Lary Holland: Official Blog, Links, and Resources (Entries tagged as false imprisonment)

Constitutional Issues: The Nuclear Option: How Men's Constitutional Rights Are Obliterated in Family Courts

laryholland@sbcglobal.net (Lary Holland) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:29:24 -0500

I have included a small excerpt of the article "The Nuclear Option: How Men's Constitutional Rights Are Obliterated in Family Courts" written by Jake Morphonios for the site NolanChart.Com.

"There is a very simple trick, used all too frequently in family courts, that will almost always ensure the immediate elimination of a man's constitutional rights. Read more to find out if it can happen to you."

In acrimonious divorce and child custody disputes emotions are tense and tempers flare. Buoyed by litigious attorneys, each side engages in strategic maneuvers to gain the greatest legal advantage. Sometimes a parent, fearing a loss of control or custody over a child, crosses the ethically acceptable bounds of legal warfare. An unfortunate but all too frequently used tactic by mothers is to accuse the father of sexually molesting their child. The mere accusation is sufficient to strip the father of all his custody rights and launch a criminal investigation. Even when no evidence is found to substantiate the allegation, family law courts typically "err on the side of caution" and award full custody to the mother. While national statistics reveal that the majority of all child sex abuse reports are legitimate, when such claims are made by a mother in the context of custody litigation, an estimated 77% of allegations are determined to be unfounded (Tong, 2002).A false child sex abuse allegation made during child custody litigation is a destructive legal stratagem.

The article in its' complete form can be found at the NolanChart.Com under Constitutional Issues. I would encourage each and every one of you to print a copy of the article and send it to your legislators, public officials, yahoo groups, and advocacy leaders. Be sure to comment on the article and let authors know you support further research on these issues.

A very good resource for domestic violence research is Media RADAR where
R.A.D.A.R. stands for – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting
– is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women
working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to
solving domestic violence.

R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting – is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of men and women working to improve the effectiveness of our nation's approach to solving domestic violence.

If you haven't had a chance to visit the Media RADAR website, get over to the site and print off some of the easy to read flyers and circulate them to your legislators as well. Let our government officials know the truth and intention behind the Domestic Violence Laws, VAWA, and False Domestic Relations Restraining Orders.

It takes two fit, willing, and caring parents to create and raise a well-balanced child. Make sure our laws reflect that position.

Paying Child Support For Another Man's Child: Falsely Convicted Rapists Get Better Deal

laryholland@sbcglobal.net (Lary Holland) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:35:11 -0500

Falsely Convicted Rapists Get Better Deals Than Falsely Accused Fathers In America!

How would you like to be falsely imprisoned for a crime like rape where DNA evidence later proves your innocence, but yet you still have to serve out your entire life in prison? How would you like to be forced to pay for another man's house or car, knowing that you have no right to the control of the property? Most people with commonsense would likely say that the scenario makes little sense and would think that in a fair and just society that an order from a court saying such a thing is hardly enforceable. Tell that to David Salazar, who spent "28 days for not paying child support" for a child that was not his and where both he and his wife "told state officials he was not the father." This is not an isolated case of innocent mistake, but just one of many instances across the United States where individuals are being labeled a parent and forced to participate in the State Child Support Enforcement Programs governed by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act₁.

In the article "Despite DNA, child support may be enforced₂" a different ideological perspective is being told to the public and to our children by individuals that are claiming to be "advocates for children." These very same advocates for children apparently believe it is acceptable for the government bureaucracies that employ them to force one person to pay for another individual's responsibilities. "The government intervenes, even though the two people involved agree one of them is not the parent, creating the very conflict that it is supposed to be solving and racking up the bill of the U.S. taxpayer" states Lary Holland.

"The simple fact remains in this article that someone should locate the real biological parent of this child and let him pay real child support, which is time with his own progeny," states Holland. The Title IV-D Program, which governs Paternity and Child Support issues, only rewards for the creation and enforcement of paternity and child support orders, even when those orders are verifiable as incorrect partly because the state would not want to account for and send federal grant money back to the granting agency. There certainly appears to be a real incentive for mistakes in the State programs that receive Federal Title IV-D funding," states Holland.

