“Would you jump off a bridge because “so and so?” told you to?”
You have no idea how many times I heard that from my parents when I was young and failed to use common sense.
I am seeing a lot of this among “fathers’ rights” supporters of late.
Support this bill because it is for “shared parenting”. Shared parenting exists in every state, what doesn’t exist is equal custody. Use the correct legal terms. In a recent Ohio committee hearing the chair on that bill admonished those testifying for confusing “shared parenting” with “equal custody”.
Support this bill because this organization did it. Show some common sense and read the bill before you support a bad or poorly written bill that will do more harm than good.
Support this bill because my friends did. (I was
told that this week by a so-called organization leader that had never read the
bill in question) I watched the hearing on that bill and saw his friends’ tank
in their testimony yet the same praised his friend for the great job they did.
He testified yet had never read the bill or failed to contribute anything to
the conversation meaningful.
I have seen and heard every excuse in the book including, “It’s better than we have now” on a bill that was blatantly unconstitutional because it limited fathers to no more than 35% of the time.
If you don’t understand the language of a bill and the effects it will have on cases and the rights of parents, talk to experienced people, not the bill’s sponsors. I will gladly break a bill down for you and explain what I see. My contact information is below.
I have seen people openly lie to legislators and misrepresent facts. Watching the testimony on an Ohio bill, I saw a lot of that.
Ask yourself if you know what is wrong with the current law in your state. Not if it is “fair”, what is the language in the state statute that is wrong?
Do you know how old your state’s current law is? Ohio goes back to 1981.
Do you know how to get your state Senator or Representative to think about the problems and draw them into a conversation that will get them to work on corrections to your current law? Don’t tell them your story, focus on the problems that created problems for everyone. Draw them into a conversation and have them explain it from the legislative side. Too often they don’t know and have never thought about the problems or the problems that are caused by current law.
Do you know who will oppose the bill you are proposing? And why? You will be asked and should be able to respond on the spot.
Do not rely on social media as a source of information, take the time to read your state law, the Rules of Procedure for your state, and the process for getting a bill introduced and passed in your state. Learn them and know them without relying on your phone as a crutch. If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t be afraid to tell the legislator that and that you will get back to them with the answer.
Within this group, I have seen guys posting about being a good father and this and that different subject. Isn’t it time to stop talking and start becoming part of the solution?
The solution is getting the current laws changed and brought up to current standards and current case law.
Any of you that want to get to work on this, contact me. That is my definition of mentoring when someone who has been around and has the experience passes that long to the younger generations.
Ray R. Lautenschlager
Legislative Director
440-281-5478
president@ohiofamilyrights.com
