| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/13/2012 12:10:55 PM Home School Legal Defense Association HB 4309--ACTION NEEDED to Protect Families From Government Intrusion! |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== HB 4309--ACTION NEEDED to Protect Families From Government Intrusion! Dear West Virginia Members and Friends: Thank you for your calls and emails that stopped HB 4309 from quick passage. But the threat is not over. An education subcommittee will meet February 20 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss a new version of the bill. Both John Carey of Heritage Communications and I have been invited to present to the subcommittee. It is our hope to convince the committee that this legislation is not only unnecessary, but that it is unconstitutional, and that the bill should be killed. This legislation would give judges the ability to threaten families with the removal of their children if children aren't in school enough to satisfy a particular judge. This is as vague a statute as it is breath- taking in its Orwellian attempt to circumvent existing law and intimidate families who may accumulate more than five unexcused absences--regardless of the reason. It is unacceptable to place this kind of vague and overly broad authority in the hands of judges. Here is what I plan to tell the committee on February 20: "A law that sayschildren can be found abused and thereby removed from their home, if they are 'presumed safe and otherwise healthy' but 'habitually absent for no good cause,' is on its face unconstitutional. Merely being absent from school but otherwise safe and healthy shows a lack of harm otherwise required to allow a state to remove a child from parental care given that parents are guaranteed under the 14th amendment the care, custody, and control of their children." I know that the legislators and judges calling for this legislation have good intentions. But we all know where the road paved with good intentions leads. The reality is that West Virginia judges already have all the authority they need to address habitual absence from school, also known as truancy. HB 4309 is designed to give them more power and permit them to ignore parents and go after children. This bill threatens the most precious gift we all cherish--our children. Tell the legislature to tell the judges to use the authority they already have to address this problem. ACTION REQUESTED The committee has now amended the bill, and it is appropriate for you to re-contact them giving them the following message in your own words: "Even amended, HB 4309 should not be passed--it is unnecessary, and worse, is motivated by a philosophy that goes against our American traditions of when the state should be able to act against parental custody of children. This legislation is bad public policy and may be unconstitutional. School districts and courts need to use the tools they already have to address public school attendance problems. The bill gives too much discretion to judges who are already overloaded. The bill would also result in more families defending themselves in Family Court where they have weaker due process protections and where children can be taken away. Children who are safe and healthy should not be taken from their families just because the children are not going to school as often as a judge thinks is necessary. Please just vote no on HB 4309." Email string address (copy and paste into the "to", "cc" or "bcc" block of an email--may not work for all email programs): mary.poling@wvhouse.gov; brady.paxton@wvhouse.gov; waltduke47@aol.com; linda.sumner@wvhouse.gov; anthony.barill@wvhouse.gov; denise.campbell@wvhouse.gov; mike.caputo@wvhouse.gov; kjcraig@aol.com; gerald.crosier@wvhouse.gov; lawrencefordelegate@hotmail.com; ron.fragale@wvhouse.gov; justin.marcum@wvhouse.gov; d.perry@wvhouse.gov; rickymoye@wvhouse.gov; dave.pethtel@wvhouse.gov; ralph.rodighiero@wvhouse.gov; stan.shaver@wvhouse.gov; peggydonaldsonsmith@wvhouse.gov; armstead@wvhouse.gov; joe.ellington@wvhouse.gov; marty.gearheart@wvhouse.gov; amanda.pasdon@wvhouse.gov; ruth.rowan@wvhouse.gov; brian.savilla@wvhouse.gov; harold.sigler@wvhouse.gov Individual Committee Contact information: Mary M. Poling - Chair Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3265 Business Phone: (304) 457-2206 E-mail: mary.poling@wvhouse.gov Brady Paxton -vice chair (D - Putnam) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3337 Business Phone: (304) 340-3337 E-mail: brady.paxton@wvhouse.gov Walter E. Duke - minority Chair (R - Berkeley) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3151 Business Phone: (304) 582-4755 E-mail: waltduke47@aol.com Linda Sumner (R - Raleigh) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3180 Business Phone: NA E-mail: linda.sumner@wvhouse.gov Anthony Barill (D - Monongalia) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3173 Business Phone: NA E-mail: anthony.barill@wvhouse.gov Denise L Campbell (D - Randolph) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3145 Business Phone: (304) 636-1391 E-mail: denise.campbell@wvhouse.gov Mike Caputo (D - Marion) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3249 Business Phone: (304) 363-7500 E-mail: mike.caputo@wvhouse.gov Kevin J. Craig (D - Cabell) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3350 Business Phone: (304) 522-5757 E-mail: kjcraig@aol.com Gerald L. Crosier (D - Monroe) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3188 Business Phone: NA E-mail: gerald.crosier@wvhouse.gov Ron Fragale (D - Harrison) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3114 Business Phone: (304) 622-3609 E-mail: ron.fragale@wvhouse.gov Tiffany Elizabeth Lawrence (D - Jefferson) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3152 Business Phone: (304) 340-3152 E-mail: lawrencefordelegate@hotmail.com Justin Marcum (D - Mingo) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3126 Business Phone: NA E-mail: justin.marcum@wvhouse.gov Ricky Moye (D - Raleigh) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3162 Business Phone: (304) 255-2932 E-mail: rickymoye@wvhouse.gov David G. Perry (D - Fayette) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3117 Business Phone: NA E-mail: d.perry@wvhouse.gov Dave Pethtel (D - Wetzel) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3158 Business Phone: (304) 775-4221 E-mail: dave.pethtel@wvhouse.gov Ralph Rodighiero (D - Logan) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3154 Business Phone: (304) 784-8881 E-mail: ralph.rodighiero@wvhouse.gov Stan Shaver (D - Preston) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3146 Business Phone: (304) 568-2696 E-mail: stan.shaver@wvhouse.gov Margaret Donaldson Smith (D - Lewis) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3123 Business Phone: NA E-mail: peggydonaldsonsmith@wvhouse.gov Tim Armstead (R - Kanawha) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3240 E-mail: armstead@wvhouse.gov Joe Ellington (R - Mercer) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3172 Business Phone: (304) 425-3800 E-mail: joe.ellington@wvhouse.gov Marty Gearheart (R - Mercer) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3179 Business Phone: (304) 320-0879 E-mail: marty.gearheart@wvhouse.gov Amanda Pasdon (R - Monongalia) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3153 Business Phone: (304) 340-3153 E-mail: amanda.pasdon@wvhouse.gov Ruth Rowan (R - Hampshire) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3157 Business Phone: (304) 340-3157 E-mail: ruth.rowan@wvhouse.gov Brian Savilla (R - Putnam) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3141 Business Phone: (304) 340-3141 E-mail: brian.savilla@wvhouse.gov Harold Sigler (R - Nicholas) Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3143 Business Phone: (304) 651-3555 E-mail: harold.sigler@wvhouse.gov BACKGROUND If passed HB 4309 would: > Essentially define parents as child abusers if their children appear physically healthy but miss what a judge thinks is too many days of school; > Make it too easy for Child Protection Services and judges to remove children from a home even if the children were not abused or neglected; > Put too much power in the hands of unaccountable judges with vague definitions and broad powers. What is habitually absent? Who defines physically healthy? > Result in the removal from their homes children who are having non-physical problems, such as depression or other emotional issues, and force them to attend public school against their parents' will; > Affect homeschool families if they do not file their homeschool paperwork properly, such as a late notice of intent or not complying with the 14-day waiting period before pulling children out of public school to homeschool; > Not take into consideration children's special physical, mental, emotional or other needs; > Treat truancy as child abuse and place parents in Family Court were the judges have virtually unlimited powers and where parents have fewer due process protections; > Create a system of enforcement that just does not care about the individual needs of a child and the efforts that parents are putting in to meeting those needs. HB 4309 is unnecessary because state law already provides sufficient authority to punish parents and for schools and attendance directors to fashion remedies to deal with habitual truancy under the criminal code. Thank you for taking action TODAY! Without your support we could not stand for freedom in West Virginia! If you or someone you know is not a member of HSLDA, will you consider taking a moment today to join or recommend us and support our work defending individual families threatened by government officials and protecting homeschooling freedom for all? Join now at: http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=13431 Mountaineers Always Free, Michael P. Donnelly, Esq. HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> "I saved my entire membership fee with one discount" "When I called Liberty to find out what kind of discount we could get, they told us we would 10% off our car insurance and 5% off our homeowner's insurance. What we will save is more than double what it costs to join HSLDA. With one child getting his driver's license this year, the savings will be a real blessing!" More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1108 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
