Michigan Military Divorce

New York grandparenting law withstands challenge

In Matter of E.S. v P.D., 2006 NYSlipOp 02385, March 28, 2006, Appellate Division, Second Department Decided on February 15, 2007, a New York appellate court upheld a trial court decision giving grandparenting time to an 82-year old grandmother of her deceased child’s daughter over the objection of the child’s father.

The Court rejected the father’s contention that the New York statute is facially unconstitutional, noting that the language of the statute accords deference to the decisions of a fit parent and also requires a grandparent to surmount a huge hurdle to overcome the presumption that a fit parent’s decision is in the best interests of the child.

Similarly, the Court rejected the father’s contention that the New York statute is unconstitutional as applied, noting that the grandparent had established that she was the child’s surrogate live-in parent between the ages of 4 and 7.

Daniel E. Clement, author of the New York Divorce and Family Law Blog, has written an excellent analysis of this case. This seems truly to be the kind of case in which grandparent visitation is intended to apply.

Read the New York slip opinion here.

Visit Jeanne Hannah's website for more information

Merck to stop lobbying for mandatory Gardasil legislation

While at least 20 states have legislation pending to make vaccination with Gardasil® mandatory for girls prior to entry in 6th grade, Merck has backed away from its financial support of lobbying efforts, according to a report by the New York Times on Wednesday, February 21, 2007. Merck’s decision was triggered by the furor over the company’s involvement in the campaign by Women in Government to push for legislation nationwide. Merck refuses to disclose the extent of its financial contributions to these efforts up to this point.

Gardasil acts against strains of the human papillomavirus that account for an estimated 70 percent of the cases of cervical cancer. The virus, known as HPV, is transmitted sexually, so experts say the vaccine is best given before girls become sexually active.

There are more than 100 strains of the HPV virus, which is transmitted through sexual contact. Clinical trials showed that Gardasil is safe and 100 percent effective in preventing two strains of HPV—HPV 16 and HPV 18. These two strains cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. Gardasil, administered in three injections given over a period of six months, is also 99 percent effective in preventing HPV strains 6 and 11. These particular strains cause about 90 percent of genital wart cases. The vaccine does not work if a woman is already infected with one of these HPV types. It has to be given before infection, which is what makes vaccination of pre-teen girls an effective option.

Read the New York Times article, Lobbying for vaccine to be halted here.

Technorati Tags: HPV vaccine, gardasil, HPV Virus,  Gardasil,  Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Gardasil: Of Time and Money

The New York Times reported on February 17, 2007 that even some who support use of Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil question the rush in state legislatures to make inoculation with this expensive and new vaccine mandatory. Over twenty states have legislation pending. Last fall, legislation was defeated in Michigan's legislature. Gardasil is very expensive at about $350-400 for the three-shot course.

"The decision to make [the vaccine] mandatory this early has created a significant controversy over things that have nothing to do with the vaccine," said Dr. Joseph A. Bocchini, chairman of the committee on infectious diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Questions are raised about the safety of the vaccine. Questions are also raised about Merck's contributions to Women in Government, a national association of state legislators. This group is a moving force promoting legislation around the country to approve mandatory vaccination in an effort to eradicate the virus that causes cervical cancer. Women in Government has posted model mandatory vaccination legislation on its Web site, www.womeningovernment.org

According to the New York Times, the drug maker GlaxoSmithKline is also developing a vaccine that, like Gardasil, is intended to inoculate against the human papilloma virus, or H.P.V., which is known to be the cause of cervical cancer. Some analysts have predicted that the market for H.P.V. vaccines is potentially $5 billion a year market. Is Merck's push for legislation, then, intended to corner the market before Glaxo can get its product approved?

Parental Kidnapping: Useful Resources for the Left-Behind Parent

There are many good sources of information available on the Internet to help custodial parents deal with abduction of children by the non-custodial parent. In Michigan, the parental kidnapping statute states that if a parent keeps the child from the other parent more than 24 hours after the child was supposed to be returned, then that is parental kidnapping, which is a felony bearing up to 1 year and a day sentence in prison.

