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Is The Friend of the Court Stealing Taxpayer Dollars fromChildren for Illegal Lobbying?
Doug DanteDougDante1@yahoo.com 22 February 2009I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.The Friend of the Court Association may also be stealing taxpayer funds that are intended to enforcechild support and parenting time orders to benefit children and parents into lobbying efforts to benefitthe FOC itself, in what is appears to me to be a violation of state and federal laws.The FOC Association's home page says: 
"Our mission: To encourage progressive legislation, resolutions, and other desirable programs representing the common interest (sic) of children and their families involved in domestic relations problems in the State of Michigan." 
 http://foca.cc/The Friend of the Court Association “promotes progressive legislation”. It is a lobbying group.According to Dave Taylor of the Oakland County FOCCAC (Friend of the Court Citizens AdvisoryCommittee), the Friend of the Court Association "put into play" SB 1423-31 in Michigan's 2007-2008session. They may have ghost written this legislation, which was reintroduced as SB 99-107 for Michigan's 2009-2010 session.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq9eHgFj1bY The Friend of the Court Association is a lobbying group with a specific legislative agenda.Lobbying the Michigan Legislature:http://foca.cc/downloads/2007_legislative_action_plan.pdf Lobbying Governor Granholm:http://foca.cc/images/focamandatesreport.pdf This lobbying organization operates openly in government offices with government resources, and may be focusing on their own interests first. In advocating for more fees on custodial parents, the FOC
 
Association writes:
“we hope the federal government has come to recognize that families involved in thechild support program can bear some of the cost.” FRIEND OF THE COURT ASSOCIATION OF MICHIGAN 2007 LEGISLATIVE ACTION PLAN  Recommendations adopted by the Board of Directorshttp://foca.cc/downloads/2007_legislative_action_plan.pdf 
This document includes the names and contact information for two government workers, andincludes their government e-mail addresses, government office addresses, and presumably their governmental telephone numbers at which they presumably lobby the legislature at taxpayer expense.This lobbying group appears to promote the interests of the Friend of the Court while being run fromFriend of the Court Offices, which are funded by a mixture of US federal tax dollars, Michigantaxpayer dollars, and local tax dollars.I believe that it is a violation of US law to use US tax dollars to lobby any public official, includingMichigan officials.
US CodeTITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 93 > § 1913. Lobbying with appropriated moneys No part of the money appropriated by any enactment of Congress shall, in the absenceof express authorization by Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether before or after the introduction of any bill, measure, or resolution proposing such legislation, law,ratification, policy, or appropriation; but this shall not prevent officers or employees of the United States or of its departments or agencies from communicating to any suchMember or official, at his request, or to Congress or such official, through the proper official channels, requests for any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriationswhich they deem necessary for the efficient conduct of the public business, or frommaking any communication whose prohibition by this section might, in the opinion of the Attorney General, violate the Constitution or interfere with the conduct of foreign policy, counter-intelligence, intelligence, or national security activities. Violations of this section shall constitute violations of section 1352 (a) of title 31. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001913----000-.html 
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