Every four years, Massachusetts reviews its child support formula, which dictates how much must be paid. That process is going on now. Last time it was done, in 2001, Fathers & Families was instrumental in winning decreases in child support amounting to about 15% in average cases. That adds up to at least $500 million in savings since 2001.

Now we must get child support down still further, so that fathers and mothers can both afford to live decently and care for their children in their respective homes.

Only people-power can do this. Please attend the hearing on child support next Monday from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM in the Jury Assembly Room (Room 302) of the Worcester Courthouse at 50 Harvard Street. You will have a chance to tell the authorities how the current child support orders have negatively affected you and your children.

Remember, there will not be another chance until 2009. Please call (617) 542-9300 with any questions.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently made a ruling that will decrease the number of domestic violence prosecutions for trivial acts.

Frequently, women will call the police during a domestic argument, only to decide later not to testify because the incident was overblown and the couple is reconciled. Under the new ruling, the statements she made to the police cannot be used to prosecute her partner unless she agrees to testify. (The ruling applies to ordinary crimes too, not just domestic violence.)

It is true that victims can be intimidated, whether in a domestic violence case or ordinary crime, and that is a problem. But our constitution long ago declared that you cannot be prosecuted unless you have the chance to confront your accuser and cross-examine them. If she won’t testify, you can’t cross-examine her, and if you can’t cross-examine her, prosecutors cannot use her alleged statements to the police.

According to the Boston Globe, the U.S. Justice Department has awarded four grants, totaling more than $1.2 million, to organizations in Massachusetts to combat violence against women, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people. That leaves out only one little group. Unfortunately, that little group – straight males – are the biggest target of violence by far.

A recent survey of divorced fathers in Maine and New Hampshire showed that the median number of days of father-child contact per month was six. The mean number of overnights per month was only four. One-fifth of fathers reported that their children never regularly spent the night with them. The median distance they lived from their children was 15 miles. About two-thirds of the fathers reported that mothers make all or most of the decisions concerning the children. Fathers reported making 99% of the required child support payments.

The author stated that programs and policies “to keep parents from moving significant distances from one another may be especially pertinent to preserving healthy father-child relationships.”

In Carruba v. Moskowitz, the Connecticut Supreme Court wrote, “We agree with the Appellate Court, however, that, in a custody dispute, ‘parents lack the necessary professional and emotional adjustment to further the best interests of their children.’”

There is only one possible interpretation of this language: only judges are qualified to decide what is best for other people’s children. Never mind that they have no training in child development, do not know the children, would not recognize them on the street, and will not be there for them when they are sick in the night. These self-proclaimed philosopher kings have just made another power grab.

Prediction: the largest number of people who will be jailed in connection with Katrina will be non-custodial dads.

Over 400,000 jobs were blown away in the Gulf area, and with them went the ability of at least 50,000 fathers to pay child support. Now dispersed around the country, they cannot go to court to seek a modification of their child support. And under the federal law known as the Bradley Amendment, when they finally get to court six months or a year from now, they cannot be granted retroactive relief of their child support order, so they will be faced with arrearages amounting to tens of thousands of dollars each.

They have no homes, no jobs, and no money. They will be unable to pay, and they will go to jail.

Actually, three dads and a mom walk again, getting probation after pleading guilty to lesser charges having to do with a fathers’ rights demonstration in England. Last November, the four climbed the superstructure of a large bridge over the main highway connecting England and Wales. They unveiled a fathers’ rights banner. Their demonstration tied up traffic for many miles in each direction.

As with previous incidents, the authorities have failed in jailing them because of widespread public sympathy for fathers who demand equality.

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