A December Greeting from Michael Farris

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A December Greeting from Michael Farris As 2011 winds down and we look back on the last 12 months, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for your generous support of our efforts and for your confidence in the mission of ParentalRights.org. I’m grateful that when it comes to protecting families, you know the difference between talk and action – and you are taking action. Your support, whether financial or otherwise, has helped us make needed headway in our battle for parents’ rights. You’ve helped us make this a national issue, and you’ve put us in a good position for engaging Congress with the Amendment in 2012. You and I know that America is at a critical juncture for parental rights. Right now, the legal right of fit parents to raise their kids is foggy at best. With no clear constitutional standard for parents’ rights, the courts are confused. And that leaves families at the mercy of a judge’s whim. But you stand with us against the trend that says “a government bureaucrat or a foreign committee decides what’s best for your child.” Like me, you believe that you the parents, not bureaucrats, should have the biggest role in your child’s life. So you have fueled our successes. Thanks to you, in the last year we: released a gripping new docudrama and grassroots tool revealing the erosion of parental rights – Overruled: Government Invasion of Your Parental Rights; blocked passage of the U.N.’s Convention on the Rights of the Child in the U.S. Senate for the current Congress by securing 37 cosponsors on SR99; mobilized volunteers to build our largest grassroots army ever; successfully passed resolutions calling for the Amendment in three more states – Montana, Idaho, and Florida; and successfully blocked attempts by anti-parent organizations to pass pro-CRC resolutions in Rhode Island and Illinois. I am especially excited about the opportunities our new movie Overruled opens up to advance parental rights. You see, our biggest challenge is reaching people with our message. While we already know (thanks to a 2010 Zogby poll) that an astounding 93% of Americans agree with the historic definition of parental rights, most of them don’t realize their rights are in serious danger. Overruled is an excellent tool to help us – and supporters like you – overcome this publicity challenge. In just the first couple of weeks the film had over 82,300 views online and much positive feedback. With you we are hard at work to spread the film to as many people as possible. With your help, ParentalRights.org is leading the movement to preserve parents’ rights in the text of the Constitution. That’s why your continued support is so essential to our mission. As my staff and I look ahead to 2012, we have to calculate how much funding is available for each of our crucial programs. A special one-time gift* would help finance the objectives we’ve set in place to pass the Amendment. Please take a minute to send a generous year-end donation to ParentalRights.org today. Your gift will help us achieve our goals for the new year as we work toward passage of the Parental Rights Amendment in Congress. I’m confident that with your help we will succeed. With my warmest regards for a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Michael Farris President *Because ParentalRights.org is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization, contributions made cannot be counted as charitable donations for federal tax purposes.

P.O. Box 1090 Purcellville, VA 20134 * (540)-751-1200 * info@parentalrights.org

Why "No Parents Allowed"?

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December 6, 2011 Final 2 Days Constitutional Literacy, the complete 25-part DVD set, is available for your donation of just $75 or more. But hurry! Offer ends Thursday, December 8! Share Overruled with your family and friends. Take just 37 min. to share OverruledMovie.com. Everyone in America needs to see this eye-opening film! Use GoodShop to do your online shopping this year, and they will donate a portion to ParentalRights.Org. It’s free and easy, and it supports our cause. See more details here. Farris' Parental Rights Case You may recall that ParentalRights.org President Michael Farris has taken the case* of Jacob Stieler, an 8-year-old Michigan boy who has battled cancer this past year - and whose parents are now battling the state of Michigan over who makes the tough decisions in his care. The trial, which was originally scheduled for this week, has been postponed until January. We will keep you posted on any new developments. Share This Online

