In February 2022, during a family-court-ordered visitation at a Sacramento church, a father murdered his three young daughters and a designated supervisor. He then committed suicide. Previously, the mother had obtained a domestic violence restraining order against the man, saying she feared for the life of her children and herself and that he had shown clear signs of escalating violent behavior. 

This type of horrific crime is not rare amid contentious custody proceedings.

The Center for Judicial Excellence tracks murders committed in the U.S. by divorcing or separating parents, and it also tracks when a parent has unsuccessfully asked a court to intervene. Since 2008, there have been at least 859 reported cases of children being murdered by an abusive parent during divorce or separation proceedings. Many of the children died during a family-court-ordered visitation despite the presentation of evidence that they were in danger.

Senate Bill 616, known as Piqui’s Law, would require judges to take domestic violence and child abuse training and further clarify California’s ban on dangerous family-court-ordered reunification efforts. The bill is named in honor of Aramazd “Piqui” Andressian Jr., a 5-year-old boy who was tragically murdered in 2017 by his father during a court-ordered visitation in Los Angeles.

Ana Estevez, Piqui’s mother, begged the court to keep her child safe. Despite her pleas, the court disregarded evidence. Now Ana can only hold an urn containing the ashes of her son. Prompted by her tragedy, she has become a leader in state and national movements to protect children and domestic violence survivors in family courts.

These deaths are not just random, violent tragedies. They are often preventable and due to mistakes or bias in the family court system. While California law regulates family courts, the courts operate with almost no meaningful oversight and very limited training for judges and other court personnel on domestic violence and child abuse.

Research from George Washington University Law School indicates that allegations of child abuse are regularly discounted by courts when raised in child custody cases, with less than a fourth of these claims believed. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, children who have witnessed domestic violence are approximately four times more likely to experience child abuse than children who have not.

In March, the federal Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized, including new, groundbreaking provisions under Title XV — Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act, also known as “Kayden’s Law.” The law provides financial incentives for state legislatures to modernize family court laws to better protect abused children and domestic violence survivors. Child custody provisions were brought into federal policy for the first time.

Kayden’s Law prioritizes and restricts the use of unethical reunification workshops and mandates domestic violence and child abuse education for family court judges and other personnel.

California has the highest number of preventable child murders in the country, three times more than Texas and five times more than New York. We can lead the way in reforming our family law system to protect children of divorce and separation in dangerous situations.

The California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom must act quickly to enact Piqui’s Law this year. This will help qualify us for millions of federal dollars for judicial training and cover the costs of implementing SB 616. We can lead the way in reforming our family law system to protect children of divorce and separation in dangerous situations and prevent more children from dying at the hands of an abuser.

State Sen. Susan Rubio is a Los Angeles area Democrat who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Domestic Violence. Kathleen Russell co-founded the nonprofit Center for Judicial Excellence in California to be a voice for vulnerable children and a catalyst for child safety.

https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article264467606.html

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Media Contact: Edward Barrera, edward.barrera@sen.ca.gov