The Degradation of LA's 'Deadbeat Dad Court'

Studies show that most so-called "deadbeat dads" are actually "dead broke dads," either because they have low-wage jobs, are unemployed, or are deep in arrears on unrealistic and crushing child support obligations. The government's all-encompassing war on them is often simply a war on low-income and minority fathers. Nowhere is this made clearer than by the degradation, demonization and dehumanization of hard luck fathers in downtown Los Angeles' notorious "Deadbeat Dad Court."

Los Angeles family law attorneys Jeffrey Jacobsen and Bill Hauck discussed this ongoing and unrecognized human tragedy on His Side with Glenn Sacks on KRLA 870 AM in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 24. To listen to the archived version of the show, go to His Side.

Hauck, who is a staff attorney for the nonprofit Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center, said that visiting LA's deadbeat dad court is like a "cross between having root canal and a tax audit" and that child support enforcement's tactics are akin to "the wrath of God." Jeff acknowledged that the system is "not the most efficient operation in the world," to which Glenn commented that this was "like saying Attila the Hun had bad table manners."

Other topics included: Sheila Kuehl's law mandating interest on arrearages even when the noncustodial parent is staying current on his CS obligations, thus locking many fathers into a debt which might take decades to pay off; the Bradley amendment, which prohibits courts from retroactively modifying child support obligations, no matter how unjust or unrealistic; and the lack of legal resources available for low-income fathers.

Callers included: Stephanie, whose husband pays over half his check in child support, including $250 a month in interest alone on an arrearage caused by economic hardship; Kevin, who is being targeted as a deadbeat dad even though he has proven that he has paid all of his support; and Patrick, who has endured endless battles with the child support bureaucracy.

To learn more about the ways the child support system turns low-income men into criminals and drives decent fathers out of the lives of their children, see Glenn's columns "Divorced from Reality on Child Support" (Newark Star-Ledger, 9/6/02), "Families and the War" (Washington Times, 11/21/02), "The 'Deadbeat Dad' Canard" (Sacramento Bee, 8/1/02) and "California Child Support Bill Will Help Newly Released Prisoners Rebuild Their Lives" (Los Angeles Daily Journal, San Francisco Daily Journal, 5/9/02). The first three columns were co-authored by Dianna Thompson, Executive Director of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children. Also, see the archive for the June 1 His Side show "Child Support System Abuses Drive Fathers out of Their Children's Lives."