Why "No Parents Allowed"? When I was in elementary school, mom was there on a regular basis helping out in the classroom or the library, chaperoning field trips, or leading an advanced reading program for gifted students. And she wasn’t the only mom doing her part to improve our education. The Department of Education in 1986 released “What Works: Research About Teaching and Learning.” The report was divided up by setting – Home, Classroom, and School. The first principle listed under the Classroom section was, “Parental involvement helps children learn more effectively.” Again, this was in the classroom. So “What’s wrong with parents visiting a school” in 2011? That’s the question columnist Jay Matthews of the Washington Post  asked in his article of December 4. According to Matthews, two sets of parents – one in Fairfax, the other in Arlington County, VA – had similar experiences: When they asked the local school if they could sit in to observe a class with their child, they each received a quick and certain “No” in response. In each case the child was a prospective student, and the parents wanted to see if the school would be a good fit. They wanted to be informed as they made decisions “to direct the education of their child.” Instead, the schools walled them out. Parents’ presence was encouraged in 1986: “This first-hand observation shows parents how the teacher teaches and gives parents ideas on what they can do at home.” Today, a wall has been built and parents are simply not allowed inside. Why? Teachers and administrators gave Matthews several reasons, including teacher privacy issues, vaccination issues, and the fear that visits could be “too disruptive to the educational process.” But none could cite any examples of such a disruptive visit. On the extreme end of the spectrum, we heard separately from a parent whose child’s teacher recently informed her that what goes on in that teacher’s classroom is none of the mother’s business. And sadly, court precedent agrees with that teacher. According to the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Fields v. Palmdale (2005), the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing of their children “does not extend beyond the threshold of the school door.” In the 1986 report President Reagan asserted that “education begins in the home and flourishes when we draw upon the combined efforts of children, parents, teachers, and administrators.” But today’s education bureaucrats are squeezing parents out of the equation. We believe “the liberty of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children is a fundamental right,” even in public schools. It is for this reason that we promote the Parental Rights Amendment to codify that fact in the text of the U.S. Constitution. We must all stand together, however your child is educated, to defend the right of fit parents to make decisions for their children in all educational settings. Action Items 1. Sign the petition. If you haven’t already, visit parentalrights.org/petition and sign today to support the Parental Rights Amendment. 2. Pass it on. On Thursday I will send you another email designed not only for those already familiar with parental rights, but also for friends who may have never thought about it. It will not have the look and feel of our newsletter; instead the email will be easily forwarded or otherwise passed along. So please plan now to open that email, read it, and pass it along to as many as you can. The issue of parental rights should concern everyone in America; our nation’s future depends on it! 3. View and share Overruled. Simply visit OverruledMovie.com to watch the 35-minute docudrama, then use the “Share” button to spread the word through every online network you use. 4. Give generously. ParentalRights.org depends entirely on donations from supporters like you. As the calendar year winds down, won’t you consider a generous donation to sustain our efforts of protecting children by empowering parents through passage of the Parental Rights Amendment? Thank you for helping us spread the word to protect our children! Sincerely, Michael Ramey Director of Communications & Research

*ParentalRights.org is not a legal organization, does not have lawyers on staff, and is not in a position to take up parental rights cases. Mr. Farris has taken this case apart from his role with ParentalRights.org. ParentalRights.org is a lobbying organization whose mission is the adoption of the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

P.O. Box 1090 Purcellville, VA 20134 * (540)-751-1200 * info@parentalrights.org

Docudrama Coming Thursday!

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November 15, 2011 Docudrama Coming Thursday! Our new docudrama, Overruled: Government Invasion of Your Parental Rights, is scheduled for release this Thursday, November 17, and I am excited to announce that we are right on schedule! Last week we sent you a condensed list of things you can do to prepare; you can see the fully detailed version here. In addition, we have available a flyer you can post on local bulletin boards, and a half-page hand-out or bulletin insert for your local congregation. Both of these papers point readers to OverruledMovie.com, where they can view the entire film online without cost. (You can donate to help cover the cost here.) Prior to the release, let me encourage you to print out as many of each as you can use to promote the film; alternatively, you might want to save the file, take it to your local printer, and have the flyers or inserts professionally printed. Then, when the film is released, we will send you an email letting you know it’s here and you will be ready to post the flyers or deliver the handouts right away. You might also want to copy some possible tweets from this page to post to your Facebook, Twitter, or other social network page after the film is released. Please keep in mind that in order to help Overruled go viral, we need to promote it as much as possible in the first several days. The faster its popularity grows this weekend, the easier it becomes for it to continue to grow until all of America is aware of the threats to parental rights. Thank you for standing with us to protect parental rights, and thank you for your patience this year. Lots of action is just around the corner – and it starts with the release of Overruled in just two days! Sincerely, Michael Ramey Dir. of Communications & Research

