Here's an article with three videos that say a lot about the child support system and its ever-closer cousin, the criminal justice system (Examiner, 9/1/09).

It seems a man in York, Pennsylvania had paid support for his children for something like 14 years.  They're all close to adult age and two of his daughters were living with him.  Still, he owed his ex-wife $500 per month.  But he lost his job and before he could get another one, he had fallen one month behind on his payments.  Not to worry though; his ex sent a letter to the child support authorities saying she understood the situation and would gladly wait until he found work and was able to catch up.

That apparently didn't deter the police in their quest to lock up "deadbeat" dads - and anyone else who got in their way.

So "six or eight" police showed up at the man's house and woke up his daughter, Lindsay, who's 18.  She told them her dad wasn't home because he was at his new job.  It turned out he was in the basement, but she didn't know that.  She invited them in to look around and when they discovered her father, they beat him up and arrested him wearing nothing but a shirt.  They also arrested Lindsay for obstructing a police investigation, after slamming her on top of her desk.

All that for $500 that the mother was willing to wait for.

Your tax dollars at work.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 7:11 pm and is filed under Child Support/Child Support Enforcement. You can trackback from your own site.