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The Homepage of Non-Custodial Parents Force! |
| ENOUGH IS ENOUGH -- THE RESISTANCE BEGINS HERE! | |
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FAMILY LAW FACTSTable of Contents I. Overview II. Government Abuse 2. Federal Law & State Constitutional Violations 3. Murder 2. Idealogy a. Morals 4. Racism V. Hypocrisy OverviewThe family law system in America is an outdated system, medieval in its ideals and functioning on a set of double standards in which non-custodial parents, namely fathers, have been dehumanized and stripped of their basic civil and human rights. Under this system, men in particular face discrimination on many levels which makes it hard for them to maintain ties to their children or to challenge the unfairness of the system. Because America's legal system is driven primarily by money, most non-custodial parents lose their cases before they even enter a courtroom. The high cost of attorney's fees force many non-custodial parents to appear before advice to enter courts without legal representation. Attorneys are rarely appointed by courts to those who cannot afford representation, and even when they are appointed, the legal services rendered are usually incompetent or inadequate. To make matters worse, non-custodial parents after a break-up are immediately held responsible for artificially imposed child support orders. Since failures to meet payments can result in their arrest, many non-custodial parents are pressured to give up legal challenges due to the financial stresses placed upon them. Furthermore, courts that award sole custody to one parent consistently behave as advocates for the sole custodial parent while demolishing the rights of the non-custodial parent. Courts and government agencies are ruthless in punishing non-custodial parents for violating child support orders, but habitualy fail to punish custodial parents (usually mothers) for ignoring visitation orders and alienating children from non-custodial parents. These double standards are hallmarks of America's family law system. Aside from being unfair, these inequalities promote the dissolution of families and the advancement of a "cash machine" notion of fatherhood in which it is perfectly fine for men to go missing from their childrens' lives so long as they pay. The system demands that men become cold, unfeeling brutes by forcing them to them become "visitors" instead of parents, yet at the same time holds them to a higher standard than parents who live with their children. The severe emotional stress this causes non-custodial parents is of no concern to the system whose cruelty lies in its callousness. Non-custodial parents also face rampant discrimination in American society. American news agencies are biased against non-custodial parents and routinely ignore rights violations which take place the family law system. News agencies regularly indulge in the use of hate speech which poisons the atmosphere for any kind of meaningful debate on reform, makes it all the more difficult for non-custodial parents to fight for their rights in a system which is stakes against them. Government AbuseConstitutional ViolationsThe family law system in America routinely violates the U.S. Constitution in a number of ways (an online version of the US. Constitution can be found at http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html). Equal ProtectionThe 14th Amendment guarantees all citizens the right to equal protection under law. But this provision of the Bill of Rights crumbles at the door of the family court, specifically in the case of reproductive rights and in the way the federal government has impacted child support matters through the Bradley Amendment. Reproductive RightsCurrently in the United States, only women enjoy reproductive rights. Women in America may terminate lives of unborn children whenever they see fit, even at late stages of pregnancy. While feminists campaign for additional rights, such as the right of children to seek abortions without the consent of their parents, men are prohibited from expressing their reproductive wishes on a legal and cultural level. Unmarried men are never asked whether they wish to become fathers after intimate contact has led to pregnancy and are not consulted if their partners opt for abortion; the only road that lies open for them is parenthood whether they want it or not, and years of financial responsibility. Should an unmarried man express a desire not to become a parent, American society reacts with scorn. Such a man is deemed immoral and irresponsible by most Americans who seem to forget that abortion clinics are operating every day of the week to terminate the lives of unborn children because women feel that this is the correct personal choice. Feminist groups in America have successfully ingrained this double standard into the nation's consciousness by inculcating the slogan "My body, my choice" and demanding total reproductive freedom while accepting zero reproductive responsibility. Once a child is involved, the slogan becomes "My body, my choice, MY CHILD, YOUR WALLET" -- a battle cry which illustrates sorry state of reproductive freedom for men in America. On March 9th, 2006, the National