Retained Bill Recommendation Overturned on the Floor of House
Should accused parents have a right to see all evidence being used against them in decisions in Family Courts? A 12-1 Child and Family Law Committee recommendation to kill a bill guaranteeing that a parent accused of wrong doing before the Family Courts will in all cases have access to all evidence for and against them, including third party evidence in the possession of state agencies, was overturned on the floor of the New Hampshire House this past Wednesday. This may be the beginning of the end of the abuse of parent's right based on the subjective, frequently abusive, and arbitrarily applied "best interests of the child."
The bill, HB 415, was brought in by this Representative last year because in at least two clear cases before the Family Court fathers had been denied access to the evidence against them. One was an alleged sealed envelope accusation that seriously affected a father's custody and diminished to a miniscule amount the time he would be able to see his daughter. The other was the withholding of exculpatory evidence that would have benefited a falsely accused father and rebuffed efforts to separate him from his daughters. The fathers in both cases had apparently requested the information repeatedly and were denied it.
Witnesses from the Division of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) were reported to have told the Child and Family Law Committee that all a father had to do was go to court and the court could decide whether it was in the best interests of the child to have the fathers denied their natural and Constitutional rights to all such materials. An attorney who handles many such cases said that he had never seen the courts go against the wishes of DCYF in such a case. In a ringing repudiation of the Committee's decision a significant majority of the House, who clearly believed that parent's rights must carry at least as much weight as those of children, passed this much needed legislation and sent it on for review by the Constitutional Law and Statutory Review Committee.
NH State Representative Paul Ingbretson
Chairman of the Legislative Redress Grievance Committee
This is just a miniscule step in what has been interference with Government over citizens. DCYF should live up to its "Goals" as stated on their website. To strengthen and solidify families...
ReplyDeleteYes, DCYF SHOULD live up to it's "Goals" as stated on their web-site, but when the almighty dollar is more important to them than the best interests of a child, they'll always choose the money. It's time to end Title IV funding, DCYF's incentive to steal our children. When they get paid for every child they steal, there is NO incentive to PRESERVE families.
ReplyDeleteDCYF-Destroyers of Children, Youth and Families!