CRIMINALIZING (POOR) FATHERHOOD

125 CRIMINALIZING (POOR) FATHERHOOD Cortney E. Lollar INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 126 I. A FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED CHILD SUPPORT SYSTEM............................ 132 A. The Structure of the Child Support System ....................................... 133 B. Debunking the Myth of the “Deadbeat Dad”.................................... 139 II. FAILURE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT IS THE NEW DEBTORS’ PRISON ............ 142 A. An Exception to the Legal Prohibition Against Debtors’ Prisons?... 145 B. Criminal Prosecution as a Sanction for Poor Fatherhood ............... 149 1. The Child Support System as Child-Protective ........................... 150 2. The Child Support System’s Fiscal Responsibility?.................... 154 III. CRIMINALIZING POOR FATHERHOOD ......................................................... 159 A. The Use of Criminal Enforcement Mechanisms ................................ 160 B. The Crime of Being a Poor Father.................................................... 166 IV. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS ............................................................................... 173 A. The Need for Better and More Transparent Data ............................. 173 B. Changes to the Child Support Calculations ...................................... 174 C. Eliminating Debtors’ Prisons............................................................ 175 D. Define “Child Support” More Broadly ............................................. 177 E. Establishing Support Services for Poor Fathers ............................... 179 F. Re-envisioning the Child Support System? ....................................... 180 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 181

CRIMINALIZING (POOR) FATHERHOOD

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