routinely ignored the U.S. Code and calculated veterans’ disability compensation into divorce settlements as a divisible asset and…in calculating child support awards. Very often these payments are the only assets a veteran may have. Unlawful attachment creates great hardship for those veterans who rarely have the resources to hire legal help to contest the taking of their benefits.”
One of the reasons Fathers & Families has partly focused on California legislation is that because of the state’s influence and prestige, the successes we’ve had in California often spread to other states.
For example, in 2005, Fathers & Families and its legislative representative Michael Robinson successfully worked to pass SB 1082 to protect military parents’ custody rights. Since 2005 similar legislation has been passed in dozens of states, often with our assistance, and we’ve also had some success with federal legislation on this issue.
Now Fathers & Families and Robinson are again spearheading important family court reform legislation, this time to protect disabled veteran fathers from child support and alimony abuses. Last year we helped pass California SB 285 to protect disabled veterans’ VA disability compensation from being seized, attached, levied, or divided for child support or alimony. SB 285, sponsored by Democratic Senator Rod Wright, added an existing federal statute, 38 U.S.C. 5301, to California’s Codes of Civil Procedure.
Advocates and legislators from several other states have contacted us about SB 285, seeking to pass similar legislation in their states. The first is Arizona House Member Frank Antenori's HB 2348. Robinson worked with Major Mark Beres, USAF (retired), who is associated the American Retirees Association and helped craft the newly-introduced bill. The bill currently has 13 co-sponsors and is likely to pick up more as the legislation proceeds.
F & F is also working with advocates and legislators on legislation in Texas and New Mexico, and is laying the groundwork for legislation in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois. It also appears that a failed 2009 legislative effort in Iowa has been revived by CA. SB 285’s passage. In addition, a U.S. Congressman has taken up this issue and we are helping him craft a federal bill which we expect will be introduced in the near future.
Senator Rod Wright’s Fact Sheet for SB 285 explains...
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F & F Concludes Most Successful Fundraising Campaign Ever--in the Face of the Worst Economy Since the Great Depression! |
More people gave money to Fathers & Families in 2009 than ever before, and our revenues shot up almost 80% from 2008.
In a year when almost all non-profits' revenues have declined and many are laying off employees, F & F's revenues are up and we are expanding.
More revenue equals more staff, which means more work, more progress, and more victories. We thank all of you who stepped up.
Fathers & Families is succeeding because we are devoted to the critical task of engaging in the political process on a professional level.
As they say, "money is the mother's milk of politics." Next month we're introducing half a dozen family court reform bills--give to the organization which fights for you by clicking here.
Together with you in the love of our children,
Glenn Sacks, MA
Executive Director, Fathers & Families
Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Founder, Chairman of the Board, Fathers & Families |
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Fathers & Families in the News |
F & F's Sacks Quoted on N. CA. Custody Case: 'Many black fathers make an effort to be fathers for their kids. The problem is that the whole system is against them'
"After the judge's last ruling, Arianas felt out of choices. He had followed all the rules, but was still being forced to place his son in a potentially unsafe situation...Without any system of judicial checks and balances in place, Arianas can only speculate that he faces racial discrimination, a built-in bias against fathers, or that the commissioner simply does not believe him.
"However, Glenn Sacks, the executive director of the advocacy group Fathers & Families, one of the country's leading voices for family court reform, cautions that race is often less relevant than people suspect.
"'There's really no race in family court,' he said. 'Everyone gets raked over the coals. We see this all the time, the stereotypes in the media about black fathers running out on their children, and there are certainly irresponsible fathers out there. But a hell of a lot of black fathers make an effort to be fathers for their kids. The problem is that the whole system is against them'"...
John Tesh Discusses F & F’s Holstein’s Views on ‘Sudden Divorce Syndrome’ on His Radio Show
John Tesh, longtime host of the television program Entertainment Tonight and host of the John Tesh Radio Show syndicated on 360 stations, discussed Fathers & Families‘ Board Chairman Dr. Ned Holstein’s views on “Sudden Divorce Syndrome” on his show last Thursday. According to one poll, 25% of divorced men say they were completely broadsided by their partner’s request for a divorce.
Holstein, MD, a Harvard-trained public health specialist, explains that there is a physical toll from divorce, brought on by excess stress. He notes:
The Top 5 causes of human stress are: 1) the death of a child 2) the loss of a spouse 3) the loss of a home 4) serious financial woes and 5) losing a relationship with a child….four of these five are involved when someone goes through a divorce..
According to a study done by theAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, blood pressure and cholesterol levels rise and the risk of heart disease and coronary failure increases sharply. Other problems associated with Sudden Divorce Syndrome include diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver, in part because distraught people may turn to unhealthy behaviors, like drinking, after a break up. Divorced men are nine times more likely to commit suicide than divorced women.
Audio of F & F's Elizabeth Barton, PhD Criticizing 'Deadbeat Dad' Raids on Paltalk News Network Available
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