The link below is to a story that has been in the local and national news this week. While many view this as a freedom of speech issue, which it is, I see it for what it truly is, a social commentary on how badly flawed Ohio law is in regards to the treatment of fit parents.

Mr Bryon’s “rant” on Facebook was an honest statement on what happens under Ohio’s current custody scheme; one which promotes the removal of fit parents from the life of their child. While the judge in this case calls “If you are an evil, vindictive woman who wants to ruin your husband's life and take your son's father away from him completely -- all you need to do is say that you're scared of your husband or domestic partner and they'll take him away!" an act of domestic violence but there is no threat at all. No criminal charges, just “civil”.

From what I have been able to gather, Mr. Bryson was ordered from the beginning of the divorce proceedings that the only way he could see his son was under supervised visitation. Those visits were to be supervised by the mother’s father who has repeatedly denied those visits for the grandfather’s reasons, like Mr. Bryson had a cup of cold coffee in his hand. By the way, that was a cold cup of coffee which Mr. Bryson poured over his wrist to show.

Yet the judge ordered that Mr Bryson post a message to his Facebook wall stating the following:

"I would like to apologize to my wife, Elizabeth Byron, for the comments regarding her and our son Jonathon which were posted on my Facebook wall on or about November 23, 2011. 1 hereby acknowledge that two judicial officials in the Hamilton County Domestic Relations Court have heard evidence and determined that I committed an act of domestic violence against Elizabeth on January 17, 2011. While that determination is currently being appealed, it has not been overturned by the appellate court. As a result of that determination, I was granted supervised parenting time with Jonathon on a twice weekly basis. The reason I saw Jonathon only one time during the four month period which ended about the time of my Facebook posting was because I chose to see him on only that single occasion during that period. I hereby apologize to Elizabeth for casting her in an unfavorable light by suggesting that she withheld Jonathon from me or that she in any manner prevented me from seeing Jonathon during that period. That decision was mine and mine alone.
I further apologize to all my Facebook Friends for attempting to mislead them into thinking that Elizabeth was in any manner preventing me from spending time with Jonathon, which caused several of my Facebook Friends to respond with angry, venomous, and inflammatory comments of their own."

Based on the information and video of the grandfather denying a visit and where he admitted it was the third time do such, this forced confession and statement was far from the truth. This is misguided judicial discretion that can not continue. This is the unfettered discretion that has harmed many Ohio children. This is the misguided discretion that has cost the State of Ohio billions of dollars a year in unnecessary costs and caused many to spend away their children’s future to defend their selves.

We can not afford this any longer, either as a state or as a society. It is time to move the Ohio Children’s Parental Involvement Act forward into law.