BlogWonks

Tim Line, a British veteran of the Falklands War, has scaled the roof of the home of one of England’s leading judges to protest being cut off from his three daughters. To learn more, see my recent blog post UK Protester: ‘It was very difficult to get on to the roof but it was far easier than it is to see my children’.

A letter from Tim to his supporters:

If you are reading this then I am now be on top of Lord Justice Matthew Thorpe’s roof in Seend, Wiltshire. Not an easy roof to climb alone.

This is the same village, where up until June 2006 I lived with my wife and 3 girls and where they still live.

Today 8th August will be a whole year since I last had any contact with them after my wife suddenly stopped me from seeing them.

It took 4 months to get a hearing to apply for a contact order, but based purely on the CAFCASS officers interview with my girls, where my eldest said she didn’t want to see me, the judge said he would not make an order for contact. At no point did the CAFCASS woman interview either my wife or me and had no idea of the background that had brought us to that point. I had a great relationship with my daughters whom I love dearly. To suddenly hear that my eldest did not want to see me was a total shock.

The judge kindly allowed me to “write to them once a month and send them small gifts at appropriate times.” He further advised me to keep the letters short because “children do not have long attention spans.” He was talking about my A* pupil daughters who devour large novels at an alarming rate! He also told my wife to encourage them to respond to my letters, but since that day - despite writing every month and delivering gifts for birthdays and Xmas, I have not had one reply.

This nonsense has got to stop.

I have had a large banner made which reads:

I CAN LIVE WITH ANYONE ELSE’S KIDS

BUT NOT MY 3 GIRLS

DAD LOVES YOU ALL

NO CONTACT FOR 365 DAYS!

FAMILY COURTS DAMAGE CHILDREN

www.fathers-4-justice.org

If any of you live in Wiltshire I would appreciate your support.

I intend to stay up at least 2 days - especially as Saturday is the annual Seend Summer Fete.”

The Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog–A Blog by Attorney Douglas R. Slain Criminal Defense Attorney Douglas R. Slain’s Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog gives a unique perspective on the widespread problem of false accusations. http://falselyaccusedcalifornia.blogspot.com/

Tim Line, a British veteran of the Falklands War, has scaled the roof of the home of one of England’s leading judges to protest being cut off from his three daughters.  From Father explains Batman protest (www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk, 8/8/08):

ESTRANGED dad Tim Line is staging a rooftop protest at the home of Lord Justice Sir Mathew Thorpe in High Street, Seend.

Mr Line, 45, has joined the Fathers 4Justice group and is dressed in a Batman suit.

He climbed up a ladder this morning at about 5am and intends to stay on top of the roof for two days, until after the Seend Fete tomorrow afternoon.

Sir Mathew, one of the country’s most senior appeal judges and who has presided over family court hearings, is understand not to be at home. Police officers are at the house and keeping a watching brief.

Mr Line lived in Seend for 13 years but moved to Hilpteron near Trowbridge when his marriage broke down two years ago.

A former sergeant in the Royal Artillery Mr Line is now a self employed fencing contractor.

He said he had chosen today because it was the first anniversary of his last contact with his three daughters, aged 15, 14 and 12.

A district judge ordered him to have no contact other than to write to his daughters after hearing that his daughters did not want to see Mr Line.

Mr Line said he had written but had not received a reply so didn’t know if his daughters had received his letters.

He also disputes that his daughters don’t want to see him.

Sir Mathew has not sat on any of Mr Line’s court hearings to do with his children.

Mr Line said he had chosen Sir Mathew’s house to stage his protest as he is one of the most senior judges in the country and had the power to change the law at family courts or influence politicians.

Mr Line unfurled a banner on top of Sir Mathew’s house which says “I can live with anyone else’s kids but not my three girls. Dad loves you all. No contact for 365 days. Family courts harm children.”

Speaking to the Gazette from the roof by phone he said: “I have had no contact with my three girls for a year today. They only live 300 metres from where I am stood. You can imagine how painful that is.

“I have written to them and send them Christmas and birthday presents but have heard nothing. I want them to know that I love them and want to pay a meaningful role in their lives.

“I’m not a nutter. Other than a parking fine I have not been in court before. I want things to change, I want to see my girls. Fathers4Justice is not a load of crackpots, we are trying to make the Government and family law courts to try and change a few things which are not only damaging fathers but children as well”…

He removed a Union Jack flag which was flying and replaced it with a purple flag, purple is the colour adopted by Fathers4Justice and symbolises equality.

Mr Line added: “I haven’t caused any damage to the house and I haven’t been abusive and don’t intend to be. It was very difficult to get on to the roof but it was far easier to get on the roof than it is to see my children.”

I don’t know the details on his divorce and can’t vouch for him as a father.  However, I have often seen mothers alienate children from their fathers, and exclude them from their lives, and then justify the exclusion because “the child doesn’t want to see you.”  Yes, I’m sure at times this is really true, but many times it is simply a product of the mother’s malignant influence on the child and the relationship with the father.  I salute Tim Line for his courageous protest.

As I’ve noted before, for a variety of reasons I don’t like it when protesters target judges’ homes or their ex-wives’ homes, and it isn’t generally done. For one, these confrontations can turn violent, as almost happened a couple years ago when Jolly Stainesby protested on a judge’s roof and the judge pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at him.

Two, it drags in the target’s family and children.

Three, it gives the target of the protest the opportunity to go into a big “I’m so frightened of these awful men” act, which generally plays well in the press. This is particularly true when the judge or official targeted is a woman.

Still, I think we have to acknowledge that there’s a difference between doing this kind of thing in the United States–a very violent society–and in England. From what I understand, this type of thing is seen as far less threatening there than it would be here. I wouldn’t recommend this type of protest in the US (though I would recommend other F4J-style protests), but I’ll defer to the UK F4J’s judgment about doing it there.

The American Coalition for Fathers and Children The American Coalition for Fathers and Children is dedicated to creating a family law system which promotes equal rights for all parties affected by divorce. Contact the ACFC at 1-800-978-3237 or visit them on the web at www.acfc.org.

Fortunately the man had an alibi.

The woman also applied for a domestic violence restraining order based on her false claims of rape and abuse. Can anybody guess if it was granted or not?

From Woman arrested for lying to police about rape (Pocono Record, 7/21/08):

Police arrested a Pocono Pines woman after they say she admitted lying to investigators when she accused her ex-boyfriend of assault and rape.

Elissa Easterling, 27, is accused of lying to Pocono Mountain Regional Police by falsely accusing a man of beating and raping her.

After originally telling police and court officials that she was assaulted on two occasions and raped once by her ex-boyfriend, she later said she “has problems” and that she had not had any contact with the man in months.

During the course of a month-long investigation after she told police she had been assaulted, police corroborated the man’s alibi and determined that Easterling had fabricated her reports.

