The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. I thought I would share it and say thank you to all of you who followed me in 2012. Hope to see you in 2013!
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 7,500 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 13 years to get that many views.
Did you know that the Domestic Violence Awareness Month evolved from the first Day of Unity observed in October, 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The intent was to connect battered womens advocates across the nation who were working to end violence against women and their children. In October 1987, the first Domestic Violence Awareness Month was observed. That same year the first national toll-free hotline was begun. In 1989 the first Domestic Violence Awareness Month Commemorative Legislation was passed by the U.S. Congress. Such legislation has passed every year since with NCADV providing key leadership in this effort.
In October 1994 NCADV, in conjunction with Ms. Magazine, created the “Remember My Name” project, a national registry to increase public awareness of domestic violence deaths. Since then, NCADV has been collecting information on women who have been killed by an intimate partner and produces a poster each October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, listing the names of those documented in that year.
The Centers for Disease Control announced last week findings from a ground breaking study that indicates domestic and sexual violence against American women at epidemic rates that affects “on average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner.” I was shocked to read these statistics.
As the grandmother of two young women, this concerns me.
In the first case brought by a survivor of domestic violence against the U.S. before an international human rights tribunal, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) found that the United States violated the human rights of Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales) and her children. The decision underscores that the U.S. is failing in its legal obligation to protect women and girls from domestic violence.
In June 1999, Jessica Gonzales’ three young daughters, ages seven, nine and ten, were abducted by her estranged husband and killed after the Colorado police refused to enforce a restraining order against him.
Although Gonzales repeatedly called the police, telling them of her fears for her daughters’ safety, they failed to respond. Hours later, Gonzales’ husband drove his pick-up truck to the police department and opened fire. He was shot dead by the police. The slain bodies of the three girls were subsequently discovered in the back of his pickup truck.
Gonzales filed a lawsuit against the police, but in June 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that she had no Constitutional right to police enforcement of her restraining order. She then filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, saying that the inaction of the police and the Supreme Court’s decision violated her human rights.
In another study, nearly 4,600 U.S. children were hospitalized with broken bones, traumatic brain injury and other serious damage caused by physical abuse in 2006, according to a new report, making child abuse a bigger threat than SIDS.
For more information for California residents, you can go to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence website here. You can locate a Domestic Violence shelter in your area on this website or you can call the 24 hour hotline at 1-800-799-7233. If you know someone who needs help, you can also call the hotline.
Senate Bill 1476 by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, crossed its last legislative hurdle Wednesday, when the Senate approved it on a concurrence vote of 21-13. Under SB 1476, a judge could split custody, child support or visitation rights among three or more people who had acted as parents to the child. To read my previous blog on the bill, here is the link.
On August ,8,2012, it looks like AB 1476, the new Family Law Parentage bill, was approved by members of the Assembly in an 11-5 vote. For more detail on this bill, see my previous post here. For details on who voted yes and no, I have included the information below. On August 15th, it was ordered to its third reading . If you would like to follow this bill, you can do so here.
Measure: SB 1476 (Leno): Family law: parentage.
Location: Asm Appropriations
Date: 08/08/12
Motion: Do pass.
Result: 11-5 (PASS)
Blumenfield, Bradford, Campos, Davis, Fuentes, Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, Mitchell, Solorio
Noes – 5
Donnelly, Harkey, Nielsen, Norby, Wagner
Absent, Abstention or Not Voting – 1
Charles Calderon
In an article in the JD Journal today, it was reported that the SB 1476 Bill proposed in California by Senator Mark Leno, offers the chance of radical social engineering and reform. The modifications sought in Family law and proposed, wants the statute to establish that a child may legally have more than two parents – thus altering prevailing notions of a family. Leno told the Sacramento Bee “The bill brings California into the 21st century.”
This bill is to amend Sections 3040, 7601, and 7612 of, and to add Section 4052.5 to, the Family Code, relating to parentage. In existing law, a man is conclusively presumed to be the father of a child if he was married to and cohabiting with the child’ s mother, except as specified. Existing law also provides that if a man signs a voluntary declaration of paternity, it has the force and effect of a judgment of paternity, subject to certain exceptions.
This bill would authorize a court to find that a child has 2 presumed parents notwithstanding the statutory presumption of parentage of the child by another man. The bill would authorize the court to make this finding if doing so would serve the best interest of the child based on the nature, duration, and quality of the presumed or claimed parents’ relationships with the child and the benefit or detriment to the child of continuing those relationships.
The Uniform Parentage Act defines the parent and child relationship as the legal relationship existing between a child and the child’s parents, including the mother and child relationship and the father and child relationship, and governs proceedings to establish that relationship. This bill would provide that a child may have a parent and child relationship with more than 2 parents.
Existing law establishes an order of preference for allocating child custody and directs the court to choose a parenting plan that is in the child’s best interest. This bill would, in the case of a child with more than 2 legal parents, require the court to allocate custody and visitation among the parents based on the best interest of the child, including stability for the child.
Under existing law, the parents of a minor child are responsible for supporting the child. Existing law establishes the statewide uniform guideline for calculating court-ordered child support. The guideline directs a court to consider the parents’ incomes, standard of living, and level of responsibility for the child. This bill would, in the case of a child with more than 2 legal parents, direct authorize the court not to divide deviate from the statewide uniform guideline when dividing child support obligations among the parents using the statewide uniform guideline . The bill would instead direct the court to divide the child support obligations among the parents based on the income of each of the parents and the amount of time spent with the child by each parent, as specified. f a child with more than 2 legal parents, require the court to allocate custody and visitation among the parents based on the best interest of the child, including stability for the child.
