Child Support Follow-up
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
This letter is a follow up to a letter I wrote which appeared in the Feb. 3 edition of the Times-Union. Child support is an issue of a civil matter. The courts are tied up with plenty of criminal matters. Everyone wants criminals rehabilitated. A person convicted of drugs or theft is due time as a deterrent to not commit a future crime. Someone behind on child support emerges further behind in child support once let out. This system of jailing people behind on support does one thing: holds them back. I speak on my experiences and trials of being a convicted felon for non-support of a child.
The state is looking to collect on a debt. A debt to the state? No. A debt to the custodial parent. I didn’t realize we still had debtors prisons. All other debts are in civil court. Garnishments are used to collect debts. I see plenty of debts associated with this system. Who is paying for me to sit in this jail? Who is providing for my child here? Who is providing for my family back in South Dakota? The states are.
So if punishment for someone being behind on child support causes them to be further behind on their debt, is that not an unusual punishment? Our 8th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. A child support withholding notice garnishing wages should be punishment enough.
I understand the state’s argument that the custodial parent who receives no support and is receiving state aid is a burden on the state. But if the non-custodial parent is jailed for a lengthy time, loses their license, and is convicted of a felony, who is becoming a burden on the state? The whole family.
I just want to conclude by saying that this letter is not about my current situation. This letter and the previous one are about the underlying issue of this crime. Hopefully one day someone will ask the right question in regard to “unusual punishment” and the collection of this type of debt.
Twenty percent of inmates in my block are here on child support-related charges.
Doug North
Rapid City, SD
Sitting in Kosciusko County Jail[[In-content Ad]]
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This letter is a follow up to a letter I wrote which appeared in the Feb. 3 edition of the Times-Union. Child support is an issue of a civil matter. The courts are tied up with plenty of criminal matters. Everyone wants criminals rehabilitated. A person convicted of drugs or theft is due time as a deterrent to not commit a future crime. Someone behind on child support emerges further behind in child support once let out. This system of jailing people behind on support does one thing: holds them back. I speak on my experiences and trials of being a convicted felon for non-support of a child.
The state is looking to collect on a debt. A debt to the state? No. A debt to the custodial parent. I didn’t realize we still had debtors prisons. All other debts are in civil court. Garnishments are used to collect debts. I see plenty of debts associated with this system. Who is paying for me to sit in this jail? Who is providing for my child here? Who is providing for my family back in South Dakota? The states are.
So if punishment for someone being behind on child support causes them to be further behind on their debt, is that not an unusual punishment? Our 8th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. A child support withholding notice garnishing wages should be punishment enough.
I understand the state’s argument that the custodial parent who receives no support and is receiving state aid is a burden on the state. But if the non-custodial parent is jailed for a lengthy time, loses their license, and is convicted of a felony, who is becoming a burden on the state? The whole family.
I just want to conclude by saying that this letter is not about my current situation. This letter and the previous one are about the underlying issue of this crime. Hopefully one day someone will ask the right question in regard to “unusual punishment” and the collection of this type of debt.
Twenty percent of inmates in my block are here on child support-related charges.
Doug North
Rapid City, SD
Sitting in Kosciusko County Jail[[In-content Ad]]
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