My name is Tyler Tomas Short, I am a Iraq war veteran and a Sergeant in the Marine Corps, I am starting this petition to inform you all of what I believe is a violation of my constitutional rights and a blatant injustice in our family court system, as well as outline how it is a violation of ones rights and what I believe is an easy solution.  I recently went through a divorce in Larimer County and throughout the proceedings I believe I have been subject to unfair treatment and was without equal protection from state laws.  I am asking for help because I have nowhere else to turn, I can no longer afford legal representation and people who chose to go pro se are generally ignored.  My ex-wife lied to the state and illegally claimed state aid for a needy family without disclosing I was paying her child support, since that the state has filed an order to collect the debt from me.  I provided proof that showed I have been paying and it seems as if it was ignored and also the only reason they are in a position where they could be considered a “needy family” is because the state chose that over what I could provide.  Since the decree has been issued the only stipulation that the state will enforce is Alimony and Child support, the only taxable stipulation, meanwhile my ex-wife has not completed any stipulation in the decree and has denied me time with my children.   The other option I have to fix this issue would be to file contempt of court against my ex-wife, I have since done this and once again it was ignored.  The fact that the state is comfortable with a system that allows this to happen is disgusting and an outright failure on the family courts.  How can a state claim they do what is in the best interest of the children if they don’t even enforce the stipulation put in place to protect children, or give a reason for putting children in a situation where they will be considered a “needy family” over a situation where they wouldn’t be needy or require state aid?  The current system for Family law, simply put, is a failure.  Many people are afraid to touch this issue for many reasons, most likely because they believe it is a sex issue and that is not the case.

The gap in gender equality has been brought into light once again by a wave of activists who are raving about equal pay and treatment for men and women, no doubt that is an issue that must be brought to an end.  However there is another equal rights issue that is getting no attention, one which the gap is greater and more damaging than equal pay, the gap in equal treatment in the family courts.  This gap is undeniably unconstitutional and is often scoffed at when brought up in conversation, because it is seen as a men’s right issue, and men’s rights are not taken seriously in this country, however this is not a men’s rights issue.   There are too many people that take advantage of everyone involved and too many good people have been cut in half by this practice.  Divorce attorneys taking as much as they can from both parties, zero accountability on the courts decisions or any explanation to it.  In the state of Colorado custody is given to the parent that is deemed to be in the children’s best interest, there is no system to evaluate who that parent would be and it is typically awarded to the parent that stayed at home the most and leaves the bread winner of the family to continue to support both children and the ex-spouse.  Now I have no issues with child support, I believe it is every person’s responsibility to provide for their children no matter the situation.  The issues are within the custody laws and the way it is awarded as well as forcing alimony or spouse maintenance and how it places a financial incentive to breaking up a marriage. 

The 14th amendment section 1 states; “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”  Spouse maintenance is a state enforced law that requires a U.S citizen to forfeit their wages and earnings, and in some cases their belongings, to another person without due process even though the paying spouse has not broken any laws.  Furthermore these laws are not equal in whom they protect, they place greater need to the receiving spouse’s rights then the paying spouse’s.  These laws adversely impact one party while bettering the life of another. .  The counter point to this is that one person has developed a life style while married that they are accustomed too, now what this is saying is that the spouse who earned less is now entitled to this life style and that the other spouse who makes more to live that life style is no longer entitled to what they work hard to enjoy.  So that means that the state is placing a greater need on one person’s rights than another, this is unconstitutional under the 14th amendment which grants all U.S citizens with equal protection from the law, but when you have a law that places greater need to ones rights than another it is a violation of that right.   Asides from spouse maintenance state custody laws will deny one parents right to see their children and are not given an explanation or reason why they cannot have equal time with their children.  It is unjust to deny ones right to equal time with their children, children benefit from having both parents play an equal role in their lives.  Shared custody is getting awarded at a more frequent pace but is still not awarded on every case, as it should.  Split custody should not be the anomaly when awarding custody; it should always be the first option and should not be awarded only if one parent is deemed unfit.  However this is not the case and in most cases custody is awarded primarily to one parent giving the other a certain amount of parenting time throughout the year.  This is not fair nor is it equal protection.  You cannot deny one the right as a parent without due process, should the option for shared custody be there the court should always award it. 