P.O. Box 1090 Purcellville, VA 20134 * (540)-751-1200 * info@parentalrights.org

Call Today to Preserve Parental Rights

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Call Today to Preserve Parental Rights -- November 1, 2011 A chilling report from Brazil should serve as a warning to all American parents. Recent events reveal what happens when a nation abandons its traditional constitutional standard of parental rights and adopts the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). On October 19th, the Education and Culture Committee of the Chamber of Representatives in Brazil unanimously rejected a bill that would have legalized homeschooling in that country. Families who dare to homeschool in Brazil are prosecuted and kept under government surveillance according to a recent story by Julio Severo on LifeSiteNews.com. Severo’s article traces the text of the Brazilian Constitution which contained provisions in the 1937, 1946 and 1967 versions that specifically affirmed the home as a place of education for children. However, the 1988 Constitution quietly removed these provisions at the behest of “leftist politicians,” according to Severo. This Brazilian journalist exposes the role that the CRC has played in this attack on fundamental parental rights. [An]other serious threat to the families’ rights in the education of their children has been the Child and Adolescent Statute (CAS), which is a direct product of the United Nations Children’s Rights Convention. CAS imposes many state interferences in the Brazilian families and their children, especially in the educational and health issues. CAS has been used by the Child Protective Services of Brazil to enforce the state ban on homeschooling, harass families and their children and put them under legal hardships. Finally, Severo calls for a new constitutional provision for Brazil to restore the traditional protection of parental rights in education. The parallels to the United States are unmistakable. The rights of parents to direct the education of their children were traditionally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as a high-level constitutional right. However, recent decisions of the Court have undermined that traditional standard and have unleashed a flood of federal appellate cases declaring that parental rights are lower-level rights which may be easily overridden by the government. Justice Scalia heads the list of jurists who have proclaimed that parental rights are not legally protected at all. At the same time, there are twin threats of the United States adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Obama administration has repeatedly called for the ratification of this dangerous treaty which would supersede all state laws about families including laws which give parents control over the educational and medical decisions of their children. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court and lower federal courts have shown an increasing tendency to employ this UN treaty as valid legal precedent despite the fact that it has never been ratified by the Senate. We must not be the last generation of American parents who are truly free to raise our children. It is time to tell Congress to stop stealing our children’s future. It is bad enough that they have buried our children and grandchildren in debt for tomorrow so that they can buy votes today. We cannot sit by and watch America become Brazil. We cannot passively tolerate the erosion of our constitutional rights while the courts and the diplomats conspire to force us into a regime of international law. We must fight groups like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood who have attacked the Parental Rights Amendment. And we must educate those we would call friends who simply fail to recognize the absolute imperative of protecting the traditional sovereignty of the American family. These other groups have millions while ParentalRights.Org’s annual budget is under $500,000. Despite our tiny budget, we are the organization that successfully prevented ratification of the CRC. However, we have only stopped it for this term of Congress. The only permanent solution to all of the threats we face is the Parental Rights Amendment. I urge you to do three things. First, call both of your U.S. Senators and urge them to become original co-sponsors of the Parental Rights Amendment. Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina has agreed to be the lead sponsor. (Find their contact info by clicking on your state at ParentalRights.Org/States.) Second, call your Representative in Congress and urge him or her to become an original co-sponsor of the Parental Rights Amendment. Rep. Trent Franks from Arizona, who chairs the Constitution Sub-Committee, has agreed to be the lead sponsor. Third, please make a generous donation of $50, $100, or even $500 to Parentalrights.org. Whatever you can give will sustain our efforts in this crucial time. What you do today will determine the future for generations to come. Will we have a family-based culture? Or will we, like Brazil, turn all decision-making over to government officials who think they know best? It is urgent that you act right now. Important meetings are taking place in Congress even as I write that will affect the Amendment. Please don’t close this email or webpage before you pick up the phone and call. America or Brazil? It’s your time to act. Michael Farris President, ParentalRights.Org

P.O. Box 1090 Purcellville, VA 20134 * (540)-751-1200 * info@parentalrights.org

Parental Rights- Are You Ready?