Center for Men filed a landmark lawsuit (see Roe vs. Wade for Men on NCM's website) requesting reproductive rights for Matt Dubay, a Michigan resident who became a father after a girlfriend repeatedly told him she could note get preganant. In July 2006, a judge summarily dismissed the case, which is now on appeal to the sixth circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals. Arguments are expected to begin in the fall of 2007. The Bradley AmendmentAs another violation of the 14th Amendment, we have an infamous piece of legislation known as the Bradley Amendment. The Bradley Amendment is a federal law, perhaps the first of its kind, which strips one class of citizens of any right to appeal. The victims of this heinous act are non-custodial parents who are barred from seeking retroactive reductions of child support, whether or not court orders were given in error are issued without the non-custodial parent being represented by an attorney. This law has led to untold suffering for millions of non-custodial parents who have fallen into financial holes due to lay-offs and disabilities by making sure they can never recover from a financial setback. Because of this law, many non-custodial parents have been forced underground, their lives a constant flight from debtor's prisons for an artificial debt which knows no mercy and no relief. While proponents brag that the measure has netted millions of dollars in owed child support, the fail to address the underlying issues of why billions more go uncollected. One major item never addressed by proponents is the relation of child support to visitation, and why some parenrts who've been denied visitation rights justly withhold support. Thus far, there is no federal law to assist non-custodial parents in securing visitation rights or to punish custodial parents who withhold visitation. Also, the Bradley amendment allows retroactive appeals for custodial parents when seeking additional child support arrears. Due to its clearly imbalanced nature, the amendment can be used as a weapon of malice by custodial parents who wish to inflict the greatest amount of harm on a former partner. The Bradley Amendment gets its name from former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley -- a silver spoon and onetime pro-basketballl player. During his time in the Senate, it has been alleged that Bill Bradley bundled campaign contributions to avoid limits on campaign funding, accepted free travel from numerous special interests, and lied to the American public about his health while running for President. The Center for Public Integrity found him to be 2nd worst out of 535 federal legislators for accepting travel handouts. In the mid-1980's, Bradley also cast a critical vote to give $100 million in aid to the Nicaraguan Contras even though they were involved in the transport of drugs to the United States. See additional information at http://www.realchange.org/bradley.html and http://www.consortiumnews.com/1999/072899a.html). Federal Law & State Constitutional ViolationsDebtor's Prisons(see article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debtor's_prison.) In 1833, our federal government declared debtor's prisons illegal and abolished debtor's prisons on a federal level. Many states followed this policy and even abolished debtor's prisons via provisions in their individual state constitutions. At the present time, however, debtor's prisons have become a new reality in our society which illegally imprisons men for failing to meet artificially imposed child support orders. With practices reminiscent of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, law enforcement agencies routinely conduct sweeps in the dead of night in which non-custodial parents have been whisked off prison after receiving a mysterious knock at the door. Men and other non-custodial parents who have lost jobs, or become disabled, or for other reasons become unable to meet child support orders are hunted down and thrown into debtor's prison without even being properly charged. Courts routinely imprison debtors on "contempt of court" charges (see definition at Wikipedia) which implies that they've willfully violated court orders, regardless of whether or not they are financially unable to meet payments due to unemployment, disability, or other reasons beyond their control. In doing so, courts have effectively covered up the sheer numbers of people who have been wrongfully imprisoned this way; the mingling of child support case with actual contempt cases has proven a very effective method for keeping raw data out of the public's hands Debtor's prisons have also caused many non-custodial parents to commit suicide, seeing it as the only way out of a Draconian system which sneers at individual hardships. And finally, the existance debtor's prisons have reportedly led to the deaths of at least two non-custodial parents -- crimes which have since been swept under the carpet in a climate of hate and discrimination. MurderThus far in the United States, at least two fathers were killed by government authorities during brutal child support enforcement measures. In 2002, Brian Armstrong was beaten to allegedly beath death by prison guards at the Valley Street in Milford, New