Father May Lose Visitation - Because He's At War

This goes beyond anything I thought a civilized society would allow.

Local Soldier Could Lose Custody Of Daughter Back Home
POSTED: 10:10 am EDT October 5, 2004

BROWNSVILLE, Pa. -- A Fayette County couple says their son can't fight a custody battle with his ex-wife because he's busy with another conflict -- the war in Iraq.

Army Spc. Benjamin Horner, of Brownsville, was served with divorce papers while on duty, then learned that his former spouse doesn't want him to have anything to do with their daughter.

"I couldn't even comprehend as to why someone would want to put an extra burden on someone who's overseas fighting in a war," Horner's father, Harry, told Channel 4 Action News reporter Janelle Hall. "They just can't call 'time out' in the middle of the war."

In court papers, Horner's ex-wife says the soldier hasn't performed parental duties for the past six months. His mother, Rosemary, says that's because "he's been in Iraq since late February, early March."

The Servicemember's Civil Relief Act, signed by President George W. Bush last year, allows for "a 90-day automatic stay of legal proceedings when a servicemember's duty requirements substantially interfere with his or her ability to appear."

"This is what this law is for, to protect the servicemen who are away doing their duty," Harry Horner said.

State Rep. Peter Daley, the attorney for Horner's ex-wife, filed paperwork saying the act doesn't apply in this case. Capt. Timothy Bellew, an Army attorney, disagrees.

"I find it unconscionable that military service in a combat theater would be grounds for termination of parental rights," Bellew told a judge.

"Everybody needs to know this act exists," Rosemary Horner said. "My honest belief is that nobody sitting in a military zone should even have papers served on them. You can't take their focus off what they're doing."

Horner's ex-wife and her attorney were unavailable for comment.

A Fayette County judge will decide whether to wait for Horner to come home before possibly handing the case over to an orphan judge.

Copyright 2004 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Did you notice that the lawyer acting on behalf of this slut is a State Representative? For this to even make it to a court of law stuns me. I have nothing more to say.

Thanks to Emigre with Digital Cluebat for the lead to this.