In reaction to my daughter’s kidnapping by her mother in the 1980’s, I had interaction with the Illinois State Police.

I discovered that lesser actions by custodial parents that prevented fathers (mainly) from visiting with their children had no effective remedy.

Oh, one could pay a lawyer and go to court seeking a contempt of court citation, but that was beyond the reach of many Dads.

So I conceived of a new crime–visitation interference.

The divorce lawyers of the state fought the bill.

The State’s Attorneys said complaints would overwhelm their offices.

Although I was no longer in the legislature, Margy Parcels sponsoredthe bill and I guided it through the committee process with the help of a father who had had real problems seeing his children.

When objections were made, I said, “OK,” as long as the criminal element was not striped from the bill.

That was the only way that the State Police could be involved in visitation, which was a much larger problem than parental kidnapping.

The first offense ended up as pretty much a ticket.

The offending parent, however, still had to go to court.

I think the law ended up with no jail time until the third offense.

In the Senate, popular Republican Senator Babe Woodward carried the bill.

If one reads the transcript, one might think that he did not understand what he was sponsoring.

Woodward was so well-liked that it made no difference.

He passed the bill and it became law.

Bringing this to mind is the following Crystal Lake Police intervention with a mother who didn’t want a child’s father to have court-ordered visitation: