| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 7/16/2010 11:08:50 AM Home School Legal Defense Association HSLDA: Increase in False Allegations Stopped |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== HSLDA: Increase in False Allegations Stopped From: Family Protection Ministries (FPM) California Assembly Bill AB 2380 (Lowenthal) - Child Abuse Reporting: Hearsay AB 2380, as originally written, contained a new provision that would have dangerously added "hearsay" to current child abuse reporting laws as a basis for reporting allegations of child abuse. This provision would have caused a large increase in your chances of being falsely accused of child abuse. We are grateful to God that this dangerous provision in AB 2380 was stopped! This victory demonstrates how God works in many ways, including giving us at Family Protection Ministries (FPM) the privilege of being used by Him to protect you and your children. We at FPM worked long hours, behind the scenes, to eliminate this dangerous provision. The work we did on this bill included researching, formulating technical amendment language and communicating with various legislative offices and organizations. AB 2380 was passed by the Legislature after this dangerous provision (adding "hearsay") was deleted from the bill. This final version that was sent to the Governor's office no longer creates a problem for the many innocent, loving parents raising their children in California. Therefore, it will not matter whether the Governor signs or vetoes the bill. No action is required on AB 2380. BACKGROUND: A provision in AB 2380 would have resulted in mandatory child abuse reporters reporting alleged instances of abuse or neglect in too many circumstances when "hearsay" was the only information available to the mandatory reporter. This provision would also have encouraged untrained non-mandatory reporters (i.e. ordinary, everyday people) to report somebody for child abuse based on "hearsay" alone. "Hearsay", according to Black's Law Dictionary, relies on something that an individual does not know personally, but only on what that individual has heard others say. As such, this makes it impossible in most circumstances to determine the credibility of "hearsay" by itself as evidence of wrongdoing. AB 2380's reliance and emphasis on "hearsay" alone as evidence would likely have resulted in a large number of innocent California families having to endure the trauma, the stigma, and the legal and financial burden of an investigation of alleged child abuse, even if the reports on these families were ultimately determined to be completely "unfounded". Already 75% of all child abuse reports turn out to be false allegations. Of all reports that go on to be investigated, over 60% turn out to be unfounded. If this bill were passed as originally written, these numbers would have significantly increased. We are very thankful for the critically valuable counsel provided to us by Michael Smith at HSLDA as we worked to see the problem language removed from this dangerous bill. "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other." (Deuteronomy 4:39) **** ***** ***** ***** Permission is given to reprint this document or distribute it by email in its entirety without alteration. You are encouraged to link to this article on our website www.childandfamilyprotection.org. ***** ***** ***** ***** Roy Hanson's HELP Tree Child and Family Protection Association P.O. Box 730 Lincoln, CA 95648-0730 Fax: (916) 415-9470 contact@childandfamilyprotection.org ***** ***** ***** ***** DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for the accuracy of copies printed, forwarded, or sent by any party other than directly from Child and Family Protection Association, a program of Family Protection Ministries (FPM). ***** ***** ***** ***** DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message to HELP Tree Members only. We are not responsible for the accuracy of copies printed, forwarded, or sent by any party other than directly from Child and Family Protection Association. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> "I saved my entire membership fee with one discount" "We've been a Liberty Mutual customer for over 12 years. We called and asked about our HSLDA member discount and they lowered our premium by approx $95 per year...coincidentally the same amount as our HSLDA annual membership fee. Thought you'd want to know!!'" 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
