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Family News & Views 2007 |
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Family News & Views 2007 |
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Click headline for full story December 2007
Texas ranks top in child support collection, but advocates
12-29-07 -- The logic is simple. . . . You bring a child into this world. . . . You help bring that child up. . . . But for 1.2 million Texas parents, something is lost in the equation. . . . Last year, the state’s attorney general’s office forcibly collected more than $2 billion in unpaid child support from mothers and fathers who, for whatever reason, failed to meet financial obligations to their children. . . . Of those cases, 36,000 originated in Hidalgo and Starr counties, where more than 30 percent of court-ordered payments went unheeded. . . . Ask how this could happen, and it seems everyone has an answer: . . . From mothers who say the state isn’t doing enough to punish their children’s “deadbeat dads,” to overworked caseworkers who promise they are doing all they can. . . . There are fathers who accuse the court of discrimination and judges who argue justice knows no gender in family court. Are Parents Becoming Fossilized Thing Of The Past?
12-23-07 -- This last year I can hardly take a breath as I hear of assault after assault on parents, marriage, our children and our most basic traditions! You may recall the wonderful and glowing news of some schools now handing out birth control to our 11 year old girls! Us pesky parents should know that our 5th graders will be sleeping around and they have to have protection from pregnancy. You know as I do with the economy stretched in a time of war, abortions are expensive for a little girl. Lets try and keep her from them. . . . Of course, what am I thinking…..some schools in California will get your girl to an abortion clinic without even telling us parents. After all, it is confidential information. Why should a concerned parent know if their 13 or14 year old is doing something silly and small like MURDER and possibly hemorrhaging on a mystery-operating table? It is their right. WE HAVE NONE! Especially if you are a nasty Christian and actually think sleeping around and getting pregnant before marriage is wrong!!
Parents could face judge for truant children 12-21-07 -- (AP) Waterbury officials are getting tougher on school absences and will have a judge hold hearings for parents of children who habitually play hooky. . . . Elementary school parents who fail to get their children to school could find themselves facing Probate Court Judge Thomas Brunnock. . . . Brunnock will preside at hearings and recommend social services for chronically truant students and their parents, including programs such as tutoring, parenting classes, counseling and drug rehabilitation. . . . "Judge Brunnock wants parents to buy in and understand the importance of bringing kids to school every day, and that if they don't there are consequences," Assistant Superintendent Anne Cullinan said Wednesday. . . . If parents refuse to cooperate, or if children continue to skip school, officials can call in the Department of Children and Families or could contest guardianship rights in court.
Change law to modify grandparent visitation THE ISSUE: The state Supreme Court has struck down a law that gives broad visitation rights to grandparents.
12-21-07 --Hawaii legislators enacted a feel-good law in 1993 intended to provide grandparents reasonable visitation rights that "are in the best interests of the child." However, the government has no business meddling in such basic parental decisions except to protect a child from harm, and the state Supreme Court properly struck down the law this month as unconstitutional. The law needs to be amended to comply with the state and federal constitutions. . . . The ruling is consistent with a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000 finding that a judge requiring a parent to succumb to grandparents' visitation rights violates the due-process clause of the 14th Amendment protecting a person's "liberty." . . . The federal high court had ruled as early as 1925 that "liberty" includes parents' right to "direct the upbringing" of their children. The privacy provision in Hawaii's Constitution protects a person's decisions regarding "family relationships ... without unjustified government interference." . . . A Hawaii couple asserted the right to visit their 6-year-old grandchild in 2003 despite objections by the child's mother; the father had moved to California after the divorce a year earlier. Family Court Judge William S. Chillingworth properly rejected the grandparents' claim to visitation rights.
