Blogs
Fatherhood Coaltion Withdraws from the Governor's Working Group on Child Centered Family Law
His Excellency, Governor Deval Patrick
Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Room 280
Boston, MA 02133
Your Excellency,
The Fatherhood Coalition is withdrawing as a participant in the Governor’s Working Group on Child Centered Family Law.
We write to express our dissatisfaction with the Working Group.
Fatherhood Coalition Withdraws from the Governor's Working Group on Child Centered Family Law
His Excellency, Governor Deval Patrick
Update 209a Hearings
On September 27, 2013 I attended a restraining order session at Quincy Court.
This session made it clear that our judiciary still has a problem with respect to the issuance and renewal of 209a restraining orders.
The session was methodically run.
First up were single party petitions for extensions or termination of a restraining order. In most cases the restraining order was continued or terminated based upon which individual appeared the defendant or the plaintiff.
Next up were the cases where both parties appeared.
In these cases one might expect to hear contradicting stories.
However that was seldom the case. What was common was a plaintiff seeking a restraining order without a legal basis for obtaining one.
Shared Parenting and Abuse Prevention Due Process Petitions!
Following an injunction issued by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court the Secretary of State's office will prepare two Initiative Petitions for shared parenting and due process rights in abuse protection cases. Signature gathering is excpected to begin by the end of the week (Sept. 20, 2013).
The shared paremnting petition would mandate a presumption of shared equitable custody when parents divorce while the abuse prevention petition would require that all due process rights of civil law be applied in abuse prevention cases.
Massachusetts Attorney General Rejects 'Abuse Protection' and Shared Parenting Petitions
Massachusetts Attorney General again refuses to certify petitions on 'abuse protection' due process rights and for a presumption of shared parenting.
The AG's excuse is that the two petitions will 'affect the powers of the courts'. The real reason, however, is that they would require that justice be administered in the courts and the welfare system for family court lawyers in particular would be drastically reduced.
http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/government/2013-petitions/13-18-letter.pdf
http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/government/2013-petitions/13-19-letter.pdf
The AG's decision can however be appealed. Contact us if you would like to support an appeal.
Greater Boston Legal Services Opposes Shared Parenting and Due Process Rights
Despite their logo 'Justice for All'....
Massachusetts Initiative Petitions for Shared Parenting and 'Abuse Prevention' Due Process Rghts Filed
Two initiative petitions were filed with the Massachusetts Attorney General to ensure the right to shared parenting and to due process in so-called 'abuse prevention' court cases.
The petitions (#s 13-18 and 13-19) and can be found here:
http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballo...
The AG will decide by Sept. 4 if the petition(s) will be allowed. If so the petition sheets to collect signatures will be available around September 18.
PRESS RELEASE: Judge Ordonez Appointment Rejected by Fatherhood Coalition
CONTACT:
Joe Ureneck, Chair, 857 350-0575
Patrick McCabe, Co-Chair, 617 512 9460
Peter Hill, Spokesperson, 781 772-2500
PRESS RELEASE
THE FATHERHOOD COALITION REJECTS APPOINTMENT
OF JUDGE ORDONEZ AS CHIEF
OF MASSACHUSETTS PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT
The Fatherhood Coalition, an all volunteer not-for-profit organization of men and women, advocates for the fair and impartial administration of justice by our courts. We advocate particularly for the constitutional and statutory rights and liberties of parents and look forward to the day when our courts and those individuals honored with serving therein will do the same.