AVFM forums are available here, just giving them another plug.

Men`s Rights Are human Rights!

Article here. Excerpt:

'Would there be a deal that avoids going over the "fiscal cliff" if women were in charge of Congress and the White House?

Female senators resoundingly said "yes" in an interview with ABC News.

"I think if we were in charge of the Senate and the administration that we would have a budget deal by now," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as 18 of her female colleagues nodded their heads in agreement. "What I find is with all due deference to our male colleagues that women's styles tend to be more collaborative."
...
"I think by nature we are less confrontational and more collaborative," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "Not only do we want to work in a bipartisan way, we do it."'

Press release here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON/December 11, 2012 – A Maine bar association panel has recommended the suspension of prosecutor Mary N. Kellett, two years after the state Supreme Court reprimanded Kellett for unethical actions. SAVE applauds the panel’s decision, and calls for stronger oversight of prosecutor conduct.

SAVE – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments – a victim advocacy organization, deplores the fact that frivolous prosecutions harm the credibility of victims and waste scarce taxpayer resources.

In September 2010 the Maine Supreme Judicial Court rebuked Assistant District Attorney Kellett for numerous irregularities in prosecuting a rape claim against Vladek Filler. Despite the decision, Kellett continued to prosecute sexual assault cases that lacked DNA evidence, independent witnesses, and credible allegations, SAVE alleges.

Article here. Excerpt:

'When is a man guilty of rape? When he is accused by more than one alleged victim, according to one MP. Fortunately, the law sees things differently.

It is widely believed that rape is a greatly under-reported crime; not everyone shares this view, especially the False Rape Society*. As they point out, no one knows for certain how many genuine rapes are not reported. The flip side is rapes that are reported but never occurred, and the sad thing is that it doesn't take much of a search to unearth a mass of these.'

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*This off-linked piece is a must-read. Highly recommended.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Women's Refuge says a law change to put economic abuse - such as excessive control over the purse strings - on a par with violent abuse will help to counter the view that only physical abuse amounts to domestic violence.

"Economic abuse" will be included in the definition of domestic violence in major reforms to the Family Court which will go before Parliament for the first time today.

Examples of economic abuse include restricting access to money, extorting or spending someone else's money, or preventing someone from working.

Women's Refuge head Heather Henare said "economic abuse" was an issue for abused women as well as disabled or elderly people with caregivers or other family members who had some control over their finances. She said the change would make it easier for women to recognise it as a true form of abuse.'

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Women, she said, "want to be treated like ladies."

Bennett and her fellow chivalry advocates have the right idea. "If women give up on chivalry, it will be gone," Sommers tells me. "If boys can get away with being boorish, they will, happily. Women will pay the price."

If feminists want to level the playing field between men and women, they should find common cause with traditionalist women, like those at ASU, on the issue of chivalry. Both groups are concerned with how men treat women. They just differ in what that means: Feminists want men to treat women as equals; traditionalists want men to treat women like ladies. Are the two mutually exclusive?

Story here. Excerpt:

'Scientists have found 19 previously unknown grave shafts on the grounds of a notorious Florida reform school, suggesting that many more boys died there amid brutal conditions than had previously been known, the researchers said Monday.

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, which was also known as the Florida State Reform School, closed in June 2011 after state investigators and the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division confirmed widespread abuse over many decades.

The state attributed its decision to close the school to budgetary reasons. Yet long before then, the institution had been the target of investigations and lawsuits alleging not only physical and mental abuse but also forced labor, rape and even murder of the young charges sent to its care since it opened in 1900.'

Story here.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A former Tampa teacher convicted of having sex with a student wants the Florida Supreme Court to take her off probation.

An appellate court in August reversed a trial judge's decision to end Debra LaFave's 10-year non-prison sentence four years early. LaFave appealed to the Supreme Court in October and Thursday she asked the justices to let her remain off probation until they rule.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal also asked the high court to review its decision as a question of great public importance. The panel acknowledged the state had no right under Florida law to appeal the trial judge's decision but cited common law to reverse it.

