Father's Speak Out Against Pennsylvania Judge

FATHERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST PENNSYLVANIA JUDGE

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania—Pennsylvania made history
yesterday by becoming the first state in the country
to rule that a sperm donor could be held liable for
child support.  A panel of the Pennsylvania Superior
Court ruled unanimously that Louis Frampton, Jr., who
donated his sperm to a lesbian couple so they could
have a child, could be required to pay child support.
Frampton died in March of a stroke.

    Arthur S. Leonard, a New York Law School professor
and an expert on sexuality and the law, told the
Associated Press, “I’m unaware of any other state
appellate court that has found that a child has,
simultaneously, three adults who are financially
obligated to the child’s support and are also entitled
to visitation.”

    A coalition of fathers’ rights organizations,
spearheaded by Fathers 4 Justice, reacted immediately
to the decision, calling it “absurd.”  The coalition
says that the decision will not only compromise the
confidentiality of sperm donors, but will open the
floodgates of litigation over such cases.  “This
decision represents yet another example of the
inequality men face in family court,” said Jeff Dick,
president of the Pennsylvania delegation of Fathers 4
Justice, which is based in Pittsburgh.

    Dick said that the group plans to target Superior
Court Judge Maureen E. Lally-Green, who sat on the
panel that issued the ruling.  Lally-Green is a
Republican candidate for the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court.  Dick said that the coalition recommends that
Pennsylvania voters vote against Judge Lally-Green by
voting for her opposition.  “We are urging all men in
Pennsylvania not to vote for Judge Lally-Green because
she apparently has no intention of protecting our
rights.  We expect a jurist on the highest state court
to understand the concept of equal protection of the
laws.  Judge Lally-Green obviously does not.”

    Republican presidential candidate Dr. Mark Klein, who
is currently campaigning in Iowa, also reacted to the
court’s decision.  Tony Taylor, a spokesman for the
www.Klein4change.com presidential campaign, said that
Dr. Klein was “outraged” by the decision.  Taylor
suggested that the decision is one example of why men
should vote for Klein instead of more established
candidates, such as John McCain or Rudy Giuliani.
“Mark Klein is the only presidential candidate running
on a platform of fathers’ rights.  In this regard, he
is different than candidates such as Barak Hussein
Obama, who spits in the faces of men by suggesting
that inequality against men is not a federal issue,
but that women’s rights are.  It’s important that the
federal government acknowledge this double-standard
and rectify it.  Klein will do that.”

    Curtis Patton, a Pennsylvania family attorney and
long time advocate for fathers’ rights, called the
decision “troubling.”  He said that the Court should
have dismissed the appeal.  “A cause of action has to
exist from the filing of the case through all stages
of appeal.  Mr. Frampton’s death, in my opinion, would
have rendered the whole matter moot.”

    Fathers 4 Justice and other fathers’ rights
organizations will hold a press conference on May 14,
the day before the judicial primary in Pennsylvania,
in an effort to convince voter to vote for one of
Judge Lally-Green’s opponents.  The press conference
will occur at NOON at the City County Building in
downtown Pittsburgh.  All media outlets are encouraged
to attend.

    Lally-Green was first elected to the Superior Court
in 1999 for a ten-year term.  She also teaches at
Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh.

    Fathers 4 Justice is a nationally-recognized advocacy
group for divorced fathers.  The organization fights
against inequality in family court.