Some good news from the PA Supreme Superior Court …
In an opinion that at once awarded homosexual parents equal custody rights and criticized a Dauphin County Common Pleas judge for potential gender bias, the state Superior Court overturned a 25-year-old precedent.
The previous precedent, the court wrote in a 7-1 opinion, set a presumption “based upon unsupported preconceptions and prejudices — including that the sexual orientation of a parent will have an adverse effect on the child.”
“Such preconceptions and prejudices have no proper place in child custody cases, where the decision should be based exclusively upon a determination of the best interests of the child.”
The PG does a thorough job with this story, explaining how the concept of custody rulings continues to evolve around the best interests of the child. The idea that one type of parent is automatically a better custodial parent because of their identity (mother, white, married, etc) is set aside.
I also like that the higher court slapped down the lower court judge for clear gender bias in his ruling.
In a written slap at Judge Kleinfelter, the court noted that during the hearing, he referred to the father in the case as “Sergeant,” though he referred to the mother by only her first name, and not “Lieutenant.”
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is dedicated to eradicating gender discrimination in our court system,” Judge Christine Donahue wrote. ” Given all of the hard work in the uphill battle against gender discrimination, we would be remiss if we did not remind the trial court that Mother and Father are entitled to equal deference to their respective ranks when being addressed by the trial court.”
Ms. Misturak-Gingrich applauded the court for its rebuke.
“That kind of behavior was very obvious and offensive,” she said. “We thought it was indicative of the judge's bias.”
Yes. Every female lawyer who was ever forced to wear a skirt or dress in court is giving a high five right now.
My little quibble is that the Post-Gazette (and other Pgh media outlets) continue to use homosexual as a descriptor for the LGBTQ community. If any reporters read this blog, I'd point them to the GLAAD site on media stylebooks.
There's a perception among certain LGBTQ leaders that the media is not sensitive to our isses. I don't agree with that perception, especially with regard to the Post-Gazette. But I do, however, think this sort of dated language contributes to this perception. Homosexual is a clinical term. Use it when necessary, but it wasn't necessary in this article — in fact, using the term reinforced the very perceptions underlying the original decision. Sort of a Post-Gazette lving in a glass house while casting stones at Dauphin County Common Pleas Court scenario?
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The best interest of the child would be an okay focus, if it recognized that overwhelmingly the best interest of the child is served by having as little change as possible. In other words, whoever has been the primary caretaker should continue in that role. Many women have been hurt who played this role in the life of the child until a divorce/separation and lost custody to the person who used time not caring for the child directly to develop a career and greater earning capacity. The bond formed with the child matters more than an evaluation of an adult as a whole. Otherwise, we could some day have children given to the highest bidder, so to speak, even to those outside the family. Likewise, other adults who have played important roles in the life of the child should be allowed to continue. This is assuming no abusiveness or neglect, but abuse and neglect should be addressed before divorce or separation, not merely as a tactic at that time.