John Murtari Receives Feeding Tube, Continues Passive Resistance For Civil Rights And Equal Parenting
Devoted and loving father John Murtari received a feeding tube today, and says he’s relieved. Murtari, founder of A Kids Right, is carrying through with his passive resistence of not eating or drinking to highlight the need for family law reform, the civil rights of noncustodial parents and equal parenting.
.
Murtari’s health started to deteriorate soon after he turned himself into the Jamesville Correctional Facility in New York July 31. He lost twenty-eight pounds in 9 days, had such low blood pressure the medical personnel couldn’t get a diastolic reading, had uncontrollable shakes, and was starting to have trouble finishing a sentence. He agreed to cooperate with the doctors when he was told they’d be giving him a feeding tube, so he’s had approximately 30 ounces of water and 2 nutritional supplements since he was moved to the Onondaga County Justice Center August 3rd.
.
Murtari has been charged with willful failure to pay child support, even though he says he’s been paying as much as he can afford. His child support order was calculated by using the salary of a previous job, at twice the income he makes now.
.
This practice of imputing income has thrown many noncustodial parents into arrears, threatening their drivers’ and business licenses, and their freedom, like in Murtari’s case. What was once created to protect the children of “deadbeat” parents is now turning average people; normal, loving, responsible, law-abiding parents of both genders, into criminals.
.
A rally was held in front of the Onondaga County Courthouse yesterday on the International Day of Demonstration for John Murtari and Equal Parenting. Demonstrators came from as far away as Canada, and from all over New York. (Photos will be up shortly.)
.
Kris Titus of Fathers4Justice/Canada was dressed as Wonder Woman and Jim Hayes of Fathers and Families New York was dressed as “the elephant in the room.” Kelly Button of A Kids Right, Joel Benjamin, member of Fathers4Justice/USA, Tammy Bowman, member of the New York Civil Rights Council, Guy Lavigne of Fathers4Justice/Canada, Jennifer Kuhn of the National Coalition of Free Men/Greater New York and Chris Shaw of the Children Equal Parenting Association of Canada were also present. Several television crews stopped by and interviewed participants, and two articles have been published in newspapers. (links below)
.
In a show of support for Murtari and Equal Parenting, photos have been sent to the Purple Ribbon Campaign from all over the world. (Purple is known as the color of equality.) Family law reform advocacy, and activism, is occurring in dozens of countries, where a common phrase is, “The best parent is both parents.”
.
Post Standard – August 10 – Jailed Activist Refusing Food
Finger Lake Times – August 10 – Lyons Man Refuses Food, Water
For more info click HERE.
.
I'm a sun and nature loving, 50-something, laid back, forward thinking, liberal anti-feminist egalitarian, san francisco bay area native, single mom of 4 and yia yia to 2. I've been active in the equal parenting movement since 2002. Known as the purple Queen of Equality, I once blogged as the Feminist4Fathers. Find me now on sharedparentingworks.org and jugsforjustice.org. | More from Teri Stoddard
Stumble It!
August 10th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
My prayers are with John, and a check to his legal defense fund.
We will not be quiet. We will not go away, and we will no longer be the whipping dogs of the anti-traditional family, anti Father agenda.
Every day we grow stronger and more visible. I end this post now to go work hard and make certain that reality is more concretely cemented into the public perception as every new day dawns.
August 10th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
I tried to post a confirmation of what deepblue stated.
Instead, I got a censor bot.
It’s terrible to be censored on a men’s rights forum. Could it because a woman is censoring….AGAIN?
Eric
Did you know…….
As you walk up the steps to the Capitol Building which houses the Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world’s law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view — it is Moses and the Ten Commandments!
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door. As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall right above where the Supreme Court judges sit a display of the Ten Commandments!
There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.
James Madison, the fourth president, known as “The Father of Our Constitution” made the following statement “We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians…not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.
Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher…whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.
Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.
Thomas Jefferson worried about that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law…an oligarchy…the rule of few over many…
The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said, “Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers.”
August 10th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
For almost the last two weeks, Teri Stoddard has written and posted numerous updates here on MND. And she has done a great job…
But we need:
Kathleen Parker
Glenn Sacks
and
Wendy McElroy
To write some articles concerning Murtari and and see if we can get the main stream media interested in this guy’s situation.
So, I’m asking to join in because Murtari is someone who should legitimately be labelled Hero.
August 10th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Murtari is not a hero. Instead, he is acting like a spoiled child that hasn’t gotten his way. This man pays less than .003% of his annual income towards the care of his child. He refuses to even contribute for medical costs.
It really doesn’t say much for the fathers rights movement when “supporters” show up dressed like cartoon characters, supporting someone who is truly a deadbeat dad.
Supporting Murtari will not change any laws. In fact, it gives those who are opposed to changing the laws more reason not to change those laws. Suppporting Murtari sends a clear message that the fathers rights movement is really about paying child support and not what is in the best interests of the children.
