|
S.C. Statehouse
Report
Sunday, March 5, 2006
VIEW: http://www.statehousereport.com/columns/06.0305.court.htm
Family Court
changes can make big difference in lives
By
Andy Brack
Publisher
SC Statehouse Report
MARCH 5, 2006 - - For months, a group of state senators has
worked quietly to reform the way the state’s family court
system works to make it perform better for those stuck in
it.
 In
the coming week, senators will discuss the changes to the
system, which deals with divorce, alimony, child custody and
visitation, and juvenile criminal offenses, among other things.
In the late 1970s, family court became a unified statewide
system, but hasn’t been overhauled since. In the intervening
decades, observers say the system has become so clogged that
children and families often find themselves mired for months
- - or years - - before they can get resolutions to challenges.
|
MORE
INFORMATION
If
you would like to read the full version of the special
Senate committee's report on family court reform, please
click
here.
|
“Today, Family Court is so inundated with cases that
judges have on average 20 minutes per case to make decisions
which have permanent impacts on a child, on a parent, on a
family,” Chief Justice Jean Toal told a joint assembly
of senators and House members this week. “Our Family
Court system is drowning.”
State Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, led a specially-appointed
panel of five senators who met in the off-session to probe
what’s really happening in family court. After months
of hearings and research, the bipartisan panel in January
recommended five major changes to state law to improve the
system:
- Voluntary family court hearing officers. The study
found much of the burden of the above-average load on family
court judges involves matters that tend to be administrative.
Senators and Toal recommended a voluntary system of family
court hearing officers, which would include retired judges
and experienced family court lawyers. These officers would
handle uncontested and routine matters to allow judges to
spend more time on more serious cases.
- Mandatory mediation. Senators and Toal also recommended
a mandatory mediation process be used on the front-end of
family court cases to try to come to a resolution more quickly
- - perhaps as soon as in six months - - before formalizing
the process in a court setting. Often, court settings make
matters more adversarial when they might not need to be,
Toal suggested. “I believe the returns in time saved
and in human anguish alleviated would be enormous,”
she told lawmakers.
- Alimony. The senators recommended tweaking the
alimony system to do two major things: take into account
that people in short-term marriages might not need to get
permanent alimony and make the system more equitable for
spouses after divorce papers have been filed. This second
notion challenges current law that says anyone who has an
affair while married - - even if a couple has filed divorce
papers and split - - is barred from receiving alimony. Some
say the current system is unfair because spouses who might
need alimony wouldn't be able to get on with their lives
and start another relationship while the divorce was pending
- - because the post-divorce-filing relationship would keep
them from getting alimony. This concept was shot down by
the Senate in debate during the week, but may return in
the coming week.
-
|
FEEDBACK
POLICY
We
encourage your feedback. If you'd like to respond
to something in SC Statehouse Report,
please send us an e-mail. We reserve the right to
edit for length and clarity. One submission allowed
per month. Submission of a comment grants permission
to us to reprint. Please keep your comment to 250
words or less:
feedback@statehousereport.com
|
Support payments. Senators recommended changing the
child support system by shifting payment to the court clerk’s
office, instead of the current system of the supporting
parent to the supported parent. Proponents said the shift
should cut down on deadbeat parents.
- Frivolous proceedings. Lawmakers also suggest in
legislation to create state law that puts the family court
process under the state’s frivolous civil proceedings
act, which means people could be held more accountable for
meritless lawsuits.
Ritchie said he believed the Senate would soon pass reforms
to the family court system that would make it better for children
and families in trouble. He added the House, which would next
consider the Senate proposal, appeared to be on board with
the proposals.
“The public has been clamoring for reform and they need
it and they deserve it,” Ritchie said. “The judges,
families and children of the state need more time to make
better decisions so that children can heal faster. These reforms
will achieve that goal.”
3/5: Watch the
parade, not other stuff
Another great cartoon from Bill McLemore:
 The
best way to get South Carolina news is to augment your morning
paper and TV show with SC Clips, a daily executive
news summary compiled from more than 30 state newspaper and
TV sources. It's delivered every business day and is packed
with news of statewide impact, politics, business and more.
Subscriptions are affordable at $30 per month -- and less
for business subscribers. More: SC
Clips.
3/4:
Committed to hydrogen economy
Publisher's note: The following letter
was dated Feb. 10, but received March 4.
To the editor:
I enjoyed your column
this week entitled "Start moving toward the hydrogen
economy." Hydrogen is a top priority not only in the
Fourth District but around the state because of the resources
and infrastructure we have. This is South Carolina's chance
to be a leader nationally, and I am fully committed to transitioning
to a hydrogen economy and becoming energy independent. Thank
you for recognizing this and discussing this important issue.