12-19-07 -- Mass incarcerations without trial or charge; forced confessions; children forcibly separated from their parents with no reasons given; doctored hearing transcripts and falsified court records; evidence fabricated against the innocent; government agents entering the homes, examining private papers and personal effects, and seizing the property of citizens who are under no suspicion of legal wrongdoing; special courts created specifically to convict people who cannot be convicted in ordinary courts; children instructed to hate their parents by state functionaries: Is all this the Soviet Union in the 1930s or Communist China in the 1960s? Is this some novelist’s prognosticated dystopia? No, all this and more is routine in the United States today. . . . Among the most disturbing tales to come out of totalitarianism were the revelations of how both Nazi and Communist governments intruded into family life. The practice of governments dictating to parents what they could tell their children or using children as informers against their parents strikes us as chilling and unnatural. Yet similar practices are occurring in America today on a much more massive scale. . . . What we are talking about here is family law, a secretive political underworld of which few are aware until it strikes them. Parents summoned to family court discover that their children can be taken away, they can be forced to turn over all their property without explanation to government officials and their private clients, their future earnings can be confiscated to the point where they are unable to house or feed themselves, and they can be incarcerated without trial – all without any evidence or even charge that they have committed any actionable offense.
Judge Discredits Man's Claim That Obesity Cost Him Adoption, but Grants Temporary Custody
12-19-07 -- A man who gained national media attention by claiming he was not allowed to adopt a baby because of his weight was awarded temporary custody of the child, but the judge chided him and his wife, saying they knew the primary reason the boy had been removed from their home had nothing to do with obesity. . . . Gary and Cindy Stocklaufer had violated adoption law when they failed to obtain some required paperwork when the baby was moved into Missouri from another state, Jackson County Circuit Judge John R. O'Malley said in his order, which he made public Tuesday. . . . After their petition to adopt the baby, Max, was denied in July by another judge, the couple publicly said it had been because Gary Stocklaufer weighed 550 pounds at the time. The 35-year-old underwent gastric bypass surgery for free from a Dallas clinic in August after the publicity and has lost about 200 pounds. . . . "He seeks to extort a favorable result by his accusations," O'Malley said. "Fortunately, Missouri courts base decisions on the weight of the evidence, not the weight of the litigants."
Judge boots parents from son's schooling
12-19-07 -- Another judge in Massachusetts has ruled against parental input regarding the education of their own children, this time deciding that a district's special education program for a 13-year-old can move forward even though his parents refused to sign an authorization for the additional monitoring and counseling. . . . As WND reported, it was a year ago when U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf of Massachusetts dismissed a civil rights lawsuit by a parent, concluding it is reasonable, indeed there is an obligation, for public schools to teach young children to accept and endorse homosexuality. . . . That case, involving parent David Parker, recently was argued on appeal of Wolf's decision, which essentially adopted the reasoning in a brief submitted by several homosexual-advocacy groups. They said "the rights of religious freedom and parental control over the upbringing of children … would undermine teaching and learning…"
Meet the family court judge who was overturned for the sixth time this year. New York County Family Court Judge Sara P. Schechter’s finding that a mother identified as Josefina C. neglected her children got “due deference” from the Appellate Division. Or so a unanimous panel of the appellate court dutifully said in a ruling which ultimately concluded that Schechter’s finding flew in the face of the evidence laid out before her in a fact-finding hearing. . .. Josefina’s apartment was “messy,” the appellate panel conceded. And her 16-month-old daughter suffered “a minor burn on her bottom.” But according to the uncontradicted testimony, the injury occurred when she touched an uncovered steam pipe while she was bouncing and playing on a bed with her father and sister, and it was promptly treated. Neither that nor the condition of the apartment supported the finding of neglect, the appellate panel concluded, reversing Schechter and dismissing the neglect petition. Matter of Allison B. v Josefina C. (December 13)
Judge investigated for homeschooling threat
12-19-07 -- A threat by a Utah judge to take away a homeschooling mom's children if she failed to enroll them in public school, and make sure they were in attendance every day, has been escalated to the level of the state Legislature, according to a homeschooling leader. . . . "I can tell you there are several legislators working on this, including one on the judicial retention committee," John Yarrington, president of the Utah Home Education Association, said. "There's no excuse for this kind of bias and prejudice." . . . At issue are the threats issued by Judge Scott Johansen, who serves in the juvenile division of the state's 7th Judicial District . . . He said in a court hearing for the homeschooling mom, Denise Mafi, that he would order the removal of her children from her custody if she failed to enroll her children in the public school district and keep them in class every day, unless they had a physician's note excusing them. . . . Mafi, who has homeschooled for nine years, told WND that she already had enrolled the children, for fear the judge would carry out his threat. . . . WND earlier reported the confrontation developed after the school district apparently lost an affidavit Mafi had submitted for the 2006-2007 school year.
