Senate Bill 178 [Joint Legal Custody] Passes out of Committee

2010 Senate Bill 178 was heard by the Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters Committee on Tuesday 12 January 2010 in Room 233 of the Indiana State House. This bill provides that parents who voluntarily sign a paternity affidavit have joint legal custody of their child and the father has parenting time rights at the minimum established by the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines. It also provides that when a parent has visitation time restricted it must be based upon "clear and convincing" evidence. This is the same standard used to deny parenting time rights when CPS files a CHiNS petition.

Robert Monday of the Children's Rights Council and I spoke in favour of the bill. My testimony may be seen here. There was opposition raised by a lobbyist for the Domestic Violence block. I was disappointed to hear her oppose this bill claiming that abusive men would use it as a means to attempt to control women by having legal control over the woman's child.

This is a difficult issue for me as I was a victim of Domestic Violence for years in my marriage and only began speaking up about it a few years ago. A Domestic Violence that does not acknowledge me as a victim certainly does not speak on my behalf. I am perplexed by their assertion that it is in the best interest of children to be under the custody and control of a violent mother than to risk letting two parents agree to joint legal custody.

The members of the committee voted as follows:
Support - Steele [R], Taylor [D], Waterman [R], Young, Michael [D], Hume [D], Delph* [R]
Oppose - Bray [R], Head [R], Waltz [R], Lanane [D], Tallian* [D]
* did not vote but later stated his or her position

I met with 12 Senators throughout the day today. I plan to meet with all remaining Senators that I do not have commitments of support from before the bill comes on for a second reading.

Some slight amendments to the bill were proposed which were basically technical in nature. Once the final bill is drafted and any additional amendments are offered I will ask supporters to contact their Senator and express their support for the bill and ask for a vote in favour.


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