It's NOT about being "politically correct" HRUs, but simply getting your FACTS straight instead of making erroneous allusions to support your "men + family court = victim" rhetoric.
Every time I hear men spout off about “mommy court” and “gender-bias”…I want to laugh my ass off because ya’ll created ya’ll’s problems. When divorce laws were made in the 1920s…MEN made them; when “no-fault” come into existence…it was introduced BY MEN and made into law BY MEN. The majority of law makers are MEN; the majority of Judges are MEN. If MEN make/made, interpret/ed and enforce/ed the laws…how can ya’ll claim “bias”?
The fact is/was…the laws themselves were never biased; they were simply a reflection of the times. Take the so-called “Tender Years Doctrine”…it was NOT about gender-bias but simply logic. Back when it was created, children were considered “property” and so when a marriage dissolved, men retained exclusive “ownership”. Also during this time, men did NOT [physically] care for children…that was “woman’s work” and so when a marriage dissolved, care of the children was turned over to women (a female relative or nanny/nursemaid). So the logic behind the TYD was…if you’re going to be turning over the care of the children to a woman (possibly a stranger) anyway, why not make the mother that woman? Let her continue to care for ya’ll children until such time men “naturally” took an interest in the children (and generally only male children).
In the 1980s/90s, times had changed. Not only did you have married moms working outside of the home holding down full-time jobs which necessitated dads picking up the slack of caring for their children, but the whole concept of what it meant to be a “father” had changed. But unfortunately…laws and society had not caught up with the changes yet…the MEN making/interpreting/enforcing the laws were of the previous time, when men were NOT actively involved with their children until they got to be grade-school age and even then, their participation was SELF-limited.
But instead of changing society’s perceptions and the laws…FRGs sprouted up like weeds and turned it into a “gender-war”. And it certainly didn’t help that FRGs swept the issue of “dead-beat dads” under the rug when they should have instead, been screaming about it at the top of their lungs. And ya’ll supported the whole “Disneyland dad” instead of using simple logic to countermand it.
But there was some real “gender-bias” going on…against Moms; a father who fought for custody and lost was viewed with sympathy, a mother who fought for custody and lost was viewed as a “bad mom”…a father who choose to be a NCP because it was in the BIC was seen as unselfish and caring, a mother who did the same thing was seen as selfish and unnatural.
Twenty + years of fucked up fighting…and our children have paid the price.
Not sure how your state wording is on SPO but in Texas it is the minimal time awarded to the NCP...does not say the only time.
When I was divorced, it was called "visitation" and it was EOW with "holidays and other such times as by agreement of the parties"; the entire subject consisted of one small paragraph.
Now days...the Parenting Plan for "parenting time" reads like a small book; standard minimal Parenting Time is EOW, PLUS 1 mid-week, PLUS Spring Break, PLUS 1/2 Winter Break (alternated), PLUS 6 weeks Summer Break, PLUS 1/2 the Holidays, PLUS 1/2 or alternating child(ren)'s birthdays, PLUS Mother's/Father's Day, PLUS parent's birthday. You also pick up extra days if your EOW coincides with a school "service" day.
So it went from 93/7 split to a 65/35 split.
There was also no "Parenting Time Adjustment", the court's did NOT recognized "Joint Physical Custody" (aka 50/50) and most certainly, there was absolutely NO "Violation of Parenting Time" laws. And without question, the NCP was treated as a "non-parent".
Somehow courts have used the SPO as the default...
Yes…it would be nice is the “default” was the rebuttable presumption of JPC, but you’ve got three problems: 1) you still have people with their heads stuck up their ass fighting the whole “gender-bias” bullshit war, 2) societal condemnation of Moms without custody, and 3) child support is BIG money-maker for the States. Solving the first two is a piece of cake compared to the third…ya’ll (men) created one hell of a monster there.