Should Fathers Be Incarcerated for Child Support?

Here's my wrench in this.

Why don't fathers have any right to force or prevent an abortion? You fathered the child, now pay. Instead, You fathered the child, do you want it aborted?

Allow me to offer a hypothetical in the interests of shedding some light on this topic:

Driver accidentally hits Pedestrian, injuring her severely. Driver did not intend to hit Pedestrian, but it is clear that he was negligent and that he alone was responsible. Pedestrian's doctors give her a choice: she can have an operation to correct her injuries, or she can forego surgery. If she has the operation, she has a 50 percent chance of dying, but if she survives she will be 100 percent cured. On the other hand, if she foregoes surgery, her lifespan will not be shortened but will crippled for the rest of her life.

Pedestrian has brought a lawsuit against Driver. Driver can anticipate that, if Pedestrian decides to forego surgery he will have to pay $100,000 in damages. If she has surgery and dies, it is certain that he will pay at least $1 million or more in damages to Pedestrian's estate. And if she has the surgery and survives, Driver will have to pay $10,000.

As Pedestrian is weighing her medical options, Driver tells her: "since your decision will undoubtedly affect me, I should have a say in whatever choice you make. After all, it's not fair that you have 100 percent of the choice while I bear 100 percent of the financial burden. Therefore, in exchange for paying you $100,000 right now, I demand that you forego that operation. If, on the other hand, you choose to reject my offer and go ahead with the surgery, then I will be absolved of all responsibility and I won't be obligated to pay you (or your estate) anything."

Now, is that fair?

Only if the asshole has to carry the kid for 9 months.

Joefromchicago already answered this silly question over 11 years ago in this Thread

Only if the asshole has to carry the kid for 9 months.

So, you would have a mother give a child's rights away forever.

the state wanting to limit its expenses, or if it wants to max money flow to kids, is not an excuse to be unjust to men. A just society attempts to be fair to everyone.

I have read that some states run the deadbeat dad jailings through family court, which does not provide lawyers. Is that not correct?

hawkeye10 wrote:

I have read that some states run the deadbeat dad jailings through family court, which does not provide lawyers. Is that not correct?

In my particular case, and it was in Kansas, it was through family court, and the state provided lawyers.

That's the narrow legal issue behind a case the Supreme Court hears today. The Sixth Amendment establishes that the defendant in a criminal case has a right to counsel, but failure to pay child support is a civil matter: It's violation of a civil court order, not a crime. The question before the court is whether the imposition of a long jail term (in this particular case, one year) effectively imposes criminal punishment for the civil contempt charge, and whether, and under what circumstances, the state can deprive an individual of his liberty without providing counsel. Most states do provide a lawyer under these circumstances, but some (including Florida, Georgia, Maine, Ohio and South Carolina) do not. Those states argue, among other things, that there's no need to provide a lawyer for a defendant who has his own "key" to his cell: payment of the amount owed or a smaller amount set by the court.