She also testified in order to get a protective order against the man, under oath at Monroe County Court, that she had been raped. The protective order was granted.

When police confronted her with the evidence that she was lying, police say she admitted to making up the assaults. Easterling said the man did not harm her in any way.

She was taken to Monroe County Correctional Facility where she will be charged with perjury and making false reports.
 

FALSELY ACCUSED IN TEXAS? Domestic Violence. Child Sexual Assault. Child Protective Services Defense. Contact the Law Office of Stuckle & Ferguson www.PaulStuckle.com / falseaccusations@stuckle-ferguson.com

“The biggest problem with being against everything feminists stand for is that one of those things is women’s worth and basic equality with men.”

The purpose of “The Feminist Dissident” is to give feminists a chance to speak directly to my audience, and my audience to debate the issues with them in a civil manner. To read previous entries, click here.

If you are a feminist and are interested in submitting a blog post, please email me at glenn@glennsacks.com.

Misogyny on Men’s Rights Blogs: Why Does It Exist?
By Hari Narayan Singh Khalsa

First, I reject on its face the assumption, made by too many feminists, that MRA automatically means misogynist.  It is an assumption that will not survive an honest look at a moderate men’s rights site such as Glenn’s.  Most commentators here are interested in truth and justice, not putting down women.  Misogyny does, however, seem to be more open in MRA circles than in the larger society.

It’s tempting to chalk the whole thing up to a few infiltrators, men not serious about men’s rights who attach themselves to the movement because they feel safer woman-bashing, than in, say, a Harry Potter Livejournal.  While dedicated misogynists/armchair MRAs likely account for some of the total misogyny, their presence begs some important questions. 

Why are these individuals made to feel comfortable and supported while they throw down male supremacy onto their comment window in time with their spittle?  Why does everyone bullet-dive to the defense of the guy, even when he himself admits to unashamed misogyny?  There is a sense that admitting misogyny exists undermines the legitimate claims of men who the system has wronged (the parallel to this, I believe, is the main thrust of feminist misandry).

It is human and understandable for those who have been wronged to turn to prejudice to some degree.  A good portion of men in MRA communities have personal experience with parts of the legal system that have been unjust to them, and this seems to produce a lot of the perpetuation and acceptance of misogyny.  It feels cruel to point fingers at them.  All I can say is that their energies would be better spent in fighting legal unfairness, the other edge of which treats women like children or moral exemplars from a Victorian fantasy. 

For the most part, victims of the legal system’s frequent female privilege do focus on that actual source of their misfortune.  Human nature being what it is, though, they sometimes slather on their blame with a broad brush.  Other MRAs accept it either because they don’t want to diminish the experience of these unfortunates and perhaps for other reasons.

The combination of shell-shocked divorcees and the occasional born misogynist is probably not quite enough to complete the picture of misogyny in MRA communities.  The remainder of the strokes come from a thorough anti-feminism that characterizes the men’s movement.  The biggest problem with being against everything feminists stand for is that one of those things is women’s worth and basic equality with men.

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Katherine, a reader, writes:

There is a beautiful pro-father ad in the current Sports Illustrated magazine (7/28) from the USA Cycling Development foundation. It’s a cycling team member holding his four-month-old-daughter tenderly and feeding her from a bottle.

It’s the most touching ad I’ve seen in a long time. I was drawn to tears when I saw it.  

It’s too small to read on the reproduction above, but the white writing in the lower left says “Fast Freddie and daughter Isabella, 4 months.” “Fast Freddie” is Fred Rodriguez, a leading cyclist.

Parenting Plan Calendar Software Shared Ground (R) is an easy-to-use software program designed for divorced parents to track their parenting plan schedules over many years. Parents, attorneys, arbitrators and mediators can generate equitable parenting plans, which is especially useful for parents seeking fair division of their children’s time. MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. Click here for more information.

We recently discussed Fred Martens case, described by Australian federal MP Bob Katter as “without doubt, the worst case of flagrant and provable injustice that I can remember.” In the case, the father was in the middle of a custody battle and the false sex crimes charges were apparently orchestrated by his ex-wife. Katter says, “It is clear-cut that he is innocent…The people involved should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.” To learn more, see my blog post on the case here.

There’s another thing which really struck me about this case.  Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the case is as it appears — the ex-wife, as part of her custody dispute with Martens, arranged for him to be framed up on the sex crime charges.  Given the extreme poverty of Papua New Guinea, I don’t imagine that it would be hard to pay a 14-year-old New Guinea girl to lie in front of the court.

But think about it this way — this crime (meaning the ex-wife’s crime) took place over a long stretch of time, and continues to this day.  Think of it — if a person murders another person, or commits a serious crime against them, it’s usually something that was planned and perpetrated over a very short period of time.  Even if the crime was premeditated and well-planned, it still occurred over a fairly short period of time. 

Contrast this with the ex-wife’s crime here. Not only did she go through extraordinary measures to have her ex-husband put in prison in 2006, but she has known ever since what she did and has allowed it to stand.  Meaning that from 2005, when she probably began, up until now, the middle of 2008, she has been aware of her crime, could have acted to end it, but chose not to.  Meaning that for three years she has been perpetrating this crime. 

To me this multiplies the crime considerably.  There are plenty of men who might get in a bar fight and stab somebody and regret it later.  This is a despicable crime for which they should be imprisoned, no doubt.  But think of this — this crime occurred not only with extreme premeditation, but also with years of, for lack of a better word, “post-meditation.” 

Is this legally considered to be an aggravating circumstance?  Is this something that the law pays significant attention to?  If anybody knows, particularly some of my readers who are lawyers, I invite you to weigh in.

Parenting Plan Calendar Software Shared Ground (R) is an easy-to-use software program designed for divorced parents to track their parenting plan schedules over many years. Parents, attorneys, arbitrators and mediators can generate equitable parenting plans, which is especially useful for parents seeking fair division of their children’s time. MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. Click here for more information.

A completely unscientific, not statistically significant observation about fathers and daughters:

My 10-year-old daughter has a friend who we’ll call Adrian.  Adrian often comes over to the house on weekends or after school.  Because I work out of my office in our guesthouse, when Adrian is here, usually I’m the one who is watching the kids. 

Adrian does not have a father. She lives alone with her mother, who clearly loves her. Every time Adrian is here — every single time — she tells my daughter, “You are lucky you have a dad.”  On several occasions she has said, “I wish I had a dad.”

My daughter and Adrian sometimes have arguments or disputes, and my daughter thinks that some of it is caused because Adrian is envious of my daughter’s “luck.”

