“New Jersey woman learns her twins have two dads at child support hearing” is a story Guardian about a lawsuit intensive enough to warrant a 22-page opinion by a government employee (the judge). What was at stake? The final award was $28/week in child support (we can presume that the defendant was not a big earner). As is typical when low-income men are sued, NJ.com reveals that father was the only person in the courtroom who was neither an attorney nor represented by an attorney (a quick Google search shows that Liana Allen, who worked for the mother/government, has an “Esq.:” after her name). (Failure to pay child support results in imprisonment but it is not technically a criminal matter and therefore the defendants have no right to an attorney.)
Don’t forget that the taxpayers will get to pay public employees to handle at least the prosecution and judging of one more lawsuit based on this mother. The mother and/or the office of child support enforcement on its own can pursue the man or men who may be the genetic father of the other twin….
Related:
- “Citizens and Legislators” chapter of Real World Divorce, in which the possibility of exempting low-income defendants from the litigation/imprisonment system of extracting child support