Why are the laws in this state set up to give mothers all the rights and privileges regarding children while the fathers get nothing? The Domestic Relations Office gives mothers all the rights and privileges and pulls a lot of fast ones on fathers, because the laws allow them to do so. Our laws are a joke. The Constitution and Bill of Rights say everyone has equal rights. That is a joke, and a bad one at that. If fathers have equal rights, why do fathers have to pay support for their child and are then told by Domestic Relations that they have to pay hundreds of dollars more to get visitation rights and/or custody? This is Domestic Relations' way of ripping off fathers by making them pay money to get rights that they already have. The way our laws are set up allows them to get away with it. If a father pays support, then it is his right to see his child/children and be part of their lives. However, our laws say different. How crooked is that? The way things really are, the Constitution and Bill of Rights mean nothing. Many letters have been sent to our state lawmakers about this problem; those letters have been ignored — just like any other problem when it comes to the "little guy." The only time politicians have anything to do with the "little guy" is when they want our vote. The laws need to be changed so fathers have the same rights as mothers. If the mothers have all of the rights and privileges, then they should be saddled with all the responsibility. Instead, the laws let mothers have their cake and eat it too. That is nonsense. If a mother doesn't want the father in their child's life, then he shouldn't have to support that child. There are fathers out there who don't care about their children, abuse them, neglect them and so on. However, why do fathers who do want to be in their child's life get punished by our laws, as if they are criminals? We hear in the news that the woman always is the victim, and the man always is the criminal. We always hear the mother's side of the story because that is all our laws allow us to hear. It comes down to two simple solutions: • If a father pays support, he should get equal rights to his child/children, to see or have them. • If the mother doesn't want the father in the child's life, then he shouldn't have to provide support payments for the child. That way, the mother gets what she wants and the father gets something for it too. That is what equal rights truly are. It is time for our politicians to give fathers the same rights as mothers.