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Divorcing a Judge, Local Lawyer Has Trouble in Mind
12-17-07 -- A lawyer seeking a divorce from a state judge has expressed concern that he will have trouble getting a fair shake because other judges will likely side with one of their own. . . . The unusual case, which has already involved the state Supreme Court, centers on prominent Hartford criminal defense attorney Hubert J. Santos and Superior Court Judge Thelma A. Santos, a Rockville juvenile judge. . . . Hubert Santos is represented by another formidable defense lawyer, Hugh F. Keefe of New Haven. In court documents, Keefe argued that because Thelma Santos was a Hartford family court judge in the 1990s, Hubert Santos would face an "unconscious bias" that exists "when a judge has to decide a case involving one of his or her own." . . . Keefe argued that all applicable case law and the Code of Judicial Conduct requires a transfer, and proposed either Waterbury, Litchfield, New Haven or Bridgeport, to assure a fair trial and the appearance of propriety.
Lawyer accuses Tucker of pushing bill to aid his wife
12-17-07 -- (AP) — A divorce attorney has accused state Rep. Jim Tucker of pushing legislation to help Tucker's wife in a custody case. . . . Attorney David Hufft, who represents the former husband of Tucker's wife, Marisol, wants a Plaquemines Parish judge to compel Tucker and other lawmakers to testify about their involvement in the bill. . . . An attorney for the state House of Representatives, Alfred "Butch" Speer, said the Louisiana Constitution gives lawmakers a privilege protecting them from having to answer questions about their actions in voting on, amending and writing legislation. . . . Judge Anthony Ragusa Jr. did not immediately rule. Tucker's personal attorney deferred to Speer during the hearing and didn't comment later. . . . During a May committee meeting, Tucker, a Republican, spoke in support of a bill by Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers, that he said would help victims of the 2005 hurricanes who were forced to move to another parish in the midst of a custody case.
Court Denies Attempt to Reduce Maintenance to Jailed Ex-Wife
12-17-07 -- A Nassau County, N.Y., judge has rebuffed a man's bid to slash or eliminate the $4,000-a-month in maintenance he owes his jailed ex-wife. . . . Although Scott May of Manhattan agreed to the payments in 2004 when he and Denise May were divorced, he argued that Ms. May does not need the money now that she is incarcerated for drug possession and her needs are being met by the state. . . . Justice Elaine Jackson Stack, in May v. May, 201540/02, rejected the request, which she said was tantamount to "punishment or retribution for defendant's bad conduct." . . . "This court in no way condones defendant's criminal activity; however, once she has served her prison sentence the court believes she should have an opportunity to rehabilitate herself," Stack said. "Without funds and with no job potential or home available to her, she is likely to become a public charge or, in the worst case scenario, to engage in criminal conduct again." Family Court is a Deadly Business
The Family Court System has its' fair share of problems, but one of those problems that has not had a very thorough review is that it is an ever-increasingly "Deadly Business." In fact, I didn't even start thinking about the effects outside the courtroom and outside the home regarding the effects of the public policy of single-parent custody awards and "unilateral divorce" until my recent involvement and trip in Frederick, Maryland. . . . There should be substantial concern over the instant murder-suicides, premeditated murders, and drastic suicides that are occurring in families that are involved with domestic relation suits or family courts around the nation. . .. In Frederick Maryland, several families over a six month period of time were reported as having ongoing child custody disputes that resulted in death. The most recent of which drew my attention regarding the Thanksgiving Holiday "massacre" that occurred there. [more]
For more information about Lary Holland,
visit his website at
http://www.laryholland.com.
