On Monday December 1st, 2003 another of the latest efforts for the "FAPT Information Awareness Campaign" took place at the Gwinnett County Georgia Courthouse.

 

Eleven "Fathers Are parents Too (FAPT) members and associates were present to hand out brochures, talk and listen to people about experiences in domestic court and to raise the level of public awareness pertaining to;

The event was planned with the input from the Chief magistrate Judge and the head of Court Security, who had been contacted beforehand to help outline the activity and address any concerns they may have had. Both of these officials were very cordial and supportive.

 

Participants arrived at 7:30 a.m. on this cold morning and began setting up their signs and material as other participants arrived. The group was greeted by the head of Court Security, as suggested to him by the event organizer, to discuss the guidelines of this event. A cordial conversation outlined the liberal options available to us for our activities. Having already handed out some brochures, the head of Court Security mentioned that people had already asked "if we were allowed to hand out literature in front of the courthouse?" He commented that his answer to them was "Yes, they are allowed to do that", and a brief conversation about the 1st amendment was discussed with him.

 

During the course of the morning, over 1000 various flyers were handed out. The participants concluded this activity only after they ran out of literature to hand out, about 11:00 a.m.

 

The participants had been briefed on acceptable behavior and methods to approach people and the result was that there were no incidents that could be described in any way as harassing people. The entire event went very smooth. What was unexpected was the amount of support we received from a surprising number of people - especially women! Words of support came from women who were 2nd wives, grandmothers and sisters. Some women wanted to donate money to the group on the spot and several had indicated that they would attend meetings and become members. A state legislator, who is a lawyer, stopped by and expressed his support and commented on legislation and the justice system. Several lawyers also stopped and expressed their concern about family law and support for our group. One family law lawyer wanted to immediately arrange to be a speaker at the next FAPT meeting. We accommodated him and he will be speaking at the December 16th meeting. Several law enforcement officers stopped and a common concern from them was members of law enforcement who lost their jobs as a result of a domestic violence conviction - which prevented them from carrying guns. One soldier expressed this concern also, having know a few soldiers that had been convicted of domestic violence and was no longer allowed to be in the service. Visitation interference was a common concern among a majority of the people who we talked to who had related problems.

 

It was interesting that the majority of the people who didn't take material seemed to be employees of the facility. One woman with a employee ID around her neck commented when asked if she wanted a brochure, "I don't need one, I already know what's going on in there". There were very few people who didn't take a brochure when offered. The only distasteful feedback we received was from a few lawyers, who when were politely offered material, quickly produced a sour scorn on their face and hurried off.

 

After taking a brochure and visiting the courthouse, a number of people came back on the way to their car to discuss what they read in the brochures and how it related to their experience or circumstances. Observations from brief trips inside Courthouse showed most people walking around or sitting with a brochure in their hand, with many of them reading it. Several people came back from their trip to the Courthouse and asked for more brochures to give to others. A number of requests to be added to the FAPT email list were already received by visitors to the fapt web site by that afternoon, apparently as a result of the web site address printed on the brochures.

 

All participants felt the event was a success and expressed a sense of accomplishment that they did something to help change the system, a least in some small way. Several others have expressed interest in participating in similar events at other Courthouses.

 

Another similar event is already in the planning stage for the very near future. The event will focus on visitation and custody interference, an appropriate concern during the holidays. A reporter from the Atlanta Journal Constitution has expressed interest in this and may be interested in covering this event. A larger number of participants will help increase his interest level. This event may also include legislation efforts pertaining to visitation and custody interference. We need participants, especially if you have had visitation and/or custody problems. Please reply to this email if you would be interested in participating in this event planned before Christmas. Details will be emailed to those who respond.