Action Alert: Boston Globe Calls for MA Courts to Be ‘Monitored Closely to Ensure That Fathers Get Fair Treatment'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Boston Globe’s Sunday lead editorial Child-custody cases demand discretion, not new laws (6/13/10) focuses on Fathers & Families’ shared parenting bill HB 1400. The editorial arose out of contacts between Fathers & Families’ Board Chair Ned Holstein, MD, Massachusetts shared parenting activist Dr. Peter Hill, and the Globe. The Globe had previously endorsed shared parenting in principle in its 2008 editorial A fair role for fathers (Boston Globe, 2/23/08) after meeting with Dr. Holstein.

The new editorial has positives and negatives. Among the positives, it says “No one can argue against the goal of giving fathers a large presence in their children’s lives.” Moreover, it makes an important call for Massachusetts family courts to “be monitored closely to ensure that fathers get fair treatment, and that, as much as possible, both parents get ample time with their children.”

However, the editorial disappoints in failing to endorse a presumption of shared parenting and/or HB 1400 as a solution, calling our bill “too broad an approach to a challenging issue that demands nuanced, case-by-case decisions based on the best interests of the child.” As Dr. Holstein explained to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in his testimony on HB 1400, the bill isn’t too broad and “does not limit judicial discretion, mandate 50/50 parenting or any other specific parenting schedule, increase parental conflict or re-litigation, diminish protections against domestic violence, nor discard the best interest of the child standard”. To read Holstein’s written and spoken testimony, please click here.
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We urge all Fathers and Families supporters to write to the Boston Globe about their editorial and in support of shared parenting by clicking here (letters@globe.com). To post a comment on the story on the Globe website, click here. To volunteer to be a part of Fathers and Families' work, click here.