Is it in the best interests of a child to put one of his or her parents in jail for not being able to pay child support? According to the report, hundreds of cases like this are occurring across the country. But some of these parents are not intentionally avoiding payments; instead they are simply struggling financially.
Delinquent parents can face prison time and many believe that this is just exacerbating the problem. Parents who cannot make payments end up in jail and may lose their job or ability to earn money, furthering their back payments. But should these parents be appointed an attorney to defend them?
The U.S. Supreme Court met last week to discuss whether poor parents who are facing jail time for failure to make child support payments should be provided with free legal representation.
The issue that brought the case to the U.S. Supreme Court involved a South Carolina man who couldn't pay child support and was repeatedly jailed as a result. Those who support the idea believe that indigent parents should have the right to an attorney, even if they cannot afford one.
Those who oppose the notion argue that the right to an attorney applies only in criminal cases, not civil cases such as child support hearings. The other fear is that by requiring states to provide attorneys in child support contempt cases will open up the door to other civil suits; that would be very costly for states. That may deter some states from pursuing parents who fail to make child support payments.
But wouldn't putting more people in jail also cost the state more money? Additionally, if the purpose of child support is to financially support the child, jail time could make it more difficult for a delinquent parent to find and keep a job to make payments.
Source: The Seattle Times online, "Facing jail time, deadbeat parents seeking lawyers," Jeffrey Collins, 22 March 2011
Comments: 2
2 Comments
George R. McCasland
April 1, 2011 at 1:44 AM
In this Mancession, with 80% of all layoff being men, it is not surprising that they are indigent and unable to pay their support. We are more in a depression then a recession with six men for every job, and five more years before a change around.
http://dads-house.org/Mancession
The fact is that millions of middle income men are out of work, and being put out of their homes, as the women who are working do not believe in gender equity, or the need to have two parents in the home.
In these economic condition, calling all child support obligors “Deadbeats Parents” is becoming akin to using the “N” word to reference African=Americans. They are the victims of an economy in a downward slide. Further, they are the victims of state who are withholding information about their rights by not distributing the free Federal Child Support Enforcement Handbook for Non-Custodial Parents.
http://ChildSupportRights.org
larue lindsay
May 11, 2011 at 12:48 AM
A big problem that has been missed here, is the decision by a parent to seek a divorce for the sole purpose of receiving more money than what the marriage provides her or him. Since the courts still favor the mother in custody cases, many moms may choose divorce with the knowledge that the state will force her ex-spouse to pony up much more money than she can extract as a wife. The states using imprisionment as the primary method of extracting money, is nothing short of State sponsored extortion. We don't want to burden the state with the expense of child support that should come from the parents, but the expense of jailing a parent for falling behind, is 10 times greater than any welfare payments or WIC coupons provided for that family's children. It seems criminal to jail a person without legal representation. If civil courts cannot provide an attorney for those who cannot afford one, then they should not be allowed to use the jail system as punishment. The current economic crisis has only just begun and unless the courts and or congress takes steps to fix this very broken system, we will be overcrowding our prisions with poor people, not criminals.
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