I am troubled by the view you appear to express in the above-named piece in the American Lawyer media that fathers’ rights are to blame for custody disputes. It seems to me the fault lies more with the mechanisms for adjudicating custody disputes (which may be the point you were making when you suggested settlement). Criticizing efforts to accord fathers rights to custody assumes that mothers should be the custodial parent–which is not always in the best interest of the child.
I make these remarks from the perspective of a single father (my wife died nearly four years ago when our daughters were three and five) who is also a law professor.