In a perfect world these laws might work, but we do not live in a perfect world.  The current laws create the opportunity for the custodial parent to bend the rules and with zero accountability on the court’s ruling there is no cost effective way for the noncustodial parent to push for more parenting time, file a contempt of court case, and the courts do not enforce the order.  Many times the custodial parent will change parenting times or not allow the non-custodial to spend time with their children.  While paying child support, spouse maintenance, and legal fees to attorneys, the non-custodial parent simply cannot afford to bring light to these issues and are stuck without options.  For instance if the custodial parent denies the non-custodial  parent parenting time it would cost them about $4000 in legal fees alone if they chose to file contempt.  If there is not adequate evidence then they could be stuck paying the legal fees of the other party as well.  The court is not required to check up on its ruling and currently there is no system in place to hold those accountable to the court orders asides from a costly appeal case or contempt case.  This gives the custodial parent free reign to do as they please with the children.  However there is a system in place to ensure the non-custodial parent pays all they owe on time but there is nothing in place to ensure that the custodial parent allows the non-custodial the time required with the children or obeys other stipulations in the court order.

As for the awarding of custody in the state of Colorado it is given to the parent that is in the best interest of the children.  But how is that determined?  In my case my ex-wife willingly took the children and left me.  She had multiple affairs and brought strangers in the house with the kids.  She has worked over 7 jobs and struggles to pay bills and keep a job.  Since moving my 9 year old son has gained over 30 pounds in 6 months, and moved into the 99th percentile in BMI (legally obese), her bank records show she feeds them a steady diet of fast food and processed foods, my sons behavior in school slipped to the point that he could not make it through a day without violent outburst, this has led him to begin seeing a therapist, I was not added to any of the HIPPA forms at any of the children’s medical offices in an attempt to conceal what was happening, my son is allowed unsupervised access to violent video game play which has become an addiction, both of their attendance and grades have decreased, her lack of care for their education was evident as she would get in altercations with the school in front of the children on a regular basis.  She would call the school teachers and principal evil in front of the kids.  The school principal offered to testify in court but the school district’s lawyer would not allow it and that is unacceptable.  The school system needs to take a more active role as an outside party they have an unbiased opinion of which parent is better suited and they are more familiar with the situation than any judge can be.  Once my son’s behavior took a turn for the worst the school finally told my ex-wife that he needed to begin seeing a therapist.  This was met with hostility and resistance.  I contacted the school myself to discuss this issue, they had said that they were told I was deployed overseas and that’s why they never called me, I was not deployed.  My son began seeing a therapist after much convincing on my part to my ex-wife.  After 4 sessions with the therapist told us that our son may have schizophrenia and he needs to be further evaluated.  My ex-wife responded by openly mocking the therapist and firing her.  The therapist was able to testify in court and prove all this to be true.  The judge did not seem to care, after all the evidence was presented she still decided that it was in the children’s best interest to remain with the mother.  After the court order was made, she was told to continue my sons therapy sessions among other things.  To date my son continues to gain weight, their grades continue to slip, and their behavior is falling out of control.  She moved into a 2 bedroom town house in a very bad part of town, she kenneled the family dog and moved her boyfriend and his dog, a pit-bull, in the house.  On the other hand I have a 4 bedroom house, that I am now struggling to afford, in a very good neighborhood and have plenty of room for the family dog, I have a stable job and would require no outside funds to provide for my children.  In no way could this be considered in their best interest, the option to hire a CFI(Child family investigator) would be the answer to this but is far too expensive, simply put I cannot afford justice for my children.

I suggest that there be a massive reform to the family court system in the state of Colorado.  Shared custody needs to be the normal and not the minority when it comes to awarding custody, studies show that children benefit most from having both parents.  If shared custody is not an option then there must be a system in place that truly identifies which parent is in their best interest and take into consideration more than who spent the most time with them.  The court must ask who is more stable.  Who can provide the best living conditions for them?  This is not as simple as who had them the most.  Secondly there must be a better method of ensuring all parties adhere to the court order, much like child support this can be done by assigning a case worker to ensure both parties live up to their end of the deal.

In conclusion there are many like me who see this as a violation of civil right, men and women.    It is clear that this is a violation of one’s civil rights and there is no longer a need for an out dated law that requires one to sacrifice their lifestyle for another’s under fear of jail time.   These laws have gone on for too long and have destroyed the lives of many people, their relationship with their children and their future happiness.  The cost of divorce is great, however it continues to cost those forced to pay spouse maintenance or alimony longer than it should and at greater costs than simply the monetary value of paying alimony.  Divorce isn’t easy and it is very stressful time in someone’s life, there is no need to add stress of a financial burden, such as alimony or time away from their children on top of that.  This is not a male issue or a female issue, this is not a rich issue or poor issue, this is a human issue and an issue that has been ignored for too long, many states have begun alimony reform and put laws in place that limit the duration of payments.  This is not good enough.  If this issue is unconstitutional when applied to lifetime alimony payments then it is unconstitutional on any other time scale, limits don’t change the fact that it is illegal.  We are all free and protected by the constitution, however if states are allowed continue to create laws that contradict its protection and deny equal rights for all it citizens then it is just a piece of paper.