Help for Colorado Dads As someone who has personally experienced the heartbreak of divorce and family breakup, Brett W. Martin, Esq. works to advance the interests and concerns of fathers in domestic and family law litigation. Personal attention is given to clients to help them through a very difficult time in their lives. www.brettwmartin.com

Recently Mark, an Atlanta police office, wrote me a letter about fraudulently obtained restraining orders being used by women against innocent men. To learn more, see I’m tired of seeing restraining orders used as a weapon against good men.

Mark told me another instance of this in a subsequent letter. Mark writes:

Here is another account of a misguided T.P.O. (”Temporary Protection” or “restraining ” orders). Not more that a month ago my partner and I were dispatched to a domestic dispute were the husband had a T.P.O. issued against him. The order excluded him from the home and gave custody and child support to the mother. The allegations were that he was abusive and she was “scared” for her safety.

Obviously, NO police complaint was ever made by her. Fortunately, he was allowed to return to the home, escorted by Law Enforcement, to gather some belongings. This is very rare, but some judges do allow it so that the fathers are not left practically homeless and with no change of clothing. This is a perfect opportunity for a police officer to observe the couple’s interactions.

While the father was moving his belongings, he maintained a quiet demeanor as he was instructed. The wife, on the other hand, did not. She taunted him and continuously berated him while he was gathering his belongings.

She was angry because he was moving his stuff and accused him of “abandoning” her. Guess she forgot she went and got a damn T.P.O. against him.

Anyways, we escorted him into their garage to get his final items. She was repeatedly ordered to stop her instigating behavior. To all our surprise the wife armed herself with a pipe wrench and ran after her husband. The aggravated assault on him would have been sufficient enough to cause him serious injury or death. She was stopped when we tackled her.

She went to the court accusing him of being a batterer. Then was angry because he was moving out, **BY COURT ORDER!!!** It was VERY clear who the primary aggressor was in this relationship. And yes, she went to jail. Totally abolishing her claims to her T.P.O. And yes, I will make sure a conviction is obtained.

Sadly, it’s an everyday thing. I would like to see someone with some real experience in domestic violence to head the revision of T.P.O. orders. First, everyone needs to see that domestic violence is not a gender-based crime. The same battery laws apply to everyone.

Another example of the way the child support system leads to the abuse/jailing of ordinary citizens. From British university lecturer thrown into crowded Brazilian jail for not paying ex-wife £20,000 child support (Daily Mail, 7/30/08):

Martin Boyle is being held in a Sao Paulo prison over unpaid child support. 
 
A British university lecturer has been thrown into a rat-infested Brazilian prison over claims that he owes £20,000 in child support. 
 
Martin Boyle, 45, is in a cell with ten other inmates in Sao Paulo while his family in Britain face ever-increasing demands for cash. 
 
He flew to the South American country last Friday determined to be reunited with his 16-year-old daughter Rebeca by his Brazilian former wife Mara.  But instead of seeing her, he was immediately taken into custody and accused of owing more than £4,000 to Mara. His retired parents, Peter and Mary Rose Boyle, raided their pension to meet the ‘debt’ and get their son released - only for the Brazilian authorities to accept the money but then demand a further £16,000. 
 
Last night Mr Boyle, 71, said he received a mobile phone text message from his son reading: ‘Going into prison now. ’Have to leave mobile with lawyer. Don’t know how long I will be there.’ Mr Boyle, of Spalding, Lincolnshire, said: ‘I have read all sorts of things about these jails - terrible stories about riots and gang rape and it’s very disturbing.  ’I am very worried about his welfare.’ 
 
Martin Boyle, who lectures in linguistics at the University of Kent in Canterbury, met Mara when she studied at his private English school in London in the 1980s.

They moved to Brazil together and married, but their relationship broke down a few years after the birth of Rebeca and Mr Boyle returned to Britain.  His father, a retired merchant seaman, said: ‘He’s been trying to gain access to Rebeca for years but it has always been denied by his former wife.’  Heartbroken by seeing other fathers and children at a recent family wedding, Mr Boyle embarked on a spur-of-the-minute trip to Brazil hoping to see Rebeca for the first time in seven years. 
 
The Brazilian authorities demanded £4,156 they claim Mr Boyle owes for child support dating back to 2003. His father said: ‘It was all wired to Brazil through the Foreign Office. Now they are demanding £16,000 more. ‘A cynic might say this was a scam’…  

Read the full article here. Leaving aside possible corruption/extortion by Brazilian officials, to me the central question here is Boyle’s assertion that his ex-wife was denying him access to his child. If that’s true, he shouldn’t owe anything. If she did allow access, I think child support was appropriate, particularly given the comparative poverty of Brazil.

Boyle’s decision to leave Brazil and return to England after the break-up of his marriage doesn’t speak too well of him. However, it’s possible he was unable to make a living in Brazil. It’s also possible that she was denying him access while they were in Brazil, and he figured by leaving he had little to lose.

One thing is for certain–I don’t trust most governments (including Brazil’s) to fairly adjudicate an international child support dispute.

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At the National Organization for Women’s recent national conference, NOW declared that there is a “crisis for women and their children in the family law courts.”

According to NOW, fathers often “aggressively litigate against mothers” and “use family court to stalk, harass, punish and impoverish their former partners and children.”

But what happens in divorce and child custody matters when there’s no man around to create problems?

It can be ugly. Very ugly.

My new co-authored column, Lesbian Child Custody Battles and Heterosexual Divorce (World Net Daily, 8/5/08), examines lesbian child custody battles and finds that biological mothers often seek to exclude their former partners from their children’s lives, just as heterosexual mothers sometimes do to their ex-husbands.

To write a Letter to the Editor of World Net Daily, one of the largest content websites in the world, click on letters@worldnetdaily.com.

The column, co-authored with Ned Holstein, MD, MS, Executive Director of Fathers & Families, is below.

Lesbian Child Custody Battles and Heterosexual Divorce
By Dr. Ned Holstein and Glenn Sacks

At the National Organization for Women’s recent national conference, NOW declared that there is a “crisis for women and their children in the family law courts.” According to NOW, fathers often “aggressively litigate against mothers” and “use family court to stalk, harass, punish and impoverish their former partners and children.” But what happens in divorce and child custody matters when there’s no man around to create problems?

It can be ugly. Very ugly.

There are now many publicized cases of lesbian custody disputes. While NOW blames fathers for contentious litigation, lesbian custody cases are strikingly similar to heterosexual ones. When a lesbian mother breaks up with her partner, she often tries to drive her partner out of their children’s lives – just as some heterosexual mothers do.

Moreover, lesbian mothers often employ the same tactics. These include: denying visitation or access to the children; making dubious abuse claims; moving the children far away; and denigrating the breadwinning parent’s bond with the children.

