Under SB 1482, which will be voted on by the California Senate Judiciary Committee next Tuesday (April 25), a parent seeking to block a move is specifically prohibited from citing most of the evidence that could provide a basis for restraining the move. Nonmoving parents are prevented from citing the move's impact on their children's relationships with them or the effects of the children losing their schools and friends. This directly abrogates current California case law which says that the children's relationship with their nonmoving parent must be considered when deciding a relocation case.

SB 1482 is an attempt by the extremist Coalition for Family Equity and misguided feminists to reverse the progress made on behalf of California's children of divorce over the past two years. From 1996 to 2004 move-away determinations were based on the Burgess decision, which was interpreted by California courts as conferring unlimited move-away privileges. Under Burgess the bonds between tens of thousands of children and their noncustodial parents were needlessly ruptured.

The California Supreme Court addressed the problem in the LaMusga decision in April, 2004 by making it clear that courts can prevent children from being moved when it is detrimental to their interests. Among the factors deemed important were the relationship between the child and the nonmoving parent.

In the summer of 2004 then Senate President John Burton, one of the most powerful people in California, introduced SB 730, a bill which would have granted custodial parents an almost unlimited right to move children far way from their noncustodial parents.

We organized opposition to SB 730, and thousands of you wrote and called Sacramento to oppose the bill. Our campaign gained widespread media attention and was endorsed by numerous mental health and family law professionals. Burton surprised Sacramento insiders by withdrawing the bill a few weeks later.

Today we must again fight to preserve the relationships children of divorce share with their mothers and fathers. To voice your opposition to SB 1482, click here. By filling in the form, you will be both faxing and emailing Sacramento. Also, we suggest you call the members of the committee--the phone numbers are here.

California family law has a huge influence on other states, and parents all over the United States have a large stake in what happens here. We hear every day from devastated parents who lost their children in the aftermath of the misguided Burgess decision. We often hear from parents whose relationships with their children were saved by the LaMusga decision.

The Alliance for Children Concerned About Move-Aways, which we originally formed to defeat SB 730, is working with the California Alliance for Families and Children to defeat SB 1482. Again, to take action, click here.
 

Complete and send the form below to email and fax the members of the California Senate Judiciary Committee.

April 18, 2006 Re: I OPPOSE SB 1482: Child custody Dear Senate Judiciary Committee Member, I am writing to urge you to vote against SB 1482 in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings next Tuesday, April 25. SB 1482 will harm California's children of divorce by making it more difficult for them to retain the loving bonds they share with both parents.   Under SB 1482 parents seeking to prevent their children from being moved hundreds or thousands of miles away are specifically prevented from citing the move's impact on their children's relationships with them as a basis for restraining the move. Nor are they allowed to cite the effects of the children losing their schools and friends. In 2004 the California Supreme Court acted to protect children of divorce with its LaMusga ruling. SB 1482 will instead return us to the days when custodial parents could move children whenever they wanted, wherever they wanted, often needlessly damaging the relationships between children and their noncustodial parents. I urge you to stand up for children by voting against SB 1482 on Tuesday. Sincerely, Please type your name to act as your signature. Email address Phone Area Code     Number Including your phone number will help authenticate your letter. Phone numbers are not collected or shared with any third party.