Good News! Judge Backs Down in Case Where Dad was Jailed Because His Adult Daughter Didn't Get Her GED
May 16th, 2008 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & FamiliesSeveral days ago I shared this outrageous story with you--Father Jailed Because His Adult Daughter Fails to Get Her GED. In the case, father Brian Gegner was ordered to see to it that his daughter gets her GED, but she has not done so, in part because she struggles with math. The daughter's problems in school came at a time when she lived with her mother. The daughter herself--now almost 19-years-old--says that she alone is responsible for her own problems and that her father shouldn't be blamed. Nevertheless, the father is in jail on a six month sentence, and Butler County Judge David Niehaus said he would only release him if the daughter passed her GED.
In my Wednesday morning blog post Protest Ohio Outrage: Father Jailed Because His Daughter Didn't Get Her GED!, Michael Robinson of the California Alliance for Families and Children and I urged all of you to call Niehaus and also the Governor of Ohio to demand Brian Gegner's release. We have just received some excellent news--the judge in the case has backed down, and has released the father. He will remain free as long as his daughter merely attends GED classes, as opposed to having to pass the GED.
While this is still an abuse of judicial authority, it is also a big step forward for father Brian Gegner, and a reasonable face-saving measure for Niehaus. Apparently the bad press and the many phone calls demanding Gegner's release--some of which came from you, our readers--had an effect. I thank all of you who participated in this campaign, and give special thanks to Robinson for his fine work on the case.
From the story Judge Says He Will Release Father If Daughter Attends GED Class (Kentucky Post, 5/16/08):
"The Fairfield father who was put in jail after his daughter failed to obtain her General Equivalency Diploma (GED) will be released from jail on Friday.
"After a heated hearing, Butler County Judge David Niehaus told Brian Gegner he will let him out of jail if his daughter attends a class to prepare for the GED test.
"Gegner's daughter must also schedule the test before the next court date."
Syndicated columnist Amy Alkon discussed our campaign today in Fail Math? Daddy Goes To Jail.
To learn more about the case, including some interesting details Robinson uncovered, see my blog post Protest Ohio Outrage: Father Jailed Because His Daughter Didn't Get Her GED!
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May 16th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Just posted again on this, on the news that the guy will get out if the daughter schedules a GED test prep course:
May 16th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
It's still wrong and I cannot see how it legally passes the "stink test."
The judge should be made to apologize for creating law out of thin air and meting out a punishment for something someone else has done (which, by the way, isn't illegal, either).
May 16th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
The judge is NOT the parent. Why is he allowed to act like one?
Imagine if he ordered the adult child jailed for not getting her GED.
Why is it okay to threaten the adult child with the freedom of the father ?
Why is it okay to jail fathers without a trial by jury ?
May 16th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Talk about a can't win- if the father tried to force the girl to study it would have been domestic violence and jail also...
May 16th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Cool!
As to the face saving measure perhaps if the judge wasn't foolish he wouldn't need to save face.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
This "judge" should be removed from the bench and then disbarred to get him out of the legal profession entirely. Such is the only appropriate remedy when a member of the judiciary willfully ignores the law.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Personally, I'd like to think that all of us who got in contact with the Ohio Governors Office and the Butler County Juvinile Court played a role in "forcing" th ejudges hand on this one. Good job guys (and gals)!
May 16th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Another great day! A pattern is emerging...
Shine the light on injustice ( Ohio, Fox, others), back it up with civil action, calls and emails and the bullies are not so bold anymore.
First we hold the line on further erosion of men's rights. Image some kind of small symbolic victory in every state in '08.
Then we start to roll back the inequities.
Glenn, thanks for the leadership and being the point of the spear!!!! Hooah!
May 16th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
This Judge should be disbarred, impeached, and prosecuted to the fullest. He is now releasing this man from jail and still uses terror tactics towards both father and ADULT daughter to further incarcerate the father, unless more ridiculous conditions to be met. This Judge is not saving face, saving face would be admitting his illegal actions and stepping down. This is beyond pathetic!
May 16th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
From the linked story - The Judge is still a horses ass and should be removed from the bench. These comments from the Judge are outrageous! I've written the Gov of Ohio a request to remove him, you folks should as well.
The ruling came after the Judge gave Brian Gegner a tough talk saying he was jailed because he'd been "totally neglectful."
The judge also reminded Brian Gegner that he was aware of the consequences if he didn't stay on top of his daughter's education.
Niehaus also told Brian Gegner that when it comes to Brittany's education, the father, "abdicated his responsibilities as a parent."
