In his pursuit of thoroughness, Senator East added this final question to the charge for the subcommittee to consider should they move to draft a bill for Grandparents rights.
“What safeguards should there be for the abuse of any right or privilege granted to grandparents?” to qualify and clarify his question he goes on to say; “Child custody and child support are, already, significant problems in the United States. There may be as many as 300,000 (1983 numbers) incidents of child-snatching or related kinds of behavior in this country per year. This behavior continues notwithstanding enormous efforts to curtail child custody disputes in the law. Lawyers who deal with custody cases know that disputes are often fueled and financed by extended family members. Sometimes, grandparents finance litigation and aid extra-legal activities.
One of the prime considerations in extending any privilege or right to grandparents will be safeguards against such behavior. Will the access to courts accorded to grandparents encourage and fuel child custody disputes? What means can be put at the courts’s disposal to discourage such behavior? There are a variety of alternatives, including bonds, that can be considered.
I am reminded of the phrase that is often erroneously attributed to the Hippocratic Oath; “First do no harm” According to Wikipedia,
It is a popular misconception that the phrase “First do no harm” is a part of the Hippocratic oath. In fact the phrase is believed to have originated with the 19th-century surgeon Thomas Inman.[5]
At any rate, this is in keeping with the most important principle of everything I write about Garndparents rights; IT IS ALL ABOUT “THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD”
My next installment will be a summary of these past 7 posts in an attempt to put the issue of Grandparents Rights into the perspective of; Where we are, How we got here and most important, Where can we go from here?
Thanks for being Caring Grandparents.
