ACLU Fights For Fathers' Rights Says Attorney Jeffery Leving 12/18/2002
From: Jane Spies, 330-534-8948; or Jeffery Leving, 312-807-3990, or email: mail@dadsrights.com CHICAGO, Dec. 18 -- The following article by Jeffery M. Leving, attorney and ACLU member, is available for use on Opinion-Editorial pages: ACLU FIGHTS FOR FATHERS' RIGHTS by Attorney/ ACLU member, Jeffery M. Leving, J.D. In a highly significant case for the nation, under pressure from the Pittsburgh, Pa., chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), judges ordered the release of 37 incarcerated parents who allegedly owed child support. Holding these defendants in jail violated their civil liberties because they did not have hearings or access to legal representation before they were jailed, which the ACLU insists is required by the U.S. Constitution. In addition, according to a Nov. 16, news report, Westmoreland County courts, in Pennsylvania, decided to act upon an ACLU request that child support defendants facing jail time for nonsupport be given access to legal counsel during their hearings. Now, defendants will be advised that they have a right to legal counsel, even if they cannot afford a lawyer. This action by the Pittsburgh ACLU is especially significant now in light of the increasingly prevalent news reports of holiday "deadbeat parent" round-ups across the country. The nation should focus its attention on these Pittsburgh ACLU cases because they have implications for men and women in all states held without hearings or counsel for allegedly owing child support. I believe more incarcerated fathers, and some mothers, are situated similarly throughout the nation at this time. Some readers may wonder why society should care about these so-called child support "scofflaws." We should care because we are a nation of laws. The constitution and due process should be followed for all, otherwise we are all at risk of losing our civil liberties. Justice should not be a luxury only the rich can afford. At a time when one out of every 32 adults in the United States is either on parole, probation, or in jail, for a total of 6.6 million people nationwide, we need to step back to understand how we are using our prison system to try to correct social problems. Too many officials don't have the facts about child support and "deadbroke dads," and are, therefore, making faulty decisions. Credible research has shown that the so-called "deadbeat dad problem" is a myth and has been blown way out of proportion. Most divorced dads pay their support and love their children. Most parents who do not keep up with paying child support do not willfully refuse to pay. Most of them don't pay because they can't pay, due to illness, disability, inability to find a decent-paying job in a poor economy, or unemployment -- events beyond one's control that can befall any one of us. It is cruel and unusual punishment to incarcerate these men, and, yes, it is mainly men who are targeted. What if the men being held in jail are innocent? We will not know soon enough if they are denied due process as the men in the Pennsylvania case. There are far too many cases nationwide where dads are innocent, are not willfully noncompliant, or a very large mistake has been made in calculating support allegedly owed. For example, a shocking mistake was reported by the Associated Press in 1998: "Last June, a legislative audit found that almost one-third of the West Virginia Child Support Enforcement Division's files contained incorrect data. Those errors led the agency to wrongly collect about $1.7 million from 3,788 parents during the 1995-96 fiscal year, the auditors say." Scapegoating of fathers has resulted in misguided and damaging social policies such as not providing due process as above, and allowing rampant errors to exist in the system. This situation must change. Too many families are being hurt by failing social policies. ------ Chicago-based attorney Jeffery M. Leving, an ACLU member, is co-author of the Illinois Joint Custody Law and President Emeritus of the nonprofit Fatherhood Educational Institute (FEI). Leving is the author of the book, Fathers' Rights (Basic Books). His efforts helped to reunite Elian Gonzalez with his father. He currently serves on the Congressional Task Force on Fathers, Families, and Public Policy. Attorney Leving's website address is: http://www.dadsrights.com Leving can be contacted by e-mail at: mail@dadsrights.com |