For example, in a recent Canadian case, English lesbian mom Connie Springfield employed the tactic of permanently moving the children to another country under the guise of taking them there to visit. According to the Canadian National Post:

“Ontario Superior Court Justice Jennifer Mackinnon ordered Springfield to return to England with her two daughters, Kita, 8, and Freda, 6, whom she adopted with her long-time partner Sarah Courtney six years ago. Ms. Springfield had spirited the two children to Canada late last year in what the judge called a ‘long thought out, deceptive method of her removal of the children.’”

In another current Canadian case, two former lesbian partners, L.K. and C.L., are fighting over custody of a 5-year-old identified only as “J.” In 2002, the co-habiting couple agreed that C.L. would be artificially inseminated via an anonymous sperm donor.

The couple split up when the child was only 9 months old. Afterwards, C.L. employed allegations of abuse against L.K. to successfully scuttle the joint application for adoption that the couple had signed when they were still together.

In A.H. v. M.P., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against A.H., a lesbian social mother who had been the primary breadwinner for her partner, M.P., and their young son. After separation, M.P. sought to minimize A.H.’s role in the boy’s life, arguing that since A.H. was not the child’s primary caregiver, she should not receive joint custody of the boy. A.H. had been actively involved in their child’s life, but the demands of her breadwinning role left her less time with the child than M.P.

Fathers & Families penned an amicus brief in defense of A.H., fearing that the case could set a precedent that would marginalize parents to whom children are deeply attached simply because they are breadwinners.

Some lesbian mothers are so determined to purge their former partners from their children’s lives that they will employ laws against gay marriage or gay adoption in order to do it. In one Ohio case, Denise Fairchild (the birth mother) and Therese Leach agreed that they would share custody of their son, who they both parented since his birth in 1996. In order to protect Leach’s relationship with the boy, in 2001 the two women signed a joint custody agreement of the type approved by the Ohio Supreme Court.

When the relationship soured in 2005, however, Fairchild decided to exclude Leach from the boy’s life, arguing that Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage is grounds for denying Leach shared custody.

In the Wheeler case in Georgia, Sara Wheeler, a one-time gay rights activist and advocate, argues that it’s her “right” to drive her former partner out of their son’s life. According to the Associated Press:

“Wheeler, 36, and her partner, Missy, decided to start a family together and share the Wheeler last name. In 2000, Sara Wheeler gave birth to a son, Gavin, through artificial insemination. Two years later, they decided Missy Wheeler should adopt the child and legally become his second parent. …

“Sara and Missy Wheeler had split by July 2004, and Missy was fighting for joint custody of the boy. … [Sara Wheeler is] now doing something she once would have considered unthinkable – arguing that gays don’t have the legal right to adopt children.”

Similarly, in Jones v. Barlow in Utah, Cheryl Pike Barlow and Keri Lynne Jones agreed to have a child together, raised the girl together as a couple and gave the child both of their surnames. After they split up, Barlow, the birth mother, refused to allow Jones to have contact with their now 6-year-old girl and moved the girl from Utah to Texas.

Having renounced her former sexual orientation, Barlow argued that Jones should not be allowed contact with their child because she is gay. The Utah Supreme Court ruled in her favor last year.

When mothers drive fathers out of their children’s lives after divorce or separation, people often assume that the ex-husband must have harmed her or done her wrong, so “no wonder she’s angry.” These lesbian cases contradict this, and instead buttress the fatherhood movement’s claim that mothers sometimes try to drive decent, loving fathers out of their children’s lives.

Kelly Jordan, a Toronto lawyer who is the former chair of the family law section of the Ontario Bar Association, says cases like the Springfield/Courtney dispute and others are “all very new.”

Actually, for dads, there’s nothing new about them.

This column first appeared on World Net Daily (8/5/08). 

Dr. Ned Holstein is the executive director of Fathers & Families, a shared-parenting organization. Their website is www.FathersandFamilies.org.

Glenn Sacks’ columns on men’s and fathers’ issues have appeared in dozens of the largest newspapers in the United States. He invites readers to visit his website at www.GlennSacks.com.

Help for Colorado Dads As someone who has personally experienced the heartbreak of divorce and family breakup, Brett W. Martin, Esq. works to advance the interests and concerns of fathers in domestic and family law litigation. Personal attention is given to clients to help them through a very difficult time in their lives. www.brettwmartin.com

“Men lie more, women lie bigger. A man’s lie is, ‘Where was I? Um, I was over at Tony’s house.’ A woman’s lie is, ‘That’s your baby.’”–Comedian Chris Rock 

From DNA testing: One in five fathers wrongly identified by mothers in Child Support Agency claims (Guardian, 8/1/08):

Nearly one in five paternity claims handled by the Child Support Agency end up showing the mother has deliberately or inadvertently misidentified the father, figures show.

Since DNA paternity testing figures began to be collected in 1998-99, 4,854 paternity claims have turned out to be false after DNA testing.

Under child support legislation it is a criminal offence to make a false statement or representation, and to provide false documents or information.

However, according to the CSA, there has not been a single prosecution of a woman for making a false claim. The figures showing the number of false paternity claims have been compiled using freedom of information legislation.

The latest figures for 2007-08 show that out of 3,474 tests ordered, 661 or 19% named the wrong man…CSA rules state that if the DNA test establishes that the named father is the actual father, then he must pay for the cost of the test. If the DNA establishes he is not the father then the taxpayer pays, so there is no consequence for the mother in making a false claim.

A few points:

1) One out of every five DNA tests show that the woman is either mistaken or father-shopping. Father-shopping is when a woman lies as to the identity of her child’s father, choosing a high-earning man over a low-earner.

I once had a scientist who ran a DNA lab as a guest on my radio show and he told us that sometimes he would have to test three different guys for the same mother. One would be a well-to-do guy who had money. Another might be a low/middle earning man. The third would be a muscle-bound tattooed guy who just got out of jail.

Who was the real father? Almost always it was the guy who just got out of jail, he said. The women were trying to “father-shop” and get child support from the well-to-do guy to pay for the kids they had during their romps with their bad boys.

2) This can be a terrible injustice against the men involved. Some of the men will take the woman’s word for it or can’t afford a DNA test and end up on the hook for 18 years of child support for kids who are not theirs. Yet, not surprisingly, in 10 years of doing this, “there has not been a single prosecution of a woman for making a false claim.”

3) In light of these injustices, what does the political spokesman say? Here it is:

Chris Grayling, Conservative spokesman for work and pensions, said yesterday: “This is an extremely worrying trend and one where proper action should be taken. If some CSA claimants are getting away with making false applications, it will not only slow things down for other families, but it also sends the wrong message about the things we’re willing to accept.”

No words about the victimized men, but he’s quick to show concern that it may slow things down for other women to get their child support checks.

Read the full article here.

