Bill meant to prevent ’empty chairs’ in parental-rights cases

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A bill being pushed by Republican lawmakers is meant to prevent defense attorneys, in cases involving the termination of parental rights, from having to waste time sitting next to “empty chairs.”

Assembly Bill 664 would waive a parent’s right to legal representation in involuntary termination cases in which there is no clear and justifiable excuse for a failure to appear in court when ordered. The legislation received a hearing before the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Thursday but still must be passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Scott Walker to become law.

Adam Plotkin, legislative liaison for the Wisconsin State Public Defender, agreed that lawyers waste too much time trying to defend clients who refuse to appear in court and said the loss of the right to legal counsel would probably expedite proceedings by leading to default judgments. But he said lawmakers should amend AB 664 to require judges to wait a certain number of days before handing down a final disposition in parental-rights cases.

A delay, Plotkin said, would give defendants time to gather evidence showing they did have a clear and justifiable excuse for missing a hearing date and could prevent costly fights in appellate courts. If such an appeal were won, he said, children could find themselves returned to their parents’ home after living for a year or more elsewhere.

Because cases concerning the termination of parental rights will affect the parties involved for the rest of their lives, Plotkin said they are the civil equivalent of death-penalty cases.

“Taking that time on the front end,” he said, “prevents further problems on the back end.”