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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTX Judge (cocka) Roach tells Lesbian Gal - Leave you other or Lose your child!
Last edited Sun Jun 9, 2013, 03:07 AM - Edit history (3)
Yeah, that's right folks, we got a wacky fruggah Judge who is enforcing some B.S. morality clause request of the ex-husband. This is unconscionable in the extreme - and we need all of you at DU to sign the MoveOn.org Petition PLEASE!
This is the Petition title;
[link:http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-judge-john-roach?source=mo&id=68937-19876850-e09LOex|TELL JUDGE JOHN ROACH THAT MORALITY CLAUSES DAMAGE FAMILIES
AND HAVE NO PLACE IN AMERICAN COURTROOMS]!
And the petition (currently at 41,031 signs) doth state;
A Republican Texas Judge has ordered a lesbian couple to live apart or give up custody of their children. According to Think Progress, Judge John Roach of McKinney, Texas has given Page Price 30 days to move out of the home she shares with Carolyn Compton and Compton’s two children from a previous marriage because he does not approve of Compton and Price’s “lifestyle.”
Roach has placed a “morality clause” in Compton’s divorce papers, which forbids Compton from having anyone she is not related to “by blood or marriage” in her home past 9:00 p.m. if the children are present. Same sex marriage is illegal in Texas, so by law, Compton cannot live with Price if she wishes to retain custody of her children.
Compton said that she and Price have been together for three years. Compton’s ex-husband rarely bothers to see the children and was previously arrested on charges of third-degree felony stalking in 2011, charges that he was able to plea down to criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor.
In a post on Facebook, Price wrote that Roach had inserted the morality clause into the divorce agreement when Compton’s ex-husband Joshua Compton attempted to gain custody of the children in 2011. The judge wrote that he disapproved of the two women’s “lifestyle.”
“Our children are all happy and well adjusted. By his enforcement, being that we cannot marry in this state, I have been ordered to move out of my home,” Price wrote.
The two women are working with attorneys to figure out what steps they can take to fight the state’s notoriously conservative court system.
Ken Upton Jr., senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal’s Dallas office, told the Dallas Voice newspaper that morality clauses are a holdover from a time when judges tried to keep people with children from living together outside of marriage. Courts often insert the clauses without telling the people involved, particularly in backward, conservative areas like Collin County, Texas.
“What the clause has become is an extra burden on gay people because they’re no more likely to violate it than straight people,” Upton told the Voice. “It’s a problem that continues with homophobia.”
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The SLATE details the story and cites Associated Press with this title;
Texas Judge Blocks Woman From Living With Lesbian Partner at Ex-Husband's Request
citing this of AP;
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The SLATE remarks upon the judges order and remarks that
In handing down the ruling, the judge argued that the clause was "a general provision for the benefit of the children," and one that was not written to specifically target homosexuals. While that last part my be true, it's obvious that the provision affects homosexuals differently than it does their straight counterparts given that the Lone Star State doesn't allow gays and lesbians to marry. According to the AP, the so-called morality clause is part of a standing order that applies to each and every divorce case filed in the county and was also added to the Comptons' final divorce decree. It has no expiration date, meaning that the lesbian couple will need either a court to overturn the ruling or the state legislature to legalize gay marriage before they can move back in together with the kids.
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And Carolyn has decided to
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They are seeking 50,000 signatures - LET's MAKE IT OVER 100,000 by Tonight - Okay DU'rs!
[link:http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-judge-john-roach?source=mo&id=68937-19876850-e09LOex|TELL JUDGE JOHN ROACH THAT MORALITY CLAUSES DAMAGE FAMILIES
AND HAVE NO PLACE IN AMERICAN COURTROOMS]!
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UPDATE Wed morning June 5th -[br][br]Now over 52,000 signatures!
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JUNE 6th at 6 pm Pacific - we are now at 59,000 signatures.
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I'm going to post this on DailyKos and see if we can get some more vigor of the Petition..