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 Glenn’s E-Newsletter/Week in Review, August 5, 2008 

Mary Winkler–who shot her husband in the back and then refused to aid him or call 911 as he slowly bled to death for 20 minutes–walked away a free woman last year after serving a farcically brief “sentence” for her crimes.

Mary Winkler’s claims of abuse were largely uncorroborated during the trial. According to the testimony from Matthew Winkler’s oldest daughter, Patricia, the dead father–who as he lay dying looked at his wife and asked “why?”–was a good man and did not abuse her mother.

Mary Winkler has been in a custody battle with Matthew Winkler’s parents, who have been raising the three girls since the murder. The Winklers sought to terminate Mary Winkler’s parental rights and adopt the girls, a position I’ve supported. Mary Winkler was granted supervised visits with her daughters last year. Now, sadly, she has gained back custody of the three girls, which is clearly not in the girls’ best interests.

To learn more, see my recent blog post on it here, my co-authored column No child custody for husband-killer Mary Winkler (World Net Daily, 9/14/07), or click here.

On a related note, many of you have written to me about the new English law proposal which will make it easier for allegedly abused women who plan the murders of their husbands to defend themselves legally. I discussed the proposals and the general issue of domestic violence on the BBC last week. According to the Daily Mail:

Women who kill abusive partners in cold blood could escape a murder conviction if they prove they feared more violence.  Under a major government review, they will be punished for the lesser offence of manslaughter, sparing them a mandatory life sentence.  They must establish only that they were responding to a ’slow burn’ of abuse…

Women’s groups had long campaigned for changes to the law to protect victims of domestic violence who hit back in desperation.

But the proposed new partial defence for killers who feel ’seriously wronged’ by ‘words and conduct’ took experts completely by surprise.

Robert Whelan of the Civitas think-tank accused Ministers of introducing ‘gang law’ into the legal system.

He said: ‘To take someone’s life because they say something that offends you is the law of gang culture.

‘Are we really going to introduce into our criminal justice system that it is a defence to say, “I was insulted”?’

Some of the other stories I’ve been covering this week include:

‘Being Single Sucks and So Do Men’

Rockefeller Kidnapping Case–What Else Bears Mention

Actress Keira Knightly Takes Stand Against Digital Enhancement

New Jersey Judges Told: Issue the Restraining Order or Else

Feminists Are Right about Beer Ad

Another Way to Get Money out of Men–If They Break Up with You, Sue

Teen Boy Dives off of Bridge to Save Woman’s Life

Doug Slain: ‘We’re losing teacher-student bonding in the name of fighting sexual abuse’

A Surprising ‘Idiot Spouse’ TV Ad

Law Journal: Fathers’ Rights Movement Has Spurred Dads to Fight for Family Leave

‘Why do men act like such kids when they’re told something they don’t want to hear?’

To comment on what I’ve written or to join the lively discussion on my website, simply click on the “comments” link below each blog post on my website.

Best Wishes,
Glenn Sacks
www.GlennSacks.com 

Help for San Diego, Riverside Fathers The Law Offices of Robert M. Bennett provides caring and compassionate divorce and family law services to clients in San Diego and Riverside Counties. His areas of practice include every aspect of family law, such as divorce, paternity, child custody, child support, spousal support, property division, and post-divorce modification of existing orders. Call 760-631-2082 or go to www.robertmbennett.com

The website www.exrants.com has some interesting rants from people about their exes, particularly by women about their husbands or ex-husbands.  In a rant called Men are babies, one woman says:

Ok, I’m usually a very patient girl until my husband starts to sulk!

Why do men act like such kids when they’re told something they don’t want to hear?

And then when he sulks I get the silent treatment and it pisses me off more!

Do other women have to put up with their man being so damn childish? And if you do, how the hell do women get past their childish behavior?

I suspect that what may be going on in their relationship is something like this:

She is far more critical of him than he is of her.  He doesn’t feel he has the verbal skills to joust with her or to properly defend himself, so he withdraws.  Also–gasp!–he probably feels hurt.

On a more universal note, I occasionally see complaints like this from women about their men, and I always have a bit of a chuckle.  If anybody is accustomed to being criticized it is men.  If anybody is not accustomed to being criticized, it is women. 

In general, women are far more critical of men than vice versa, and far more likely to voice their criticisms.  I think that if men criticized their wives half as much as their wives criticized them, all hell would break loose.

As for “sulking,” I don’t doubt that there are men who sulk and act childish, but it is women who are far, far more likely to remember an offense done to them by their men than vice versa. 

On a related note, in the “from the mouths of babes” department, the other day my 10-year-old daughter and I were discussing some of the conflicts she’s been having with a couple of her friends lately.  Sounding like an out-of-touch old person, I said, “Don’t worry about it too much.  I’m sure soon it will all be forgotten.”  My daughter said:

“Daddy, it doesn’t work like that with girls.  We don’t forget things quickly like boys do.  We remember them.”

The Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog–A Blog by Attorney Douglas R. Slain Criminal Defense Attorney Douglas R. Slain’s Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog gives a unique perspective on the widespread problem of false accusations. http://falselyaccusedcalifornia.blogspot.com/

Recently criminal defense attorney Douglas R. Slain (pictured) had an interesting post about teachers and accusations of sex abuse. In his recent blog post Hot For Teacher No More, Slain writes:

An AP report Friday showed that ten states have taken action in the past few months to crack down on sexually abusive teachers in our nation’s schools.

This comes on the heels of a previous AP study that found 2570 educators had lost their teaching credentials or otherwise been sanctioned from 2001-05 because of sexual allegations involving students…

We are 100% behind the notion that sexually abusive educators have absolutely no business working in our children’s schools…But what bothers us is the last paragraph of the report:

The training will focus not only on stopping sexual predators but on preventing simply inappropriate relationships, said schools Superintendent Jim Rex. Sometimes young, naive teachers do improper things, with no ill will toward the student, and get into trouble, such as texting students’ cell phones or giving them a ride home.

“So much of what schools do is based on trust. Not only must kids trust their teachers, but parents have to trust those teachers too,” Rex said. “And schools have to earn that trust each and every day.”

We’ve all heard of doctors practicing defensive medicine - ordering up myriad tests to cover every base in an effort to avoid liability - but we’re afraid that the educational climate is getting to a tipping point where teachers are practicing defensive mentoring. As we think back to our nascent years, we recall that our very best teachers were those who were indeed willing to cross an invisible barrier and give us that extra attention we sought or needed, the pat on the back when things weren’t going well, or the ride home when our parents got stuck at work.

Granted, in our case the pat on the back never turned into a hand on the ass, but it is a shame that we’re losing this teacher-student relationship that goes beyond the in-class pedagogy in the name of fighting sexual abuse. Clearly, the one-tenth of one percent of bad apple teachers are resulting in a significantly devalued education for the rest of our children.

