To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
American Children Deserve Constitutional Rights
Unless children are placed in foster care, they are not afforded constitutional rights- human rights. They have no voice in court. They are forced to live with known abusive parents against their will because they have NO constitutional rights.
Why is this important?
I've been forced to live with an abuser five years too long simply to protect my children from being abused by their own father. The courts are more often then not awarding at least standard if not full custody to the known abusive parent and the protective parent is made to look vindictive. I'm not vindictive. I just happen to feel that my children and all children deserve to have the same constitutional rights as their adult counterparts. We call the problem women's issues. I beg to differ- I have a son and I have many friends with sons, it's not women's issues, it's actually a lack of human liberty's issues. It is time for transparency in family courts, juvenile courts and most importantly with child and family "services"- (and I use that term loosely). The above mentioned entities need to be required to have outside, non-affiliated auditors and checks and balances mandated and in place to protect human rights and constitutional rights of adults and children. The system is so quick to believe that children can't comprehend what is in their own best interest. The system is wrong. Children know if they are safe or not with a parent- or an abusive parent. Children aren't that easily manipulated. In fact, Children are smarter today then in any other time in history. Children deserve basic constitutional and human rights without the court systems infringing on the rights constitutional rights of the children and often forcing the protective parent go bankrupt fighting a losing battle due to the fact that abusive parents are afforded constitutional rights and children are not granted the same constitutional rights. Due to this imbalance of power and the virtual inability of children to have a voice or even human and constitutional rights, children are not being protected under the same constitution as adults, in particular an abusive parent. It is time to fight to protect the safety and constitutional rights of innocent children. Children being forced to go with an abusive parent or even live with them full time is an epidemic and world-wide problem with no incentive to stop the injustice, unless we grant children constitutional rights. Please sign this petition and let's give our children a voice and a chance at what I always believed was a basic human right- constitutional rights. While I was memorizing the constitution while I was growing up, no one ever mentioned that it wasn't relevant to me as a child. Our children know what is in their best interest far more than any courts. Please sign- it's time we grant constitutional rights to children.