A Childless “Deadbeat Dad” Gets Released from Jail

I read a news report from Atlanta, GA and should have been shocked…but I wasn’t. Instead I was rather upset! Upset with state laws that punished innocent instead of creating fair solutions; upset with Americans who continue to live off and hide behind the system instead of taking responsibility for themselves; upset with women who feed the deceitful stereotype women have had since the story of Adam and Eve was first told; and upset because I am driven to DO something about this injustice and feel powerless to do so despite the fact that I live in a country who boasts itself a democracy…for the people and by the people!

Consider this…if you, out of the kindness of your heart, where not on the loan but decided to take over car payments your sister for a time.  Now let’s say you lost your job and could no longer afford to make her car payments and stopped paying her loan. Who would the loan company come after? You? No, because you are not responsible for the loan.  They would go after your sister for the money and not care who made the payments. Makes sense right?

Well common sense and fairness are thrown out the window for “presumed fathers” in most of this country’s state paternity laws.  Case in point, Frank Hatley,  in Atlanta, GA.  In 1986, Hatley was in a relationship with a women who got pregnant and, as most men do, believed he was the father.  The relationship did not last long after the child was born.  When the boy was 2 years old the mother went to social services to get assistance.  Georgia state law, like most states, says that the state may recoop the support money it gives from the father, which is what they did.  So Hatley was contacted and he agreed to pay the state for this child; making him the presumed father.

Fast forward to 2000 and Mr. Hatley discovers the boy he has been paying support to for 13 years may not be his. After DNA testing confirms he is not the biological father, Hatley petitions the court for relief.  Here is where it gets sad…the court grants him relief from paying any future child support BUT insists that he still must payback the state for assistance from 1986 to 2000 in the amount of $16,000. You see, even though for 13 years  he didn’t know he was not the father, he made payments and accepting responibility, so he must fullfill the obligation he had agreed to.

Frank Hatley accepted the judgement and continued to faithfully make his arrearage payments, reducing the outstanding debt by $6,000, until he began to fall on hard times.  In 2006 he lost his job and missed payments — he was jailed for 6 months as a result. Once released he found another job and again, faithfully made payments until he lost his job and his home in 2008.  hatley was placed in jail again and this is where he sat for 13 months.

Did he get out of jail because the state law changed? No.  Did he get out of jail because the courts said, “wait a minute…what we are doing to this childless man is unfair”? NO.  He was released because his attorney successfully pointed out that he was indigent at the time of incarceration and should not have been jailed for failure to make the payments.

Now…here is the kick in the head…This should be a wonderful, winning moment; however, the state is considering alternate ways to obtain the $10,000 in back support.  The state may garnish of his future wages and/or his taxes.

What?!!! How about finding the real father?  How about getting the mother a job? How about giving this guy a break? How about making our archaic laws fair and just?  Unfortunately, until Georgia law changes, Frank Hatley is still in debt to the state for a child he did not father and will continue to live in fear of prison if he fails to pay.

Here is a thought…lets band together, march to Washington and fight for the rights of fathers! Let’s check out the laws in our states and demand they change to protect the innocent men duped by women and a uniform system.

Check out the story on CNN Childless \”Deadbeet Dad\” Released from Prison

She Said She Was on the Pill

Last week, on Dr. Phil, there was a young man explaining his paternity case.  Apparently he and this woman were dating and had discussed having children. He told her that he did not want children and she said she did.  He says she told him she was on the pill and he believed her.  Guess what? She became pregnant and sued him for child support, which she was granted after a DNA test showed him to be the biological father.

He is paying his child support; however, he refuses to have anything to do with the child and has attempted to file motions to release him from all obligations as he was not a willing participant in the decision to conceive.  Both his motions for relief have been thrown out of court soon after they were filed.  He said he is going to continue to seek relief and feels that no court should force him into fatherly obligations just as no court should force a woman into having a child.

This is an interesting case, which is jam-packed with “triggers” for all sides.  The feminists and child activists were rather upset; stating that the child is innocent and since he is the biological father he is damaging the child’s development by refusing to do anything more than provide financial support.  The man’s mother spoke up saying that, although he pays his court ordered child support, he should have the right to decide not to be a father, financially or otherwise.  He says he told her he didn’t want children and she lied when she said she was taking birth control.

