Brickbat: The Eyes of Texas

A Texas judge has sentenced Clifford Hall to six months in prison for delinquent child support payments. Hall thought he was making the payments, but a clerical error by his employer kept the money from reaching the child's mother. When Hall found out about the error, he not only made sure the back payments got to her but gave her an extra $1,000. That didn't satisfy the judge, nor the appellate court which upheld the ruling.

Comments

[Redmanfms]

All Hail the return of debtors' prisons!

[Free Society]

I'm not sure whether that's better than state-enforced debt forgiveness.

[Pi Guy]

Mens rea is apparently dead

[Wasteland Wanderer]

It's been dead for quite some time.

[Suthenboy]

And thus the rule of law.

[Robert]

There's no mens rea in family court. This is not a crime, but contempt of court, for which the judge is allowed to do...anything AFAICT.

[Libertarian]

And the war on men continues.

[Mickey Rat]

And how does he pay his child support for the six months he is imprisoned and has no income? Is there a reason why there cannot be an accommodation that does the least harm?

[nailzer]

The logic of the courts demand jail time, no matter if it's logical or not.

[Doctor Whom]

With male privilege, all things are possible.

[Matrix]

In Oklahoma, he would still be on the hook for those payments, as well as flat interest for late payments.

[Fist of Etiquette]

On the plus side, he gets to find a new employer who knows how to garnish wages correctly.

[invisible furry hand]

The judge had a discretion not to jail him - but did it anyway. Way to send a message, your honour

[Snark Plissken]

Hall was sentenced to six months in jail by Judge Lisa Millard. His attorneys appealed the new law but lost.

Apparently, they appealed the law itself but not the sentence which is ridiculous. Perhaps that was the only recourse?

[invisible furry hand]

That sounds like sloppy reporting. You'd appeal the sentence, saying that the judge's discretion miscarried because she misconstrued the scope for exercising it under the statute. Or you could argue that the law itself is unconstitutional (either state or federal).

[Pope Jimbo]

Why didn't they publish the name of the judge? Any reason the world shouldn't know exactly who this idiot is?

[The Hyperbole]

FTA
Hall was sentenced to six months in jail by Judge Lisa Millard.

[UnCivilServant]

Does Judge Millard have a record of Misandry? Oh, wait, silly question, she's a 'Family Court' judge the chances that she doesn't are low.

[Pope Jimbo]

My bad. I just caught the last line that didn't name her. I missed the other reference because I tend to squint up my eyes when reading these types of stories because of the nut punch factor.

[Suthenboy]

More importantly, who are the rubber stamps on the appellate court?

[Florida Man]

Let's see, I have the paperwork here somewhere....ah yes, that would be.... FUCK YOU, THATS WHO. Now tend to your turnips serf.

[invisible furry hand]

Brilliant news - another judge has ordered his release and he gets out today! Happy 4th Clifford!

http://www.chron.com/news/hous.....596990.php

[Florida Man]

Do NOT read the comments. Some mid-level derp in there.

[Andrew S.]

Aw c'mon. There are some fun, insane gems in there.

that's great news, and hopefully, like in India, more US people will grow a pair, rise up and kill their boss. They killed their boss in India and all other India bosses were put on notice. We need to do that here in the US and that way corporations and bosses will be on notice. Rise up like lions wet with dew, we are many, they are few.

[invisible furry hand]

damp lions are deadlier than dry ones?

[Pope Jimbo]

Dewclaws. I guess they come into play when lions are wet

[Florida Man]

Dew claws make them immune to snake bites.
/old southern belief

[David C]

That *is* good news. Though describing the case as "man jailed for failure to pay child support" is some truly all-time poor headline writing, since it completely obscures what is interesting about the case.

[wareagle]

because being in prison makes it so much easier to pay support?

[David C]

Obviously the judge could not care less about the best interests of the child.

[pogi]

Aaaauuugggghhhh!!!! FUCKING SQUIRRELS!!!!

[Free Society]

Why the fuck is it an employer's job to handle someone else's child support? I'm an employer and let me tell you, dicking around with other people's life problems as precondition of their employment may be the most aggravating weekly occurrence in my life.

[LarryA]

"For the same reason you have to pick their medical insurance plan and collect their 'voluntary' income tax payments. You're an evil corporate entreprenoor rolling in ill-gotten profits so FYTW."

See?