LaFave pleaded guilty in 2005 to having sex with a 14-year old boy.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The recent arrest of Creekview High School teacher Blake Bearden for sexual assault caused many people to come forward and heap shame on the man for his transgressions.

On Canton-Sixes Patch, several comments were left on the article detailing Bearden's arrest that called the teacher a "pathetic scumbag," a "creep," and "the most disturbed man I've ever come in contact with."

This criticism may well be justified, depending on what the investigation of the case reveals, but what I find interesting is the reaction of people when a male teacher is suspected of misconduct with a student as opposed to a female teacher.

A national survey showed most people favor reforming the Violence Against Women Act. SAVE agrees with the need for reform. We are especially concerned about VAWA's lack of presumption of innocence.

Let's do what we can to fix this. Since there are VAWA negotiations already going on, Eric Cantor needs to hear from you, ASAP! Call (202) 225-2815 and tell Sen. Cantor: "the new definition of sexual assault must be removed from the final version of VAWA!"

We may not have a lot of time left, so let's not waste a minute.

Teri Stoddard, Program Director
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments
www.saveservices.org

Link here. Excerpt:

'A woman labelled "the nymphomaniac of Munich" has been found dead after a drug-fuelled night with a neighbour.

Antje Crapnik, who has twice been arrested for kidnapping men and forcing them to have sex with her, was discovered unresponsive by the man she had just spent the night with.

The 47-year-old was treated for sex addiction in April after police smashed down the down the door to her apartment where she was holding DJ Dieter Schultz against his will, the Sun reports.

Schultz had willingly gone to Crapnik's home after the pair met, but when he tried to leave Crapanik locked the doors and hid her key.

She forced him to have sex with her five more times before he was able to contact police when she fell asleep.

Crapnik avoided any jail time but was forced to consult a psychiatrist for her addiction and admitted that she needed to have sex at least 10 times a day.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Terrill Swift, Michael Saunders, Harold Richardson, and Vincent Thames – known as the “Englewood Four” – had their convictions for a 1994 murder overturned last year, after DNA evidence cleared them of guilt.

Richardson and Saunders spent 17 years behind bars before they were cleared. Swift and Thames served 12 years in prison, and had already been released when they were cleared.

Now, all four men are suing the city, Cook County prosecutors, and several detectives, claiming authorities ignored evidence that a career criminal, Johnny “Maniac” Douglas, was responsible for the murders. Last year, new DNA testing linked Douglas to Glover’s murder.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Equal pay litigation has reached "almost epidemic proportions" but has failed to eradicate unfair pay discrimination over the past few decades, a leading judge has claimed.

Lord Justice Mummery launched a broadside against the “interminable litigation” brought to employment tribunals, implying that workers and employers had better things to spend their money on than lawyers’ fees.

The aim of equal pay legislation was not to bring about endless tribunals but to put an end to sex discrimination in matters of pay - something that was taking “a very long time indeed” to achieve, he added.

The appeal court judge said: “Over 30 years of litigation have not eradicated unjustified pay discrimination against both women and men.

"Equal pay litigation in the Employment Tribunals has now reached almost epidemic proportions…

Story here. This is a follow-up to this story. Excerpt:

'A 4th District Court judge says he is "astonished and deeply troubled" by a Utah adoption agency’s deliberate move to circumvent the rights of a married man whose daughter was adopted at birth without his knowledge.

The Provo judge, while noting the birth mother had deceived her husband, the adoption agency and the prospective parents, has given the adoptive couple 60 days to give the child back.

In a 48-page ruling, Judge Darold McDade said the Adoption Center of Choice’s policy of refusing to disclose any information to Terry Achane once he learned what had happened to his baby is "utterly indefensible."

Salt Lake City attorneys Mark and Scott Wiser, the father/son team that represented Achane, used even stronger language for what occurred.