Fathers storm the conference of the misnamed "Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service." Protesters dressed as comic book superheroes scale bridges in major cities, snarling traffic and bringing commerce to a halt. Spiderman spends six days aloft atop a 150 foot high crane near the Tower Bridge in London, making headlines around the world and sending the mayor of London into a fury. Militant Santas demonstrate on cranes and occupy family courts

Through a series of spectacular acts of civil disobedience, the British "Dads Army" Fathers 4 Justice has captured the imaginations of both the British public and the fathers' rights movement worldwide. Over the past 14 months these superheroes have used nonviolent resistance to fight the greatest single human rights violation in the Anglo-American world--the way decent, loving fathers are being driven out of the lives of the children who love them and need them.

Sarah Ashford, whose father was driven out of her life as a girl, has been one of Fathers 4 Justice's key organizers.

Jolly Stanesby spent seven days on Tamar Bridge in Plymouth, England, refusing to come down from his freezing perch despite being told "you could die up there," and then enraging British police by cleverly eluding capture. Stanesby is a registered child care provider and is thus allowed to care for any child in England except his own, who he is barred from calling and is allowed to see only four days a month. Stanesby , who became a registered child minder in the hope he could spend more time with his five year-old daughter, made news last year as the "Ms. Doubtfire Dad" who appeared in court dressed as a woman in the hope that switching genders would bring him justice.

Sarah and Jolly joined Glenn to discuss the fathers' rights movement--the civil rights movement of our time.

To learn more about Sarah, Jolly, and Fathers for Justice, see:

Why 'dads army' is stepping up the fight (BBC, 2/11/04)

Fighting on rights path by Jayne Woodman, F4J protester (South Wales Evening Post, 1/29/04)

Police raid 'superhero' fathers in protests (Reuters, 2/3/04)

In Defense of Spiderman by Glenn Sacks (Cybercast News Service, 11/11/03)

Listen to the show (MP3 format)