Urgent: Sign on to Oppose The Judges' Family Law Abuser-Friendly Bill (SB 5205, HB 2237)
Representative Jamila Taylor, Senator Manka Dhingra, and The Washington State Legislature
There Is A Crisis In Our Family Court System Today. SB 5205 (HB 2237) Will Make It Worse.
The Superior Court Judges Association (“SCJA”) is proposing significant changes to RCW 26.09.191, the most important statute governing parenting plan decisions in cases involving physical, sexual and emotional abuse. House Bill 2237adopts this proposal. The companion bill, SB 5205, is the original version proposed by SCJA
To achieve its self-serving goal, the SCJA's SB 5205 (HB 2237) eviscerates the existing statute and case law protections for survivors of domestic violence and sex abuse seeking relief in family court. It does this by creating even more room for a judge to remove children from their protective, non-abuser parent, and for the first time in decades, allowing perpetrators of domestic violence to share decision-making with their victims. It makes it lawful for a family court judge to strip children away from non-abuser parents with common mental health diagnosis, like anxiety or PTSD, even when the other parent is a violent offender. In its most draconian effect, it continues to disincentive parents from raising claims of abuse in the first place - under the looming threat that if the family court judge does not believe you, it now has the express statutory authority to take your children away.
There are other serious problems with these bills. Family Violence Appellate Project (FVAP), a leader in creating protections in case law for family law domestic violence survivors, recently published a memo summarizing the inherent dangers in these bills. FVAP also published their line by line bill summary & analysis backing their strong opposition to this abuser-friendly proposal.
We need your voice - whether you are a survivor of domestic or sexual violence or just a caring member of the Washington State community, please sign this petition and let the Washington legislature know that SB 5205 and HB 2237 risk the safety and well-being of our children and should not be tolerated in our state.
Petition by
To:
Representative Jamila Taylor, Senator Manka Dhingra, and The Washington State Legislature
From:
[Your Name]
We, protective parents, survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, and caring members of the Washington State community, urge you to oppose SB 5205 and HB 2237.
These bills are suited to the demand for more judicial authority in family court. But the Superior Court Judges Association's proposal comes at the expense of our children's safety and well-being, as well as those of their protective, nurturing, and non-abuser parents. Generally, these bills remove vital protections in the existing statute and case law intended to prevent the risk of harm and death of children and non-abuser parents in family law proceedings.
On the heel of our state's tremendous effort to adopt RCW 7.105, these bills will take our state in the opposite direction by unwinding protections for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. These bills stigmatize a non-abuser's mental health, punishes protective parents who dare raise allegations of abuse, and penalizes children from voicing their preference to remain in the care of their primary, protective parent. And - for the first time in decades - these bills will force domestic violence survivors to repeatedly confront their abuser via joint decision-making.
Yet even more concerning is that the bill's proposal for even greater judicial power to make custody determinations, i.e. broader "discretion", will result in the preclusion of appellate review. Meaning - harmful parenting plan decisions that will inevitably be rendered under SB 5205 and HB 2237 will yield little to no opportunity for reversal by the Court of Appeals.
While we want comprehensive family court reform in the next legislative biennium, these shortsighted regressive changes are not the answer. We applaud our legislature's recognition that gender-based violence continues to be one of the most notable human rights violations effecting our children and communities today. Consistent with that recognition, we respectfully request you oppose SB 5205 and HB 2237.