Judges can jail alleged defaulters — who are not covered by the presumption of innocence — without a trial
But in what might seem like an un-American plot twist from a Charles Dickens’ novel, advocates for the poor say, some parents are wrongly being locked away without any regard for their ability to pay — sometimes without the benefit of legal representation.Full Article:
Randy Miller, a 39-year-old Iraqi war vet, found himself in that situation in November, when a judge in Floyd County, Ga., sent him to jail for violating a court order to pay child support.He said he was stunned when the judge rebuffed his argument that he had made regular payments for more than a decade before losing his job in July 2009 and had recently resumed working.
‘Debtors’ prisons’?
“Languishing in jail for weeks, months, and sometimes over a year, these parents share one trait … besides their poverty: They went to jail without ever talking to an attorney,” according to the lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Southern Center of Human Rights in Atlanta.
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Framed Father - what are your thoughts about a father who left his wife of 18 years, whom he never allowed to work outside of the home, and 3 children, taking all assets and bank accounts, leaving them penniless, intentionally put the house in foreclosure, had the family car repossessed, failed to disclose the assets before mediation, and is ordered to pay $378 monthly out of their documented $8400 a month income that is actually higher, but yet the family doesn't always receive the $378 "garnishment", because the IDO is only for show, and the ex pays the CDU directly, when he feels like complying?
ReplyDeleteMy point is, those with the money call the shots, and get away with non-support, and never spend a day in contempt or jail. And then the guys that really don't have the means to pay an attorney and appellate attorney are penalized to the maximum degree allowed by law. How do you even begin to fix this system? Believe me, I know from experience - no one really cares about the fact that both scenarios are emotionally scarring, traumatic, and detrimental to the kids. Attorneys were responsible for what happened in our case, and I could see that the Judge's inclination was to try to do the right thing and follow the law, and over and over he had to be led down the other path by the attorneys. How can this be stopped?
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