May 16th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
That's the million dollar question.
And the answer?
Because that doesn't happen.
Gentlemen and Ladies: This is not a victory until the judge is removed/impeached. Right now we could only barely call this a draw. Keep up the pressure.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Daddy better keep his little girl happy, wouldn't now be the best time to ask for that car she wanted?
May 16th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
So what happens now if the daughter flunks the GED preparation class? Or quits in the middle? Or completes it and still fails the GED test?
Why is this judge even forcing this issue? Since when is it against the law not to complete high school? And what about all the other thousands of high schoolers every year who drop out of high school before graduating every year?
Maybe since children are primarily reared by mothers in this country since they almost always get custody of their children in divorce, we should be holding all mothers responsible for their children completing high school and going to jail when they don't. After all, we men are only good for financial support. Everything else then should be the mother's responsibility. And properly screwed when they don't measure up.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Awesome!!
May 16th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
the million dollar question is why is it only DAD that was sent to jail. Why isn't MOMMY who in theory is an "equal" parent not being held to the same standard?
Why is this judge who CLEARLY and unequivocably sexist still on the bench?
could one of the feminists who post here please explain to me why you are screaming hysterically about the injustice that has been brought where sex is the ONLY relevant factor on who went to jail? I mean mommy IS THE PRIMARY CAREGIVER NOW!!!!
May 16th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Here is another question which should be asked. The reasoning behind jailing the man in the first place had to do with the actions of the daughter while she was still a minor. Now that she is no longer a minor, the father can not legally compel her to attend the classes. So is the judge going to throw him back in jail if she does not attend the classes as an adult?
I can understand the logic for holding the father responsible for her actions as a minor (even if I disagree with his logic), but now the judge is basing the fathers responsibility for her on her actions as an adult! I would be interested in seeing what happens if she fails to follow through with attending the GED prep classes...
May 16th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
so if this guy is going to jail if she fails her GED, how many other fathers are going because their adult kids never completed high school?
May 16th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
This both heartening, and disappointing.
It is great news that dad is out of jail, and it is inspiring that our collective efforts (thank you Glenn and Mike R.) seem to have had some positive effect. Sunlight is the best sanitizer.
Nonetheless, that the Judge still flaunts his POWER but not his RIGHT to overstep his authority and impose himself where he has no busines being, is an outrage. It will take a LOT of sunlight to remove that stink! But maybe he, and other jurists like him, will be a little less obvious and arrogant next time ...
We're watching!
May 16th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Why didn't they jail the girl for failing the test?
May 16th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
So now this "judge" is threatening to not release an adult hostage unless another meets his demands.
Excuse me, but isn't this what the Mafia does?
This judge needs to be removed from the bench and disbarred.
His vicious "Christmas Docket" project and this "case" show that he is willing to abuse his post and inhumanly brutalize males purely to draw attention to himself.
He deserves the type of attention which comes from a swift impeachment and termination without pension.
A putrid judicial insult to Ohio, our constitution, our country and his own "2nd tier" law school.
A vile, self-serving abuser of undeserved power.
A poster child for Jail4judges.
Judge Niehaus.
A mistake.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Well, it is a step, but still too aggravated here to turn handsprings.
I dunno what this judge is thinking...I only wish he could be forced down into the trenches...
I wish he could be a foster parent and be responsible for helping kids who just plain struggle with the basic skill of reading anything at all...to pass the GED.
Heck, when finally I went back to college, I had to retake basic algebra 100/102, as I retained little from my associate days, fifteen years earlier.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
By the way, how in world is an American judge ruling over the educational choices of a 19 year old and her parents?
And the U.S. government complains about other countries' trammelimg their citizens' freedoms?
Idiot judges like these are making our country onto the laughingstock of the world.
He needs to be removed from the bench. Now.
Self-serving compromise does not mean that he is any less the lawless, vicious tyrant who did this.
Removal is the only appropriate choice.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
This is great news, and is a harbinger of the actions we could take in the future. I also believe the man
on the street actions are also necessary to raise our numbers.
Send out an E-mail to friends of your's with a linc to Glenn Sacks. com.....
Just do it!!!
May 16th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
AP
"He deserves the type of attention which comes from a swift impeachment and termination without pension.
A putrid judicial insult to Ohio, our constitution, our country and his own "2nd tier" law school.
A vile, self-serving abuser of undeserved power.
A poster child for Jail4judges."
MCA, you are delightfully ruthless!!
May 17th, 2008 at 7:16 am
Its good news, but it would be better if this judge were to simply be fired.
