If you're a father (or a step-mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, daughter, brother, grandfather, uncle, or friend who knows a Dad who has been alienated from his children) and you have been denied the right to equal access to your children, equal time with them, and/or an equal role in parenting , it's time to act!
For far too long, custody laws and court decisions have favored mothers, even in situations where the father is able and willing to act in every way as a full and equal partner in parenting.
This bias has offered the easiest way out for judges and magistrates, appeasement of angry or fearful mothers, and a means for the federal government to funds its voracious appetite for spending on entitlement programs. The last item seems like an odd addition in the series, but it is both true and quite important.
If not for the revisions to the welfare system that were passed by Congress in the 1980's and 90's, we might be a country of equal parenting, and less divorce, than we are today. But thanks to the need to fund additional welfare programs, and the shortage of direct tax money for the funding, the indirect tax of child support became the best alternative.
The result has been that divorced fathers are regularly and grievously hit with a burden of support that is beyond their means to pay. This is how the federal government subsidizes the welfare system today.
So what is there to do? The system has been challenged in state legislatures across the country as well as Congress, but the women's lobby supporting the system is as strong or stronger than men's. The legislative route is foreclosed.
Likewise, the state court systems thrive on the imbalance and inequity in the system.
The only remaining recourse is through the Constitution itself and its guaranty of equal rights to all - including fathers. And the only way to bring the weight of the Constitution's authority to bear on the system is through the federal courts in class action suits.
Call Thompson Legal Services at (317) 604-1276 or email Andrew Thompson at [email protected] to discuss your rights and options.
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