Talk Radio Campaign Blocks CA. Senate Leader's 'Stealth' Family Law Bill

July 15, 2004

Hundreds of angry parents deluged the offices of California State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) with calls, faxes and e-mails yesterday, protesting a "stealth" family law bill which Burton reportedly planned to sneak through the legislature in his last months in office.

The protestors, called to action by KMPC Los Angeles radio talk show host Glenn Sacks, seek to block a proposed bill which would abrogate the California Supreme Court's recent decision in the LaMusga move-away case. Anthony Williams, one of Burton's principal consultants, has now agreed to meet with leaders of the newly formed Alliance for Children Concerned About Move-Aways to discuss the bill.

In LaMusga, a custodial mother sought to move her two young boys 2,400 miles away from their father, who objected to the move. Since the 1996 Burgess decision, California custodial parents have had the almost unlimited right to move their children away from noncustodial parents, many of whom, like Gary LaMusga, cannot move to follow their children because of their child support obligations.

In May, the California Supreme Court acted to rein in move-aways, deciding LaMusga in favor of the father. In response, Burton wrote a bill which would amend California Family Code 7501 to "abrogate [LaMusga] in its entirety" and establish that "the custodial parent has a presumptive right to change the residence of the child and does not need a court order allowing him or her to do so."

Sacramento family law attorney Diane Wasznicky of Bartholomew, Wasznicky and Molinaro, LLP, called the proposed bill a "time-bomb" which would necessitate large, costly battles for 50% parenting time.

"The sponsors of this legislation basically take the position that any parent who exercises primary care--even 51%--of a child should be allowed to dictate to the other parent what is best for the children," she notes. "Their position is that the primary parent's life choices [e.g. relocation] are per se best for the children regardless of any level of negative impact that choice has on the children."

Sacks dubbed the proposed bill "Jim Crow family law." He told listeners:

"Under this bill mom can move wherever she wants whenever she wants and does not even need the formality of a court order to do so. This bill would be a devastating blow to children and to the rights of fathers. It must be stopped." 

Garrett C. Dailey, who represented the father in the California Supreme Court, said the LaMusga decision was "probably the most popular family law decision rendered by the Supreme Court" and praised the court for ruling that "children are not chattel--their best interests need to be considered."

Dailey said that the supporters of the bill are an "extreme minority of mother's rights advocates whose views do not represent mainstream psychological family law thought. They base their position on psychological research that touts the overriding importance of maintaining a child's relationship with one primary parent. This research is thirty years old and has long since been discredited by more recent and thorough research that shows that children of divorced parents who have two primary parents in their lives do better in school, are better adjusted and happier than children raised by only one primary parent."

In a letter to Burton, Dailey highlighted the highly-publicized case DeBrenes v. Traub move-away case, in which a  divorced Contra Costa County custodial mother remarried and seeks to move to her new husband's native country, Costa Rica, with her 12 year-old daughter. The girl is learning disabled, attends a special school, and does not speak Spanish. The girl's father, Eric Traub, has already relocated twice in order to be with his daughter, and is contesting the move.  Dailey says that if Burton succeeds, trial courts will be "forced to rubber-stamp move-away requests, no matter how short-sighted, precipitous, or calamitous for the children," such as in Traub.

Sacks told listeners:

"In any rational country the judge [in Traub] would have laughed the mother out of the courtroom, told her she must be joking, or suggested she put the wine bottle down and go sleep it off....[Instead] Eric Traub's 12 years of loving fatherhood are to be bundled up and thrown away the moment the bond he shares with his daughter becomes inconvenient for mom."

Several prominent family law attorneys and mental health professionals, including Dailey, Sanford L. Braver, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, family law attorney Michael Oddenino, who serves as the ACCAMA legislative representative,  Los Angeles family law attorney Renee Sperling, and Jayne A. Major, Ph.D., Executive Director of Breakthrough Parenting Services, have endorsed ACCAMA's campaign to preserve LaMusga.

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