Mr. Benjamin's Divorce & His White-Collar Crimes
As my post "Divorce, Child Support & Reporting Tax Fraud" mentioned, divorcing spouses sometimes tip the IRS about a suspected tax fraud. Mrs. Benjamin for example, tipped the IRS because she thought that her divorcing husband had underreported revenue from his commercial maintenance and landscaping business. She specifically provided the IRS with the business documents Mr. Benjamin had produced during the pre-trial discovery phase of their divorce case. These documents included payment summary records from Mr. Benjamin's customers like Wal-Mart. As part of her tip to the IRS, Mrs. Benjamin also turned over joint tax returns which Mr. Benjamin had supposedly filed for the years 1998 and 1999. . . . A records check at the IRS however demonstrated that the 1998 and 1999 joint tax returns had never actually been filed by Mr. Benjamin. The IRS also learned that from 1997 through 2001, Mr. Benjamin had neither paid income tax nor filed state or federal income tax returns. IRS Special Agents then received false information from Mr. Benjamin when they interviewed him at his home on June 26, 2002. The IRS also reviewed Mr. Benjamin's bank accounts and conferred with Wal-Mart along with Mr. Benjamin's other customers. As a consequence of its asset search and tax fraud investigation, the IRS finally determined that Mr. Benjamin's total gross receipts or sales between 1998 and 2001 had actually been about $1,139,470.18; and that Mr. Benjamin had a $129,396.91 tax liability.
Don't believe the hype about 'deadbeat' parents Raids are unconstitutional gender discrimination
12-14-07 -- Once again, we see the state of New Jersey violating the United States and state Constitution prohibitions against imprisonment for debt with its biannual statewide child support "deadbeat parent" sweep; "Deadbeat parent sweep nets 38" (Daily Record, Dec. 9,). . . . And, once again, we see the paltry sums collected by the various sheriff's departments across the state. According to the article, statewide, 1,020 parents were arrested and $354,536.72 was collected in a three-day holiday arrest spree. That's an average of less than $350 collected per person. . . . In Morris County alone, $33,548 was collected from 38 parents, or an average of $883 per person. In Bergen County, 105 were arrested and about $76,000 collected, or an average of around $722 per person. In Essex County, $9,210 was collected from 32 parents, or an average of $288 per person. . . . In Passaic County, an average of $90 was collected per parent. In Sussex, an average of $350 per parent was collected. . . . The reason I show these averages is because every time there is a raid, approximately the same number are arrested and the same amounts, per average, are collected. We are seeing a pattern of arresting the usual suspects -- unemployed, underemployed, disabled, or those having fallen on hard luck. We are seeing a pattern of not much money extracted. . . . During the sweep, each county expended in excess of $50,000 for overtime, gasoline use, wear and tear on the sheriff's vehicles, and other related expenses. How is this justified in the budgets of each county? Every year it's the same result. . . . These raids are political hype, are conducted by the state for profit, and used for propaganda purposes. The state and counties claim that more people come in and make payments after the sweeps.
R.I. court won't let gay couple divorce Ruling cites 1961 law, deals setback to pair married in Mass.
12-8-07 -- In a split decision, Rhode Island's top court said yesterday that it will not allow a lesbian couple who married in Massachusetts to get a divorce in the Ocean State. . . . The 3-to-2 ruling was viewed by advocates of gay marriage as a setback and by those who oppose the recognition of same-sex unions as an act of wisdom. . . . The court concluded that a key 1961 Rhode Island law defines marriage as an legal union between a man and a woman, not same-sex couples. Unless and until the Legislature changes the wording, same-sex couples married in Massachusetts cannot get divorced in Rhode Island family courts, it said. . . . Cassandra Ormiston, who married Margaret Chambers in Fall River in 2004 after Massachusetts became the first state in the country to legalize same-sex marriages, denounced the ruling, saying it discriminates against same-sex couples. . .. "There have been people throughout history who have been discriminated against," said Ormiston, 60. "And they have fought the good fight and prevailed. It will be the case with my minority as well." . . . "It won't stand," she said. Fox New's Alan Colmes: Who Needs Air America?
