Local
petitioners fight for joint custody
BY JESSICA STATON
Residents across the state can expect to see petitioners
at their local post offices and other public forums this
month. A petition drive to pass a bill amending the Michigan
Child Custody Act of 1970 will be launched March 12.
If passed, the amendment would create “a rebuttable presumption that
the award of joint legal and joint physical custody to the parties of a divorce
is in the best interests of a minor child.”
Known
as the Children Need Both Parents Initiative, the new legislation
would require Circuit Court judges to award joint physical
and legal custody in all divorces unless one party presents
clear and convincing evidence that one parent is unfit.
Current
law leaves judges far more discretion when awarding custody,
requiring only that both parties “be advised of joint
custody.”
In
addition, the bill would encourage parents to present a
mutually agreed upon parenting time plan for all minor
children. If the parties cannot agree, the court would
be required to impose a “50/50” joint physical
and legal custody parenting plan.
The
petition drive is being led by Dads of Michigan, a state
wide, non-profit equal parenting group based out of Bloomfield
Hills. DOM board member Richard Patrella of Royal Oak and
DOM Political Action Committee Director Jim Johnston of
Clawson are leading the equal parenting effort in our area.
“Fathers
are responsible parents too…because the best parent
is both parents. Fathers and mothers should be equal parents,
with equal rights, and equal responsibilities,” said
Johnston Monday.
According
to the Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of
the Census, children from fatherless homes are 5 times
more likely to commit suicide, 20 times more likely to
have behavioral disorders, 9 times more likely to drop
out of high school, and 10 times more likely to abuse chemical
substances. Supporters of the petition point to these statistics
as proof that joint custody is truly in the best interest
of children.
“The
most fundamental human right of all is the right to parent
your own child. I’ll be at the Royal Oak post office
defending that right Saturday March 13,” said Patrella.
In
addition to influencing new custody cases, the presumption
of joint custody would strengthen the position of parents
petitioning the court to add more parenting time to their
existing orders.
“Parenting
is not a light switch you turn on and off. You don’t
parent children at certain times and then stop until it’s
time to parent again. Yet family law judicial systems issue
orders that permit the majority of noncustodial parents
to spend less than 30% of their time parenting,” said
Patti Diroff of the Children’s Rights Council.
Petitioners
will be outside local post offices and other public locations
starting Saturday arch 13 in an effort to obtain 254,206
signatures required to pass the petition. The proposal
will be voted on Nov. 2 in the General Election. |
