McLendon Standard Legal Challenge

Mark Davis is the Director of Communications and Research forThe Alabama Family Rights Association (ALFRA.org), a 501(c)3) non-profit.  ALFRA is requesting tax deductible donations to fund a legal argument to the constitutional challenge in the US Supreme Court regarding Alabama's judicial use of the McLendon Standard.

Alabama courts routinely deny parents and children basic rights with no oversight. A judge decades ago "guessed" that children after a divorce should be raised by only one parent and that the other parent should be largely excluded from the child's life.  The judge decided the exclusion of one parent should be permenant except in a future modification of custody proceeding when a parent can prove the other parent unfit.  But remember there is no judicial rule for finding either parent unfit at time of divorce. The McLendon Standard became the rule for all future cases despite the fact that such a rule violates basic rights, the Constitution, and the overwhelming majority of scientific research on the subject.

Good and fit parents have been excluded from the lives of their children by the courts. The only way to overcome these abuses is by an appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

The legal case subect to this donation is Gallant v Gallant.

Mr. Gallant was told by the trial judge that it did not matter what any doctor, psychologist, or other professional said, a judge years ago guessed that moving a child between homes to be nurtured by both parents was disruptive therefore it must be so. Unfortunately, that judge guessed wrong. The research shows that children need both of their parents. Now parents in Alabama are stuck under a bad judicial rule.  This bad rule became known as the McLendon standard.

Gallant then went to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals to request that his basic Constitutional right to care for his own children be honored. Instead of protecting him, the Court of Appeals told him the McLendon standard was not subject to the constitution and Gallant's rights as a parent could be ignored.

The Alabama Supreme Court also refused to help and now Gallant has no other hope of being able to simply parent his children unless the United States Supreme Court hears his case.

Family is worth fighting for. The Constitution is worth fighting for. Please donate. Helping this one family helps all families.

The briefs must be filed before July 8, 2015.

Any donation amount will help. Donations of $100 will receive a free tee shirt with the saying "The Consittution is worth fighting for." The shirts will be printed and mailed after the briefs are mailed on July 8, 2015.