Angelina Jolie is lobbying California Governor Gavin Newsom to support “Piqui’s Law.”
This legislation would prevent minors from being placed in “reunification camps,” where they would be forced to live with an abusive parent. It would also require judges and mediators to undergo domestic violence education on abuse and its effects on children.
The terrible death of a 5-year-old boy at the hands of his father in April 2017 inspired the naming of the proposed legislation. Ana Estevez, Piqui’s mother, attempted to get her daughter protection in a California family court but was unsuccessful. Ana has been working with politicians in California for the past six years to ensure that authorities don’t ignore the warning signals of child abuse, which unfortunately leads to the suffering and death of many children in our country.
Jolie advocates for the law after her negative experience with Los Angeles Judge John Ouderkirk, who allegedly prevented her children from testifying about their father’s history of domestic abuse. In May 2021, the judge ruled that Jolie and Pitt would continue to have joint custody. Jolie alleged that Ouderkirk did not allow her children to testify despite California law permitting children aged 14 and up to do so. She appealed the judge’s provisional custody ruling and asked that he be removed from the case. In July of 2021, he was officially eliminated.
According to reports, people close to Brad Pitt say that Angelina Jolie is attempting to “misrepresent the truth” and damage the credibility of the witnesses who testified against her. The bill she is advocating for has a good chance of passing, but it has nothing to do with the custody battle she is currently facing. They insist the judge was not biased toward Pitt.
After an incident in 2016 that the FBI documented, Jolie used the incident to battle for sole custody of their kids. While arguing over one of their children on a private flight to France, Pitt, who had been drinking, purportedly grabbed Jolie’s head, shook it, grabbed her by the shoulders, and manhandled her. Pitt allegedly told Jolie, “You’re f***ing up this family!” and pounded the ceiling four times, as reported by Jolie. Pitt responded to the kids’ inquiry about her well-being by declaring, “No, she’s not okay, she’s ruining this family, she’s crazy.”
The California legislature unanimously approved Senate Bill 331 (Piqui’s Law) on September 15; all left is for Governor Gavin Newsom to sign it into law.