Fact: he had sex with this woman.

Obvious Assumption: he did not use a condom.

Conclusion: “I believed her when she said she was on the pill” is no defense for a blatant lack of personal responsibility.

Perhaps women have more options: birth control, abortion, adoption, etc…, but women are not the only ones who have the right to decide when and if they become parents.  Unfortunately, many men use the “I believed her” or “I pulled out” excuse and those are horribly week ones.  Seriously, if you are afraid of heights, don’t take a job as a tight rope walker just because it was offered to you.

The unavoidable fact is…if you wish to avoid a result (like fathering a child) then refrain from engaging in actions that may cause that outcome.  Use a condom, get fixed (it is reversible), or seriously consider avoiding sex.

What’s the saying? You play you pay.  Well it’s true.  You may choose not to be an involved father, and that is definitely your right, but if you did not do everything in your power to avoid conception then you have an obligation to take responsibility for your actions.

No Big Deal

• 38 states have laws which require men to pay child support even if DNA testing proves they are not the natural father.
• 7 states have adopted laws which relieve fathers of child support obligations;  providing DNA testing proves he is not the biological father. (Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado and Maryland)
• 22 states have no law/administrative process for unwed men to contest being named the father of a child.
• 6 states have adopted laws which allow men and women to request DNA testing anytime in the first 2 years of a child’s life and contest paternity based on the results. (Delaware, North Dakota, Utah, Texas, Washington and Wyoming)
• 1/3 of the father-child DNA testing done in the United States finds the named father NOT to be the biological father.
• There approximately 200,000 paternity cases filed each year; representing 10% of all domestic court cases
• 23 paternity fraud cases have been won by non-biological fathers in the United States.

I retrieved these facts from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) findings from 2006. Amazing isn’t it? Here is another thought provoking fact:  Of the 28 states reporting court data to the NCSC, Paternity cases ranked fifth highest in domestic court cases.  The ranking order is:

1. Support Issues (28.87%)
2. Divorce (22.23%)
3. Protection Orders (18.50%)
4. Custody (13.07%)
5. Paternity (10.00%)

Now consider this — if 1/3 of the DNA tests performed find no biological relationship and there are 17 million children in the IV-D system (meaning they are due child support as a result of a domestic court action) then one could assume potentially 5 million children may not be related to the man on their birth certificate.

Legal scholars, lawyers, politicians, law makers, child advocates, feminists, … all have various reasons for dismissing paternity as a non-issue.  Of course they do!  For anyone to take notice we have to make a big deal out of this issue.  We have to band together in large groups and carry signs through the streets.  We have to have thousands of petition signatures. We have to get noticed by the press and bombard our congressmen with emails, letters and phone calls, 24×7/365.  We have to prove that this is not a bunch of random, isolated incidents, but instead a devastating epidemic that is attacking the foundation of the social and economic structure of the American family.

Suppose there are 2 million men wondering if they are being or have been lied to; who suspicion thier partner’s infidelity resulted in a child and the child is not theirs. What would happen if those men decided to get DNA testing and resolved to fight the judicial system?  Based on the DNA results average of 1/3 finding no biological relationship, there would be 600,000 paternity cases filed in one year. Over 150,000 more paternity cases than divorce cases filed.

Would that catch some attention? Absolutely!

Think the law makers would start listening when paternity cases (not seen as an epidemic) surpasses divorce cases (seen as an epidemic since the 1980′s)?  You bet they would!

When I was a child my parents taught me that lying was VERY bad. I ate a few bars of soap because of lying and to this day I remain a painfully honest person.  I simply do not understand how we can go on allowing women to lie to protect themselves and reward them with laws that punish the people they lie to.  That is absurd.

Men, this is a big deal if it happening to you and you are not alone.  Remember, 200,000 men have spoken up by filing law suits and throughout the country there are activist groups fighting for your rights.  The reason this issue is swept under the carpet is because those who speak up and file suits are the minority.    Until everyone affected by paternity fraud stands up for themselves and takes action the American legal system will continue to have no idea just how widespread this issue is.

Tell your story.  Seek out and ask for help.  Write your Congressmen, every dang day.