Tuesday, June 21,
2005
Family Law News From Around the World
Four items this issue, all related
to child support:
1. FEDERAL LAWSUIT REGARDING CHILD
SUPPORT: Guy in state of Delaware
sues state in Federal Court for essentially
forcing him into a type of slavery
where he must work overtime hours
through child support system.
2. CHILD SUPPORT MAY DETER UNWED FATHERS:
There were a number of stories on
this study. I resent one representative
article.
(Rinaldo's Notes: Does high child
support also deter potential fathers
from having children in intact marriages?
Many speculate that the system is
becoming so unfair, many men shun
marriage and having children out of
fear that things may go wrong and
they may be treated extremely unfairly.)
3. AUSTRALIA AND MINN. SWITCH TO INCOME
SHARE APPROACH INSTEAD OF PERCENTAGE
MODEL OF CHILD SUPPORT: Men's News
Dailey Story by Robert F. Gay.
4. Experts in Australia support child
support reform opining it will reduce
the number of suicides.
________________________________________________________________
ITEM 1: Federal lawsuit:
Rinaldo's Notes: The idea may at first
blush, to the non-lawyers, sound frivilous.
Peonage, however, by definition is
forcing an individual to work against
his will, however done--by pure brute
force slavery, work contracts where
one cannot quit, or being compelled
by force of law underthreat of arrest.
The Supreme Court has ruled that slavery
under the 13th amendment refers to
all forms of peonage, not just traditional,
chains and bonds and shoot them if
they run type of slavery.
http://www.newszap.com/articles/2005/06/19/dm/sussex_county/dsn03.txt
Newszap.com
Lawsuit targets support system
By Randall Chase, Associated Press
DOVER — As state lawmakers continue
a review of Delaware's child support
enforcement agency, a Newark man who
claims he is being treated unfairly
is waging a one-man legal battle against
the child support bureaucracy.
In a federal lawsuit filed earlier
this month, Timothy Joynes claims
state officials have conspired to
violate his constitutional rights
and have reduced him to involuntary
servitude by forcing him to work overtime
to meet his child support payments.
"The defendants used the state
of Delaware `legal' process to force
the plaintiff to a life of a peon
and compelled the plaintiff to work
against his will by threats and coercion,"
Mr. Joynes claims in a 61- page complaint
he filed without the help of an attorney.
Mr. Joynes' complaint names 29 defendants,
ranging from his wife to top administrators
in the Department of Health and Social
Services to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.
It cites more than 40 federal court
cases, dating to 1879.
"I've been practicing since 1981,
and I have never seen a complaint
like this. It is the longest complaint
I've ever seen," said Christine
Demsey, an attorney representing Mr.
Joynes' wife, Denise Lewis.
Lori Sitler, spokeswoman for the attorney
general's office, said only that the
state will "vigorously defend"
the lawsuit.
Mr. Joynes, 35, a bus driver for the
state Department of Transportation
who can rattle off code citations
and court cases from memory, said
he spent a year doing research and
two months writing the complaint,
which he said was born of a frustration
and desperation shared by others.
"The state of Delaware preys
on people being ignorant and stupid
when it comes to the law," he
said. "I don't have to go to
a law school to understand what's
going on."
Mr. Joynes argues that the state unfairly
favors custodial parents, mostly women,
over noncustodial parents like himself
and other men, and that officials
increase child support amounts to
qualify for federal incentive funds.
He claims Family Court officials based
his payments not on his salary, but
on overtime pay that is not guaranteed.
As a result, he says, he has sometimes
worked 70 to 80 hours a week, fallen
behind on rent and car payments, and
twice had his utilities turned off.
"These people that make the rules,
they go home at night and sleep,"
said Mr. Joynes, whose repeated attempts
to have his support order modified
have been rejected. "They don't
know what they're doing to people."
Charles Hayward, director of the Division
of Child Support Enforcement, said
there is no direct correlation between
the dollar amount of child support
orders and federal incentive payments,
which are based on five different
performance measures and totaled almost
$1 million in fiscal 2004.
"It's more based on the overall
program, not individual cases,"
said Mr. Hayward, who defended the
fairness of the system. Mr. Hayward
said it's not unusual for people to
complain about their child support
orders, but that he didn't know anything
about Mr. Joynes'
case.
"I never heard of the man until
I got the suit," said Mr. Hayward,
adding that he had read the complaint
but not been formally served.
Mr. Joynes, however, cites in his
lawsuit a July 2004 letter from Mr.
Hayward responding to a letter in
which Mr. Joynes complained the division
failed to adequately investigate his
wife's child support petition.
Mr. Demsey, the attorney representing
Mr. Joynes' wife, said she believes
the state applies the child support
laws evenly.