"In the meantime, would you want to explain to Dwayne Dail, who was recently released from prison for being falsely accused and convicted of a crime, that after 18 years of false imprisonment that he to finish out the rest of life in prison because he didn't prove his innocence within the first year of his conviction?" asks Lary Holland.

The Kansas City Star reports that several "other states have passed laws allowing men to escape child support payments if DNA proves they are not the fathers" and it would make little sense to treat falsely accused fathers any differently than falsely accused rapists and murders. Lary Holland asks "is being falsely accused of being a father really that much worse than being falsely accused of rape or murder in America? Where is this man's settlement from the State?"

_{1. Overview of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.}

_{2. Kansas City Star. Despite DNA, child support may be enforced. December 30, 2007.)}

North Carolina Judge: Properly Limits Child Support Claim Against Falsely Imprisoned Man

laryholland@sbcglobal.net (Lary Holland) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:59:20 -0500

Dwayne Dail was falsely imprisoned for a crime that he didn't commit. As part of the his release and reentry to society Mr. Dail was awarded a settlement of around $360,000.00. Mr. Dail was incarcerated for 18 years of his life.

According to the Innocence Project website:

"Dwayne Dail was released from custody on August 28, 2007, after a state
court judge agreed to vacate his conviction and dismiss all char[g]es
against him. He was 39 when released and had served 18 years in prison.
In October 2007 Dail received a pardon from Gov. Mike Easley based on
his actual innocence."

The Goldboro News-Argus on December 14, 2007 reported that Judge adjusts claim for support and further that:

"...it's settled that the compensation awarded to people who
are wrongfully convicted is not back wages. It covers pain and suffering, legal fees, and any type of DNA testing expenses that were incurred. I'm pretty confident the number is pretty close to zero."

Even though the money received by Mr. Dail was for pain and suffering caused from his being falsely imprisoned for 18 years, amongst other things, it did not prevent an attempt by Lorraine Michaels to come forward and try to capitalize on an already bad situation. Notwithstanding the more important point of Mr. Dail not being able to witness his offspring, any children that would have been involved in a case between the parties would have already aged out of the system.

"Over recent years I have personally witnessed more and more news stories and judicial districts treating child support judgments as some sort of, after the fact, reward for raising a child, which just creates more incentives for families to separate and try to remove one parent from the lives of their children," states Lary Holland.

"Only part of the state compensation owed exonerated former inmate Dwayne
Dail can go to his child's biological mother, his attorney says.

Judge David Brantley ordered Thursday that the statute of limitations on Dail's child support responsibility is the past three
years, attorney Shelby Benton said.

State law holds that people in prison are not liable for child support payments."

"What I found most irritating was the fact that the story did not cover whether or not the biological mother and Mr. Dail were together at the time of his incarceration and whether or not the child was able to communicate on a regular basis through either letters or visits. Child Support is so much more than a simple financial obligation, it is the actual time that both parents get to spend with their children," further states Holland.

There certainly are more questions to ask about the current case at hand. We will be monitoring the News-Argus in North Carolina for more information as well as making some of our phone calls on the issue.

Lary Holland is author of numerous articles surrounding family court issues and related subjects. He is available at 800-319-4955 x3 for more information.

Original Article By:

By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on December 14, 2007 02:24 PM

Child Support Program Plagued With Errors: Innocent Man Sent To Jail For Missed Child Support

laryholland@sbcglobal.net (Lary Holland) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:09:13 -0500

More headlines continue pouring in on the negatives associated with the nation's child support enforcement program.

Innocent Man Sent To Jail For Missed Child Support
BOSTON -- Systemic problems allowed an innocent Massachusetts man to be labeled a deadbeat dad and sent to jail.
Team 5 Investigates' Rhondella Richardson reported that it happened to John Caliri.
"I wake up in the morning and I go to bed at night, knowing that I've been in jail because of something I did not do, and I don't deserve it," said Caliri.
Original Source: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/14763949/detail.html

The BostonChannel.Com, WCVB Channel 5, news site carried the story of another man that was affected by the child support enforcement program. This story brings up an interesting final point about the system essentially not listening to the evidence and just rushing to a judgment in an effort to compete for federal incentive money. "Anytime that you have government setting standards on negative outcomes you have a a serious risk of abuse, naturally you are going to see more broken homes and people jailed, because that is what the system is rewarded for," states Lary Holland.