Washingtonpost.com:
Fellow lawyers viewed the appearance at the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court in January 2010 as unusual because attorneys general almost never handle private cases. At the time, Cuccinelli’s deputy told The Washington Post that the case involved “some sensitive issues and some child witnesses, and the client wanted some sensitivity, and he wanted Ken Cuccinelli, so he finished out that matter.”
Cuccinelli’s office didn’t say so then, but the client was Ron M. Grignol Jr., a former House of Delegates candidate embroiled in a custody dispute with his ex-wife.
Grignol is also the former leader of Fathers for Virginia, which seeks to “empower divorced fathers as equal partners in parenting,” and of a second group that contends that men are frequently victimized by false allegations of domestic abuse. Grignol did not respond to requests for comment about the groups, which some women’s rights organizations have accused of distorting the facts about domestic violence.
Cuccinelli’s legal work for Grignol, whom he also knew from Virginia political circles, is one facet of his relationship with the fathers’ rights movement, a loose national network of activists who think the legal system is stacked against men in divorce and custody cases. As a state senator, Cuccinelli introduced legislation on divorce law backed by national fathers’ rights groups, which have urged members to get out the vote for him.
Cuccinelli’s support for aspects of the groups’ agenda illustrates how his personal and religious views have helped shape his political career and continue to affect it as he runs for governor against businessman Terry McAuliffe (D).
Prettying it up with fancy words really doesn’t cut it. Many of these father’s rights groups want to reduce child support and also change laws on domestic violence. In fact, Cuccinelli has been known to try to remove restraining orders against his clients without knowing the facts.
These groups have also fought for more time with their children, which sounds like a worthwhile ambition, but should it be granted across the board? Shouldn’t some of those regulations be dealt with on a case by case basis, rather than across the board law?
Divorce is a nasty business and I know of almost no one who doesn’t think he or she has gotten screwed in the deal. However, some of these father’s rights groups are over the top. Shouldn’t family court matters of child custody be decided locally rather than by broad brush laws?
Cuccinelli has been critical of divorce and divorce laws in general:
The campaign might largely avoid the topic now. But Cuccinelli, a Catholic and father of seven, has been outspoken in his views on divorce.
“If you are sued for divorce in Virginia, there’s virtually nothing you can do to stop it,” Cuccinelli said in 2008 to the Family Foundation, a socially conservative Richmond-based advocacy group. “This law has everything to do with the breakdown of the family. The state says marriage is so unimportant that if you just separate for a few months, you can basically nullify the marriage. What we’re trying to do is essentially repeal no-fault divorce when there are children involved.”
It is no wonder that Cuccinelli trails by 12 points with the women voting population. Basically the man is saying it wants to make it very difficult to get a divorce if children are involved. So, how does that work with infidelity, spousal abuse, and a host of other reasons people feel the need to get divorced? Divorce with cause is very difficult to obtain.
How would that work for non-married parents? Are there kids just tossed aside like bastards of the church or what? Cuccinelli needs to butt out of this one. Perhaps his efforts would be better spent trying to improve ways for both men and women custodial parents to collect child support. Perhaps he should work on the state providing more counseling for divorcing parents. Counselling is very expensive. No one is singing the praises of divorce but lets not put it on the Cuccinelli endangered species list either. People don’t get divorced just for the hell of it.
This all just sounds like more war on women. Sort of explains those 12 points, doesn’t it?
Read more in the Washington Post.
Public Policy Poll (PPP)
Cuccinelli 37
McAuliffe 44
So who is dragging Cuccinelli down? Cuccinelli himself or McDonnell?
very hard for the Cooch to distance himself from McDonnell and Johnnie WIlliams – when Cooch himself indulged himself in gratuities from Williams. Including stock purchases of the very company that he was supposed to be prosecuting. In my line of business if I were to purchase stock of a company that I was involved with in any negotiations – it would be an ethical violation that could get me fired. Even when my company sponsors a public event with other vendors and gets in a few pizza’s for a working lunch the Fed crowd throws a few bucks into the basket to cover the cost – as if a slice of pizza would be perceived to curry favor.
I’ll say it again. I think McDonnell’s troubles are masking Cuccinelli’s Star Scientific issues. Cuccinelli was a fairly garden variety moocher compare to the McDonnells and looks fairly disciplined by comparison. Cuccinelli and McDonnell are not close and have not been joined at the hip in the past. These poll numbers would be worse for Cuccinelli if McDonnell hadn’t run into these problems.
I am howling over “garden variety moocher.”