By Jonathan Casiano, Star-Ledger Staff 12-05-07 -- Forty-four dads and a couple of moms got a rude awakening yesterday morning when Union County sheriff's officers hauled them out of bed and off to jail for allegedly failing to pay child support. . . . The pre-dawn "deadbeat" roundup brought in parents owing a total of $737,000 in missed support payments, including an Elizabeth man who is more than $69,000 in arrears. Several other alleged deadbeats owe more than $30,000 in support, and three of the men arrested owe less than $2,000. . . . The sheriff's department conducts the roundup twice a year in coordination with the state Department of Human Services and other law enforcement agencies around the state. After their arrests, the parents are taken before a judge to negotiate a payment schedule. . . . Union County Sheriff Ralph Froehlich said parents occasionally fall into arrears because of health problems or a lost job, and that the court takes such circumstances into consideration. But for others, he said the annual roundups send a strong message.
Domestic violence at point of ‘crisis’
12-3-07 -- Calling it “a crisis” on a “record pace,” authorities project that by New Year’s Eve 57 people will have died this year in Massachusetts because of domestic violence - a toll not seen in 15 years. . .. “It’s alarming, it’s unacceptable and it’s a crisis,” said Toni K. Troop, spokeswoman for Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. . .. The news comes as Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, for a fourth straight year, pleads with the state Legislature to enact an emergency bill that would potentially double jail time for serial batterers before they maim or kill. . . . “Domestic violence is murder waiting to happen,” Blodgett said. . . . Sheila Sicard, whose daughter Ronda Healy was slain Tuesday allegedly by an ex-beau she’d split with nine years earlier, is sick of it.
Legal rights murky when a parent takes child and vanishes
12-3-07 -- Timothy and Sadie Shirley have only a few photos and wrenching memories left of little Adrianna, a child they have not seen for going on two years. . . . Theirs is a family torn by one of life’s toughest outcomes of a soured relationship — a fight over custody that in the Shirleys’ case has led to a daughter’s disappearance. . . . The Shirleys have accused “Crystal” Amethyst Tabor, Timothy’s ex-girlfriend and mother of 4-year-old Adrianna Shirley, of taking the child to Colorado and then disappearing. . . . They consider what has happened with Adrianna to be a parental abduction, a term used by thousands of parents of missing children and their advocates. But the couple has no law on their side. . . . With no court custody order, Timothy Shirley shares parental rights with his former girlfriend, according to the law. . . . “If it’s her child,” said Macon County Sheriff Robby Holland, “she can take it wherever, if there’s no custody agreement. Both parents, in this case, would have had legal rights.”
12-2-07 -- UNHAPPY couples used to stick together for the sake of the kids. Now they can make the best of a bad marriage in the name of being environmentally friendly. . . . Scientists have quantified for the first time the extent to which divorce damages the environment. The researchers found that the combined use of electricity across the two new households created rose 53% while water use was up by 42%. . . . Across America – one of 12 countries studied – divorced households used 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2005 that could have been saved if the families had not split up. That is equivalent to about a fifth of Britain’s consumption. . . . Broken couples also increase demand for housebuilding and infrastructure such as new roads. “The global trend of soaring divorce rates has created more households with fewer people, has taken up more space and has gobbled up more energy and water,” said Jianguo Liu of Michigan University, who carried out the latest research. November 2007
Judge scolds McGreeveys over daughter's birthday party squabble
11-30-07 -- The animosity between New Jersey's gay former governor and his estranged wife is overshadowing their love for their only child, a judge told the couple Thursday in ruling on a birthday party dispute. . . . Union County Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy said Jacqueline McGreevey, who turns 6 next week, can have her birthday party on Saturday at her father's house, then scolded her infamous parents for bringing their dispute to court. . . . "The hatred these two seem to have for each other seems to override the love for the child in my mind because it's so out of control," Cassidy told the McGreeveys, who were standing before her buffered by their lawyers. McGreevey and his partner booked ponies and hired face-painting clowns for a party Saturday for about 20 children. Dina Matos McGreevey objected because the party was scheduled for a time when she has custody. . . . Though an impartial parenting coordinator appointed by the court recommended a compromise _ that the party go on as scheduled and that the two parents share custody this weekend _ the bickering couple could not agree before the judge intervened.
