NPO: Joint Legal Custody is Your Constitutional Right

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2013-07-18 02:03

Article here. Excerpt:

'Imagine a right that for nearly a century U.S. courts (including the Supreme Court) have recognized as a constitutionally-protected “fundamental right” which “cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political institutions.” Such a right “undeniably warrants deference, and, absent a powerful countervailing interest, protection”.

Surely such a right would be zealously protected by the courts. And if it were not, we should be outraged.

There is such a right. It receives little protection by our courts. And we should, indeed, be outraged!

Reading the language our courts invoke when discussing parental rights, one would expect those rights to receive vigilant protection from the courts. But, in fact, family law courts across the nation routinely infringe on parental rights with not even a semblance of due process required when restricting fundamental constitutional rights.'

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Comments

I deleted my original comment because I misread the article, making my response off target.

However, my concern still holds true, that I wish sites such as Fathers for Families, now called National Parents Organization (NPO), and others would be more forthcoming as to how they gather their information, especially their numbers and statistics. In the article it indicates 85% of divorced fathers don't get shared legal custody. "legal custody" is the decision making aspect of parenting, not the same as "physical custody" which is where the child resides.

I am wondering how they came to this conclusion. Every article I pull up from lawyer sites to state law policies indicates that joint legal custody is the norm. So how can NPO's conclusion be so different.

Here is one example:

http://cordellcordell.com/resources/nevada/nevada-child-custody-questions/

this link about Nevada law says this:

[quote] As stated above, there are two types of custody. Under Nevada law, a presumption exists that unless one parent is proven unfit, the parties will share “Joint Legal Custody” over the children. That means, both parents will participate in the major life decisions regarding the children’s lives. [end quote]

My state has the same law, so does California, and so far every state I have come accross has the same law, so I am not sure how or why NPO says 85% of divorced fathers don't have legal authority of their children. Could they be mixing up legal custody with physical custody?

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Submitted by Kris on Fri, 2013-07-19 07:21