Center for Parental Responsibility (CPR)
WEEKLY
UPDATE (A Few Highlights):
Website:
cpr-mn.org Email contact: info@cpr-mn.org Voicemail:
651/490-9277
“If it is to be, it’s up to me!” - Your input and participation
is needed for reform
PLEASE forward this email to anyone you know
who is interested in family law reform!
“Do you not know that you
are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you? Moreover, it is required
of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small
thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court … it is the Lord who
judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord
comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will
disclose the purposes of the heart.”
1 Corinthians 3:16, 4: 3-5
The
Overview:
The
Details:
1. REMINDER: EDUCATION – FREE Fatherhood
Seminar: “7 Secrets of Effective Fathers.”
Former Gov. Al Quie and his
son the Rev. Joel Quie are co-chairing a volunteer organizing committed for the
Ken Canfield seminar Friday October 8 (
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1)
For more
information or to register for the FREE
EVENT, visit www.fathers.com/seminar.
WONDERFUL and rare opportunity for such an educational seminar and supportive
environment.
2)
We encourage you
to attend – it’s FREE, what have you got to lose?
3)
NEW: Will someone who attends, please share any
useful handouts with CPR so we can pass them along to other fathers who might
be interested. Please make a copy and mail to CPR,
2. REMINDER:
UNITED WAY Pledges can be made to CPR
Many
companies run
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1)
All you need to
do is fill in the full name/city of our
2) Please pass the word around to your co-workers that CPR
is worth contributing to! Thank you for your partnership with us. Call or email
us if you have questions.
3) NEW: To answer some questions that have been raised - Don’t be confused
by the fact that CPR is not listed as an organization with
3. MEDIA:
Upsetting and misleading article in the
Pioneer Press by the Battered Women’s Organization (MCBW) called “Communities and
court must work together to protect women, children.” The article
was in the
CPR believes the recent murder/suicide was a
terrible thing and none of us are looking to make any excuses for someone who
made such a terrible decision. There are no excuses. There is no positive
outcome for anyone with this decision. Everyone hurts. We believe
murder/suicide is the WRONG decision. We believe this decision hurts all fit
fathers everywhere who are now so easily lumped into the bucket of “dangerous,”
even when there is no such evidence. However, we believe that without
getting to the bottom of the problem, we can’t solve the problem and prevent it
from happening again. CPR volunteers have been researching this story in
detail to try under understand with more clarity: 1) what would drive a father
to do this, 2) what could we provide in the future to prevent such a tragedy,
and 3) how do we reach fathers to help them see there are options, resources,
and support available through CPR and understand that it is important to reach
out for support when you have lost all hope … because, regardless of your
circumstances, there is still hope.
Our hope is in a God who is “bigger than all of our sorrows, bigger than all of
our fears.” He is our provider. He is our safety net.
The battered women’s advocates have responded on the
October 5, 2004 C by: a) denying that the bias system has anything to do with
these tragedies, b) making assumptions based on neglecting important, relevant,
and available facts, and c) accused John Tester of being the batterer and
denying the reality that the record shows his ex wife admitted in court that
SHE was the batterer. While the article title
is neutral and nothing to argue about, while the message may be benign to some,
the message is misleading. They are taking advantage of a dead man and a dead
girl who can no longer defend themselves, in order to create a misleading picture
to further their own cause rather than looking for real solutions.
CPR believes that just like putting more people in
jail will not reduce alcoholism in this country, forcing more dads into
supervised visitation is not a long term solution to interpersonal conflict.
Fixing the problem is very different than punishing more people without
evidence.
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1) The online link to the article is only good for 7 days from publishing,
so check it out right away, http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/opinion/9835178.htm?1c
2) Please
write a letter the editor of the Pioneer Press ASAP and email it to letters@pioneerpress.com. The
letters must be 200 words or less or there is NO chance that it will get
printed. Don’t be overwhelmed about putting pen to paper – don’t’ worry about
perfection – just write, 200 words goes fast. Consider:
4. REMINDER:
General Meeting Notice
SPREAD THE WORD – WE WANT TO BIG AUDIENCE
FOR THE JUDGE
Our speaker will be a retired Dakota County District
Court Judge, Duane Harves. His topic (changed slightly) “Irritating the Judge and losing your case.” Rarely do you get an opportunity to talk with a
judge and hear their perspectives. This will be a marvelous way for you to know
how to better understand and communicate in motions and affidavits with a
judge. It will help you understand what judges expect and how you can get your
point across in a way that they will understand and a way that will ensure that
the law is applied to you and that your constitutional rights are protected.
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1) Mark your calendar NOW and
reserve the evening:
2) Don’t miss this meeting, SPREAD
THE WORD, and BRING others with you – the higher the attendance, the
greater chance we will have more judges in the future
3) Remember the rules of Rules
of Engagement for the meeting:
a.
Rule #1-Keep your questions succinct and to the point, you will only be
given 30 seconds to articulate your question
b. Rule #2-DO NOT elaborate on
your personal story.
c.