11-28-07 --A recent murder raises questions about divorce court shortcuts. Is justice sped up, justice denied? . . . Divorce cases are never pretty, but this undoubtedly will be remembered as the ugliest divorce of Justice Sidney F. Strauss’s career. . . . In 2005, a Queens couple — Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova and Dr. Daniel Malakov — filed for divorce. The case landed in Justice Strauss’s busy courtroom (according to records from the Office of Court Administration, 126 divorce matters have been filed before him already this year), and negotiations stalled over issues of custody until this autumn. . . . In October, Strauss granted temporary custody of the couple’s 4-year-old daughter to Dr. Malakov. The mother’s attorney, Florence M. Fass, appealed but was denied a few weeks later. The girl was transferred to her father’s custody on October 22. . . . Six days later, a gunman shot and killed Dr. Malakov in front of his daughter at a Queens playground. Last week, an relative of Borukhova was arrested for the shooting; allegedly, his fingerprints covered the homemade silencer used in the killing. . . . In a New York Times article following the murder, attorney Fass characterized Justice Strauss’s custody ruling as “highly unusual” because he had reached the decision without a courtroom hearing. . . . Attorneys for both parties did not return repeated calls for comment, and Justice Strauss did not respond to an interview request. (He is now on vacation). . . . No matter what the result of the upcoming murder trial, the case raises a central question about courtroom efficiency and volatile divorce cases: Do crowded dockets encourage judges to skip proceedings that could defuse time-bomb cases? . . . The question is even more acute, given that Justice Strauss was twice reversed in the past year for leapfrogging the hearing process and skipping a motion to compel discovery.
Legal tussle: Should killer get alimony?
11-26-07 -- A state appeals court on Wednesday refused to automatically bar alimony from spouses who kill a child, in a decision that suspended payments to an Old Tappan woman serving time for the lethal beating of her 14-year-old son. . . . "Nothing in this opinion prevents the Legislature from amending the alimony statute," the judges wrote. "But we do not read the present statute nor the ... case law to create that automatic disqualification." . . . The decision was issued in the case of Linda Calbi, who is serving a three-year prison term after pleading guilty to beating her son, Matt, on Aug. 17, 2003, during a violent argument at their home. He died hours later from internal bleeding and cardiac arrest. . . . "I don't understand how anyone can look my brother in the face and tell him that he has to pay this woman alimony," said Brian Sokoloff, brother of Linda Calbi's ex-husband, Chris. "Half of this opinion espouses sympathy for my brother, and the other half is saying, 'Too bad.' "
Judge rules state must give man his wife's e-mail
11-20-07 -- A judge has ruled the state must turn over e-mails to a man who wants to see messages sent between his wife and a male co-worker at a state office. . . . Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip J. Shepherd on Monday granted Stephen Malmer's open-records request after the state Attorney General's Office said the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet had violated the law by refusing to the release the e-mails. . . . Malmer, who suspected his wife of having an affair, wants to see messages between his wife, Bobbie Malmer, and former state employee David Moss from 2005 and 2006. . . . Stephen Malmer says his wife has since acknowledged an affair, but he wants to see the messages she and Moss exchanged. He says his wife supported his efforts. . . . "It's been such a nightmare," Stephen Malmer said. "I was horrified by the amount of opposition I ran up against." . . . \He said his wife no longer has access to the e-mails and can't provide them herself.
About 150 people packed Larkspur's Lark Theater on Wednesday night to air concerns about Marin's family law system. . . . The event, sponsored by the Center for Judicial Excellence, gave attorneys, therapists and members of advocacy groups a forum to present their concerns, which they hope will lead to a wholesale review of the family law court system. . . . In particular, participants argued that Marin mediators and judges tend not to believe parents who charge their former spouses with physically or sexually abusing their children. . . . "The paradigm of 'parental alienation syndrome' is very popular," said Meera Fox, executive director of Child Abuse Solutions Inc. "That's why (judges) don't believe children who claim to be abused by family members, even though the number of children who fabricate allegations of abuse is at the most 7.6 percent." . . . A court official, however, said Marin judges were not in the habit of placing children in the homes of molesters.
