Reconsideration denied May 23, 1997.

Justin Wolcott was born April 10, 1986. After Justin was born, Justin's mother, Lisa Wolcott began a relationship with David Clay. The three lived together from May 1988 until 1992. During this time, Clay developed a relationship with the child in which he viewed himself as a psychological parent. After Wolcott and Clay separated, Clay continued to see Justin however, the relations between Wolcott and Clay deteriorated and in November, Clay petitioned to establish visitation rights with Justin. A court commissioner entered a temporary order allowing visitation every other weekend. On motion for revision, by Wolcott, visitation was reduced to one Saturday per month. Wolcott then appealed the order to division one, arguing that Clay lacked standing to seek visitation. The appeal was dismissed because Wolcott failed to show that the trial court had committed obvious probable error. Then in a trial in 1995, Clay's petition for visitation was dismissed due to lack of standing to seek visitation because he is not related to Justin and no custody action was pending. It also awarded Wolcott attorney fees.

[2] "I think by adding a male component the children get to see men can be nurturing. The males also bring a different perspective, and for children who don't see much of their fathers because they're working, it's a positive role model. It's a wonderful thing to encourage in society."

By taking into perspective the supporting evidence that having a positive male role model is agreeably in the best interest of a child, I conclude that the petitioner, David Clay has does in fact have standing to petition for the visitation rights of his psychological child, and given that the dismissal of his petition provided by the Court of Appeals of Washington was based on a definition of the statute RCW 26.10.160 that I have demonstrated to lack credibility, the U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the dismissal of Clay's petition and reinstate his visitation rights that had originally been set at every other weekend as well as the $3,000 in legal fees.

In this case, the court quickly determined that this statute was not a statute that is "clear on it's face" and must therefore be construed as a whole, due to the chance that the literal reading would lead to absurd consequences. The court then redefined the statute based on their interpretation of it's origin and it's use in other cases.

Any person may petition the court for visitation rights at any time including, but not limited to, custody proceedings. The court may order visitation rights for any person when visitation may serve the best interest of the child whether or not there has been any change in circumstances.

As children grow, their fathers' active engagement in their lives enhances their chances for academic success, a healthy gender identity, clear values and moral development, and ultimately greater success in both family and work.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Child Custody, Bill Gates, Unfortunately Clay, David Clay's, Code Washington, November Clay, Father Father, David Clay, Education Children, Appeals Washington, visitation rights, rcw 2610160, petition visitation, custody proceedings, limited custody, limited custody proceedings, statute rcw, visitation serve child, including limited, court visitation, visitation serve, david clay, including limited custody, court visitation rights, statute rcw 2610160,
Approximate Word count = 2126
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)