"It costs a lot to raise a kid,"
she said, adding that Mr. Joynes'
wife is working full-time to help
support the couple's 6-year-old son.
"I think in the long run the
custodial parent pays more than what
child support enforcement is."
Mr. Joynes' lawsuit comes as lawmakers
are scrutinizing the operations of
the Division of Child Support Enforcement,
which has been the target of criticism
from other parents.
At a recent meeting of the legislature's
Joint Sunset Committee, Heidi Pugh-Phillipson
of Dover described the state's child
support bureaucracy as "insane."
While many noncustodial parents complain
about the amounts they are forced
to pay, Ms. Phillipson said custodial
parents like herself often find themselves
in financial straits because the system
is bogged down in paperwork and slow
in processing payments. She noted
it took two years for the state to
deny a grievance appeal she filed.
"I fall through every crack in
our system," said Ms. Phillipson,
a divorced mother of two.
The legislative committee, which has
the power to abolish state agencies
it no longer deems effective, voted
last month to extend its review of
the DSCE into next year.
In the meantime, lawmakers have approved
14 recommendations aimed at improving
the division, which managed about
55,000 cases last year but collected
only about 60 percent of the child
support payments due. While that percentage
is in line with other states, it is
well below the federal standard of
80 percent.
The division's paternity establishment
rate of about 74 percent, meanwhile,
remains well below both the federal
standard and the national average.
It's cost effectiveness is measured
at about $3 collected for every dollar
spent, well below the federal standard
of
5 to 1.
The committee has given the division
until Sept. 30 to report on plans
for updating its aging computer system,
increasing the paternity establishment
rate, bringing the reliability of
paternity data up to federal standards,
improving the collection of back payments,
and establishing a direct-deposit
system for custodial parents.
___________________________________
ITEM 2: Tough Child Support Detering
Unwed Fathers
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland Newspaper)
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1119178
57320720.xml&coll==2
Tough child support laws may cut unwed
births, study says Sunday, June 19,
2005
Rebecca Cook
Associated Press
Seattle- Tough child-support laws
may dissuade men from becoming unwed
fathers, as states with the most-stringent
laws and strict enforcement have up
to 20 percent fewer out-of- wedlock
births, a new study shows.
Researchers at the University of Washington
and Columbia University said Friday
that child- support laws' power to
reduce single parenthood is an unintended
consequence of a policy designed to
help children and cut welfare costs.
"Often the unintended effects
are bad, so it's refreshing to see
that," said lead study author
Robert Plotnick, a University of Washington
professor of public affairs. He added
that women living in states that do
a better job of enforcing child support
are less likely to become unwed mothers.
The percentage of unmarried births
in the United States has increased
from 10 percent in the 1960s to about
a third of all births today.
The study, which has not yet been
published, looked at a nationwide
sample of 5,195 women of childbearing
age using data from 1980 to 1993.
It did not show whether tougher child
support laws prevented pregnancies
or encouraged marriage.
____________________________________________________
ITEM 3: AUSTRALIA AND MINN. SWITCH
TO INCOME SHARE APPROACH INSTEAD OF
PERCENTAGE MODEL OF CHILD SUPPORT:
Men's News Dailey Story by Robert
F. Gay.
http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/g/gay/2005/gay061705.htm
Child Support Guideline Changes in
Minnesota and Australia
June 17, 2005
by Roger F. Gay
The Australian government recently
announced a new proposal for their
child support guidelines. The design,
presented by Patrick Parkinson, has
been dubbed the Parkinson formula.
But the basics of the formula are
not new. They are in fact quite similar
to guidelines fathers' rights advocates
in the states have been complaining
about since their introduction in
late 1989.
Australia, like several states in
the U.S., has been using a percent
formula in which basic child support
is assessed simply as a percent of
a payer's income adjusted for the
number of children being supported.
Several states, including Minnesota
have considered switching to the more
popular variation based on what is
known as the Income Shares model.
{Rinaldo's Notes: Massachusetts sort
of, kind of, does this. Mass puts
mothers income into formula, but disregards
so much money--$20,000--that it really
is more a straight percentage deal.)
The Income Shares approach was proposed
by child support collection entrepreneur
Robert Williams (Policy Studies, Inc.)
at the request of the federal collection
agency in the U.S. (Office of Child
Support Enforcement within the Department
of Health and Human Services). Government
enforcement agencies receive bonuses
from federal funds based on the amount
of child support paid through their
system. Pseudo private collection
agencies, such as Williams', retain
a percent of the amount paid as commission
for their services. Both groups favor
formulae that arbitrarily increase
support orders because of the increased
income their agencies receive as a
result.
Introducing the proposed change, John
Hirst of The Australian reports that
"It is hard to estimate the proportions
of winners and losers in this scheme."