Lotto Luck Finding Him: Woman Sues Missing Husband for Half of Lottery Win
11-16-07 -- (AP) - A woman whose husband has kept about $600,000 in lottery winnings from her says she has a number for him: half. And Donna Campbell is suing her husband in her attempt to get it. . . . But American Airlines mechanic Arnim Ramdass disappeared after his wife confronted him about the secret, so process servers haven't been able to hand him the lawsuit papers yet, Campbell's attorney said. . . . "Here's a guy who for years has spent marital money on the lottery and at casinos, and he's always lost," Bruce Baldwin said. "And now he finally wins, and he's trying to keep it from his wife. That's pretty low."
11-12-07 -- Marriage is a foundation of civilized life. No advanced civilization has ever existed without the married, two-parent family. Those who argue that our civilization needs healthy marriages to survive are not exaggerating. . . . And yet I cannot, in good conscience, urge young men to marry today. For many men (and some women), marriage has become nothing less than a one-way ticket to jail. Even the New York Times has reported on how easily “the divorce court leads to a jail cell,” mostly for men. In fact, if I have one urgent piece of practical advice for young men today it is this: Do not marry and do not have children. . . . Spreading this message may also, in the long run, be the most effective method of saving marriage as an institution. For until we understand that the principal threat to marriage today is not cultural but political, and that it comes not from homosexuals but from heterosexuals, we will never reverse the decline of marriage. The main destroyer of marriage, it should be obvious, is divorce. Michael McManus of Marriage Savers points out that “divorce is a far more grievous blow to marriage than today’s challenge by gays.” The central problem is the divorce laws. Read my new book: "Taken Into Custody" . . . It is well known that half of all marriages end in divorce. But widespread misconceptions lead many to believe it cannot happen to them. Many conscientious people think they will never be divorced because they do not believe in it. In fact, it is likely to happen to you whether you wish it or not. . . . First, you do not have to agree to the divorce or commit any legal transgression. Under “no-fault” divorce laws, your spouse can divorce you unilaterally without giving any reasons. The judge will then grant the divorce automatically without any questions. . . . But further, not only does your spouse incur no penalty for breaking faith; she can actually profit enormously. Simply by filing for divorce, your spouse can take everything you have, also without giving any reasons. First, she will almost certainly get automatic and sole custody of your children and exclude you from them, without having to show that you have done anything wrong. Then any unauthorized contact with your children is a crime. Yes, for seeing your own children you will be subject to arrest.
Big child-support bills could result in jail time Child support or jail.
11-12-07 -- That was the rule Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan stressed to people recently as they were called before her for failure to pay child support. . . . Duncan and Circuit Judge John Scott set aside a day each month to hear such cases. . . . “ The rule is you pay child support or you go to jail, ” Duncan said to Richard McKeever. “ You understand that. ” . . . McKeever was arrested for failure to pay child support. He owes more than $ 23, 500. He claims he works part time in a construction job and received $ 215 several days ago. . . . “ I’ve been trying to make enough to live, ” McKeever told the judge. . . . McKeever claims he works with an acquaintance who drove him to job sites. McKeever is hampered from finding a better job because he lost his driver’s license — one of the punishments for his failure to pay child support. . . . Michael Shoane, an attorney for the local Child Support Enforcement Office, described McKeever as an able-bodied man who can work. . . . “ Did you pay at least $ 10 toward support from the $215 you earned ? ” Duncan asked McKeever. . . . McKeever hadn’t. . . . “ You are going to spend your holidays in jail, ” the judge said. 20 Years in Prison for Failing to Pay Child Support?