Rule #3-Do NOT present an image of an ‘angry white male’
d. Rule #4- Plan your questions
carefully, write them out in advance; you may be limited to 2 questions,
depending on the number of questions from the audience
5. RECAP:
NATIONWIDE CANDLELIGHT VIGIL, Thursday night Sept 30, 2004
The Candlelight Vigil was a great success. A CPR
volunteer (TN) coordinated the effort and had every detail organized and
planned extremely well. The vigil was a low-key event – peaceful,
contemplative, and mellow. There were about 25 people who attended the event –
several newcomers. We have pictures. During the ceremony, the entire group
recited the following reading, while lighting 5 candles in honor of children
everywhere who need BOTH parents:
This first candle represents our grief.
The pain of not having our children in our lives is intense. It reminds us
constantly of the depth of our love for you.
This second candle represents our courage
to confront our sorrow, to comfort each other, and know that our children are
in our hearts always.
This third candle we light in your memory,
for all the times we think about our children, the times we have had or would
like to have had with you, knowing you will be with us in our memories always.
This fourth candle represents the
light of love. As we start each day, day by day, we cherish the special
place in our hearts that will always be reserved for our children.
This fifth candle represents justice.
We are parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and
stepfamilies. We raise our voices to send the message from our hearts of what
we feel in our souls: that we cherish our families more than anything. Our
families are our inspiration. Our heritage is the right of all families to
exist and function as a family and the right to protection from the hardship of
unaffordable financial support orders and penalties which are unjustly imposed.
Our vision advocates that the right to share the responsibility for meeting all
our children's needs equally and within our means, and the right of all family
members to maintain their family bonds, must be recognized and protected as
civil and human rights.
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1) See you
next year at the Candlelight Vigil.
6.
NEW VIDEO PRODUCTION. TELL YOUR STORY!
Most everyone says:
·
“My case is
the worst,”
·
“If people
knew about my story there would be change in the system in a heartbeat,”
·
“I’m a poster
child for what is wrong with the system,”
·
“You can’t
believe the judge I had, he didn’t even read the file,”
·
“My case is
bad because they didn’t even apply the law in my case – what happened to equal
application of the law,”
·
“In my case,
they believed the false information my ex provided (emotional hearsay), and
they ignored the evidence I had to disprove it.”
·
“I never want
this to happen to anyone else and certainly I don’t want this to happen to MY
sons.”
Has this been your experience? Now is your chance to
really tell your story. CPR is working with several volunteers on a taped
production for cable TV. Taping has already begun. The schedules are filling up
fast, but it will likely be an ongoing production. You’ll have 20 minutes to
tell your story in a TV studio on
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1) Email us at info@cpr-mn.org,
if you are willing to go on camera with your story – we’ll hook you up with the
production crew.
2) PREPARE by writing your
story in 2 pages or less (what I have been preaching forever), so that you can
communicate effectively, speak in chronological order, and pick out the most
important facts. Don’t forget to include the negative impact this has all had
on your children.
7. UPDATE/FOLLOW-UP:
Federal Class Action Law Suit. Filing in Minnesota, in conjunction with the Indiana Civil
Rights Council.
The
Presently 41 states have
filed cooperative federal actions. (see
http://www.indianacrc.org/classaction.html).
The
As you may know, this action
was filed in coordination with what is
expected to be along with
representatives from all 50 states. Our
strategy is to set the stage for national media attention, garner grass-roots
support, and exercise the opportunity to have all separate state suits consolidated
via the Judicial Panel for Multi-district Litigation - to help expedite a
ruling that will hopefully be favourable to oppressed parents and children
throughout the country. In so doing,
we'll also set a world-wide precedent amongst the western world that their
draconian laws and public policies similar to those in the
The many hundred
multi-billion dollar per year divorce industry,
enormous profit-making by the states from federal block grants, and
unrestrained and unwarranted expansion of federal and state government into the
private lives of its citizens must be curtailed in order to preserve our most
basic God-given human rights and freedoms as natural parents.
Funding assistance is also
greatly needed to proceed in this effort, and requested from those who
understand the need to end the several decades long war against families and
children.
Thanks for your prayerful
consideration in supporting this cause.
Best regards,
Dave Witte
Principle Plaintiff for
Director, Parent-Child
Advocates, Inc.
Co-founder & Member,
Legal Action Committee
(651) 755-3380
email:
info@legalactioncommittee.org
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1) If you are interested in participating in a class action lawsuit, contact
Dave Witte for details.
8.COMMITTEE
UPDATE:
a) Custody Committee
making progress and getting legislative support for a presumption of joint
physical custody, and
Benefit: will reduce court battles,
remove the win-lose mentality, and preserve the parent child relationship.
b) IV-D committee
making process and getting legislative support for eligibility standard to get
private cases out of the public domain.
Benefit: will level the playing
field, will save taxpayers in MN as much as $100 million a year, no more
subsidized government services for the ex who makes more money than you do!