When I taught school this was an issue–you want to be help the students and be close to them, but on the other hand you don’t want to risk your career being lost over a false allegation. I remember one of my first experiences as a high school teacher, when a male administrator took a few of the new male teachers aside and told us the following story:

One time I was in my office and one of my students, an 11th grade girl, came to see me. She was upset about the bad grade she was getting in my class, and wanted me to change it.

She grew increasingly demanding and ended up threatening me that she would make a charge against me if I didn’t give her the grade.

When I still refused, she stood up, tore her shirt, started screaming ‘Help, Help, he’s attacking me’ and ran towards the door of the office . As she made for the door I saw 25 years of hard work and devotion to my students go down the drain.

Miraculously, there happened to be a female teacher right outside the door who had been waiting to talk to me. When the girl opened the door the female teacher stood in her way and told her that she had heard everything. It saved my career and my livelihood.

Slain’s post continues here. To read more Doug Slain, see his blog http://www.californiacriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/ or click here.

Help for Orange County Dads–Free Consultation Family law attorney J. Christian Conrad in Orange County, California helps fathers with divorce, child custody/visitation, child support, domestic violence, property division, alimony, and other family law problems. Call 949 457-0101 for a free consultation. www.jcc-law.com

Falsely accused taxi driver Aftab Ahmed sharply criticized the young woman who accused him of rape. I agree with every word.

I get so many of these false rape claim stories that I can’t even keep track of them. This one is from last year. Nice to see that the victim’s loyal wife stuck by him.

From A teenage girl who lied about being raped by a taxi driver should be “named and shamed”, her devastated victim said today. (Yorkshire Evening Post, 4/24/07):

Taxi driver Aftab Ahmed, 44, of Allerton, Bradford, was accused of rape in January last year after driving the girl home.

The 17-year-old had been out drinking in Bradford city centre with her sister and friends before they put her in his taxi.

The girl, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice when her case came to trial last month.

Speaking after she was sentenced to a four-month detention and training order at Bradford Magistrates’ Court, Mr Ahmed said the girl had “destroyed” his life.

The teenager was told she would serve two months in custody, but the married father of 11-year-old twin daughters said: “Today is the worst day of my life, I can’t imagine that the person who destroyed a whole family got only two months.

“I’m completely shattered by the news.

“She has destroyed my family life, my social life, and she has destroyed me economically. She destroyed my credibility.

“There is also the effect on my children.

“I believe they didn’t consider these things completely.

“She should be named and shamed.”

Mr Ahmed said he had also lost the respect of his colleagues and suffered financially.

His wife, Amber, 32, who has supported him throughout the ordeal, said she “never doubted him for a moment”.

She said: “I thought she would have got more for what she put me and my family through.

“I can’t tell you how horrified I am.”

Read the full article here.

The American Coalition for Fathers and Children The American Coalition for Fathers and Children is dedicated to creating a family law system which promotes equal rights for all parties affected by divorce. Contact the ACFC at 1-800-978-3237 or visit them on the web at www.acfc.org.

This Mercator car insurance ad is based on the common theme of the idiot spouse except, surprisingly, this time the idiot is the wife, not the husband.

Wonder how that one slipped through…

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

Mary Winkler–who shot her husband in the back and then refused to aid him or call 911 as he slowly bled to death for 20 minutes–walked away a free woman last year after serving a farcically brief “sentence” for her crimes.

To learn more about this horrendous injustice, see my co-authored column No child custody for husband-killer Mary Winkler (World Net Daily, 9/14/07), or click here.

Mary Winkler has been in a custody battle with Matthew Winkler’s parents, who have been raising the three girls since the murders. The Winklers sought to terminate Mary Winkler’s parental rights and adopt the girls, a position I’ve supported.

Mary Winkler was granted supervised visits with her daughters last year. Now, sadly, she has gained back custody of the three girls.

From Mary Winkler Gets Daughters Back (myfoxmemphis.com, 8/1/08):

FOX13 has learned that Mary Winkler has gotten her three daughters back. Winkler picked up her children Friday afternoon. The girls had been living with their paternal grandparents since Winkler killed her husband Matthew in 2006. Now it appears the bitter custody battle is coming to a close.

As soon as Winkler’s criminal trial ended, the custody battle began. But Friday, in an unexpected turn of events, she regained physical custody of her three children.

A source told FOX13 that Winkler picked the girls up Friday afternoon and brought them to her new home in McMinnville, Tennessee. She will soon enroll them in local schools…

Winkler lost custody in 2006 when she was charged with the murder of her preacher husband Matthew Winkler.

Winkler was convicted of manslaughter in 2007 and has been fighting for custody of her children since her release from a mental facility.

Matthew’s parents, Dan and Diane Winkler, have had custody of the girls since 2006 and have been trying to adopt them.

“These young ladies have not expressed any desire to be with their mother or her family,” said Dan Winkler in 2007.

The Winkler’s filed appeals in an effort to stop Mary Winkler from having supervised visits and phone calls with her daughter.

But now, a source said they have turned over custody to the girls’ mother.

This is being called the first step to full custody, although no official court order has been filed.

Steven Carlson, the Custody Coach, has helped thousands of parents with child custody. Steven Carlson's How to Win Child Custody Are you contemplating divorce or separation but are unsure about how child custody will be determined or what you can expect from attorneys and the family court system? Knowing these things can help you win custody. Steven Carlson is the author of "How to Win Child Custody" and the founder of Child Custody Coach in Orange County, California. Don't get caught unprepared, download your copy of "How to Win Child Custody" today. If you need Steven's Custody Coach services, click here.

From the Associated Press’ Judge: Girl’s name, Talula Does The Hula, won’t do (7/24/08):

A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.

Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said…

“The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child’s parents have shown in choosing this name,” he wrote. “It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily.”

The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her “K” instead, the girl’s lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court…

New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Yet another example of family courts overstepping their bounds and invading the private lives of private citizens.  When you get divorced, you throw open your door and your life to the government.  Even though divorce courts side with women and protect women, the courts’ invasive nature can hurt women as well as men.  I don’t think enough mothers and fathers fully appreciate this before filing for divorce.

On the issue of naming, while the name in the story above is pretty out there, in general I am in favor of creative names.  Both of my children have unusual names, and could never be confused with anyone else. 

When my wife was pregnant with our second child, I wanted to name the child “Spartacus,” but she nixed the idea.  I admit she was right, particularly since my second child is a girl.  However, had our child been all boy, he would have been named “Magellan.” 

My daughter ended up with a unique and relatively interesting name anyway.  Her first name, which I chose, comes from an important battle in American history.  Her middle name, which I also chose, is the name of a famous feminist and abolitionist.  My son’s middle name is that of an ancient emperor who was known for his fairness and wisdom.

