Children Need their Fathers to Have Equal Rights

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 ajt@thompsonlaw-in.com to discuss your rights and options.

In every state, there are literally hundreds of children who have stood willing to provide equal time, equal resources and and equal love for their children, and been denied by the courts. Nationwide, there are tens of thousands of fathers living with a similar deprivation of their fundamental right to parent their own children.

The courts often act as if the father has only one right - to pay child support to the mother. Fathers are no successful, by and large, acting on their own. But they rarely ban together, and generally do not know how.

But if tens of thousands of dads are treated the same way, in different courts across the country, they CAN join together as a single class, all with the same rights overlooked and violated in the family courts.

The federal courts and their rules afford a class of people whose rights have been violated the chance to pursue the enforcement of these rights in the federal court system. No doubt you've heard of class actions in claims against drug companies, manufacturers, by investors and in other contexts.

Unfortunately, up to now, little has ever been done to attempt class action reform on the enforcement of fathers' parental rights. The primary reason it hasn't been tried is that is a very large undertaking with extraordinary costs involved. So Dads and their lawyers have tried fighting these battles one by one, in their own, individual cases. In the end, this is very costly as well. in fact, whenever a custody battle is involved, a father can expect to spend $5,000, $10.000, even $25,000-50,000 or MORE.

In the end, then, while a class action suit could cost upward of $300,000 to prosecute to a final result, the tens of thousands of dads who might share in this cost, have spent literally millions and got nowhere in the state court, family systems across the country.

To break down the cost, if even 100 fathers invested at least $1,000, another 250-500 invested $250-500, and at least another 1,000 dads contributed at least $100, there would be more than enough funding to take a class action through the federal court system to gain the enforcement of equal rights for fathers.

And this can be accomplished while spending a fraction of what it takes to fight a losing battle in state court.

An organization, Reform Family Law Now, in conjunction with Family Law and Fathers, exists for this purpose.  Please think about your own situation, or that of a father close to you - and consider making a contribution toward helping get this class action effort funded.  You can make this contribution by visiting http;//reformfamilylawnow.org and contributing online, or call the Thompson Law Office today at (877) 365-1776.