Stalled in House, bill on child bigamy gets second chance in Senate
 
By Daniel J. Quigley
Cronkite News Service
The Arizona Republic
 
Stalled legislation that would bar courts from granting custody to parents engaged in child bigamy got a second chance Thursday when a Senate committee approved attaching it to another bill.

Rep. David Lujan, D-Phoenix, is pushing for the change, saying it would help women leaving polygamist sects because those women often have few resources, which can compel courts to give full or shared custody to fathers who practice child bigamy.

Under Arizona law, child bigamy includes married adults taking minors as spouses or causing minors to marry adults who already have spouses.

Lujan's original bill, HB 2009, would bar courts from awarding custody or unsupervised parenting time to a parent who engages in child bigamy unless a judge states in writing that there is no significant risk to the child.

That bill won unanimous approval from the House Committee on Human Services but stalled when the Judiciary Committee declined to hear it.

On Thursday, the Senate Public Safety and Human Services Committee approved adding the language of Lujan's bill to HB 2275 sponsored by Rep. Pete Hershberger, R-Tucson. Hershberger's bill would limit evidence courts can use to grant temporary orders of child support, custody or parenting time to a paternity test or admission of paternity.

The committee's move sends the measure to the full Senate and then, if it passes, back to the full House.

"I'm cautiously optimistic that we have the support to get this out of both the House and the Senate," said Lujan, who also is a staff attorney for the Arizona chapter of national child advocacy organization Justice for Children.

Hershberger said Lujan needed to attach his legislation to another bill before committee hearings end in the coming weeks.

"There are not a lot of options at that point, and I was glad to help because I support the bill," Hershberger said.

Flora Jessop, who left a polygamous marriage and now serves as executive director of the Child Protection Project, a group that helps those who leave polygamist sects, said she was encouraged by the turn of events.

"I'm very excited that it's moving forward now instead of just sitting in somebody's trash can because they don't want to hear it," said Jessop, who testified before the Senate committee.

It's the second straight year that Lujan has introduced a bill intended to help women leave polygamous marriages only to see it stall without a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. He said the committee's chairman, Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, thinks Arizona law offers sufficient protections against child bigamy.

Farnsworth didn't immediately respond Thursday to a telephone message and e-mail seeking comment.
 
azcentral.com
Originally published March 27, 2008
 
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