Declaration of Children's and Parent's Rights For Presidential Candidates in the 2000 Election

We, the people of the United States, being asked to vote for you in the upcoming 2000 elections for President of the United States, request in a united, single voice that you adopt as a plank of your Presidential Platform the following declaration and policy regarding family, children and parents.

Findings of Fact:

• Overwhelming research has proven that children do best when raised in married, two-parent households. Children from fatherless homes account for:
  • 63% of youth suicides. (Source: US Dept. of Health & Human Services, Bureau of the Census).
  • 71% of pregnant teenagers. (Source: US Dept. of Health & Human Services) 90% of all homeless and runaway children.
  • 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept 1988)
  • 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders. (Source: Center for Disease Control).
  • 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger. (Source: Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26, 1978).
  • 71% of all high school dropouts. (Source: National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools).
  • 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers. (Source: Rainbows for all God`s Children).
  • 85% of all youths sitting in prisons. (Source: Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections 1992).
• The Federal Government's own DHHS statistics document that the majority (two thirds) of abuse and neglect allegations are in fact unfounded. The rights of parents are routinely violated by these allegations, many of which are made under "shield" laws violating the due process rights of the accused, or for tactical advantage during divorce or custody actions where no actual standard of proof exists. In contrast to the nearly two million unfounded allegations made last year (source: DHHS), there are zero persons currently imprisoned for making false or malicious allegations of abuse and neglect.
• The Federal Government, as the final instrument for protecting the rights of all citizens, should act to prevent children and their parents from being abused by the capricious actions of adults, specifically malicious parents using children and state agencies acting under color of authority of the law.

Therefore, in the interest of protecting children and families, I announce that, as your representative and elected leader of the United States, I support and will defend the fundamental truths herein:

1. The preferred state for raising children is the married, two-parent family home.
2. The social practice of intentionally conceiving, bearing and raising children in single-parent households is contrary to the best interests of the United States as a nation and the population as a whole, and is unacceptable on an ethical and moral basis to the executive branch of the United States Government. I will not support or sign into law any bill that encourages the creation or maintenance of such households including, but not limited to, any welfare or welfare-reform bill, which encourages the creation of single-parent households.
3. All parents, regardless of their marital status with regard to the other parent, have a fundamental liberty interest in personally raising their children, and children have a fundamental liberty interest in the care, custody and nurture provided directly by their parents. Such an interest is prima facie superior to the desire, regardless of circumstance, of the other parent to take any action that would harm the competing interests of the children and other parent.
4. Absent a showing of actual or imminent harm, supported by the standard of proof under criminal law, no person, state, local or federal agency, judge, or tribunal in the United States should have the ability to dispel, abrogate or infringe the fundamental liberty interests of parents and children to the care, love, nurture and joy of each other's company. Any party attempting to do so, whether under color of authority of law or not, should be indicted and tried under federal civil rights statutes for violating the fundamental liberty interests so infringed.
5. The current system of laws of the United States and the several states that permit the use of children for the support of adult lifestyles, the taking of "human shields" in the form of children in divorce and custody disputes, and the flagrant and abusive child support system currently in force is unacceptable.

Further, we request that you press for the following changes to the law within one year of your inauguration:

1. The abolishment of "custody of children" as a presumptive violation of the rights of both parents and children except where a criminal dependency petition can be sustained against a parent in open court.
2. The abolishment of forced transfer payments in the form of "child support" except where a parent refuses to provide at least half of the direct parenting time, involvement, and expense of the needs of their children through their own hands, with the burden of proof resting upon the party attempting to bring a support petition.
3. The enactment of laws at the appropriate state and federal level to protect the parent/child bond between both parents and the child, including prohibitions on move-aways without consent. Where such powers properly rest at state level federal financial incentives in the form of TANF, Title IV-D and other federal funds shall be used by the federal government to coerce desired legislative behavior by the states.

Finally, we request that you sign the following executive order within 30 days of your inauguration into office:

• That the attorney general of the United States is directed to:
  1. Investigate each unfounded allegation of child abuse or neglect, and for those in which no good-faith report can be substantiated bring an indictment and prosecution for federal civil rights violations against the reporter. Unsubstantiated reports made by parents, relatives or others in the context of a custody or divorce proceeding shall be presumed in bad faith unless supported by physical evidence sufficient to meet the standard of probable cause. Where shield laws would normally prevent disclosure of the reporting person the Attorney General is directed to bring indictment in "John Doe" form and use federal subpoena power to unseal the pertinent records for the purpose of prosecution.
  2. Establish an 800 number for the reporting of civil rights violations by the various state agencies charged with children and families, with each call to said hotline triggering an investigation of the conduct of the agency involved. All removal of children from homes by state agencies without concurrent criminal charges being brought, the continued infringement of parent/child contact upon any adjudication of said case other than "guilty" at a criminal standard of proof, or any order of a state court that is violative of the equal rights of parents and children to their care, custody and nurture shall be treated as prima-facie evidence of violations of the civil rights of the parents and children so involved. All such violations shall be heard by grand jury, indicted when appropriate and tried in the federal court system.
  3. Report, in written form, the aggregate number of investigated allegations and their disposition, with detail provided sufficient to identify trends and the quality of reports.

We, the people, having read the above petition, hereby request that you incorporate the above into your Presidential Platform.

We pledge that public acknowledgment and confirmation of the above shall be the deciding factor in the casting of ballots for this year's Presidential Election, and that no candidate dishonoring the above principles through either silence or direct opposition shall garner our vote.

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people have viewed this petition since June 18th, 2000