Thread by @MSS3RosaFerreum

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @MichaelGLFlood: "Fathers’ rights perspectives tend to conflate the interests of children and fathers and ignore the possibility of conflict between them."

The American 🇺🇸 shared parenting bills discussed herein don't ignore possible conflicts between fathers and children.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @MichaelGLFlood: "The phrase ‘joint custody’ has been used more broadly, particularly in the US where it originates, to signal that both parents have legal responsibility for the child and should be involved in the child’s upbringing after separation."

Not quite correct….

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 I am going to use California as an example of how the United States of America handles it, but each state has a different though similar take on how "custody" is addressed: namely there is a difference between "physical custody" and "legal custody."

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 California Family Code § 3007: "'Sole physical custody' means that a child shall reside with and be under the supervision of one parent, subject to the power of the court to order visitation."

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di….

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 California Family Code § 3006: "'Sole legal custody' means that one parent shall have the right and the responsibility to make the decisions relating to the health, education, and welfare of a child."

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di….

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 California Family Code § 3002: "'Joint custody' means joint physical custody and joint legal custody."

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di….

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 California Family Code § 3003: "'Joint legal custody' means that both parents shall share the right and the responsibility to make the decisions relating to the health, education, and welfare of a child."

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di….

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 California Family Code § 3004 (first sentence): "'Joint physical custody' means that each of the parents shall have significant periods of physical custody."

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di….

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 California Family Code § 3004 (second sentence): "Joint physical custody shall be shared by the parents in such a way so as to assure a child of frequent and continuing contact with both parents, subject to Sections 3011 and 3020."

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di….

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 California Family Code §3100(a): "[T]he court shall grant reasonable visitation rights to a parent when it is shown that the visitation would be in the best interest of the child…."

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di…

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 Visitation is further distinguished conceptually from physical custody in California law.

Shared custody involves both parents having significant periods of physical custody and being able to make the decisions relating to the health, education, and welfare of a child.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 Most of the discussions I have seen surrounding default shared custody (and the bills before the legislatures resulting therefrom) have focused on shared physical custody so that fathers can directly parent their children (not just see them on some weekends and holidays).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @MichaelGLFlood: "Many separated and divorced families simply do not have the capacity to establish and maintain equal time shared care."

This is why the Florida bill and others like it allow the courts to make adjustments to accommodate the parents' and childs' schedules, etc.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @MichaelGLFlood: "[S]eparation often represents a financial crisis."

Is this because a significant number of women decide to be stay-at-home mothers quitting their jobs rather than letting the fathers be househusbands or allowing both parents take less demanding jobs?

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 Shall we break out the relevant @pewresearch data and @BLS_gov American Time Use Survey data on the subject?

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov @MichaelGLFlood: "A second reason that the cooperative relationship required for shared parenting is likely to be beyond many parents, at least in the short-term, is the presence of conflict and violence."

The Florida bill accounted for this, too.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov @MichaelGLFlood:"The third problem with rebuttable presumption of joint custody lies precisely in the fact that it is a presumption. The best interests of the child, a key principle in family law, would be compromised by any presumption of a specific type of custody arrangement."

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov The Florida bill shows that the best interests of the child, a key principle in family law, would NOT be compromised by any presumption of a default rebuttable presumption of joint custody arrangement.

Let's see why by looking at the text of the law itself.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Senate Bill 668 (lines 454–460) amendment to Florida Statute § 61.13(2)(c) states "[t]he court shall determine all matters relating to parenting and time-sharing of each minor child of the parties in accordance with the best interests of the child…."
flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Senate Bill 668 (lines 461–467) amendment to Florida Statute § 61.13(2)(c)(1) states:

"Absent good cause, it is the public policy of this state that the best interest of each minor child is served by… substantially equal time sharing with both parents."

flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Since Dr. @MichaelGLFlood isn't educated enough to know what "good cause" is (based upon the academic paper he wrote), allow me to provide the definition.

Good cause is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary (2nd ed. 1910) as "sufficient grounds to act on" (thelawdictionary.org/good-cause/).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Good cause is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary 822 (rev. 4th ed. 1968) as: "[s]ubstantial reason, one that affords a legal excuse" and a "[l]egally sufficient ground or reason" (smhttp-ssl-70271.nexcesscdn.net/wp-content/upl…).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov As noted hereinabove, good cause is one of the lower standards of proof. It's used in determining whether to grant a motion in law and motion proceedings. It's a much lower standard of proof than is required to prevail in civil trials and substantially lower than criminal trials.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Senate Bill 668 (lines 472–475) amendment to Florida Statute § 61.13(2)(c)(2) states "The court shall order that the parental responsibility for a minor child be shared by both parents unless the court finds that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the child."

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Senate Bill 668 (lines 517–523) amendment to Florida Statute § 61.13(3) states "[f]or purposes of establishing or modifying parental responsibility and …a parenting plan, including a time-sharing schedule…, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration."

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov As can be seen from the bill's text, the Florida bill shows that the best interests of the child would NOT be compromised by any presumption of a default rebuttable presumption of joint custody because the best interests of the child trumps shared parenting where they conflict.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov @MichaelGLFlood: "A 'one-size-fits-all' law would undermine the ability and authority of families to develop parenting arrangements which reflect parenting capacities, work arrangements, location and housing according to the best interests of the child…."

Not the Florida bill.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov "The most common form of child custody is sole custody. …Sole custody is popular for several reasons; it is the traditional custodial arrangement and it perpetuates the traditional notion that mothers, not fathers, are essential parents." 72 St. John's Law Review 537–538 (1998).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov "While sole custody arrangements continue to enjoy great favor, in most situations it is actually detrimental to both children and parents." 72 St. John's Law Review 538 (1998).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov "Unfortunately, however, until joint custody becomes a widely utilized and encouraged custody arrangement, it appears that sole custody will remain the most common form of child custody, and mothers the most common recipients." 72 St. John's Law Review 538 (1998).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov The above three quotes came from Jo-Ellen Paradise, The Disparity Between Men and Women in Custody Disputes: Is Joint Custody the Answer to Everyone's Problems? 72 St. John's Law Review 517 (1998) (available at scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewconten…).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov @MichaelGLFlood: "[A] legal presumption of joint custody is likely to expose women, children and men to higher levels of violence."

The citation provided therein is to the belief (not data) that it would "place victims of family violence and child abuse at further risk of harm."

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov @MichaelGLFlood than addresses concerns regarding shared residency, which is not an issue in the Florida bill, which does not make that assumption.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov As for @MichaelGLFlood's suggestion that fathers get more involved before the breakup, that is already happening (as shown by the data in @MichaelGLFlood's paper, the American Time Use Survey, and the @pewresearch center).

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Since fathers are already more involved (than they once were) prior to the breakup, why not change the family court laws to keep that involvement going (with exceptions made to accommodate where the child's best interests conflict with the shared custody default)?

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov Thoughts @JDefiant9 and @Mephitus_Skunk?

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov @threadreaderapp unroll, please.

@MichaelGLFlood @JDefiant9 @soapboxgirl79 @Ralph26392761 @pewresearch @BLS_gov @threader_app compile, please.