Is there a Conflict with Texas Representatives paying for Lobbyists to Kill Equal Parenting Bills?

The Texas Family Law Foundation spent 3/4 million dollars to pay lobbyists Steve and Amy Bresnen to kill Equal Parenting bills in the past 5 years. Is it a conflict of interest for a Representative to be on the JJFI committee that might kill an equal parenting bill, while at the same time paying dues that fund these lobbyists to kill equal parenting bills? 

Investigative Reporter Wayne Dolcefino has just released a video report about the Texas Family Law Foundation and the JJFI Committee. this video raises questions of if there is a conflict that is killing Parental Equality in Texas which is hurting kids and families.

See Video Report here:

https://fb.watch/5fQu6BMbHI/

https://youtu.be/iUQ174oHqec 

Rep. Ana-Marie Ramos and Rep. David Cook and Chairwoman Victoria Neave, please stand with the people of Texas and don't follow the misguided path of the for-profit lobbyists. Show you are not just a legislator in their pocket to kill and Equal Parenting bill that the people overwhelmingly want and that Kids need. Call for a vote on HB 803 and pass it out of committee so it can get a vote on the floor instead of just being killed in committee at the behest of the lobbyists over the desires of the people and 22 bi-partisan co-authors.  

These lobbyists brag about using their influence to delay these bills so they die, even though they would otherwise pass overwhelmingly on the floor, such as HB 803 Equal Parenting Bill. There is no question that the bills the TFLF support or oppose all come down to whether or not the bill will increase or decrease revenue for attorneys. They tried to use dirty tricks this session with a letter saying that equal parenting is only about dads who want to go against women, but these lobbyists were shut down swiftly by a counter letter showing that women are at the Capitol daily advocating for equal parenting because it helps moms too and most importantly it is best for kids and society. Emma Johnson with Moms for Shared Parenting even makes a compelling case that women will not get true equality and close the pay gap until courts have both parents chare in the duties of raising a child instead of just telling a women to stay home and raise the child after a divorce, even though the woman must also work too. The Bresnens knew of these women fighting for Equal Parenting this session, but chose to ignore and silence these women to promote their agenda.

Is it a conflict of interest for a Representative to be on the JJFI committee that might kill an equal parenting bill, while at the same time paying dues that fund these lobbyists to kill equal parenting bills? These lobbyists look out for the income of the attorneys they represent, that is the bottom line, they don't look out for families.

Rep Ana Ramos and Rep David Cook are new reps and they are family attorneys. The website lists them both as members of the TFLF. I fear they might have been fed the standard lies by these lobbyists because they sure did talk the points of the family law foundation lobbyists at the April 26 HB 803 Hearing. Points that have been disproven over and over again and points that go against the will of the majority of Texas who support and want equal parenting and parental equality. There are even 22 bipartisan co-authors of HB 803 and we can't even get a vote on this equal parenting bill? The TFLF are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of these freshmen reps who do not know the history of even last session's equal parenting bill that passed out of committee 7 to 1, and the TFLF arguments were soundly defeated by a woman, and mother, State Representative Gina Calanni.

For instance, Rep Cook used the old TFLF talking point and insisted that you can already get Equal Parenting in Courts, but this is something that has been thoroughly vetted and disproved even in last session's JJFI Committee. Rep. Gina Calanni did a fantastic job of getting the TFLF attorneys to admit it might cost 50k for a good attorney to go to court and try to get equal parenting or even just to get a judge to give expanded standard instead of the standard possession order. Rep. Calanni rightfully stated that the current system is not good for low-income people who cannot afford attorneys and not good for families. Why are we making good fit parents have to fight and bicker in have conflict over who gets more time with kids, instead of just having a starting point of equal parenting for parents who the court deems fit joint managing conservators? Rep. Cook also insisted on the TFLF idea that there already is near equal parenting time in the law, but that has been thoroughly disproven too. Rep. Calanni last session even blasted the TFLF attorneys for insisting there was already near equal time, but then the TFLF attorneys could not even come up with the numbers how much time one parent got over the other in the current system. Fortunately, Rep Calanni did the math and some years it is only 88 overnights in an entire year for one parent with their child with the every other weekend standard possession order where a child doesn't get to see one parent except one weekend every 2 weeks. That is not good for a child. Even worse for Rep Cook, he is opposing the Texas Republican Platform by standing in the way of Equal Parenting.

Rep. Ramos used the old TFLF talking point that it isn't good for kids to go back and forth, even though it has been thoroughly disproven over the years as well. EVERY study and expert over the past couple of decades has shown that equal parenting time is best for children in every measurable metric, regardless of having to go back and forth. This is because it is the separation from one parent that does the greatest harm to children and leads to drastically worse outcomes for children who do not have both parents in their lives equally. The separation from a parent hurts a child, not the going back and forth between 2 loving homes. In fact, with equal parenting schedules you can have even less going back and forth with week to week with one back and forth a week vs. the standard possession order which gives one parent 2 hours every Thursday which is a back and forth all in a one afternoon time span.