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1) If you want to be involved
in legislative activity, citizen lobbying and building public awareness,
contact us at info@cpr-mn.org and we will
let you know about committee meetings. Custody Committee meets on Monday
nights. IV-D committee meetings on Thursday nights. A third committee is in the
works that will focus exclusively on citizen lobbying.
9. COURT WATCH
Court
watch is a service facilitated by CPR to provide support to NCPs going through
court. We ask volunteers who have time to show up for hearings, so that NCPs
are not alone.
Some of
the benefits of volunteering your time to observe other NCP hearings are as
follows:
·
You
get to see other attorneys in action – compare to your own, or get ideas for
pro se litigation.
·
The
dynamics of the courtroom can become more neutral if the NCP is not alone.
·
You
familiarize yourself with the hearing process so that it is not so intimidating
when you have a hearing of your own.
·
The
NCP has “witnesses” to what went on in the courtroom
·
The
court watch advocate can provide perspective after the hearing and share
observations to the NCP – either validating what they felt or sharing a new “outside”
perspective
·
If
you are comfortable, act as a silent prayer warrior in the courtroom, binding
the lies and praying for truth.
SCHEDULE these in if you can
COURT WATCH: Non-custodial dad – Cory Deutsch
Location: Rice County District Court House,
Driving Directions: (see mapqwest)
Special Option: the NCP dad will carpool. He will leave from downtown Mpls at
Issue: He is
motioning for a change in custody based on evidence the mother is putting the
child in danger and the mother has been convicted several times of theft.
Judge: Wolf
NCP Attorney: from Kissoon, Clugg, Linder, Dittberner & Remington, Ltd.,
Volunteers Needed: please
attend this hearing if you can, to support a non-custodial parent in court and
let the court be on alert that people are watching the decision
Reminder: always call ahead first
to the county court administration (Rice County 507/332-6100) to make
sure that no last minute changes have occurred.
For Details: email info@cpr-mn.org
COURT WATCH: Non-custodial dad – Dustin Smith
Location:
Driving Directions: (see mapqwest). Prepare extra time to find parking. Street parking is
highly unlikely during the day. Easiest lot to park in is next to the St Paul
Hotel.
Issue: FIRST TEMPORARY HEARING. Unmarried father looking to get physical custody. Uncooperative
Mom is already trying to remove the father.
Referee: Earl Beddow
NCP Attorney: from Ramsey, Devore & Olson – this
firm has some connection with Beddow. Beddow’s former staff person is now in
this firm. Attorney not interested in recusing the judge for possible conflict
or appearance of bias.
Volunteers Needed: please
attend this hearing if you can, to support a non-custodial parent in court and
let the court be on alert that people are watching the decision
Reminder: always call ahead first
to the county court administration (Ramsey County 651/266-2842) to make
sure that no last minute changes have occurred.
For Details: email info@cpr-mn.org
YOUR ACTION ITEM:
1)
If you are
available on either
2)
Introduce
yourself to the NCP before the hearing.
3)
If you are asked
by the judge why you are there, your response is “I am an advocate for (name).”
10. SUCCESS STORIES
·
CP in
SPECIAL NOTE regarding this weekly update:
SPREAD THE WORD: PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL ALONG TO ANY NON-CUSTODIAL
PARENT or ANYONE else who is concerned
for the non-custodial parent, and the negative
impact on the children that comes from bad discriminatory legislation,
nasty case workers who treat you like a criminal, and unfair &
bias judicial practice impressed upon the fractured family. Those
interested and affected include: children of divorce or out-of-wedlock birth,
non-custodial parents, second wife, grandparents, girlfriends, employers, etc).
WE NEED NAMES: WE are EAGER to add the names to our email list of all citizens who
are AFFECTED OR INTERESTED IN HELPING TO
REFORM FAMILY LAW AND ANY NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT NEEDING ASSISTANCE IN THEIR
FAMILY LAW CASE. We do the best we can to help with the limited volunteer
resources we have. CPR does not provide legal advice, but rather
information that can help guide you to better outcomes as you battle the bias
of the government system.
WE NEED HELP: WE WELCOME YOUR PARTICIPATION AND WE NEED
ALL INTERESTED NAMES so AS A GROUP OF CONCERNED CITIZENS we can ORGANIZE AND MOBILIZE (like Martin Luther King Jr did!) to prove to
legislators that these family law issues matter to their constituents, and TO ACHIEVE THE GRASS ROOTS
PUSH needed to DRIVE the MUCH NEEDED Family Law REFORM to
encourage EQUAL PROTECTION for both parents and their children, because parents
made the best decisions for their children, NOT the government.
Please forward names to CPR
of other citizens interested in these issues. We want to add them to our list
to keep people informed and show legislators there is a LONG list of effected
and interested people in
ADDITIONAL NOTE to unsubscribe: You are receiving this email from CPR-MN because you
have indicated interest in the group, or have attended a like-function where
someone met you and thought you would be interested. If you would like to
discontinue receiving these emails, please reply with "unsubscribe"
in the email subject and your name will be removed from our list immediately.
CPR-MN holds their membership information as very private information and will
only use information for internal and informational purposes.