Ark. Supreme Court Ruling Undermines Marriage, Child Welfare

Family, Marriage,

The Arkansas Supreme Court issued a ruling yesterday overturning a lower court’s child custody order that prohibited an Arkansas man from having overnight visitation at home with his son while the man’s live-in boyfriend was in the home.

Up until now, child custody rulings have typically favored married couples over cohabiting couples, because transient boarders in a home can pose an unknown risk to child welfare, and because research demonstrates time and time again that the most stable environment for a child is with a married mom and dad. This court ruling undermines what we know to be good policy for the children of Arkansas. In effect, it says whether a parent is married or not is irrelevant to the child. That’s utter nonsense.

Some people say these situations need to be examined on a case-by-case basis. The fact is when it comes to child custody as well as adoption and foster care, the State of Arkansas has a number of ‘blanket rules’ it uses. These rules are based on what the state believes will contribute the most to child welfare. If we know children fair better in one type of home as opposed to another, why would we put them in anything less than the best home possible?

The Arkansas Supreme Court has effectively said that marriage doesn’t matter, and the real victims are the innocent children caught in the middle of custody disputes.

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Jerry Meets With Delegation From Republic of Georgia

Current Events, , ,

A delegation from the Republic of Georgia visited Family Council on Thursday.

Family Council President Jerry Cox and Government Affairs Director Ken Yang spoke to the group about current issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and the attack on religious liberty in the U.S.

The members of the delegation appeared to be supportive of traditional marriage and pro-life. Jerry showed the group two framed letters from the wall of his office. The first was a personal letter from Bill Clinton in which he, as governor, promised to sign a pro-life bill Jerry had lobbied for. The other was a 1985 letter from President Ronald Reagan commending the pro-life work being done by Rob Shafer, Kevin McCray, Jerry, and others. The members of the delegation were visibly impressed by the Reagan letter.

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Marriage: The Unsung Hero Against Poverty

Marriage, ,

There are four steps you can take in a specific order to reduce the chances your family will ever live in poverty. They are:

  1. Graduate from high school.
  2. Get married.
  3. Have children after you are married.
  4. Stay married.

If you do those four things in that order, the chances you and your children will live in poverty are reduced by 82%. If you go on to graduate from college, the chances drop even more drastically.

(more…)

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