Posted on 04/14/2015 11:41:47 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Why was Walter Scott running away from a policeman who tried to stop him for a broken taillight? The media are trying to make a South Carolina policeman's killing of a black man, Walter Scott, another sensational case of racism, but the media have missed the point of the tragedy.
The problem wasn't racism, or even dangerous driving or stolen property. It was caused by the obnoxious anti-father rulings of the family courts and Scott's fear that he would be returned to debtor's prison. Scott had already been jailed three times for failure to pay child support, and he didn't want to be sent to prison again.
Debtors' prisons were common in England in the colonial period. You can read about them in the writings of Charles Dickens, who wrote from first-hand knowledge; his own father spent time in a debtor's prison.
We kicked out British rule by the American Revolution and abolished some of its trappings, such as royalty and its titles, primogeniture and bowing to our top national official. We thought we abolished debtor's prisons even before we abolished slavery, but they continue to exist today to punish men who are too poor to pay what is falsely labeled "child support."
We say "falsely" because the money collected from the poor guy usually doesn't go to his kid or her mother. It just supports the welfare-state bureaucracy.
Of course, it wasn't wise to try to outrun the policeman's gun, but this sad event should make us reevaluate the policy of repeatedly sending a penniless man to jail for failure to pay so-called child support.
These guys don't have the money to hire a defense lawyer, which they should be given when jail is the cost of losing the case.
When corporations can't pay their debts, they can take bankruptcy, which means they pay off their debts for pennies on the dollar over many years. But a man can never get an alleged "child support" debt forgiven or reduced, even if he is out of a job, penniless, homeless, medically incapacitated, incarcerated (justly or unjustly), can't afford a lawyer, serving in our Armed Forces overseas, isn't the father or never owed the money in the first place.
The reason "child-support" debt can never be reduced by the court is the Bradley Amendment, named after a Democratic senator from New Jersey and one-time presidential candidate. That law should be repealed.
Fifteen years ago, a family court judge threw Scott in jail because he hadn't made his child support payments on time, and that meant he lost his $35,000-a-year job at a film company, "the best job (he) ever had." He then found some odd jobs but couldn't make enough money to make the support payments the government demanded.
The whole idea that a poor man is expected to support two households, including one with a child he never sees that may not even be his, is contrary to common sense and to all human experience. In too many cases, DNA investigations revealed that the poor guy is not the father of the kid for whom he is ordered to pay child support.
Scott seemed to turn a corner, but after making a couple of payments, he fell behind again and was sent back to jail. He said, "This whole time in jail, my child support is still going up."
Walter Scott's older brother, Anthony Scott, told the Charleston Post and Courier, "Everybody knows why he ran away." A bench warrant had been issued for his arrest for failure to pay enough child support.
A survey of county jails in South Carolina found that at least 1 out of every 8 incarcerated people is there for not paying so-called child support. All this imprisonment is imposed without any jury trial, due process or the benefit of a lawyer to defend the guy.
According to CUNY Law School Professor Ann Cammett, an expert on incarcerated parents who owe child support, "We have zero evidence that it works. If the goal of the child support system is to get support for children, parents can't do that if they're incarcerated."
One case on this issue went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011, but it didn't produce much relief. Michael Turner of South Carolina argued that his constitutional rights had been violated because he didn't have a lawyer at his hearing, even though jail was the penalty if he lost. The Court ordered some minimal "procedural safeguards," but didn't tackle the issue of giving a father the fundamental right of due process before sending him to jail.
We hope Walter Scott's death may help some dads in the future who are unfairly treated by the family courts, not given a lawyer, denied due process and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
To see what was on the other side?
Seriously, this cop needs to be tried and found guilty..
Liberal democrat politics is to blame.
The fact is, imprisoning these men on a judge’s order alone is simply unconstitutional. If the offense he committed deserves jail time, then it is a criminal matter, whether we call it that or not, and we are guaranteed a trial by jury for all criminal offenses under the 6th amendment.
We’ve got to hand it to Phyllis Schlafly for taking on an issue which few people dare. In the eyes of the feminist dominated law, men are automatically guilty by reason of having a penis, even if they haven’t poked it anywhere inappropriate.
Guilty of what is the question. There is no way on GOD's earth he gets convicted to murder for which is charge. I thought this well before Geraldo's opinion on the matter. He they should plead this to manslaughter and if the suspect did fire the taser at the officer, the prison term should be minimal.
If you want a jury trial you better have lotsa money.
You’re....kidding?
Given the “right” judge, think “right now”.
Happens every day, hundreds of times.
I think he was overcharged.
>>Scott’s fear that he would be returned to debtor’s prison<<
Instead, the state sentenced him to death. Wow!
Shot in the back by someone who is to protect and serve.
The cop should definitely go down for this, but I think the subtext of the article is how over-regulated USSA is a big problem.
The more rules the cops have to enforce, the more of a chance of a run in with one, hence, a greater chance you die.
Like the guy in NYC who died in the course of resisting arrest, not for something like murder, rape, or robbery, but for selling loosys.
Just wait until you start getting knocks on your door by someone from the EPA to talk about that puddle in your yard and the thousands of dollars you must spend to protect it...
Debtors' prisons were common in England in the colonial period. You can read about them in the writings of Charles Dickens, who wrote from first-hand knowledge; his own father spent time in a debtor's prison.
Great point!!!!!
duhh....
Except there is no evidence that the victim fired the taser at the officer (the pictures on the conservative treehouse site don't show anything like that), and, more tellingly, at no point in any of the post-shooting videos that have been released did the officer ever claim that the victim shot the taser. Wouldn't "he shot me with my taser" have been the first words out of the officer's mouth?
It's his best option at this time...
Extremely good and important article - thanks for posting.
Nope! Like you, I thought a trial by jury was guaranteed for all criminal cases. Then a FReeper pointed out (on another thread) that the Supreme Court has arbitrarily decided that the 6th Amendment only applies for offenses punishable by more than 6 months.
I looked it up. He was right! So a person could be charged with, say, eight crimes, each punishable by 6 months, and be denied a jury trial!
So some judge could find him guilty and sentence him to 4 years in prison (8 times 6 months). No jury involved at all.
I agree with the writer on this one.
Child support is slavery of men to the woman, and black men seem the most to have had the chains put on by these Islamic like civil family courts and initiated by the woman, black women the most often.
He was shot for not giving enough $$$ to the woman who gets it for having sex.
Around here they’re jailed for nonpayment of truancy fines.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.