The article below is illustrative of the problems with the child support system in many ways: . . . 1) I've often made the point that when we jail or threaten to jail child support debtors and they pay money to stay out of jail, this money often is not theirs but instead money they've borrowed from their family and friends. Yet inevitably whatever chest-thumping/publicity-seeking DA who's behind the latest crackdown will tell you "See? The deadbeats have the money and the threat of jail makes them pay!" . . . In this article, a judge is admitting that threatening to jail people means they borrow money from family members to stay out. He's admitting that they don't have the money to pay themselves, and that they're being jailed for inability to pay their debts. In other words, debtor's prison. . . . 2) I'm not sure if we have any Father of the Year candidates in this article, but most of the "deadbeats" certainly seem to be low-income men whose ability to pay is questionable. We're told two of their occupations--one is a roofer, the other is a construction worker--and both claim they're having a hard time finding work. One of them says that the fact that his driver's license was suspended for nonpayment of child support has made it more difficult to find work. <more>
Saudi
cleric teaches fine points of how to 'discipline' women 11-7-07 -- A religious leader in Saudi Arabia has provided instructions to young Muslims about how to deliver a beating to their wives, saying, "the beatings must be light and must not make her face ugly. He must beat her where it will not leave marks." . . . The report comes from the Middle East Media Research Institute, which monitors media reports throughout the Middle East. . . . The Saudi cleric, Muhammad Al-'Arifi, said on the video captured from LBC Television by MEMRI, "Men beat women more often than women beat men. I said that some women beat their husbands because this happens, but it is rare, and there is no need to hold conferences on wives who beat their husbands. . . . "Allah created women with these delicate, fragile, supple, and soft bodies, because they use their emotions more than they use their bodies. Therefore, while the man may use beating to discipline his wife, she sometimes uses her tears to discipline him. He gets what he wants by screaming, while she gets what she wants from him by crying and displaying emotions. For men, women's emotions may be fiercer than the strike of a sword," the cleric said. . . . MEMRI, which has a web page dedicated to video clips on the rights and wrongs of beatings, said the cleric reported two options before the beatings.
Collaborative law is promising future relief for matrimonial courts — and creating immediate anxiety for the matrimonial bar.
11-7-07 -- New York might be the only state without a no-fault divorce law, but a new reform movement is seeking to fill that gap by developing a process to keep many splits out of the courtroom. . . . Proponents of so-called collaborative law, however, are facing vocal opposition to their proposals — not least because some advocates’ billable hours might be at risk. So amidst all the talk of making a difficult process a little less ugly, an awful lot of fingers are being pointed. . . . At issue is Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye’s soon-to-open Collaborative Family Law Center, designed to promote a type of alternative dispute resolution in selected divorce cases. The center, slated to open late this year or in early 2008, will feature what Deputy Chief Matrimonial Judge Jacqueline Silbermann described as the first such court-based center in the nation. . . . “Collaborative law is not a new idea,” said Silbermann. . . . Indeed, private practitioners have used the technique for for years. With the new center, however, New York will become the first state to offer an entire unit dedicated to the notion — and the first to offer state-funded staff attorneys and pro bono services.
State justices hear arguments about custody, circumcision Divorce dispute - Dad, who is the custodial parent, wants his son, 12, to have surgery; mom disagrees
11-7-07 -- A man who converted to Judaism told the Oregon Supreme Court on Tuesday that he has the right as the custodial parent to circumcise his 12-year-old son against the wishes of his Russian Orthodox ex-wife. . . . "It's the classic kind of decision a custodial parent would make," said James Boldt, an attorney and former southern Oregon man who argued his own case. . . . But a lawyer for Lia Boldt argued that she should get a court hearing to try and prove that circumcising a 12-year-old boy poses serious health risks. Their son is afraid to tell his father he doesn't want to go through with it, the mother's attorney said. . . . "We're not talking about an infant circumcision here," said Clayton Patrick. "She's entitled to a hearing." . . . Lia Boldt, 45, filed for divorce in 1998. She initially won custody of their son, but James Boldt, who now lives near Olympia, Wash., later gained it.
Child support cases have tripled, and there are still no easy answers
11-5-07 -- Family Court Judge Jeff Young doesn't like ordering mothers or fathers to jail. . . . In most cases, he says, he tries to avoid it if he can. After all, if you're in jail, you're not working. And that creates a deeper hole in back child support payments — a financial pit that most never fully dig their way out of. . . . "There's not a Family Court judge that wants to incarcerate these men or women ..." Young says. "We rule with a heavy heart. But there are a lot of (cases) that are just deadbeat dads, and the only solution left is to probably put them in jail." . . . It's a common scenario these days, especially in Sumter County: broken families ironing out their differences — financial or otherwise — before a judge. . . . Sumter County ranks fourth in the state in the number of child support cases that pass through its Family Court system each year, topping even Greenville County, a much | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12-6-07
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