See the following resources that will help families and their lawyers understand the laws and resources available to them:

When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide: Published by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, this guide was written by parents and family members who have experienced the disappearance of a child. It contains their combined advice concerning what you can expect when your child is missing, what you can do, and where you can go for help. It explains the role that various agencies and organizations play in the search for your missing child and discusses some of the important issues that you and your family need to consider.   

The statute does not require that a parent be formally served with a custody order before that parent can be charged with parental kidnapping. People v McBride, 204 Mich App 678, (1994). It only requires that a valid court order giving the party from whom custody or parenting time is in existence when the child is taken. In People v Reynolds, 171 Mich App 349, (1988), there was no custody or parenting time order with regard to the child, so the father could not be charged under the statute for taking the child from the maternal grandfather, who was baby-sitting. The father could, however, be charged for taking the child from the baby-sitter, who had lawful charge of the child at the time of the taking.

Visit Jeanne Hannah's website for more information

Technorati tags: parental abduction, parental kidnapping

Virtual Visitation: A Threat or a Way to Preserve a Parent-Child Relationship Despite Distance?

Recently, while on a long flight to Hawaii, I sat opposite the galley and had the chance to have a long conversation with one of the flight attendants about how he stays in touch with his young children Aiden and Evan, morning and night when he's away from home 10 days a month. I was impressed with how easy it sounds. Virtual visitation has been in the news lately, and with more and more homes having high-speed Internet access, the concept is far more viable.

The first time I contemplated the concept of virtual parenting time was in 1994. At that time, I had a client who lived in the San Francisco Bay area whose child lived with the custodial parent in Northern Michigan. The concept was very, very new at that time. I'd like to be able to report that this idea worked. Certainly, we had a court system willing to consider it. What we did not have was a cooperative custodial parent. The potential for setting up and keeping a computer and camera in working order seemed daunting, if not impossible. My client decided not to fight because any and all of his parenting time occurred with stiff opposition from the mother, cost a lot of money and anguish for my client, and also caused the child anxiety that was transferred as a result of the parents' conflict.            

In today's extraordinarily mobile society, however, I believe that virtual visitation is not only necessary in order to preserve a good parent-child relationship, but is a way for noncustodial parents to remain intimately connected to their children.

This is not to say that this isn't a two-edged sword. A parent who wants to relocate may offer virtual visitation as a means of replacing the regular parenting time of the noncustodial parent. This represents a threat to a parent faced with a relocation motion. On the other hand, a parent who has lost a relocation motion or who has had, for economic reasons, to relocate himself or herself far from the children can use virtual visitation to remain in close touch with his or her children.

Upon arriving home, I Googled "virtual visitation" and found some recent news articles describing parents' experiences. I also asked Guy to share his experiences and to show us some examples of how virtual visitation might work.

The Michigan Legislature is considering a bill for virtual visitation:  See HB4174

To visit Jeanne Hannah's website for more information, click here.

Technorati tags: Virtual visitation, Visitation, Parenting Time
Child Custody

Gardasil | Merck | Lobbying

More on Merck's Gardasil vaccine:

The Washington Post reported on February 11, 2007 thatLawmakers in Virginia and 17 other states are considering laws making vaccination mandatory.

Merck has hired a high-powered lobbying firm to push legislation in some states And no wonder: if Gardasil becomes mandatory and if Merck is successful in lobbying for state funding of the $360 vaccine for girls who have no health care insurance and whose care is funded by medicaid, Merck stands to reap billions of dollars in profits.

The Washington Post story "Drugmaker Assists in Pushing for Mandate for HPV Vaccination" made be read online. Last accessed Feb. 11, 2007.

Earlier articles on Gardasil posted in Updates in Michigan Family Law may be read here:

Texas Governor Mandates Gardasil® for sixth graders

HPV Vaccine and Informed Consent

HPV Vaccine: Mandatory for Teenagers or Not?