The American Coalition for Fathers and Children The American Coalition for Fathers and Children is dedicated to creating a family law system which promotes equal rights for all parties affected by divorce. Contact the ACFC at 1-800-978-3237 or visit them on the web at www.acfc.org.

Has the fathers’ rights movement helped spur fathers to fight for their rights to family leave? According to a recent article in the National Law Journal, this is the case.

Jed Hresko, Deputy Director of Fathers & Families, writes:

Boston, MA–Last week, we wrote about how inequality in parental leave - in that case, maternal leave in the UK - increases workplace discrimination against women. Here in the US, the trend federally and in major corporations has been in favor of gender-neutral family leave, to be taken by men and women to care for kids, elderly and sick relatives, or their own medical needs.

As men attempt to use these newfound rights, many encounter resistance and hostility from some employers who still see things the old way, i.e. mom=caretaker. The National Law Journal reported today, “More Men Filing Workplace Lawsuits” with “lawyers calling this a byproduct of the father’s rights movement.”

It turns out we are making progress, however slowly, at least in this one area…

Continue reading here.

Help for East Texas Fathers Trouble seeing your children? Falsely accused of violence? Child Support Issues? Fathers for Equal Rights in Houston, Texas can help. Call them at 713-226-8485. 1314 Texas Ave. Suite 609, Houston Texas 77002

Has the fathers’ rights movement helped spur fathers to fight for their rights to family leave? According to a recent article in the National Law Journal, this is the case.

Jed Hresko, Deputy Director of Fathers & Families, writes:

Boston, MA–Last week, we wrote about how inequality in parental leave - in that case, maternal leave in the UK - increases workplace discrimination against women. Here in the US, the trend federally and in major corporations has been in favor of gender-neutral family leave, to be taken by men and women to care for kids, elderly and sick relatives, or their own medical needs.

As men attempt to use these newfound rights, many encounter resistance and hostility from some employers who still see things the old way, i.e. mom=caretaker. The National Law Journal reported today, “More Men Filing Workplace Lawsuits” with “lawyers calling this a byproduct of the father’s rights movement.”

It turns out we are making progress, however slowly, at least in this one area…

Continue reading here.

Help for East Texas Fathers Trouble seeing your children? Falsely accused of violence? Child Support Issues? Fathers for Equal Rights in Houston, Texas can help. Call them at 713-226-8485. 1314 Texas Ave. Suite 609, Houston Texas 77002

Many of you have written to me about the new English law proposal which will make it easier for allegedly abused women who plan the murders of their husbands to defend themselves legally.  I discussed the proposals and the general issue of domestic violence on the BBC last week. 

According to the article Go soft on killer wives: Women who kill in cold blood could escape murder charge (Daily Mail, 7/29/08), under the new law:

Women who kill abusive partners in cold blood could escape a murder conviction if they prove they feared more violence.  Under a major government review, they will be punished for the lesser offence of manslaughter, sparing them a mandatory life sentence.  They must establish only that they were responding to a ’slow burn’ of abuse.

The change sweeps aside the existing requirement in any defence of provocation that they killed on the spur of the moment after a ’sudden’ loss of control.

In cases where a husband kills, the existing ‘partial defence’ of provocation if a wife was having an affair is scrapped altogether. 
 
The Ministry of Justice said this was in response to long-standing concerns that the centuries- old measure impacts differently on men and women.  In the first major changes to homicide laws in 50 years, ministers have ruled that other categories of killer, as well as domestic violence victims, should be offered new partial defences of provocation. 
 
They include those ’seriously wronged’ by an insult. 
 
Beneficiaries of this change may include those who strike out after long and bitter disputes with neighbours, or victims of a serious crime who are taunted at a later date by the attacker.

Instead of receiving a mandatory life sentence for murder, they too could escape with a manslaughter conviction.  Women’s groups had long campaigned for changes to the law to protect victims of domestic violence who hit back in desperation.

But the proposed new partial defence for killers who feel ’seriously wronged’ by ‘words and conduct’ took experts completely by surprise.

Robert Whelan of the Civitas think-tank accused Ministers of introducing ‘gang law’ into the legal system.

He said: ‘To take someone’s life because they say something that offends you is the law of gang culture.

‘Are we really going to introduce into our criminal justice system that it is a defence to say “I was insulted”?’

He also voiced concern about the plan to give special protection to certain groups.

Mr Whelan said: ‘By creating all these special categories, the Government are making some people more equal than others before the law.

‘It seems some lives are worth more than others.’

Lyn Costello of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression described the changes as ‘utter madness’.

She warned: ‘We need clear laws, not more grey areas. This is not the sort of message to send out.

‘You will have some very clever lawyers who will twist this around to suit their clients.

‘Unless there are really exceptional circumstances, such as self defence or protecting yourself or family, then there is no excuse for killing someone and it should be murder.’

I don’t claim to be an expert on this new proposal, but I do believe it is a problem.  One of the points I made on the BBC is that there is a huge, huge difference between being “seriously wronged” by “words” and being “seriously wronged” by “conduct.” Yet this new law seems to lump the two together. 

If a mitigating factor in murder comes down to a woman feeling “seriously wronged” by her deceased husband’s alleged “words,” no woman who kills her husband will ever be convicted of murder. I also wonder what conduct is necessary to allow this defense, and what proof will be needed that such conduct actually took place.

As an aside, while laws and morality are two different things, I can’t help but think that what this law implies will also be harmful.  Some women already have the bad habit of feeling continually wrong by the men in their life or by men in general.  It’s possible that this law will in effect say to them “Yes, you’ve been wronged.  And no, it doesn’t matter that your husband did not physically abuse you (i.e. ‘conduct’). He wronged you with his words, so harming him is okay.”

One of the points I made on the BBC is that the problems and challenges faced by abused women vary greatly from country to country.  I have no doubt that there are countries where a sorry excuse for a man can beat his wife continually and make her life miserable and know that there is little likelihood that the police or the government will do much to protect his wife or to stop him.  However, England is not one of those countries.  Nor is the United States, nor the countries of Europe. 

There are many, many provisions and policies in place to help protect abused women.  I could see this law as being fair if it only applied to women who are battered and who already exhausted these remedies and still found themselves stalked by their batterers. 

I pointed out that in the United States a woman who feels she is being mistreated can have her husband kicked out of his own home and barred from contacting her or his children simply on her word alone.  That certainly is not to say that there aren’t abused women who try and fail to escape their abusers, but there are many options besides murder.

Erin Pizzey discussed the new law in a recent column Erin Pizzey, champion of women’s rights, says radical feminist plans to let victims of domestic abuse get away with murder are an affront to morality (7/29/08).