May 17th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Great progress on this case. Bravo to those who helped bring this about.
May 17th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
What about the negative press about the daughter?
Jailing the father for the daughter's failure to pass a GED was outrageous. But it also had the consequence of advertising to the world that the daughter is no mental giant. The common knowledge that she failed an attempt to pass a GED examination cannot possibly be good for her future, even if she succeeds later. Why draw attention to this deplorable failure?
May 17th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I simply want to make the point that holding others responsible for a failure to get a GED does not inspire confidence. The daughter and father lose in this case. Even with the father's release, the daughter has an indelible public stain on her record. Blaming the father cannot possibly remove this, and even acknowledging one's own responsibility doesn't make this failure any less a failure. It's a failure. She failed.
May 18th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Amy Alkon said,
"This 'judge' should be busing tables at Denny's. If that"
I don't know - don't you have to be ethical and not steal the silverware?
May 18th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I was there with F4J to protest his case on Friday and some things I found out from the family are, the mother has an addiction problem, the father never denied or tried to poison the daughter against the mother and tried to help her even, the whole family including step-children praise him as a good father that is loving and does his best and that the mother has been charged but never jailed for being $17,000 behind in her child support. Interesting since this is the exact same enforcement agency that uses wanted posters on pizza boxes and I checked with the mother not being on any of them.
He will be back in court on July 16th at 10:30 AM with F4J and all others we can get to help protest for him. Butler county Ohio has the reputation as the worst in the state based on the calls and cases F4J has looked in to from there. With judges like this it is no wonder!
May 20th, 2008 at 1:53 am
I think even the reversal stinks to high Heaven. The father should have been released and the Judge made to offer his apology for such a barbaric, insensitive and outright stupid decision. There should be no conditions regarding the daughter's attending class or her performance therein. This Judge Neihaus should be removed. How can we expect any justice or progress in equal parenting with morons like this on the bench. i wonder who he paid off to get his position. Where are the Louis Brandeis's and Oliver Wendell Holmes's when we need them?
May 20th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Glenn,
You are on a roll, the momentum is building. Two solid wins in just a short time, Fox's Bad Dad programming and now Judge Niehaus. Every state has their Niehauses. Without the public outcry against and embarassment for these Niehauses, most of the judges in each state would be more like Niehaus.
We should make Niehaus the byword for Judicial Corruption, such as a Quisling is a coward who would bow to national enslavement and Benedict Arnold is a byname for a shameless traitor. We should call all abusive family law judges 'Niehauses'. Judge Niehaus defines one very serious source of family destruction. His actions epitomizes the cavalier and arrogant attitudes of most judges in how they treat children and their fathers.
Too many of us have dealt with Niehauses abusing our childen and us for way too long.
I really enjoy the many times I can send you a note saying "JOB WELL DONE." when you have stopped another Family Law abuser in their tracks. He is still on the bench, but we saved the father and daughter from even more grief and abuse. Niehause should be removed from the bench.
On another note: I am so very glad to see AMY ALKON, the skilled word smith and commentator becoming such a positive voice. As the proud dad of a beautiful teen daughter, I personally wish to welcome Amy aboard our activism. I enjoy her blog. Thanks and God Bless Amy.
You have done it again. Thanks,
Stan Rains
May 20th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Culture of Fear Secrecy and Judicial Abuse
http://www.pacegroup.org/fox_report_without_doc.pdf
If you chose to investigate the above link/report, you will realize that this event is nothing new in Butler county.(city of Hamilton specifically) I have had the 'something-stinks pleasure' of dealing with judge Spillane first hand (not face-to-face of course) and know of Neihaus. (by the way...German translation: no=nein.... house=hause...Neihaus=no home?) More action is ideal. Investigation of the judicial system is necessary. Letters to editors of newspapers and magazines everywhere and possibly news teams would be a great start. "Those who don't learn from the past are destined to repeat it." (sorry for not citing it properly, I dont know who said it"
May 20th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Aristotle
May 20th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Santayana said doomed? I don't know
May 20th, 2008 at 9:56 am
This ruling is just one of many under this tyrannical system. There is no victory here. Even this judge's removal would be only a hollow victory. Political and legal action has just about run the limit of its relevance and effectiveness. It is time to consider Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' pronouncement that when the people perceive that the law has ceased to be just, the people will take justice unto themselves. (Yes AP, there is a reason for anonymity.)