Not really. Professors Sanford Braver
at Arizona State University and David
Stockburger at Southwest Missouri
State University have already done
a great deal of work on analyzing
the differences between the two models.
When looking at "new" proposals,
the public should have greater awareness
that child support issues are far
from new.
The effort to replace judicial child
support decisions with child support
formulae began two decades ago. The
use of presumptively correct child
support formula began in the U.S.
and Australia in 1989. Prior to that,
state courts, local bar, and other
professional associations worked on
child support guidelines. More than
one effort and some scientific analysis
appeared in publications.
Aside from that, state courts in the
U.S. had more than two centuries and
Australia more than one to perfect
child support decision theory. Even
those efforts had a starting point
in British common law that had evolved
over hundreds of previous years. The
effort to codify issues related to
divorce presented in a commonly familiar
written record goes back literally
to the time of Moses, and there is
archeological evidence that divorce
issues and their settlements predate
even that in a variety of cultures.
Despite the fact that the problem
of making appropriate child support
decisions has such a long history,
it is widely agreed that child support
formulae in use today do not do a
proper job. In preparing new proposals
for governments, serious work on developing
a valid mathematical decision model
is ignored.
Australians and Minnesotans are being
told that the Income Shares model
takes a step toward fairness compared
to the percent formula. While there
may be some slight truth to this view,
for the most part the switch is from
one formula that produces arbitrarily
high results to one that produces
a different set of arbitrarily high
results. Neither model has been developed
from the principles that emerged from
hundreds of years of experience in
adjudication of child support on several
continents. Both were created to arbitrary
increase the size of payments.
The recent history of child support
reform in both the U.S. and Australia
hinges on a single fundamental change.
Child support (as well as other family
issues) has been transformed as a
matter of law from the private domain
to the public. Decisions are now taken
en masse and entirely open to political
manipulation. The connection to principles
of purpose and fairness were lost
in the transition.
John Hirst puts the task of altering
child support guidelines in the current
context; "can the burden on fathers
be lifted without harming children
and outraging their mothers, supported
by a strong feminist lobby?"
Not long ago, such a question would
have been treated with contempt. Courts
were, until recently, required to
make independent and objective decisions.
The suggestion that special interest
groups may influence such decisions
would have immediately been labeled
for what it is: corruption. Any judge
known to bow to such pressure may
have been dismissed for bad behavior.
When legislators bowed to such pressure,
it would have been seen as a scandal
at the very least.
Roger F. Gay
________
ITEM 4: EXPERTS WELCOME CHILD SUPPORT
REFORM STATING IT WILL LEAD TO LESS
SUICIDES
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Experts-welcome-child-support-reforms/2005/06/17/1118869087210.html
Experts welcome child support reforms
June 17, 2005 - 4:44PM
Mental health experts welcome proposed
changes to the child support system,
believing they may result in fewer
suicides and a fall in violent attacks
involving aggrieved parents.
Most divorced and separated fathers
would pay less child support under
recommendations made by a government
task force this week.
Psychologist Michael Woods, co-director
of the Men's Health Information and
Resource Centre at the University
of Western Sydney, said research suggests
the trauma of divorce and loss of
children could contribute to suicide
and depression.
"I do think that the financial
problems could be enough to tip some
of them over the edge," he said
in an interview.
"I'm certainly not going to say
child support equals suicide but it
is one of the factors that adds to
the problem."
Mr Woods, a senior lecturer in public
health, predicted the proposed changes
plus a shift in culture at the Family
Court would make a substantial difference
to Australia's suicide rate.
The Family Court's much more prepared
to see dads getting more time with
their kids," he said.
Psychiatrist Gordon Parker, of Sydney's
Black Dog Institute which researches
mood disorders, said suicide was undoubtedly
more likely to occur when people felt
oppressed, isolated and misunderstood.
"Situations of marital separation
and the consequences, particularly
the ongoing financial implications
and the anger that often goes with
senses of injustice, can be contributors
to the suicide rate," Professor
Parker said.
"Whenever there's a system of
injustice - we've got other ones in
the community at the moment with the
refugees - suicide rates are high."
Prof Parker said if people felt aggrieved,
they were more likely to get depressed
or angry.
"They spew and they fume about
the injustice and this must flow through
in many instances to the ex-wives,
to the kids," he said.
"The capacity for the family
to get involved in acts of violence,
I think, is just as important as suicide.
"If you can make any system fairer
and equitable I think it's encouraging
and should be applauded."
Under the proposals, the incomes of
both parents would be taken into account
when calculating the cost of child
support.
Payments would increase when children
turn 13 and fathers would get a discount
if their child stayed with them at
least one night a week.
But there would be a crackdown on
fathers rorting the system by not
paying their fair share.
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