Erin makes some good points.  However, while I have great respect for her, the article would have been more enlightening and convincing had she stuck to the facts and details of the new law, as opposed to devoting much of the article to venting her long-standing grudge against English feminists. (I’ve discussed Pizzey’s good work on many occasions — to learn more, click here.)

Help for Seattle Fathers The Law Offices of O. Yale Lewis III is a one-person law firm that focuses on customer care. Mr. Lewis can help you identify and focus on the outcome that you want and implement the steps necessary to get there. www.yalelewislaw.com.

Many of you have written to me about the new English law proposal which will make it easier for allegedly abused women who plan the murders of their husbands to defend themselves legally.  I discussed the proposals and the general issue of domestic violence on the BBC last week. 

According to the article Go soft on killer wives: Women who kill in cold blood could escape murder charge (Daily Mail, 7/29/08), under the new law:

Women who kill abusive partners in cold blood could escape a murder conviction if they prove they feared more violence.  Under a major government review, they will be punished for the lesser offence of manslaughter, sparing them a mandatory life sentence.  They must establish only that they were responding to a ’slow burn’ of abuse.

The change sweeps aside the existing requirement in any defence of provocation that they killed on the spur of the moment after a ’sudden’ loss of control.

In cases where a husband kills, the existing ‘partial defence’ of provocation if a wife was having an affair is scrapped altogether. 
 
The Ministry of Justice said this was in response to long-standing concerns that the centuries- old measure impacts differently on men and women.  In the first major changes to homicide laws in 50 years, ministers have ruled that other categories of killer, as well as domestic violence victims, should be offered new partial defences of provocation. 
 
They include those ’seriously wronged’ by an insult. 
 
Beneficiaries of this change may include those who strike out after long and bitter disputes with neighbours, or victims of a serious crime who are taunted at a later date by the attacker.

Instead of receiving a mandatory life sentence for murder, they too could escape with a manslaughter conviction.  Women’s groups had long campaigned for changes to the law to protect victims of domestic violence who hit back in desperation.

But the proposed new partial defence for killers who feel ’seriously wronged’ by ‘words and conduct’ took experts completely by surprise.

Robert Whelan of the Civitas think-tank accused Ministers of introducing ‘gang law’ into the legal system.

He said: ‘To take someone’s life because they say something that offends you is the law of gang culture.

‘Are we really going to introduce into our criminal justice system that it is a defence to say “I was insulted”?’

He also voiced concern about the plan to give special protection to certain groups.

Mr Whelan said: ‘By creating all these special categories, the Government are making some people more equal than others before the law.

‘It seems some lives are worth more than others.’

Lyn Costello of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression described the changes as ‘utter madness’.

She warned: ‘We need clear laws, not more grey areas. This is not the sort of message to send out.

‘You will have some very clever lawyers who will twist this around to suit their clients.

‘Unless there are really exceptional circumstances, such as self defence or protecting yourself or family, then there is no excuse for killing someone and it should be murder.’

I don’t claim to be an expert on this new proposal, but I do believe it is a problem.  One of the points I made on the BBC is that there is a huge, huge difference between being “seriously wronged” by “words” and being “seriously wronged” by “conduct.” Yet this new law seems to lump the two together. 

If a mitigating factor in murder comes down to a woman feeling “seriously wronged” by her deceased husband’s alleged “words,” no woman who kills her husband will ever be convicted of murder. I also wonder what conduct is necessary to allow this defense, and what proof will be needed that such conduct actually took place.

As an aside, while laws and morality are two different things, I can’t help but think that what this law implies will also be harmful.  Some women already have the bad habit of feeling continually wrong by the men in their life or by men in general.  It’s possible that this law will in effect say to them “Yes, you’ve been wronged.  And no, it doesn’t matter that your husband did not physically abuse you (i.e. ‘conduct’). He wronged you with his words, so harming him is okay.”

One of the points I made on the BBC is that the problems and challenges faced by abused women vary greatly from country to country.  I have no doubt that there are countries where a sorry excuse for a man can beat his wife continually and make her life miserable and know that there is little likelihood that the police or the government will do much to protect his wife or to stop him.  However, England is not one of those countries.  Nor is the United States, nor the countries of Europe. 

There are many, many provisions and policies in place to help protect abused women.  I could see this law as being fair if it only applied to women who are battered and who already exhausted these remedies and still found themselves stalked by their batterers. 

I pointed out that in the United States a woman who feels she is being mistreated can have her husband kicked out of his own home and barred from contacting her or his children simply on her word alone.  That certainly is not to say that there aren’t abused women who try and fail to escape their abusers, but there are many options besides murder.

Erin Pizzey discussed the new law in a recent column Erin Pizzey, champion of women’s rights, says radical feminist plans to let victims of domestic abuse get away with murder are an affront to morality (7/29/08).

Erin makes some good points.  However, while I have great respect for her, the article would have been more enlightening and convincing had she stuck to the facts and details of the new law, as opposed to devoting much of the article to venting her long-standing grudge against English feminists. (I’ve discussed Pizzey’s good work on many occasions — to learn more, click here.)

Help for Seattle Fathers The Law Offices of O. Yale Lewis III is a one-person law firm that focuses on customer care. Mr. Lewis can help you identify and focus on the outcome that you want and implement the steps necessary to get there. www.yalelewislaw.com.

Taken Into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family by Stephen Baskerville, Ph.D. examines one of the greatest and most destructive civil rights abuses in America today–our family law system.

In the Taken Into Custody excerpt below, Baskerville asks an interesting question–when judges accept divorcing mothers’ claims of abuse and grant them sole custody of the couple’s children, are they really “erring on the side of caution”? Or, by allowing fathers to be driven to the margins of their children’s lives, are the actually “erring on the side of danger,” as fathers are their children’s natural protectors?

Baskerville writes:

…divorce and single-parent homes are not precipitated by child abuse, as the courts, bar associations, and feminists would have us believe, but the other way around…some maintain that judges who summarily award sole custody to mothers on the merest accusation of abuse, even when they know full well that the father has done nothing wrong, are acting on the principle to “err on the side of caution.”

Yet this explanation is more charitable than tenable, since it is clear that the judges are erring on the side of danger, and it is difficult to believe they do not realize it. Judges are well aware that the most dangerous environment for children is precisely the single-mother homes they themselves create. Yet they have no hesitation in creating them, secure in the knowledge that they will never be held accountable for any harm that comes to the children.

To learn more or to purchase Taken Into Custody, click here.

Baskerville, author of many articles on fatherhood and family issues and a frequent media commentator, is assistant professor of government at Patrick Henry College and an Earhart Fellow at the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society.

Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com Stop Parental Alienation–a terrible form of Child Abuse. Nine states have now officially recognized Parental Alienation Awareness Day. To learn more, go to Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com.

The website www.exrants.com has some interesting…well, rants from people about their exes. This one–