Deployed Military Personnel Lose Rights to Their Children

According to Pauline Arrillaga of the Associated Press, Federal Courts, can upon the parents return to the states, legally change the child custody orders of deployed military personnel that had previously given them custodial rights to their children. A case in point is that of Lt. Eva Crouch, whom after being mobilized with the Kentucky National Guard for a year and half, found out that she would no longer have custody of her daughter, Sara but rather in the best interest of the child, Sara would remain in the care of Crouch’s ex-husband.  Crouch had not committed any crime, she is not a drug addict, she is a danger to her child or an alcoholic; in fact her only offense was in desiring to serve the country that was now denying her the one thing she holds dearer than life itself, her daughter.

Sadly, Crouch’s situation is not unique, with 140,000-plus single parents in uniform who must not only fight the war overseas but one on the home front as well. This is all the more reprehensible when one considers that the Service Members Civil Relief Act stays all civil court proceedings against deployed military personnel preventing creditors from seizing assets or civilian health benefits from being reinstated upon their return but doesn’t address this one issue of paramount importance to enlisted personnel. These children are being stolen from their military parents by some family court judges who are declaring that family law trumps the federal law protecting service members because it is their duty to determine what is in the best interest of the child.

Since her return two years ago, Lt. Crouch has spent $25,000 pushing her case through the Kentucky court system and she is still fighting to regain custody of the daughter she lost after answering her country’s call after 9-11. The problem intensifies as one realizes that previously non-custodial parents are using their ex’s deployment as a means of getting what they want, as well as, being able to punish their ex in the process.

Nevertheless, what does best interest really mean? According to Dale Koch, president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Koch mentions factors such as stability and considering who has been the child’s main emotional provider, parameters that conflict directly with military service. Unfortunately, there is currently no resolution as to how this dilemma can be solved with military and family law experts guessing that the problem could affect as many as 5.4% of active military personnel. Just another example, in my opinion of how this unfair war propagated on us by the Bush Administration is failing the American citizenry be they active military personnel or the every day Joe on the street.

[tags]Military personnel, military families, single parents, armed forces, custody battle, Family courts, Dale Koch, children of military personnel, Service Members Civil Rights Act, enlisted men and women, deployed personnel[/tags]