New legislation that will compel New York judges to consider domestic violence or child abuse charges and risks—above all else—in child custody decisions, could soon become law.
Resulting from a decade of work from a dedicated mother, bills known as “Kyra’s Law” passed both the senate and house and is on Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk for signing.
The bill’s author is Jacqueline Franchetti, a resident of Long Island who had to rewrite the language several times to ensure that hearsay and unfalsifiable negatives—in other words, allegations of low-merit—would not influence decisions.
The result of her tireless campaigning was some 300,000 emailing their reps or participating in marches to bring Kyra’s Law to the Chamber floor for a vote, a moment that Franchetti admitted was “very emotional.”
“Kyra’s Law is going to move us lightyears forward in addressing the child custody crisis and protecting children from abusive parents,” she told CBS News.
The law is named after Franchetti’s daughter, Kyra, who was killed by her father in a murder suicide at the man’s home years ago. During a lengthy child custody battle, the judge had determined Franchetti’s ex to be of “low risk” even though she had furnished proof of activities like stalking and making threats, the merits of which the police testified to.
Franchetti was trying to win sole custody, but the judge ruled it should be jointly held.
“It will definitely be helpful for judges in family court to have this bill that states that child safety is the top priority in a child custody case or child visitation case,” said a family court career expert Patricia Pastor in a comment with CBS.
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It will help tragedies like what happened to Kyra, and others Pastor cited—and others that may come to pass in the future—be prevented.
The Governor’s mansion said in a statement that Hochul is reviewing the legislation, something which she has until the end of the year to sign or send back to the congress.
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