Childless man released from child support debt
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Georgia man who spent a year in jail for nonpayment of child support -- despite the fact he has no children -- has been cleared of the debt, his attorney said Tuesday.
Frank Hatley, 50, spent 13 months in jail for being a deadbeat dad before his release last month. A judge ordered him jailed in June 2008 for failing to support his "son" -- a child who DNA tests proved was not fathered by Hatley.
Labels: men's rights (or lack thereof)
posted by Helen at 5:03 PM
21 Comments:
Punishment for those who screwed this up?
I assume by this you mean Essie Lee Morrison.
Yeah, but he had a dick, so he could be considered quilty till proven innocent.
Trey
Aren't we glad they did away with debtors prison? Equality before the law my A**!
E. Steven Berkimer
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They've forgiven his debt, how magnanimous....does he get back all the money he paid to a liar? Why don't they go after the real father in cases like this!?
Some get lucky... some don't. That the way it is with any system.
Judge. Tar. Feathers.
Some assembly required.
@pockosmum said... does he get back all the money he paid to a liar? Why don't they go after the real father in cases like this!?
_________
In cases like this, what usually happens is the person who paid child support wrongfully does not get reimbursed (the rationale is "best interest of the child"). Also, if the biological father is pursued for back child support, it typically goes to the mother (the rationale is "best interest of the child") even though she already got paid once, albeit wrongfully.
Yes, you read that correctly. There have been documented cases where the wrong man paid child support to the mother, and then the right man paid back child support to the mother, so due to adultery she gets paid twice.
See a discussion involving this and the kind of fight people who try to right this wrong get here:
http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2008/12/do-men-have-any-reproductive-rights.html
Cases like this illustrate a fundamental truth about the law: if judges and the police refused to enforce unjust laws, the legislatures would have to think twice before dreaming up new ways to make laws "tougher."
Also, if the biological father is pursued for back child support, it typically goes to the mother (the rationale is "best interest of the child") even though she already got paid once, albeit wrongfully.
If you're wrongfully imprisoned for murder, rape, assault, theft, arson, or some other crime, you get cash payments for the state in many states when you are released. The cash payments are the state's way of saying, "We're sorry we screwed up your life. Here's what we think your lost time is worth."
If you're wrongfully labeled a father and are fleeced by the state on the woman's behalf, you get no cash payments if you are released from your unjust obligation. The lack of a cash payment is the state's way of saying, "We're not sorry we screwed up your life. Here's what we think your lost time is worth."
Since it is the state that is enforcing the child support measure, the state should be reimbursing the wrongfully-accused man. It should return to him what is rightfully his (and compensate him for lost earnings on those assets) and then go and get that money back from the true father.
men have been forced to pay child support even when it was proven before hand that the child was not their's ... (in the best interest of the state )
Can he sue the judge and/or the State to compensate him for wrongful imprisonment? I would hope so.
Probably not, Vicki. The principle of sovereign immunity basically says that government is immune from lawsuits unless they give their permission to be sued (which they rarely do). Very convienent, eh?
I find it telling that a post about a man who was in jail for 13 years over not paying for a child he didn't father only gets a handful of comments (thanks to those who rightly said it is horrid), but when you post a thread about whether or not a woman should be able to extort money from a man who she tricked into impregnating her you get hundreds of passionate (and often cruel and intollerant) comments. Shows how tough of a battle we are fighting.
Miles:
wouldn't it be great if you got locked up for a year and bankrupted to the point of becoming homeless
for being unlucky? i wonder if that would change your opinion?
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They should lock up the judge for 13 months for being incompetent and showing contempt for and ignoring the facts of the case. Mr Hatley should be awarded the judges house in compensation. He signed the "consent agreement" based on lies told by the mother; anywhere else such a contract would be invalid. But not to the CPS Stasi; he was just another cash bull to be milked to send payments to the lieing whore who two timed Mr Hatley. CPS acts like a criminal organization.
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