Family Court Case Study

The Courts biased view of Fathers in Family Court Decisions Fathers in family court decisions are given less rights compared to mothers. Fathers should be allowed the same treatment as mothers in family court decisions and they should not be seen as less worthy of custody of a child. Mothers are favored because of the nurturing stereotype but this is not always true and is an incorrect at times. Women in today's society are more likely to receive residential custody than fathers. In the past ten years fathers are beginning to be given more equal rights as the mothers are given. Mothers will usually get primary custody of a child 68%-88% of the time whereas fathers receive primary custody 8%-14% of this time.
In legal situations women are assumed to be the best caregiver for a child. Most men in order to be given equal or even shared custody must prove that they worthy to be given such. Whilst women do not have to prove that they are worthy. It is very expensive to do fight against a mother for custody. For example my dad spent $40,000 during his custody battle for me whereas my biological mother, Faith, spent $0. The National Organization for Women (NOW) and other feminist organizations know that women will almost always win custody of a child this is because of default laws. The laws does not specifically state that custody is awarded to the women all the time but the law does state that women are given legal rights automatically because they are just assumed to be caregivers for a child. A study conducted by Sanford Braver at Arizona State University(http://sharedparentingworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Lay-Judgments-About-Child-Custody-After-Divorce.pdf) showed what members of society actually thought about who should receive custody of a child and whether they think that men are given more rights in family court decisions. The majority of people chose that equal time should be spent between the mother and the father.(69% believed this) But many of those people who believed that equal time should be spent between the mother and the father still thought that the child should live with the mother and only spend time with the father. These same people were asked what they thought would happen in today's legal system. It was thought that in 28% of court cases both parents receive equal time with the child, 47% thought the mother is given more time, and 24% thought the father would give more time. The participants believed that the majority of court cases want the child to live with the mother but still spend time with the father. This experiment was helpful to better understand that the public does want equality between mothers and fathers in family court decisions unfortunately the court is biased though. Sanford wrote that a vast amount of the citizens do feel that the legal system is biased. My incredible dad has actually has been unfairly treated by the court during his custody battle for me.
The court favored my biological mother, Faith, over my dad. Even after being arrested two times for foolish actions such as drunk driving while my dad was still trying to get custody. During the custody battle Faith filed false charges against my dad saying that he had abused me while I was a baby and this was used against my dad during the battle. If it was my mother nothing would have happened. The police later found out it was a false report yet Faith still had full custody and my dad only had visitation rights. She was at the time doing a massive amount of drugs and drinking when I was in her care. My dad at no point did anything that would cause the courts to give Faith full custody. She had a tremendous amount of evidence against her to easily prove that she was not fit to be a mother my dad had nothing against him. The court's argument was that it would not be efficient or right to have me be away from Faith even on a nightly basis. After Faith continued to act like the imbecile she was by getting arrested multiple times may I remind you this is all still going on during the custody battle. My dad finally got joint custody after her idiotic actions. My dad was only given Monday-Friday morning and afternoons which my dad worked so basically my dad got to see me one day a week and Faith was given nights and weekends when my dad finally got joint custody by
the judge. Faith continues to do more unlawful insane actions so then my dad got weekdays and my Faith got weekends. The custody battle that has been going on for a while now finally comes to an end after my Faith broke into a house, stole money, got arrested by a police officer and in the process punched the police officer in the face, and started threw stuff at a squad car. The next day she went in front of the judge and she said she could not remember the actions she committed the night before because she was blacked out the whole time. The reason she blacked out was because of the vast amount of drugs she had in her system. The day after Faith was suppose to go in front of the judge regarding the custody battle she did not show so the court date was rescheduled. Faith who came out in her orange jail jumpsuit was finally told by the judge that she was unfit to raise a child. The judge told her that until she checked herself into a mental hospital on her own, got cleared, and could support herself then ALL her visitation rights were constricted. Faith was only part of the custody battle to make my dad angry and make his life miserable not because she genuinely cared for me or even wanted me. Does that sound neutering? My dad was the neutering one the one who wanted me and did not chose drugs over me like Faith did. This battle my dad fought and did not give up on took five year, $40,000, and an arm and a leg but now I my dad has given me an amazing life. This is a personal example that relates to my life and can show how biased the court system really is to fathers. In conclusion, I believe that in family court decisions fathers should be given the same unbiased treatment.
Men may not always seem the most neutering but classifying them as not being as good as a parent as a woman is wrong. A woman physically carrying and giving birth to a baby does not mean that the mother is right for whom the child should be with because some mothers are not fit for that position. A man can be as neutering to a child and the court system needs to remain unbiased. Look at facts not preconceived ideas of which gender is a better parent because both genders have their
strengths