WABASH, Ind. -- A judge ordered that a man who has failed to pay child support must spend his days sitting in a county building's lobby under a sign reading "I don't support my kids."His only crime was that he was unemployed, not that he failed to make any court-ordered payments.
Wabash Circuit Judge Robert McCallen III said he imposed the sentence against Michael Booth, 33, of Wabash not as a special punishment, but to avoid adding to the overcrowding of the county jail.
I think that the sign violates his free speech rights, because it forces him to say something that is not true. A more accurate sign would say, "I am unemployed, and I am not paying cash to my ex-wife". He can support his kids without paying his ex-wife, and any support payments to his ex-wife do not have to be spent on the kids. So whether he is making payments does not necessarily have much to do with supporting the kids.
6 comments:
That's horrible. And I doubt that the judge would have imposed that "sentence" upon a deadbeat mom.
You'd think a men's rights group would come to his aid and stop that nonsense.
Of course a deadbeat mom would never be treated like that.
If the judge gave me such an order, I would hold another sign saying, "Judge Robert McCallen III ordered me to hold this sign instead of caring for my child."
Child Support issues are the best example of how illogical the court system has been. There is so much demonized propaganda on this issue that the population in general has an automatic knee jerk, kick dad in the ass response. All the various ways dads are abused could fill an encyclopedia set.
Just how does, preventing a dad from getting a job, jailing, taking professional or drivers licenses from him help him support his child? It doesn’t and a first grader could tell you that but the adult population, including the court system has no understanding.
And I’d like to hear someone defend how an unemployed person is to find a job by sitting in a public place humiliating himself in front of potential employers and exactly how does a broken man be an effective father to a child?
I have a lot of child support stories on my Blog, Domestic Relations Disaster, also see the archives from last month.
Funny isn't it, JQ75 claims his ex is out to get him but if his hate blog against other bloggers is any indication of where he is mentally Id say she has a good point..
Check it out for yourself
http://megs-blog-war.blogspot.com/
It's unfortunate that ALL the facts are not present.
- The father was only required to do this when he was not out seeking employment.
- The father was not providing support when he was employed.
- Placing the father into an overcrowded system would not allow him to rectify the situation.
Indeed, maybe the wording on the sign could have been better but having been raised by a single mom and receiving no support from my father may make me a bit jaded.
I've seen so many men stay unemployed simply so they could get out of paying support, crazy but true.
I wouldn't waste too much time feeling sorry for this guy because if a person really wanted to work in 2006 before the recession he'd be working. Some just think they are too good to work in a low paying job.
One last point. Someone mentioned that giving the mother of his children money is not supporting his child....how so? The child is entitled to support in the way of rent, groceries, electricity, heat, water, etc. That is what support is supposed to do, support the children. Clothing for the child is not the only thing child support goes too.
Post a Comment