ACLU says alleged ''deadbeat dads'' jailed without due process

[Brent]

ACLU says alleged ''deadbeat dads'' jailed without due process

    EAGLEVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Ninety men serving time in a county prison for failing to pay child support were denied their due process rights, the American Civil Liberties Union contends.

    Thirty of the men were released from the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on Wednesday, officials said. The other 60 inmates were being interviewed by county officials and others, and they could be freed within days, said the county's president judge, S. Gerald Corso.

    Pennsylvania ACLU staff lawyer Malia Brink said that county courts throughout the state often jail such men, often referred to as deadbeat dads, for civil contempt without adequate notice or enough time for them to get lawyers.

    Typically, the men meet with domestic relations officials, are declared in arrears, and are quickly brought before a judge. The judge usually finds them in contempt of a court order to pay and jails them for about six months.

    Corso has ordered a review of court procedures for all those incarcerated for failing to pay support. Among the changes already implemented: Contempt hearings will be scheduled two weeks after enforcement conferences, and defendants will be advised throughout the process of their right to an attorney.

    ''The ACLU thinks everyone facing prison should have counsel,'' Corso said. ''We do not disagree with that.''

    Amid similar criticism from ACLU attorneys last year in western Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County judges agreed to provide court-appointed attorneys in child support cases and Lawrence County judges freed 37 inmates jailed for nonsupport.

    ''The ACLU hopes that the president judges of counties throughout Pennsylvania will respond to the ACLU's request with the same dispatch and sense of justice that Montgomery County showed,'' Brink said in a prepared statement. ''But we're realistic and realize that we may have to file suit against one or more counties who refuse the request.''

    Of the 90 child-support inmates, those on work-release were freed after agreeing to have the money they owe deducted from their wages. A second group was told they could leave the prison if they got jobs and agreed to return next month for hearings.

    The third group, which Corso called ''chronic offenders who have had three bench warrants issued against them in the last few years'' for failure to appear, will go before judges to see how their cases should proceed.

http://www.sungazette.com/wire/pawirestory.asp?articleID=2116&postdate=12/12/2003

[StPaulieGirl]

Gee, the ACLU actually has an opinion I can agree with.

[Brent]

From Stan Green:

This type of violation of due process is pandemic, including here in
Walla Walla County and across Washington State.  More background at the end of this message.

ACLU PA's involvement is a welcome breakthrough in this ongoing civil
rights struggle.

Thanks to Stu Miller for forwarding this press release.
= = =
                         ACLU NEWS

ACLU of Pennsylvania
P.O. Box 1161
Philadelphia, PA
19105                                                                                    
Tel:  (215) 592-1513                        
Fax: (215) 592-1343

ACLU Applauds Montgomery County Judge For Agreeing To Appoint Lawyers
For Poor People Facing Jail Time

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2003

CONTACTS:   Malia Brink (ACLU Staff Attorney): 215-592-1513, ext. 119

PHILADELPHIA -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a
decision by the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and the
Administrative Judge of Family Court in Montgomery County to provide
adequate notice and the right to counsel to individuals facing jail-time
for failing to make payments in child-support cases.  

Sara Mullen, the Director of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the
ACLU, praised the Court for its quick response, "Although the law has
been clear for decades that people cannot be sent to jail without
adequate notice and the guiding hand of counsel, the ACLU has learned
that in many Pennsylvania Counties courts still do not provide these
protections for people facing jail in non-support cases.  The fact that
Montgomery County so readily acknowledged the flaws in their
procedures and agreed to change them when shown the law is a
testament to the judges' integrity and respect for justice."

            After receiving a complaint from an individual imprisoned in
the Montgomery County Jail for non-payment of child support who did not
have notice of his contempt hearing and did not appear to have the
means to make those payments, the ACLU asked the President Judge to
reform the Court's contempt procedures in non-support cases.  

            Montgomery County President Judge Gerald Corso responded by
instructing his colleagues to be sure that from now on that all
non-support defendants had notice and lawyers.  The Public Defender's
Office has agreed to provide lawyers for indigent individuals charged
with contempt.  Judge Corso also instructed fellow judges to revise
forms given to non-support defendants to inform them of their right to
counsel and how to contact the Public Defender's Office.  

President Judge Corso and Judge Daniele, the Administrative Judge for
the Family Court division, have arranged for expedited review of all
non-support defendants presently detained in the County Jail so that any
due process violations can "be immediately rectified."  Approximately 30
individuals who had been imprisoned with work release will be released
today.  The remainder will be reviewed by the Judge assigned to the
case and addressed this week.

            Malia Brink, the ACLU staff attorney who brought this issue
to the attention of President Judge Corso, noted that notice and the
right
to counsel are important due process rights: "Advanced notice of a
hearing
is necessary to be able to prepare a defense, and the right to counsel
ensures that people facing imprisonment present the court with all
important facts and relevant legal arguments.  Without the facts, judges
are more likely to make decisions based on incomplete or incorrect
information, thereby increasing the chances that the person will be
treated unfairly, unequally and unjustly."

            Brink also noted that providing notice and counsel does not
foreclose the possibility of imprisonment: "Appointing lawyers doesn't
prevent the court from imprisoning non-payors in appropriate cases.  It
simply ensures that the person really can afford the payments before
being imprisoned for failure to pay.  Prison should be a last resort
reserved for those who have willfully shirked their responsibilities,
rather than those who are simply too poor to pay."

            With Montgomery County's agreement to provide better
procedures for contempt hearings in non-support cases, Brink said the
ACLU would continue to review similar complaints concerning other
Counties. "The ACLU hopes that the President Judges of Counties
throughout Pennsylvania will respond to the ACLU's request with the
same dispatch and sense of justice that Montgomery County showed.
But we're realistic and realize that we may have to file suit against
one or more Counties who refuse the request."
= = =
contact information:
ACLU of Pennsylvania
P.O. Box 1161
Philadelphia PA 19105-1161
215 592-1513
Fax: 215.592.1343
aclupa.org
[email protected]
= = =
Media coverage:
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20020912support0912p7.asp

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/121003_nw_jailrelease.html

Below are URLs from ACLU - PA action last year on the other side of the
state:
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20020907lawrence5.asp
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20020912support0912p7.asp

[Arya]

Wonders never cease. Though this does not redeem them in my eyes. The peddlers of PC should be disbanded with their lawyers - the ACLU - along with them.

[StPaulieGirl]

About time.  Even the lowest form of gangbanger gets counsel before appearing before a judge.

Even the person accused of horrible crimes against children get representation.  This is just money that the state thinks is owed to them.  Methinks they're trying to bring back indentured servitude  up the back stairs.  Good for the ACLU!  Can't believe I'd ever say that.

[StPaulieGirl]

I agree, but I'm just so shocked that the ACLU would ever stand up for real victims of the system.  To restore our country to what she originally stood for, will take more years than you and I will be alive.