Jeffery M. Leving to Interview Illinois State Representative LaShawn K. Ford Supporting Landmark Legislation Providing Both Parents Equal Time with their Children

CHICAGO, March 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This Saturday, March 24^th, renowned fathers' rights attorney Jeffery M. Leving will interview Illinois State Representative LaShawn K. Ford supporting landmark Illinois legislation that will provide both parents with equal parenting time with their children. This major new legislation, House Bill 4113, is sponsored by Representative Ford and strongly supported by Jeffery M. Leving, a passionate advocate of fathers' rights for over three decades. The interview is scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. CDT as a part of the weekly Dads' Rights Legal Hour Show on Power 92.3 FM.

"I support this new law because it puts the interests of children first and helps to rectify the current state of inequality where dads spend significantly less time with their children than mothers," said Leving.

This increase in so-called "shared responsibility" legislation reflects recent studies that unequivocally prove the critical importance of a father's presence in the lives of his children and the corresponding detriment of father absence. According to a March 15, 2016 article by Jen Fifield on the Pew Foundation Stateline blog, a "10-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that children who felt they mattered to their fathers were less likely to later have mental health problems such as depression or anxiety."

In addition to providing that spending equal time with both parents is in the "presumptive" best interest of the child, House Bill 4113 provides that both parents are presumed to be "fit" unless there is "clear and convincing evidence that a parent's exercise of parenting time would seriously endanger the child's physical, mental, moral, or emotional health." The current law holds that only a "preponderance of the evidence" is necessary to deem a parent unfit. This change would provide a disincentive to parents from making unsubstantiated allegations against each other to avoid shared parenting time.

Should House Bill 4113 pass, Illinois will join several states, including Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, South Dakota and Utah, that the National Parents Organization lists as having laws most supportive of shared parenting, while Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and Missouri are considering similar legislation.

Any father seeking resources in fighting for parental rights should follow Jeffery Leving on Twitter @fathersmatter and on Facebook @FathersRightsMovement.

Contact: Jennifer Whiteside
[email protected]
312.296-3666

SOURCE Law Offices of Jeffery Leving, Ltd.