Shared Parenting - Vote was to "HOLD".

But Don't Give Up!

Download the "Don't Give Up! Opinion by the Schenectady Gazette and the "Best Interest" cartoon from the Albany Times Union.  The Capital District Newspapers haven't given up.  FaFNY's leadership hasn't given up!  (we are calling to arrange meetings to compromise and negotiate and PASS SHARED PARENTING...THIS SESSION).  ACFC hasn't given up.  Glenn Sacks hasn't gone away.  What about YOU?

Print the "Don't Give Up!" flyer and send it to your Assemblyperson (Assembly members listed here) and Senator (Senators listed here).  Print the L.E.A.D Flyer and post it.  Make an appointment to meet with your Senator and Assemblyperson in Albany on Tuesday May 9, 2006 (see flyer for times).  Come to the Press Conference in Hearing Room "C" of the LOB at 11:30am.  Come to the Panel Discussion in Hearing Room "C" of the LOB at 12:30pm (see flyer for  instructions).  COME TO ALBANY AND LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD!

Disappointed? Vent to your legislators!

(Follow the action items and see FaFNY's press release on the vote below).

Contact your elected representative and the Committee and ask them:

What are you going to do about it?  When are you going to do it?

Then join us at L.E.A.D. on Tuesday May 9, 2006 in hearing room "C" of the Legislative Office Building! 

ACTION ITEMS:

1. PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL THE NYS ASSEMBLY CHILDREN AND FAMILIES COMMITTEE in BOTH their home district (Wednesday to Friday) and On MONDAY and TUESDAY in their Albany Office (click here for the list). Tell them, 

"The NYS Assembly Children and Family Committee stated that the New York State Courts are biased and broken.  What are you going to do to fix this and when are you going to do it?  Then sit back and wait for THEIR response.

2. THEN CALL YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES AND TELL THEM THE SAME THING. You carry more weight with you elected representatives. (Assembly members listed here) (Senators listed here)

3. CALL EACH AND EVERY ASSEMBLYPERSON AND SENATOR AND ask them, "The NYS Assembly Children and Family Committee stated that the New York State Family Courts are biased and broken.  What are you going to do to fix this and when are you going to do it?

4. JOIN the Parents Rights Movement!   

ATTEND L.E.A.D. - Remember to also print and post the LEAD Flyer for Legislative Education and Awareness Day! 

FaFNY sets LEAD-Legislative Education and Awareness Day for Tuesday May 9, 2006         in Albany, NY.

Download the flyer HERE which includes the schedule for the day.  Call YOUR ASSEMBLYPERSON and SENATOR and make an appointment to meet with them (between 9 and 11:30am or 1:30 and 4:00pm).  Plan on attending the Press Conference at 11:30am and also the Panel discussion at 12:30 (which is being taped for airing as a special).  Download the flyer and schedule HERE.  Take the day off, bring the family!

Check out the March 2005 Capital e-News for Lobbing Information! check ALL the Capital e-News!

The text of FaFNY's press release follows here in its entirety:

Press Release

Coalition of Fathers and Families New York, Inc.
P.O. Box 782, Clifton Park, New York 12065  Tel/Fax (518) 383-8202

For Immediate Release: Contact:  Randall L. Dickinson (518) 899-3302
Tue., 25 Apr. '06 
___________________________________________________________
Assembly Children and Families Committee Kills Shared Parenting Bill

Meeting in Albany today, lawmakers on the Assembly's Children and Families Committee chose once again to ignore the mounting evidence that children denied access to one or the other of their parents following a separation and/or divorce are at a substantially higher risk of a whole range of negative outcomes and research showing conclusively that more equal access to both parents in such circumstances is indeed in the best interest of children.

The Committee agreed to simply "hold" Assembly Bill A330, sponsored by Harvey Weisenberg, D, Nassau County, effectively killing it for the remainder of the current legislative cycle.  Weisenberg's bill, if passed into law, would establish a rebuttable presumption that, absent a finding of parental unfitness and/or potential harm, joint physical custody, or so-called "shared parenting" arrangements are in the best interest of the children following the separation and/or divorce of their parents.

According to Jim Hays, President of the Coalition of Fathers and Families New York, Inc., Committee Chairman William Scarborough had given good faith assurances that he would not block the bill as the Committee's previous Chair had done two years ago, and that he would put it to a honest and straight forward up or down vote.  After delaying and re-scheduling the vote several times over the past month, however, he seems to have reversed himself altogether on both counts.  By sidestepping the issue altogether, lawmakers once again avoided taking a public stand on an issue of growing concern to voters in their districts.

"This is just another breathtaking example of the arrogance of power and a text book illustration of the dysfunction that permeates every level of the New York State Legislature," said Hays.  Hays says that past surveys have indicated 85 percent popular support for shared physical custody of children following a separation and/or divorce of
their parents, members of the Children and Families Committee received over 7,000 faxes and e-mails in support of Assembly Bill A330, and the Committee, itself, today conceded that the current system for deciding child custody cases is hopelessly flawed and that the system is heavily biased against fathers.  Yet, according to Hays, "When given the opportunity vote this piece of legislation out of committee and onto the floor, where it can be openly considered and voted on by the full Assembly, the committee members once again lacked the courage to begin the process of making the necessary reforms and failed the children and families of New York."

Committee members portrayed all men as violent and argued that shared parenting would trap women in abusive relationships.  Assemblywoman Carmen E. Arroyo, D., District 84 (Bronx) was caught on tape stating that fathers can never receive equal treatment in court, because they beat the mothers in front of the children.  "I can only imagine that most of the Committee members have either never bothered to read the bill or have simply chosen to ignore the fact that the issues of domestic violence and child abuse as they relate to the custody of children are not only clearly addressed elsewhere in the Family Court Act, but are also specifically covered in the bill itself, " said Hays.

Hays said that the reasons presented for refusing to put the bill to a simple up or down vote on releasing it from Committee amounted to disingenuous misrepresentations of the bill and to playing politics with the lives of children and the relationships they have with their parents.  "If the committee members are so convinced that this legislation is ill-advised," he said,  "why not simply vote it out of committee and allow it to be defeated by vote of the full Assembly.  What are they afraid of?"  Hays accused the 12 law- makers who voted to "hold" the bill of ignoring the overwhelming popular support for shared parenting and of presuming to be somehow better qualified to know what's best for their constituents than the constituents themselves.

Hays say that the Coalition of Fathers and Families New York, Inc., would like to see another similar bill proposed and voted out of committee before the end of this legislative session.  "Every week the legislature delays in reforming family and matrimonial law in this State costs another 2,980 children one of their parents," he said.  [End of release]