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laserhaas
(7,805 posts)We can help get it to 100,000 tonight
PDJane
(10,103 posts)laserhaas
(7,805 posts)We are movin, movin, movin, up the sig count
YEAH!
niyad
(113,316 posts)laserhaas
(7,805 posts)Just gotta keep the signatures coming.
niyad
(113,316 posts)against that idiot judge.
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)and thus assure this case is corrected and no such matters of the heart can be disturbed in the future
niyad
(113,316 posts)laserhaas
(7,805 posts)Now, don't get me wrong - would love to have seen the judge say - THIS Law is Ludicrous
and then he/she removes their Robe and resigns on the spot
THAT would be a HUGE story....
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UNLESS, the facts bare out that the judge is legislating from the bench;
and the "Morals Clause" is an obvious OverREach as per case Precedents.
Just Saying
(1,799 posts)Why would any judge have the right to tell a grow woman who she can or cannot have in her home at any time? Ridiculous! What she has a curfew? Ugh, this pisses me off.
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)AND
If she didn't have separate counsel
she can RE OPEN the entire divorce decree and toss that [c]hit in the trashcan where it belongs
niyad
(113,316 posts)gem to the decree without the knowledge or consent of the parties. some are saying that it is STANDARD in texas decrees, which, given that state, is not surprising.
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)Living with another out of wedlock - is the norm today;
instead of the exception.
Any "morals clause" seeking to utilize public authority over private matters such as this
Is ABSURD!
Triana
(22,666 posts)laserhaas
(7,805 posts)and hopefully gRoWinG more tomorrow....
ananda
(28,862 posts)..
niyad
(113,316 posts)and twinkies and carp.
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)Now, if that Law had been expanded to include corrupt judges;
wonder where we would be today.
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Picture a court room, everyone packing a gun - Except the Judge;
and the justice rules corruptly.
Then a person states to the benches in the crowd
"I invoke Executive Order 719.2(a) - All those in favor, say "I" and pull your gun"
If 10 or more say "I"
blam, blam, blam
and the bailiff says - NEXT.....
randome
(34,845 posts)Don't know if anyone will ever read the comment but it sounded good to me.
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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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laserhaas
(7,805 posts)Thanks
sibelian
(7,804 posts)Get rid.
Sirveri
(4,517 posts)It sucks, but she is being persecuted by the state. When those around you are indifferent to your suffering, it is time to get better neighbors.
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)And some people don't have the economic strength to "flee". Additionally, I'm opposed (though dad is apparently a butt-head); to yanking the kids from their father. If a man upped his kids from Mother - it would be world news...
We need to help her (them) - Stand their ground and put an end to this.
That being said Sirveri - I adore the logical approach in the pursuit of solution(s)
Sirveri
(4,517 posts)This guy doesn't appear to care about the kids, he's trying to hurt and/or control the mother. So other than removing HIM from the equation, the only other valid choice is to flee to a location that allows gay marriage. If you don't have money you're SOL on that front, which sucks, but that's the way this country currently works (and I hope we can change it, but that won't happen tomorrow). I actually know a woman with sole custody that has recently moved to TN from VA, it does happen without fan fare.
The fun part would happen if she married her partner and then Texas refuses to recognize it and attempts to enforce a court order across state lines into the state that recognizes gay marriage for her not being married when she's married.
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)A woman with cancer in advanced stages - father took custody of the kids;
and then moved away making it impossible for the destitute/dying mother to see her children.
One cannot be just - and then foster the premise it is okay to disregard a parent;
because he or she is being ignorant, inane or asinine!
Revanchist
(1,375 posts)Say they take a trip to a state that allows gay marriage, get hitched then go back to Texas, would they judge be forced to recognize a marriage certificate issued by the other state?
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)It would be a sad state of affairs for 2 to get married;
who were persuaded to do so reactionary.
And might not work out in the long run.
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Additionally, what if such step would transpire and the judge then yank the kids away - anyway....?
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)It is a absurd situation and I would like to see the clause and research Texas case precedents apropos.
laserhaas
(7,805 posts)Could you picture the dilemma of the heart!
What most of you are missing is the fact that - if the morals clause is part of Texas Law;
then the judge could have already yanked the children away....