Technorati Tags: HPV vaccine, gardasil, HPV Virus,  Gardasil,  Cervical Cancer Vaccine

DNA testing through the male line

Every now and then I'll read about a mother who is trying to establish paternity so that she can obtain social security benefits for her child because the biological father died before parentage could be determined.
Recent developments in DNA testing will now make such paternity testing more possible -- provided, of course, that the mother can get someone from the male bloodline of the biological father to cooperate with DNA testing.

A story on January 6, 2007 in the Boston Globe, reported that a 54-year-old African-American female lawyer, adopted at the age of 5, was finally able to establish the identity of her own father. In this case, the child, Carla Latty, simply wanted to know her heritage. The male relatives weren't particularly cooperative because the possible father was a Roman Catholic priest in the church where Ms. Latty's mother played the organ. Male relatives were spread through the country, with one found in British Columbia who was eventually establihsed as the full brother of Ms. Latty. 

An earlier Boston Globe article was successful in soliciting some assistance from one male member of the prist's father and financing for the DNA testing from another priest.

The story is long and complicated. It will give you some idea of the kinds of hoops that may need to be jumped through in such a case. You can read it here.

Technorati Tags: paternity, DNA testing

To contact Jeanne Hannah with your questions or to view her Family Law website, click here.

Maryland's Grandparenting Time Statute Ruled Unconstitutional

On January 12, 2007, Maryland’s highest court considered a constitutional challenge of that State’s grandparent visitation statute. The Court ruled in favor of protecting parents against Intrusion by grandparents. Overruling 14-years of state judicial precedent, the court held that absent exceptional circumstances or parental unfitness, and detriment to the grandchildren, grandparents have no right to demand visitation with grandchildren when the parents are oppose contact.

As with all instances in which grandparents feel compelled to seek court intervention in order to maintain a relationship with their grandchildren, this case involved a bitter familial conflict the origin of which went back many years. When Glen and Andrea Koshko opposed demands for visitation by maternal grandparents John and Maureen Haining, the Hainings filed suit and demanded that the court order the parents to give them more time with the grandchildren.

"Family" as in "Non-traditional families" -- the "F-word?"

Did the panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals deciding National Pride at Work v Governor consider the economic ripple effect of their decision? As Laura Berman and Scott Bassett point out below, think “Brain Drain.” I agree with Scott, who said in a post yesterday on the State Bar of Michigan Family Law Listserv: “Lest anyone think this has no link to family law, keep in mind the role an economic downturn plays on family stress and marital breakdown.”

I believe that the issue of non-traditional families is one that impacts family law, family lawyers, and our court systems every day. Non-traditional families? Yes, you heard me—I used the "F word.” I’m talking about families. What makes them, what breaks them, and what determines where they will live and work. So I’m up here on my soapbox, and if you’re not interested, just hit the delete key.

Demographic studies by Pamela Smock of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan clearly show that the days of the “traditional family,” [you know—like Ozzie, Harriet, David and Rickie] are gone. See: Smock, Pamela. Living Together Unmarried in the United States: Demographic Perspectives and Implications for Family Policy.

As Laura Berman of the Detroit News wrote today:

Texas Governor Mandates Gardasil® for sixth graders

This news from the Associated Press: Republican Governor Rick Perry in Texas bypassed the legislature completely, and issued an executive order mandating vaccination against HPV of schoolgirls entering the sixth grade (girls usually aged 11 and 12) in September 2008. The vaccine,  Gardasil, is manufactured by Merck.

Obviously, the governor intended to avoid opposition in the Legislature from conservatives and also to sidetrack parents’ rights groups who argue that requiring the HPV vaccine would send a message to children that premarital sex is OK and would interfere with a parent’s right to make important medical decisions for his or her child.

The governor’s executive order also mandated free distribution of the vaccine to girls 9 to 18 who do not have health insurance coverage. The vaccine costs about $360 for a three-shot regimen. Additionally, he ordered that Gardasil be made available to women ages 19 to 21 who are covered by Medicaid.

Critics are quick to point out that Merck is committing monies to lobby among state legislators to stimulate enactment of legislation that would make the vaccination mandatory just like vaccination for measles, mumps, and rubella. These critics claim that such mandatory vaccination could create billions of dollars in sales for Merck.

Other critics question the safety of the vaccine.