Governor Signs AB 1050!
October 1, 2010
BREAKING NEWS: Last Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 1050 into law! This historic legislation took over 18 months to reach the Governor's desk. We couldn't have passed this bill without your help sending letters, faxes, and making phone calls to legislators and the Governor! This is a great victory for children and protective parents across the state.
AB 1050 will allow children 14 and older to testify in family court, giving them a much needed voice in proceedings that greatly impact their lives. This is a first-of-its-kind measure and will change the limitations on children testifying, once it becomes effective on January 1, 2012.
As in the Mohammad case, family courts across the nation ignore or minimize child safety.
For the past 18 months, CJE, CPPA and our allies worked closely with Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and her Legislative Director Eric Dang to guide this bill through the legislative process, working to build a broad-based coalition of support to ensure the bill's passage. Thank you to everyone who contributed their efforts to ensure that AB 1050 reached the Governor's desk and that he signed this historic bill into law. We needed to compromise in order to get this bill passed, so we see it as a starting point, and we anticipate pushing for future improvements to the law as we are able to.
Click here to email Fiona Ma to thank her for leadership in sponsoring this important bill.