This past legislative session, The Steven Watkins Bill made numerous headlines when it attempted to set standards for people who violated visitation agreements by setting sanctions like the removal of one’s drivers and professional licenses, possible jail time, and other harsh penalties. The genesis of this bill was to set the standards for enforcement of visitation interference, the act of refusing court ordered visitation to a parent or other party granted visitation by the courts, on par with the same standard as child support enforcement. Currently, all of the penalties and more exist in Illinois Law to help enforce the payment of child support, and they exist under the same standards as the ones defined in House Bill 1604.
Steven Watkins’ parents were able to secure an order from the courts, one that was challenged at the Appeals Court and upheld and even went for review to the Supreme Court, who turned down the review. With the Supreme Court’s approval that visitation for the child’s grand parents was legally justified and not needing to be reviewed by the Court, the Watkins had what seemed like a solid ability to keep their grand daughter in their lives and to allow her half sister to continue a healthy relationship with her. But Jennifer Watkins demonstrated the fundamental flaw in the visitation order process when she moved out of state and utterly ignored repeated requests of the courts to allow her daughter to see her grand parents. As a result, the State of Illinois went full force in enforcing the law with every tool available from the civil and criminal side. This included 9 counts of misdemeanor visitation abuse, a civil indirect contempt of court charge, as well as a Governor’s warrant for extradition signed by both Governor Quinn and the Governor of Florida.
Many of our members and many non-custodial parents across our State have similar issues with custodial parents deciding to terminate their relationships with their children. This case was an extreme example of what so many other parents go through everyday in our State. Sadly, even with the full weight of the law allowed under current statutory guidelines, the Watkins still haven’t seen their granddaughter. And her half sister still hasn’t seen her either.
Critics of House Bill 1604 mentioned that the laws to enforce visitation already exist on the books today and are adequate to address the issues of visitation interference. It is our extreme disappointment to publish, that on August 23rd, 2011, Judge Julie O’Kane of Orange County, Florida released Jennifer Watkins. This essentially ends the extradition of Jennifer back to the State of Illinois to face the full ramifications allowable under current Illinois Law for visitation Interference. This includes both the civil and criminal penalties allowed.
To add insult to injury, Jennifer Watkins filed a motion in Florida to have her visitation case transferred to Florida Courts, obviously in a bid to try and have the visitation modified.
It is clear that even though our State does have the laws in place to address the issues that House Bill 1604 is intended to help protect against, it is also clear that these laws are sorely insufficient and this serves as a strong example of why House Bill 1604 needs to become law.
Fla. judge rules against Watkins extradition
Jennifer Watkins released from Florida Jail
