1/9/01 Cobb Superior Court Rally --PRESS RELEASE-- From: tony zizza tz777@yahoo.com Citizens Against Judicial Bias 3108 Tree Terrace Pkwy Austell, GA 30168 770.944.0744 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bias Against Noncustodial Parents Opposed Shared parenting rights advocates accuse Cobb Superior Court and other county courts with bias/discrimination in custody cases on a daily basis MARIETTA, January 9--With the new year upon us and a new legislative session less than a week away, local shared parenting rights advocates are wondering if the year 2001 will bring any relief to the bias/discrimination they hear about from Georgia's noncustodial parents. Georgia's noncustodial parents, there are 14 million noncustodial parents nationwide, have grown tired of the way judges in this state marginalize their parenting time with their children. According to Rep. Jim Martin (D-Atlanta), judges in Georgia decide custody issues based on what is in "the best interests of the child." Martin, a lawyer, has received several awards from women's groups, including the "Good Guy Award" from the Georgia Women's Political Caucus and the "Legislator Award" from The National Organization of Women (NOW), so fathers in this state who make up the majority of noncustodial parents, wonder if legislating the "best interests of the child" means giving fathers more parenting time or not. On December 28, 2000 Rep. Martin was quoted in The Atlanta Journal Constitution as saying the best interests of the child standard is "about as objective a standard as you can use." Noncustodial parents in Georgia are very confused by the alleged objectivity of this standard because they are routinely turned into "visitors" in their own children's lives after divorce or separation. The evidence for this reality abounds. Says Ray Pitts, former North Atlanta Chapter President of Fathers Are Parents Too, "We are not visitors in our children's lives...but parents. Call it parenting time, rather than visitation." Last year Pitts and many others thought the Expanded Minimum Visitation proposal (SB 402) sponsored by Sen. Donzella James (D-College Park) would be signed by Gov. Roy Barnes. After all, it would have simply expanded the weekends noncustodial parents and their children enjoyed together. No deal. Not a chance. The bill never even left the Senate Judiciary Committee. One has to wonder how the "best interests of the child" standard for deciding custody issues championed by Rep. Jim Martin, Gov. Roy Barnes and countless others are in fact served in Georgia's courts on a daily basis. Today, Citizens Against Judicial Bias, will rally outside the Cobb Superior Court at 30 Waddell Ct. in Marietta, GA from 11-1pm, with colorful placards in hand, to rally for just not more time with their children, but for Cobb Superior Court and other Georgia courts to get their own houses in order. Tony Zizza, President of the newly formed group Citizens Against Judicial Bias, believes there are many questions that need to be answered. "I am, as others here today are, curious to know why Cobb Superior Court does not allow outside court reporters, why the Clerk's office takes up to 6 weeks or more to place your important documents in your file, and why on Earth judges who serve the public at Cobb Superior Court are allowed to make rulings on custody during contempt hearings based on their "own personal morality." Are judges actually making rulings on custody based on their "own personal morality?" Zizza's wife, Mary, one of the noncustodial parents rallying today, is living proof that this happens at Cobb Superior Court. The Zizza's were forced to get married earlier than previously planned by Judge James L. Bullard. Says Mary Zizza, "I filed a simple Motion of Contempt of Court for Visitation Interference because my daughter's father was taking time away from us in the summer, and instead of our time together being honored, Judge James L. Bullard upon learning I was engaged but not married, divested all custody and visitation from me. I ask you this: are we really living in a free country when a judge tells a mother that raised her daughter for 12 years, then agreed fully to shared parenting with the father, that he has 'a long standing policy of not granting custody or visitation to parents who are not married?' Judges are destroying families. And it's not right." There is plenty that is not right about custody issues in Georgia. Georgia does not have a presumption of shared parenting. Georgia, like many states, has bemoaned the crisis of "fatherlessness", but has not really done anything to allow fathers to be equal parents, fathers being noncustodial parents 85 percent of the time after divorce/separation according to a U.S. Census study released this year. Jack Beavers, co-founder of Citizens Against Judicial Bias, not only only wants Georgia's judges to catch up with the times, but wants them and our legislators to address at least 6 of what they believe are important issues of family policy, so that not just fathers, but all noncustodial parents will be treated fairly. Beavers was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Decenber 28, 2000 as stating, "I'm doing all this because I love my kids, and I want fathers to have just as much a chance to gain custody as mothers do." Beavers knows it is in the best interests of children to have judges held accountable for negligent decisions regarding custody, and that shared parenting family policies should be enforced in Georgia. The 6 areas concerning family policy effecting families that legislators need to look at are: 1) GENDER BIAS. Why do fathers receive physical or sole custody less than 15 percent of the time. Do fathers only want minimal contact with their children? 2) PRESUMPTION OF SHARED PARENTING. If the best parent is two parents, why are noncustodial fathers and noncustodial mothers treated like visitors in their own children's lives? Children should be shared. 3) GEORGIA NEEDS MORE FAMILY COURTS. Why are Senior judges, and judges who preside over criminal cases, ruling on sensitive family matters? Many other states have specific family courts, and judges who are exclusively trained in family law. 4) JUDGES & ATTORNEYS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. As it stands, judges in Georgia rule based on their "own personal morality" and attorneys just go along with it. Noncustodial parents must immediately exercise their rights to file a grievance against the attorneys in their case with the State Bar of Georgia, and file a complaint with the Judicial Qualifications Commision when the judge has in fact engaged in judicial misconduct. 5) PRO-SE LITIGANTS. Many noncustodial fathers and noncustodial mothers simply cannot afford to pay an attorney a $5,000 retainer to take on a custody case. Courts must be more open to Pro-se litigants and/or provide pro bono attorneys to parents who are faced with losing custody. 6) MANDATED PARENTING PLANS. All courts in Georgia must require divorcing/separated parents to sit down "together" and write up a legitimate parenting plan for the benefit of their children. Right now, divorcing/separated parents are forced to pay up to $30 to take a seminar for divorcing parents, but the parents need not take the seminar together. A Parenting Plan will determine many important things. If one parent is unwilling to sit down and write a Parenting Plan (alongside an attorney or mediator if they do not want to be alone with the other parent), than that parent should be exused from having primary custody. Today, Citizens Against Judicial Bias invite the public, and especially noncustodial parents, to rally outside the Cobb Superior Court in Marietta, GA from 11-1pm. For further information, contact: Tony Zizza CAJB President/Spokesman judicial reform@juno.com 770-944-0744 Jack Beavers CAJB Co-Founder/Spokesman jbeavers73@hotmail.com 770-973-2890