I read Viv's post and I disagree with her analysis because it puts an importance on some sort of intangible assumption that women are more important to children and vice-versa. This is her 'feeling' with little fact to back it up.

1) Fact. Feelings/Emotion/Attachment does not equate quality parenting.

2) The US Constitution states that All are created equal.

3) Even when you claim that in cases where the parents are equal, the law should come down on the side of the mother, you are violating this concept of equality. If both parents are equally good parents, they should have joint custody with EQUAL treatment. When you run the analysis and see that both parents are equally great parents, yet you fall on the side of the woman in these equal cases, you continue the incorrect assumption that men are not as good as women.

How many high profile cases do we have of the father murdering his children over the past 5-10 years? Compare that with the number of high profile cases of the mother murdering her children...

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Political Wrinkles
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Way to be sexist. Provide me one recent, reputable study that says this.

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An' it harm none, do as ye' will.


Never argue with an idiot. He'll just drag you down to his level of intelligence and beat you with experience.

I can tell you everything you'll ever need to know about this topic, including how to sue the judge when he refuses to render a decision.

I'm conscious of not wanting to argue for Viv, but I would imagine that her evidence is gained through experience. I don't live under the US constitution, thankfully, but I agree that all are equal. However, I do believe that it is more important for a child to have its Mother than Father and more important to the Mother to have the child. If you want to continue saying, but all are equal, then you may but I want to find the best solution for everyone involved.

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Trust me, I'm a socialist!

There's power in a factory,power in the land, power in the hand of the worker. But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand, there is power in a union.
The union forever defending our rights, down with the blackleg, workers unite. To our brothers and our sisters in many far off lands, there is power in a union.
Money speaks for money, the devil for his own. - Billy Bragg

The best solution for the child is all that matters and we have zero evidence to prove that a woman is better fitted than a man. We have general statements and assumptions that have been thrown out is all. A woman should not have 'more rights' to a child than a man simply because she is a woman. The better parent should have the rights to the child and if both parents are equally capable, then custody should be joint and equal. I've yet to see a compelling argument against this analysis.

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In Texas you have a pretty good shot at custody, but it costs a lot of money and the court system is slow. You have to be able to make the mother look pretty bad in a court room. If her lawyer has any political affiliation with the judge then it gets really expensive.

Here’s my take on this as it strikes close to home. While going through my divorce I was struck by the amount of bias the court system has against the father, from the attorneys straight up to the judges. With out going into details, my ex wife was/is not a suitable person to raise children. Despite the obvious, I had to fight tooth and nail to gain custody of my children. Even with evidence to the contrary, she was very close to winning custody. That would have been a grave mistake on the part of the Family Courts.
I prevailed and won custody but it was touch and go for a while.
Fact is the father has to work twice as hard to win a custody case.
I have had custody of my children for almost 8 years now (2 girls, 12 and 16).
I would challenge anyone who claims that a male can’t be as nurturing and caring as a female. I know of quite a few fathers who have custody of their children and the children are just as well adjusted as those raised by a mother.
When faced with the prospect of raising one’s children on their own, a PARENT, be they male or female will step up to the challenge. The MYTH that a male is less nurturing is just that…a myth.
So, my answer to the question is, Yes, a father should have every right to win custody of their children and gender should play no part in the decision.

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"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably wind up somewhere else."
- Laurence J. Peter

In many cases it is not feasible to have equal custody. To be moved around week to week is too disruptive for a child and it is not in anyone's interests. Obviously I want both parents to play an equal part in raising the child but this can not always work. The only peice of scientific evidence I can offer you is that women develop a bond with their child during pregnancy that makes them more maternal. This is obviously not true in all cases, post-natal depression for example, but it is true in most.

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Trust me, I'm a socialist!

There's power in a factory,power in the land, power in the hand of the worker. But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand, there is power in a union.
The union forever defending our rights, down with the blackleg, workers unite. To our brothers and our sisters in many far off lands, there is power in a union.
Money speaks for money, the devil for his own. - Billy Bragg

A bond with the child? I disagree, a sense of greater sacrifice? Yes. Does that equate to having more of a right to custody? I don’t think so.
Given the right circumstance, a father can achieve a “bonding” equal to or greater than that of the mother. Bonding is a misnomer or is being used too loosely. It’s hard to describe, but there’s a connection between a parent and child. It extends beyond bonding. I don’t believe one can just “bond” with their child, one has to feel the genetic connection, it can’t be made to happen, it just is.

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"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably wind up somewhere else."
- Laurence J. Peter

Graybeard,
Congratulations on winning. Thank you for being an example for other men to follow.