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Are you ready to hand your kids over to be raised by bureaucrats and politicians? Do you want a judge to decide what’s best for the child you have nurtured and loved? Should the United Nations determine how you raise your children here in America? © istockphoto/ideabug If your answer is, “No,” it is time to take action. Only an amendment to the U.S. Constitution can halt these intrusions into your family – intrusions that are already taking place. Consider: The United States Supreme Court in 2000 left it to each individual judge to decide the scope of parental rights on a case-by-case basis, a fact often cited in lower courts since. (Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000))   In 2005 the Ninth Circuit determined that a fundamental parental right “does not extend beyond the threshold of the school door.” (Fields v. Palmdale, 427 F.3d 1197 (2005)) When you send your child into the public school, the courts say you “abandon [them] to the state.” (Parker v. Hurley, 474 F.Supp 2d 261 (D. Mass. 2007))   A number of courts have already cited the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child as binding on the U.S., and have applied its restrictions and “best interests of the child” principle to disrupt healthy families here in the United States.   Take Hope: The proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution can halt these erosions and protect our families from unnecessary government interference at every level. State constitutions and even federal laws can be overturned by the federal courts or by international treaties.  But in the text of the U.S. Constitution the time-honored tradition of parental rights can be preserved. Take Action: Doesn’t every child have the right to be raised and represented by parents who love them, and not by disconnected government bureaucrats? Visit ParentalRights.org today and sign the petition to support the Amendment and to halt the erosion of your parental rights. Protect your family now and all American children for generations to come. In a couple of weeks, we will contact you to call your congressman to support this Amendment in the U.S. House. Last Congress we gained 141 congressional cosponsors. With your help, we can double that number and permanently preserve your parental rights. Please today! Sincerely, Michael Ramey Director of Communications & Research

P.O. Box 1090 Purcellville, VA 20134 * (540)-751-1200 * info@parentalrights.org

News Worth Waiting For- Parental Rights Amendment Call Blitz

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September 6, 2011 Constitutional Literacy Share This Online Preserve Parental Rights Join the Summer of 76 Campaign

News Worth Waiting For I am very excited to announce our Call Blitz to Congress on behalf of the Parental Rights Amendment – but it doesn’t start today! We have exciting news coming up that we believe will greatly improve our chances of success in Congress. In light of this, we find it prudent to schedule our Call Blitz in conjunction with that news. This means we will launch our Parental Rights Amendment Call Blitz on September 20, rather than this week as previously planned. Are we disappointed? Not at all! This gives us two final weeks to swell our ranks in order to maximize the impact of that call blitz! So get the word out this week. Remember what inspired you to sign on to support Parental Rights, then tell that to as many friends and family as you can think of. Urge them to visit ParentalRights.org and sign the petition. We will also send you a special email later this week that is specifically designed for you to pass on to those who may not be familiar with our cause. Commit now to send that on to everyone you know. That way, when the good news comes and it’s time to call, we will have more voices than ever urging the preservation of America’s longstanding tradition of parental rights. Together we will win the battle for America’s future! Sincerely, Michael Ramey Director of Communications & Research

P.O. Box 1090 Purcellville, VA 20134 * (540)-751-1200 * info@parentalrights.org

Parental Rights to End at the School Door?

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Parental Rights to End at the School Door? In a recent article of the Fairfax (VA) Times [1], a school board candidate wrote, “some members of the School Board argued the school’s duty in loco parentis – to stand in the parent’s place – essentially means that parents’ rights over their children end at the school door. No parent in Fairfax County would agree.” You probably wouldn’t agree, either. Unfortunately, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals already has. In its 2005 case Fields v. Palmdale [2], the court held that the parents’ fundamental right “does not exist beyond the threshold of the school door.” In Palmdale, the issue was a graphic sex-ed curriculum. In Fairfax, it was interrogating students without notifying parents. But whatever the issue, “once parents make the choice as to which school their children will attend, their fundamental right to control the education of their children is, at the least, substantially diminished. (Fields v. Palmdale) This should not be the case. Please act now to reverse this assault by big government courts against parental rights. Find out more at ParentalRights.Org and sign the petition today. Then, pass this on! Every parent of a public school student needs to know the extent to which the courts have robbed them of their rights. Add the message to your Facebook page, or use the button to add it to any social network. Every child has the right to be raised and represented by parents who love them, and not by disconnected government bureaucrats. Help us to preserve that right today! Sincerely, Michael Ramey Director of Communications & Research

P.O. Box 1090 Purcellville, VA 20134 * (540)-751-1200 * info@parentalrights.org

August 12, 2011 Protests proceed with no problems

AFRA EDITORIALS By Leonard Henderson

August 13, 2011
Government Abuse is Child Abuse
August 12, 2011 Protests proceed with no problems

Updated version of this story is at-

http://familyrights.us/news/archive/2011/aug/protests/