Among the bills being introduced in the just-underway 2012 Minnesota legislative session is a measure that would require family court judges to presume roughly equal custody for divorcing or unmarried parents. The bill, which is similar to proposed laws in other states, generally would grant each parent custody for at least 45.1 percent of the time. The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover.

We have discussed the movement to change the child custody laws in Minnesota in previous blog posts, most recently on Dec. 28. Proponents of the bill say that the current system, in which judges step in when the parents cannot work out an agreement, is biased toward mothers and that children are harmed by not spending equal time with their fathers.

Scott calls her bill "a common sense idea" and a way of updating the law for an era when mothers and fathers share equally in parenting and breadwinning duties. The head of the Center for Parental Responsibility, a Minnesota organization founded 13 years ago to push for the passage of a joint physical custody presumption, claimed that because judges are given discretion in custody cases, "a drug-addicted prostitute mother guilty of neglect has a better chance of getting her kids than a father who doesn't even have a speeding ticket."

Critics of the bill say that it will do more harm than good. They say the bill takes the legal standard for child custody - the best interests of the child - and puts the parents' priorities above it. One family law attorney said that not all families would do well with equal custody. Another attorney predicted more frequent and longer custody battles if the bill is passed, as parents fight to overcome the presumption.

The bill contains exceptions to the joint custody presumption in cases of domestic violence or where one parent otherwise caused "substantial harm" to the child.

Source: Minnesota Lawyer, "2012 Session: Child Custody fight headed to St. Paul," Patrick Thornton, Jan. 20, 2012