Rep Ramos and Rep Cook and Rep Neave, I believe you were elected with good intentions of doing right and representing your constituents and I believe you can rise above the conflict and do the right thing for the people. Don't believe the lies of the TFLF and don't follow the path of being another Rep that these lobbyists swayed to kill a bill that the people want and the kids need. The people are speaking out and they want equal parenting. Only the paid lobbyists or attorneys who profit from conflict are against it. It is profits vs the people. Please take a stand and show you don't just do what the Texas Family Law foundation lobbyists say to do. These lobbyists brag that they have swayed reps in the past to kill equal parenting bills. Please call for a vote on HB 803 and please vote for HB 803. That will show you are not a part of this group of lobbyist's profit agenda, and it will show you stand with the people of Texas and it will show you stand with minorities and low-income families and women and kids, all of whom will benefit from equal parenting, in addition to helping fathers get equal time with kids.

Texas Supreme Court to Rule on #FreeJoshJaros - Constitutional Rights to Attorney at Stake

I recently helped file a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus before the Supreme Court of Texas regarding the egregious constitutional violations of Judge Patrice McDonald in Montgomery County, Texas. Hopefully the SCOTX will stand up for the Constitution and Free Joshua Jaros. Specifically, Judge McDonald refused to allow Joshua Jaros to have an attorney in a criminal proceeding, and then threw him in jail for a debt that he could not afford and without the chance to have an attorney to represent him and present his case as the Constitution requires.

The Joshua Jaros Habeas Corpus petition Supreme Court case number is 19-1101 IN RE JOSHUA LEROY JAROS. 

If the name Judge Patrice McDonald sounds familiar, it is because she has been in the headlines recently by Investigative Reporter Wayne Dolcefino. Wayne has been exposing Judge McDonald after she threatened to throw a man in jail for not paying for an attorney and for spousal support for his bigamist ex in a divorce proceeding.

The man, Mark Athans, filed for divorce after he found out his wife of 5 months was already married. The woman was a fraudster and charged with Felony Bigamy. The marriage between Mark and woman was voided in the state in which it occurred. That didn’t stop Judge McDonald though who proceeded with the divorce case and refused to consider that there is no marriage due to the fraud and felony behavior of Mark’s ex, and even was going to jail the victim Mark if he did not pay his con artist ex’s attorney fees.

The latest victim of Judge McDonald is Joshua Jaros, who now sits in jail after having his Constitutional rights tossed out the window. The situation with Josh Jaros reveals a bigger issue with the horrible family law system in Texas in which good parents, mostly fathers, get separated from their children which causes a ripple effect of harm to the children and society as a whole. Reducing incentive for parents to fight over children should be a priority in Texas. Equal Shared Parenting laws overwhelmingly and on a bi partisan basis passed out of the Texas House this past session but never made it to the floor. Children should be able to have access and love from both fit parents, and parents should not have incentive to fight with their children’s lives and instead have to practice equal shared parenting. This would reduce the factual devastating effects on children that this fighting and parental alienation causes because parents will be forced to share costs and parenting instead of parents using their children as pawns to get a little more parenting time to hurt their ex or to be able to get more child support or be awarded legal fees for their lawyers.

Josh Jaros was jailed in Montgomery County Texas after he received no jury trial and after he was denied an attorney which is a basic constitutional right and is even Texas Law. There were other issues as well such as fatal flaws in the notice and pleadings. Josh Jaros is a great father who supports and takes care of his kids but could not pay the several hundred dollars a month to his ex-wife each month after Josh already pays to take care of his kids half the time and provides a roof over their head and food for them to eat etc. Both parents should always be able to equally be with their children if there is no threat of harm or violence etc, and supporting children in Texas means both parents taking care of the children equally. Texas needs to pass equal shared parenting laws so that children get to have both of their parents in their lives, and it would exponentially cut down on the fighting and tearing apart and bankrupting of families in the court system of fit parent had no choice but to share their child equally instead of being able to go to court and fight for more time or more money. #FreeJoshJaros

The Texas and US Constitutions require that any criminal defendant has a right to an attorney and even the right to have one appointed for them if they are unable to afford one. Seems pretty straight forward right? Unfortunately, the Court systems in Texas (and in the Nation) do not always follow the Constitution and are in need of serious reform. The Constitutional rights we all hold dear frequently get tossed out the window in courtrooms where judges can virtually do whatever they want with immunity. There are many good and great Judges who follow the law and the Constitution, but there are also Judges who do not. There is very little oversight when clear laws and rules are violated by judges. There is even less method of reprimanding a Judge, and even less of an adequate way to reverse a Judge who clearly violates the law or the Constitution. If the Law or the Constitution says a Judge has to do something specific, and the judge simply refuses, then what recourse does someone have? Just because the law says it MUST be done does not mean a judge has to follow it because there is NO reason for them to. They won’t be disciplined. They MIGHT be overturned if you can get an appeals court to take interest in the case but that could take years on appeal. Mandamus is the appropriate form of demanding that a Judge follow the law or constitution when it is clear they have not during the pendency of a case, but mandamus is rarely taken up even if the judge is completely wrong because the appeals court does not have to take them up and can just say they don’t have time to rule on the mandamus. Texas must create a better system of immediate and mandatory review when there is a question of whether or not a judge in a case is not following a clear and mandatory law or rule that must be followed. People’s lives and time and money should not have to wait for years of appeals to overturn a bad judge when there is a clear violation of law or rule by a judge. The clear violation by a judge should be resolved quickly so the underlying case moves forward and gets resolved in a fair and unbiased manner. Judges should be more strictly required to follow mandatory laws and procedures or face real consequences. As it stands now, Judges have no incentive to actually follow mandatory requirements if they know they will not get in trouble.