The Hypocrisy of the Parental Rights Movement
March 3, 2025
“You have enemies? Good. That means you have stood up for
something or someone in your life.”
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
“Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell and make them look forward to the journey.”
“Courage is to stand up and speak. Courage is also to sit down and listen.”
Winston Churchill
I posted a story on Facebook recently about a Juvenile Court judge who had a disciplinary complaint filed against him and that his case had been appealed and heard by the Ohio Supreme Court. While many chose to focus on the fact that he had two teenagers “jailed” for defying his order to spend time with their father they failed to recognize that these boys had been directly ordered to spend time with their father. The boys became unruly at the exchange which prompted the sheriff to report the behavior to the judge. The boys were unruly and they were in direct contempt for not following the orders of the court. That is what got them held, not a “mean” judge”.
I am calling you out as hypocrites because you all claim the courts will not enforce their orders. Here they did and you think it was bad and abusive. Go back and read all my comments about that article and what I know about that case.
I will call the comments that I got, just what they were, BULLSHIT! You fixated only on the media article title without reading the additional facts and comments that I provided. Even some that are not involved were astounded by some of the off-base comments.
What is good for the goose is good for the gander. If you don’t know what that means, ask your parents or an older neighbor.
Talking Heads with Empty Messages
I come from a generation that wrote and reads, and I still do. I have learned better that way through the years and continue to learn every day.
I see what these talking heads spew and wonder where they get their information. I wonder if they ever discussed basic legal principles or theory with an attorney. They certainly never read Black’s Law for legal definitions. They never read their state laws to find the “flaws” they claim don’t exist at all. They likely have never read the Rules of Procedure or Local Rules. All they do is say how bad it is and that it has to change but that can’t say how to change the current laws.
Yet weekly they do their “shows” and repeat themselves while creating the allusion that they are doing something so you will help the talking all over the country spewing the same dead arguments from twenty years ago and saying how badly they were treated by the courts or baby mama. Ever wonder why the “talking heads” never have the older advocates on their show? What are they afraid of, that they will hear something that destroys the narrative they have been using?
“But they are raising awareness!” Lame excuse for someone who is doing nothing but stamping their feet like a toddler in the grocery store that isn’t getting their overpriced candy bar.
We have a problem.
We know we have a problem.
We know how to fix the problem.
We just have not fixed it.
Frank Jackson Former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio
I have
seen some support bad bills with the lame excuse that “it is better than we have
now”. Doing that will take a state of play for 5 years or more as legislators
will counter with, “We need to see if what we passed works.”
The same talking heads are saying that we need small bills while begging for money to support their travel habits. The biggest offender of this refuses to admit that it wasn’t Title IV that created his problem, it was that he knocked up a girl he wasn’t married to and the Baby Mama rule bit him. He probably doesn’t realize why the “rule” can’t be removed from law and the problems that would be caused. The Ohio Fatherhood Commission didn’t and I had to explain it to them.
It takes no more effort to pass a comprehensive bill than a short one that you have to ask for changes to a couple of years down the road. Do it right the first time because you only get one chance.
Boxed in by an Old Argument
I refuse to be boxed in and do not recognize the box at all.
Are you boxing yourself into a corner by using an old
argument? If you are still using the “Best Interest is Both Parents” or “Both
Parents are Best for a Child”. It is a worn-out marketing campaign that the opposition is well prepared
for. 
Take a look around and tell me honestly that what has been done has worked. It hasn’t and the approaches used have failed time and time again. It is time to change it up.
We have a simple two-page handout that we ask people to carry and pass out. We encourage them to give it to their legislators. It is simple, yet breaks down what those that don’t know should know. What this also does is keep everyone on the same page with a consistent message.
The four questions we start with are designed to get legislators to think. I have seen some eyes go wide when asked the question and then the conversation begins.
Why do we allow the removal of fit parents from the lives of their children every day?
What is the compelling state interest in doing so?
Do parents divorce their children when they end their own personal relationship?
Why is Ohio still using the law and methods that were passed in the 1980s to determine custody between parents when there have been so many significant changes in case law, societal changes, and significant psychological reports showing that the involvement of both parents is critical to the success of a child?
Once you use them it becomes clearer to everyone that significant changes need to be made.
Never Walk into A Legislator's Office Without a Solution in Hand.
Don’t point to what other states have done. To be honest I have seen some meaningless bills passed in other states that will waste time and effort. This is your state, own it.
Write a bill for your state, don’t allow those that created the mess to continue to the mess. If you don’t know how, find someone that has. Don’t understand formatting or legal language. For formatting look at other introduced bills in your state. Legal language can be found in those bills and Black’s Law.
I have written bills for Ohio and other states and I will help you in yours. You are going to work so you learn the process from beginning to end.
It is grown-up time and time for the hypocrites to go away. Stop talking about the problem and do something. Preaching to the masses on social media will do nothing if those words are hollow.
Legislative Director
440-281-5478
legislation@ohiofamilyrights.com