According to Leno, “Most children have at most two parents, but some children have more than two people in their lives who have been a child’s parent in every way.” And according to him confining parenthood only to two persons neglects the emotions and contributions of other persons who, in a modern world, should also be held in equal status with parents.
Not everyone is happy about this new two-and-more parent family concept and hold that parenthood in a family as a social unit is not amenable to “the more the merrier” concept.
I can see good and bad in this bill. In reading the proposed new Family Code Section 4052.5, the court may deviate from the statewide uniform guideline and divide the child support obligations based on each parents income and the time spent with the child. One of the biggest problems I see in this new section, is going to be the allocating of child support and the enforcement of the same. Then again, this could be a good thing in both of the non-custodial parent’s views, as they will not be paying as much in their child support obligation as they would be if there was not another non-custodial parent in the picture.
This is one bill I will continue to watch, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. What do you think about this proposed bill?
In an article I read in Bloomberg news today, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles stated:
“The more support we build in our cities and states, the stronger case we can make for extending the freedom to marry to loving couples no matter where they live.” Same-sex marriage is illegal under California law.
“Law-abiding, tax-paying families and their children deserve the same opportunities, the same rights and the same responsibilities afforded to every other family,” said Villaraigosa, a Democrat, at the briefing in Washington, where the U.S. Conference of Mayors is meeting. He spoke in support of Freedom to Marry, a New York-based advocacy group that says bans discriminate against homosexuals and infringe on their rights.
As many of you know, same sex marriage is a hot topic in California. It has been over a year since the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments appealing the ruling of Judge Vaughn Walker’s 2010 decision striking down Prop 8 for violating the U.S. Constitution. Below is the complete article in Bloomberg for you to read.
Mayors From NYC to Los Angeles Back Same-Sex Marriage – Bloomberg.
American Canyon High has become the nation’s first school to be certified as a “green school” by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS).
The school has a geo-thermal system to keep the temperature constant. It has a newly built one megawatt photovoltaic system. In addition, Wi-Fi runs throughout the entire school so students can log on and keep track of energy use.
For more information and to listen to the podcast on this story, see the link below.
American Canyon School Leads Nation In Being Environmentally Friendly « CBS San Francisco.
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Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, 50, faces one count each of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness for a New Years Eve incident with his wife as reported by a neighbor. Sheriff Mirkarimi is the newly elected sheriff of San Franciso.
“No one is above the law,” Gascón said. “Whether this was the elected sheriff or any other San Francisco resident, this type of behavior is inexcusable, criminal and will be prosecuted.”
The sheriff’s wife has stated that the allegations are false and that she is standing by her husband and they will prove that the allegations are false, despite the neighbors statement that she has texts and a photo from Ms. Mirkarimi which show bruises.
You can read more on these allegations below.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/13/BAT91MONIR.DTL#ixzz1jSthurno
If you have a family you might want to pay attention to some of the new laws in California beginning in 2012.
California Gay Bullying Law (Seth’s Law)
Combats bullying of gay and lesbian students in public schools by requiring school districts to have a uniform process for dealing with gay bullying complaints. Mandates that school personnel intervene if they witness gay bullying. Law effective July 1, 2012.
LGBT Equality and Equal Access in Higher Education Law 
State universities and colleges must create and enforce campus policies protecting LGBTs from harassment and appoint employee contact persons to address on-campus LGBT matters. The law includes community colleges statewide. Law effective 2012.
Domestic Partnership Equality Law
Corrects inequalities between domestic partnerships and heterosexual marriages, including domestic partner health benefits sharing. Law effective 2012.
Protection of Parent-Child Relationships Law
Allows courts to consider the relationship between a child and a non-biological parent when considering child rights cases involving birth parents, adoptive parents, and gay or lesbian guardians. Law effective 2012.
LGBT Equal Benefits Law
Requires an employer with a state contract worth more than $100,000 to have non-discrimination policies in place for LGBT workers and their partners. Law effective 2012.
Gay Divorce Law
Provides that if a gay couple got married in California but lives in a state that won’t grant them a divorce, the California court will have jurisdiction to grant them a legal divorce. The case will be filed in the county where the gay couple got married. Law effective January 1, 2012.
California Gay History Law
Governor Jerry Brown signed the Gay History Law, which mandates that school textbooks and social studies include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender accomplishments. Law effective January 1, 2012.
The following law goes into effect on January 1, 2012. Many children are not going to be happy with this one! Get ready parents to the whining and crying of those boys and girls who finally thought they were old enough to sit in the seat of the car like everyone else! This one will cost a bit too, $475 for each child not secured and a point on your record. Ouch!
Children *MUST* be secured in an appropriate child passenger restraint (safety seat or booster seat) IN THE BACK SEAT OF A VEHICLE until they are at least 8 YEARS OLD or 4′ 9″ in height.
These are just a few of the new laws you should all be aware of. Happy New Year to all of you! May it be a happy, healthy and prosperous one for each of you.
As stated in Capital Weekly on August 17, 2011, the Marin-based Center for Judicial Excellence (CJE) has announced it will file a complaint with the State Bar of California demanding the disbarment of Sacramento attorney Nabil Samaan. The group says Samaan’s license should be taken away because of comments Samaan made to a reporter that, according to CJE, appear to support his brother’s decision to allegedly murder his own two-year-old daughter.
This is a sad case of a father taking his life and the life of his child in an alleged custody dispute with the mother. The complete article is below.
Capitol Weekly: Complaint filed with State Bar against lawyer in AMBER Alert case.
Lori J. Paul, AACP
