BADNARIK makes EQUAL Parental Rights his top issue.

[POC]

"Parents' Rights

No issue is more sensitive -- and few issues are more
troubling to Libertarians -- than the role of
government in family life. On the face of things, the
federal government has an even smaller role in that
area than it does in most, and I favor keeping
Washington out of issues like defining and licensing
marriage, regulating homeschooling, mandating
childhood vaccinations or using tax policy for
"socially engineering" the makeup and function of the
family.

However, there are some areas of family life in which
the federal government arguably has a role to play.
The Constitution ordains that all Americans receive
the equal protection of the law, and it prohibits
involuntary servitude.

In both of these areas, the federal government has
failed America's families and, in particular, its
parents.

Equal protection of the law pre-supposes fairness for
those coming before the bar of justice. Yet in divorce
proceedings, the states routinely award custody of
minor children to one parent or another, relegating
the other parent to the status of "second-class
citizen" -- not because the latter parent has been
convicted of any crime, or found unfit, but because of
a prejudice in favor of father or mother as the best
"single" parent.

This is a matter of federal interest under the 14th
Amendment, even intra-state. Once one parent or
another, possibly with a child in tow, moves to
another state, any shadow of doubt is erased. It
becomes an interstate matter, and by definition
therefore falls under federal jurisdiction.

As president, I will direct the Justice Department's
civil rights division to investigate state policies
which violate the 14th Amendment rights of parents and
to pursue the elimination of those policies in court.
The default presumption in any divorce proceeding must
be for joint custody of minor children. Failing the
waiver of that presumption by one parent, or proof
that one parent is unfit, to deny any parent equal
access to, and equal participation in the raising of,
his or her children is clearly an abuse of law and
repugnant to the Constitution.

Above and beyond the matter of custody comes child
support. While it is reasonable to assess support for
a minor child when circumstances dictate that he or
she will be living exclusively with one parent, the
matter has been inflated into, literally, a federal
case.

The 13th Amendment prohibits involuntary servitude. In
the Slaughterhouse Cases, the Supreme Court clearly
and unambiguously ruled that this prohibition applies
to "peonage" -- the attachment of criminal liability
to failure to pay, or work off, debt. Yet, across the
nation, hundreds of thousands of non-custodial parents
find themselves in court, often charged with felonies
and facing prison, for their failure or inability to
pay child support. Further, the federal government has
intervened to the extent of maintaining a special
database to track "deadbeat parents" across state
lines in order to enforce these draconian and
unconstitutional laws.

As president, I will direct the Civil Rights Division
of the Department of Justice to sue states which
attach criminal liability to child support obligations
and, if necessary, to charge government officials who
administer that unconstitutional criminal liability
with violations of the civil rights of non-custodial
parents.

I'm Michael Badnarik, Libertarian for President. I ask
the tough questions-to give you answers that really
work!"

http://www.badnarik.org/Issues/

[VeronicaGia]

Bump  :)

[MYSONSDAD]

Never been much for politics until now.

This man holds my interest. Went thru the website and it was a real eyeopener.

Any chance you could post this on Fathers Issues board?

[SadStepMom]

I would definitely urge people to take a look.  I don't agree on some of their views, but I don't believe in all the views of any party.  Definitely gives me something to think about.