Hampshire. Mr. Armstrong suffered from alcoholism and his job at a fast food restaurant left him unable to pay his debts. While officials badgered his family to make thousands of dollars in payments in order to secure his release, prison guards allegedly bound him to a chair and kicked him over, causing fatal head trauma. This case was swept under the carpet by New Hampshire authorities and ignored by the media, but a wrongful death suit is now underway in New Hampshire courts. (For more information and updates to this story, see our Avenger Project page.) Another government killing is that of Wilbur Streett, a divorced dad and fathers' rights activist, who died after allegedly being denied treatment for Lou Gehrig's disease by New Jersey police. Although bound to a wheelchair and unable to work, a New Jersey judge issued a warrant for his arrest in 2004. Police in Hazlet, NJ, who beat Mr. Streett on a prior occasion, allegedly denied him treatment which resulted in his death a few days later. William's bereaved mother, who grew up in Nazi occupied Holland, has compared William's treatment by American courts and law enforcement agencies to the human rights abuses she witnessed at the hands of the Third Reich. (For more information and updates to this story, see our Avenger Project page.) In additions to these outright murders, the government's brutal and inhuman family law policies have precipitated the deaths of many other divorced fathers and non-custodial parents by suicide. NCPForce! is now involved in a campaign to bring to light any others victims of government sanctioned murder and to expose our government's guilt on an international scale. Human Rights Violations(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights) America's family law system is a violation of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights as follows: The double standard granting full reproductive rights to woman and none to men is a violation of Article 2 of the declaration which states that a rights violation has occurred when men and women are treated differently. Federal laws that strip non-custodial parents of passports are a violation of Article 13 which states that no individual shall be forbidden to leave or return to their country. The arbitrary nature of federal laws (like the Bradley Amendment and the Child Welfare Reform Act) are violations of Articles 11 which bars punishments are that is arbitrary or unilateral or without a proper and fair trial. The Bradley Amendment is also a violation of Article 8 when victims or judicial or government agency abuse are denied an effective judicial remedies. An institutionalized climate of hate against non-custodial parents which exists in government and in the media is a violation Articles 2 & 6 because denies it denies fathers and other non-custodial parents recognition as a individual persons. The use of debtor's prisons in America to enforce laws regarding child support are a violation of Article 3, regarding the life, liberty or security individuals. They are also a violation of Article 5 which prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. They are also a violation of Article 4 which forbids individuals from being used as slaves when they prevent individuals from pursuing work that they choose, and when they are forced to pay for children to which they have no biological or emotional bond. Finally, the family law system as it stands is a violation of Article 12 because agents of the state can arbitrarily interfere with personal/private lives. Reasons for AbuseSection under construction. Political CorruptionSection under construction. IdealogySection under construction. MoralsSection under construction. Gender StereotypingSection under construction. Fiscal ConcernsSection under construction. RacismSection under construction. Failure of Men to OrganizeSection under construction. HypocrisySection under construction. Foreign PolicySection under construction. Economic PolicySection under construction. Social EngineeringSection under construction. Reforming the SystemSection under construction. |
ABOUT NCP FORCE! (Non-Custodial Parents Force) Our organization is a non-profit, grassroots action organization dedicated to reforming America's family law system. While we frequently refer to divorced fathers, who overwhelmingly bear the brunt of abuses in the family law system, we champion the cause of all non-custodial parents, be they unwed fathers, non-custodial mothers, grandparents, or assigned parentage fathers (men who are held responsible for parentage despite the fact that they are not biological fathers). Unlike many other family law websites which claim to help divorced dads and NCP's, we will never ask our visitors for money or donations. We also do not charge for, or offer legal services. Instead we provide a virtual base of operations, a forum, and an information clearing house for visitors to help themselves free of charge. Learn more about joining the NCP Force! It's free and no personal questions will be asked unless you wish to share your family law experiences with us. |
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Copyright 2007, NCP Force! (Non-Custodial Parent FORCE!) |
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