May 20th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Are we living in some draconian society where the failure of one person can cause in the automatic detention of another? Oh wait this reminds of Iraq where wives and children of enemy combatants were jailed to make the fathers surrender. OK I guess it is OK then if we did it there we can now do it here. Welcome to AmRiKA we are now run by a Fem-Quida court system
May 20th, 2008 at 11:56 am
We just need to tweak the law a slight bit so that victims of outrageous judicial abusive can sue the judge in a civil court and take his pension and house then judge Neilhouse really would be Neilhouse which means homeless in German. Either that or we will eventually end up taking up arms to remove a tyrannical system that hates us for our constitution .
May 20th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I would say if you go by the president's description of terrorists "they hate us for our freedom" this judge would come to mind. So if you are a law abiding citizen and your daughter who is in your wife's custody is too dumb to pas her GED then the terrorist judge will take away your freedom.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Hmmm, compare his treatment to that today of a woman just north of him. She molested a teen boy and the court took her kids in to account for her punishment unlike his kids. So she received probation instead and may get a whole 11 months if she voilates it!
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/05/19/ddn051908miamiweb.html
Her lawyer, William Zimmerman Jr., said this was her first felony offense. Lindeman said her lack of a record and having four children at home played heavily in his decision to put her on probation instead of sending her to prison.
If she violates the community control, Lindeman said he'll send Teets to prison for 11 months.
Lindeman asked if Teets considered the impact it would have on her children if he sent her to prison. "You need to think of the kids you have been blessed to take care of," he said.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
The case discussed here with Brian G. is one of many where judges misuse their authority. This should not be tolerated. No one is above the law, not even judges. This absolutely complicated not only Brian’s life, but the life of his daughter. Yes, she has some fault of not completing the task ahead, but now she has been cast the burden of saving her father from further prosecution. This man should be compensated for what has been done to him to the extent as that an example is set for all other authoritative figures that have made such malicious rulings. They should think long and hard before they make decisions that TOY with people’s lives and families as a whole. Families are under attack nationwide. I see more and more corruptive movement’s everyday to prohibit good fathers & mothers from being in children(s) lives, this is very sad. We must unite for the sake of our children and their futures.
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I am outraged by this article! As a school administrator I just want to say I think the new sentence is not good either !Why not threaten the girl, who is now 19, why still make the father take responsibility? Look at the facts she is now a mother!I believe Judge David Niehaus needs to reevaluate his ethics and someone needs to clearly reevaluate his position in a court system period! This man has a family he needs to support. How can he do that when he can't work for 6 months? Most likely his family will need welfare to even stay afloat. I agree with the stepmother this will only destroy the family unit. How dare they hold a man responsible for his adult child's actions. Frankly once she had a child she became an adult. Also, what if her IQ is low. She may not be able to mentally learn the information and that could be a genetic disorder. I am disheartened by this story and I don't see any valuable moral lesson that could be taken away from it!
May 20th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
His is more proof of the bias against men in the family courts.
Why isn't the mother in jail, since it was the mother why had custody of her, correct?
Judges are out of control with their abuse of the power they have. Some of that power needs to be taken from them, they are destroying to many decent mens lives becasue a malicious woman wants revenge on them and use the courts and free lawyers to get it.
Start turning the table and let all this happen to the women and the judges and lawyers who help them.
Turtle (Marianne)
June 14th, 2009 at 2:25 am
! Only in America!
November 19th, 2009 at 2:40 am
At age 19 are you not considered an adult? so is this judge basically saying you can be jailed for your adult child's actions now? What if for instance your adult child is 30 does that still apply?
I've never heard of anything so ludicrous! but this seems to be an ongoing trend lately. Lots of judicial abuse going on these days with no checks and balances.
Things need to change folks, even if it's not personally affecting you right now...it will..eventually.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:05 am
The Welfare Reform act passed by the Clintons does the same thing. A woman leaves a marriage, against the wishes of an innocent man in a "No Fault" divorce where there are children. The man goes to jail if he doesn't pay child support, additionally, if she receives government benefits, he can be responsible for repaying what he did not request nor enjoy the the benefits. All against an innocent man that even the courts clearly and unequivocably state had "No Fault".
This is just a continuation of a socialist concept of forced redistribution of wealth from working individuals to faithless and worthless, but ever so pliable individuals. It is entitlement for worthlessness, being a net deficit on our society.
The judge is stating that the women in this case, including the daughter, are so incompetent that the man with no authority over either is ultimately and criminally responsible. This is where if he tried to impose his will (at the court's demand) he would be considered abusive and jailed. This is a classic double bind used by all tyrants when they target any group or individual.