Federal Child Support Information Links
Getting your feet wet: Wikipedia
* Bradley Amendment - Wikipedia
Bradley Amendment Snapshot
Legal Basics
* Smith testimony
Hearing on Oversight of the Child Support Enforcement Program
* highlighted text of the law
Legal Text
* McLeod testimony
U.S. Government Hearing
* ”Washington Times” article, 27 Apr 1999
Washington Times Article
* text of a lawsuit challenging the amendment
Legal Challenge, Currently Failed
Stories and Testimonies
Child Support Casualties
This site provides the disturbing details and background information of suicide casualties committed by non custodial fathers whom have struggled to cope with both the difficulties of separation and the injustice of their court ordered child support payments.
Clarence Brandley
Clarence Brandley was a janitor at a local High School in Texas. He was later falsely accused and convicted of rape and murder. After spending approximately 9 years in jail for a crime that he was later vindicated of, Brandley was handed a bill for $50,000 in back child support. Due to his incarceration, it was quite obvious that he was unable to pay. The Bradley Amendment states that child support arrearages cannot be modified no matter the situation; whether it be poverty, paternity, or disability.
Donald Gardner
Donald Gardner owes $119,846 in back child support to his former wife, but there is little chance he will pay it soon - or ever. After failing to pay support for his two children for much of the early 1990’s because he felt the payments were too high, Mr. Gardner broke 27 bones in a car accident in 1997. Being in and out of hospitals for three years left him penniless, and when he tried to return to work he found that the state had suspended his driver’s license because of his accumulated child support debt.
The Bradley Ammendment and Our Soldiers
The Bradley Amendment and US Code, Title 42, Sec 666, sub sec(a), para (9), part c, bars courts from reducing child support arrearages. Many reservists deployed to Iraq with child support obligations had no time before reporting for duty to seek court ordered reductions on the grounds their military pay was insufficient to pay their current obligation. Thousands of reservists could return home to face financial ruin and even jail!
Child Support by Non Custodial Fathers
This site provides numerous case citations from the states of Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Minnesota, Missouri, and Utah. They were compiled by two Massachusetts attorneys and published in a extremely interesting article for a private newspaper allegedly serving the legal community.
