From: "Nadine G. Mendelsohn-Ziskind
Subject: Phil Donahue Show

To Mr. Phil Donahue and Dr. Warren Farrell:

I am writing this letter in advance of this evening's (Dec. 18, 2002) Donahue show. I saw the promos for the "Are Women Getting A Free Ride" topic. The answer is unequivocally yes.

I am a second wife and a children's and fathers' rights advocate. I am also a first wife with three children from my first marriage. One cannot tell the story of the inequality and gender bias in today's society unless one closely examines the impact that Family (Divorce) Court has on society. Suicides amoung men are increasing, with direct blame upon the Family Courts of this country that strips a man of everything he has accomplished by a unilateral decision of his spouse to divorce. There is no waiting period, no cool down time while fraud and perjury committed by women in family court is simply winked at. The family court system and the current policies of the United States Government, in conjunction with individual and collective States' policies, have led the charge to criminalize men and create a series of debtor's prisons out of the current prison system, all as a result of unfair and illegal child support awards and collection practices.

In a country where the family court system is blatantly gender biased, what else can one expect. Custody is awarded to the Mother 96% of the time, based on the Census Bureau's latest figures. Fathers only receive custody 4% of the time. Yet in the 4% of cases where the mother does not have custody, 94% of the time it is the women who are behind in child support.

There are even a number of cases where the father was awarded custody, but no child support liability was foisted by the Court upon the non-custodial mother. Fathers are behind in child support in a much smalleer percentage. And the non-custodial Fathers are not only are rewarded by the Court with a child support obligation, other costs also become the Father's liability, such as the ex-wife's legal fees. All this in a country where divorce filings are almost unilaterally done by women, 94% of divorce filings are initiated by women.

Then there is the whole industry built around false allegations of domestic violence. Divorce attorneys counsel their female clients to suddenly be afraid of their soon to be ex-spouses. The arrest rates for men accused of domestic violence are almost 100%. But let a man accuse a women of domestic violence and the woman is not arrested, the male gets arrested for the "protection of the woman. In most divorce cases, the charges of domestic violence and fear that arise as part of the divorce hoopla are unfounded, but are used for the woman to gain the "upper hand" through intimidation. And the Family Court system also buys into this.

Let us not forget about the issue of Paternity Fraud. The US Government, along with 46 of the 50 individual states of the Union not only condone Paternity Fraud, but actively work to ensure that Paternity Fraud is legal and acceptable. The Association of American Blood Banks stated, in a 1999 report, that fully 30% of the men who come in for paternity testing turn out not to be the biological fathers of the children they are supporting. And that is only when the men question paternity. The Miami Herald, in 1997, published the results of a Spanish study showing that in cases where there was no hint of a paternity question, 1 out of 8 men were not the biological father of children they were led to believe they fathered. This information was gleaned from hospital records for blood or tissue typing in medical crisis situations.

How much of a financial bounty from the Federal Government does each State receive for "uncollected child support?' How many "deadbroke dads" have petitioned the court for a downward modification of child support obligations due to financial difficulty, and what was the outcome of the men's petitions? How many of these divorced dads have petitioned the court to enforce visitation with their children? Has the court enforced the visitation orders with the same virulence that it is supporting court orders? After all, the federal government does not pay a bounty to states that enforce visitation, even though the Title IV-D Act of 1996 that established the child support guidelines also established a fair and equal visitation policy, but visitation enforcement comes with no financial rewards for the behemoth that has become the child support industry.

How many men are paying for children that they did not father, and found out after the fact that the child(ren) for which they are ordered to pay child support are not their biological progeny? Why is full disclosure never ordered for the mother of children; disclosure as to any and all possible fathers? Why are DNA tests not accepted in the Family Court to free a man from the free ride he is providing to his ex-spouse. If the male commits murder then DNA testing of the evidence is a matter of policy these days.

Family Court has become a money making entity spreading it's accumulated wealth; wealth that has been stolen from non-custodial parents, (mostly male), by the Courts' failure to adhere to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution due process guarantees, to the whole mechanism surrounding the divorce industry. The Family Court system is engaged in the biggest transfer of wealth plot from one gender or class to another that this country has ever seen.

I challenge all those who doubt the truth of my comments to spend a couple of hours a week in a family court hearing in this state or across the country, as observers. Then make your decision. If you are a non-custodial parent, get involved in the organizations that are fighting for parity in the family court system. If you know a non-custodial parent that is not being treated fairly in the family court system. get involved. If you are a mother, sister, brother, grandparent, second wife or significant other, the farce that is the family court system will impact on you soon.

The only way to solve the child support problem is to ensure that all children have equal access to both biological parents; by passing legislation for shared parenting; strengthening move away laws; doing DNA paternity testing at birth; holding women to the same standards in family court as men; and removing the inherent bias of the judges and attorneys toward male non-custodial parents in family court.

Women want to play on the same field as men. If so, then the field should be leveled so that neither gender receives special considerations so that truth and honesty prevail. Women should be subject to the same standards as men or they need to get out of the game.

Nadine G. Mendelsohn-Ziskind
Jacksonville, Alabama
Director, Citizens Against Paternity Fraud
Co-Chair, Legislative Committee
DADS of Florida

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