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The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
United States Senate
476 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Fax (202) 228-0282
Phone (202) 224-4451
October 9, 2003
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton :
I'm a house builder, writing is not my strong suit. I think I can make a better case by speaking with someone. But I will attempt to write out what my problem is. I do not expect you to be able to help in my particular case. I'm writing in hopes that you would change the laws. I belong to a group that has been grievously wronged and ignored. I am a non custodial father. There is a gender bias in the court system. It is supported by federal money, the state's get a kick back from the federal government by ensuring that women get custody of the children. Custody = money.
These laws have so biased the court system that in asking for either equal time or additional time with one's child the judges are more concerned with the allocation of the child support funds than the welfare of the child. By welfare I mean child access to father father's access to child. I cannot tell you how many times I have been in court asking for more time only to have the judge comment "that could affect the child support". There is an epidemic in this country families are being destroyed fathers are killing themselves or disappearing from their Children's life's. I'm not the best one to explain this to you. I could provide stacks of literature and group e-mail's from the Internet discussion boards I belong to.
I'm not even exactly sure what the best solution is. But I know that if I was black or a woman there would be support groups in line behind me helping me. I'm a simple house builder, the court system funded with federal matching funds has stolen my son and given him to my ex. I'm a drop in the ocean There are millions of disenfranchised fathers, common people, inarticulate frustrated, disheartened. We need help, we want to be the fathers our children needs us to be. I'm not sure if my letter fully conveys the situation. I would like to talk to someone perhaps an aide of yours. Again I'm not seeking help in my particular case.
Perhaps you could introduce some legislation to redress the gender apartheid prevalent in our court system. Or something to remove the federal matching funds or redirect the federal funds so they support shared custody. If you have any suggestions of what else I can do let me know. We need help. As I was researching this letter to you, I ran across this gentleman who to day I believe was arrested trying to deliver a letter to you. It seems ashamed you can not take the time to help a father who is peacefully trying to redress an imbalance in a system that is so gender bias. I beg you to take a moment and look into this organization. I enclose a copy some of the letters Mr. Murtari sent you. Again thank you for your time
Joseph Hellstern