-- U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., Washington, D.C.
2/28:
Drawing a connection
To the editor:
I wonder if any correlation could be drawn between the timing
of the initiation of the lottery scholarship money and the
tuition increases [Commentary,
2/26].
-- Butch Robbins, Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Recent
feedback:
-
-
-
-
-
- 2/9:
Students
oppose tuition caps, Kely
Sheldon, President, SC State Student Association, Junior,
Clemson University
- 2/5:
Take
a look at ethanol too,
Will McKay, Florence,
SC
- 2/5:
Look
at America's energy needs,
Tom Hatfield, Hilton Head
Island, SC
- 2/5:
Hydrogen
column misleading,
Alexander D. Kline, P.E.,
Bluffton, SC
- 1/30: Boost
cigarette tax or else, Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Haff, Hilton
Head Island, SC
- 1/30: Toll
is a use tax, Buck Pridgen, North Augusta, SC
-
Here's a "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" related to various
political news items from the past week:
Thumbs
up
Sanford: Gov. Sanford and former Gov. Jim Hodges
appeared together at a Columbia child development center to
ceremonially sign into law an extension to 2013 of Hodges'
highly successful First Steps pre-school program. Sanford
signed the bill, then exchanged gubernatorial pens with Hodges.
They were opponents in the 2002 gubernatorial election.
Grooms: Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, introduced
legislation to give the state power to oversee "isolated
wetlands," no longer policed by the Federal Clean Water
Act because of court rulings. The state would oversee and
issue permits for discharges and the like, as well as slow
down the loss of such environmentally sensitive areas. More
…
Vinson: Nancy Vinson of the Coastal Conservation League
is always on the ball when it comes to environmental issues
such as next Tuesday's House Agriculture subcommittee hearing
on limiting private bridges to the 2,400 small marsh islands
in state. She is rightly drumming up advance contacts with
legislators and on-site attendance at the 2:30 p.m. meeting
in the Blatt Building to try to protect marshes from development.
Thumbs
down
Italian china: The First Lady, Jenny Sanford, finds
herself in the middle of a brouhaha over her endorsement of
expensive Italian china items being sold at the Mansion and
in the Statehouse gift shop. A little forethought about how
such endorsements can be interpreted by others, especially
the poor of the state, could have staved the proverbial bull.
Fetus rights: Legitimate issues were raised on the
Senate floor this past week when senators approved a bill
that would allow charges to be tried whenever criminal violence
to a pregnant mother resulted in the death of her fetus. This
bill needs close watching as it moves to the House. Expert
testimony allegedly would identify the reasons for the fetus'
death, but that raises issues akin to abortion and whether
fetuses can survive outside the womb in the early stages of
pregnancy. Senators were told the bill would not apply to
abortions, but only to violent crime. More
...
How you can subscribe to the full edition
of the report
The above version of S.C. Statehouse Report is the
free edition. Our paid version, which costs about $100 per
month, offer a weekly legislative forecast packed with information
that can keep you and your business on the cutting edge.
Notes veteran lawmaker Sen. Glenn McConnell: "Statehouse
Report gives an inside practical report of weekly problems
with and progress of legislation. It reviews the whole landscape."
In each issue of Statehouse Report, you'll get:
- Hot issue
-- an early peek at weekly commentary on something really
big. Last year, we continually beat other news organizations
in finding major trends in issues, from teacher and budget
cuts to wetlands proposals.
- Agenda -- a weekly forecast of
the coming week's floor agenda
- Radar Screen -- a behind-the-scenes
look at what's really going on in the General Assembly
- McLemore's World -- an early view
of our respected cartoonist Bill McLemore.
- Tally Sheet -- a weekly review
of all of the new bills introduced in the legislature in
everyday language
- Blogroll -- a weekly summary of
the best of South Carolina political blogs.
- Scorecard -- A Thumbs Up and Thumbs
Down of major political/policy events for the week.
- Calendar -- a weekly list of major
meetings for the House, Senate and state agencies.
- Megaphone -- a quote of the week
that you'll find illuminating.
To learn more about subscriptions, contact Andy Brack at:
brack@statehousereport.com
South Carolina Statehouse Report
Publisher: Andy Brack
Editor:
Jerry Ausband
Assistant
Editor: Betsy Brack
Phone: 843.670.3996 · Fax: 843.722.9887
Subscription or sponsorship Inquiries: info@statehousereport.com
Have an event for the SC Statehouse Report calendar?
E-mail details to: news@statehousereport.com
or fax to above number.
|
