Assembly Bill A5745

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to the creation of Melinda's Law in relation to the basis for removal of children

download bill text pdf

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Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

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2019-A5745 (ACTIVE) - Details

Law Section:
Family Court Act
Laws Affected:
Amd §§1012, 1017, 1022, 1027 & 1028, Fam Ct Act
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2011-2012: A10080
2013-2014: A2083, A8490
2015-2016: A2412
2017-2018: A4271, A9725
2021-2022: A4754
2023-2024: A5455

2019-A5745 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the creation of Melinda's Law in relation to the basis for removal of children.

2019-A5745 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5745
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 14, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. GIGLIO, DeSTEFANO, LAWRENCE, McDONOUGH, MORINELLO
   -- read once and referred to the Committee on Children and Families
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  family  court act, in relation to the basis for
   removal of children and the creation of "Melinda's Law"
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  This  act  shall  be known and may be cited as "Melinda's
 Law".
   § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature  hereby  finds  and  declares
 that  in  cases of domestic violence, the abuse sometimes moves from the
 spouse to the children. Once the abusive spouse begins  to  over-discip-
 line  the  children,  the  abusive  spouse will often use threats or the
 removal of the children by child  protective  services  as  a  means  to
 compel subjugation from the non-abusive spouse. In addition, the abusive
 spouse  prevents  the  reporting  of  such incidents to child protective
 services by making the non-abusive spouse an accomplice in  this  abuse.
 Under this threat, children are subjected to escalating abuse that could
 have  been  prevented  if  the  non-abusive  spouse had a safe harbor to
 report such abuse at the early stages without fear of losing their chil-
 dren. By this act the legislature intends to take such  tool  away  from
 the  abusive  spouse by providing the non-abusive spouse a way to report
 such incidents without fear of having their children removed from  their
 custody.  The sequence of events above are an apt description of "Melin-
 da". Melinda is a woman suffering from domestic violence. She  had  been
 abused  by  her  husband over a   twenty year period. The abuse had seen
 verbal, psychological, and physical. She took the abuse  in  the  belief
 that  her children needed a father. Eventually the abuse was transferred
 to the children. It started with excessive  spanking,  locking  a  young
 teenager  in  the  basement,  and pushing a five year old to the ground.
 Melinda confronted her husband and put herself between her  husband  and
 her  children  resulting in a black-eye to Melinda. She told her husband
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

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