The Center for Children's Justice - Pennsylvania Chapter

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Press Release

New York State Custody Laws Challenged in Federal Court; Local Family Court Judge Named as Defendant

May 12th, 2003

On April 30th, 2003, a lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York challenging New York State's statutory scheme for awarding custody of minor children. The current custody statutes in New York State presume that neither parent has a right to custody and that custody will be awarded based solely on the discretion of the trial court judge using the "children's best interest" standard.

Harold L. Rosenberger of Highland, New York filed the lawsuit. Mr. Rosenberger asserts that the current New York State custody statutes are unconstitutional because they fail to explicitly guarantee the parental rights of both parents, rights that have been deemed by the United States Supreme Court to be a "liberty interest" protected by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Family Court Judge who presided over a custody trial exceeded her jurisdiction by placing a constraint on Mr. Rosenberger's visitation, while not applying that same constraint to the custodial parent's visitation. Ulster County Family Court Judge Marianne O. Mizel ordered that "during any of Mr. Rosenberger's periods of visitation, the children shall not be left unattended for more than fours hours." The three children are ages 16, 16 and 10.

Mr. Rosenberger hopes that the lawsuit will proceed on its' merits, and that ultimately the federal court will rule that the current New York State custody statutes are unconstitutional. He asserts that in a custody action, a fit parent may not be denied equal legal and equal physical custody of a minor child without a finding by clear and convincing evidence of parental unfitness and/or substantial harm to the child.

In August of 2001, Mr. Rosenberger was designated a non-custodial parent and ordered to pay child support. His ex-wife was given sole legal custody and sole physical custody of the children.

The lawsuit names Governor George E. Pataki and Ulster Family Court Judge Marianne O. Mizel as defendants.

Contact:

Harold L. Rosenberger

845-691-8835 HLRosenberger@hotmail.com

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This web site is strictly for your information about what is happening in our state; Pennsylvania.  Information and opinions on this website are NOT "legal" advice but ARE friendly advice from people who have been through the local domestic relations office and are very familiar with the crimes against humanity that office is getting away with strictly for PROFIT at the expense of fathers and their children.  Feel free to copy and repost any information on this site unless said information is credited to a web site other than Pennsylvania Family Court Reform (this website).  In this case, you must ask permission from the author, and since it's been our experience that most of the people that support our cause are good people, they most likely won't have a problem with it.  It's time to reclaim our state and our rights as Americans that are being trampled and ignored by a select portion of our state government, who's sole interest is PROFIT from federal grants for "child support" collection, at our expense... our JUDICIAL branch.