August 10th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
Alright FamilyLawyer let me ask you this:
Exactly how is it you can justify the Crime of Peonage, defined as such by 18 U.S.C. §1581, in demanding that a father who never had a fair chance at joint custody of his children, pay a monthly amount each month arbitrarily set by a so-called court without any requirement that anyone PROVE under any standard, be it preponderance of evidence or beyond reasonable doubt, that such father ever did anything WRONG, to justify such deprivation of property and liberty (WTF do you think James Madison meant with the phrase “due process of law”?), by means that necessarily requires he be employed?
And to use his children to justify such a federal felony, crime against humanity, and crime against everything the United States is supposed to be about?
Since you use the man’s child to justify slavery and peonage and to call him names like “spoiled brat”, how is that any less morally reprehensible than Hezballah’s practice of using children as human shields in a war?
August 10th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
I agree with FamilyLawyer. Sure it is unfair when exes move away and take the children, but you deal with the situation the best you can.
Murtari stopped paying support and thinks airfare to visit his son is enough. Many of us pay airfare to see our kids, pay child support and pay medical insurance.
Murtari really is only sending the message that he doesn’t want to pay child support. If he really cared about his child, he would do what I do: pay support and visit often. Sometimes the law makes life intolerable, but you have to cope. Family comes first, not family law protests and publicity stunts.
August 10th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
FamilLawLawyer:
Murtari is not a hero. Instead, he is acting like a spoiled child that hasn’t gotten his way. This man pays less than .003% of his annual income towards the care of his child. He refuses to even contribute for medical costs.
Ok, would like to Back Those Figures up?
Put Up or Shut Up.
August 10th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Bethesda Paul
Murtari stopped paying support and thinks airfare to visit his son is enough. Many of us pay airfare to see our kids, pay child support and pay medical insurance.
And what about the poor slobs who don’t even have that?!
Hey, I lived off of Wal Mart Spaghetti and eggs for years, dealt with a bleeding eardrum and various other crap because they took everything.
Again, what iof the guys are totally broke?
Put yourself in their shoes then talk.
Murtari hasn’t killed anyone, threatened anyone… he just wants a fair shake.
August 10th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
I sympathize with guys who lose everything, contact with children and still face arrest and unpayable debts. Having acknowleged that reality, from my understanding of THIS case, Murtari stopped paying support.
I completely support men who cannot pay support due to unrealistic child support awards or lost jobs. These things happen and the courts never take these realities into account. They just let the debt pile up and then start signing warrants. That is wrong, stupid and counter-productive.
Getting back to Murtari – he CAN pay. He just thinks its wrong that his ex took his child away from him. He is protesting his wife doing him wrong and the system facilitating this. However, destroying his health in a jail cell will accomplish nothing. Civil disobedience only works in a basically moral society. The family courts don’t care f***-all if Murtari dies. That is a fact. They also don’t care if poor fathers die.
I wish Murtari would start eating, get out of jail and be a vocal advocate for shared parenting. It’s a lot better option than dying in jail.
August 10th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
bethesda, you disappoint me. I thought you were on our side. Please allow me to explain something that should be obvious:
If you pay your child support like a good little boy, no one has any reason to listen to a word you have to say about anything.
Unless it is recognized that he who pays the piper can withold the payment, he will not have any abiliity to call the tune.
The enforceable right to say no is the only guarantee of freedom there ever was.
I do not qualify the word “enforceable”
If we win the right to enforce our decision to say no in the courts, great, then we will have shared parenting and a far better willingness on the part of the ladies to work things out before running to the courthouse. There will be less domestic violence because the women will have less incentive to try to deliberately piss off their men. If we truly believe in the institution of marriage and that it is the best environment for raising children, then we need to take greed out of the equation.
That means everyone retains the right to say no to state sponsored extortion and peonage.
If we cannot win the right to say no in the courts or in the democratic process, then there is the 2nd Amendment. If that seems harsh, WTF do you think the United States Army and the United States Navy is all about?
They are the enforcers of our right to say no to Hirohito, Tojo, Hitler, Mussolini, Kaiser Wilhelm, to make Mexicans wish Pancho Villa stayed on their side of the border, to say no to Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, and originally to King Geoarge III, literally driving him crazy.
I will never concede my right to say no, nor will I ever concede that right on the part of anyone else. Without that, we will never have shared parenting as the presumption in divorce.
August 10th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
bethesda_paul
Getting back to Murtari – he CAN pay. He just thinks its wrong that his ex took his child away from him. He is protesting his wife doing him wrong and the system facilitating this. However, destroying his health in a jail cell will accomplish nothing.
According to his attorney in one of those links above, he can’t pay all they want AND remain a viable part of his son’s life.
SHE moved away, let HER figure out HOW to pay HER bills and let the boy go back with his dad where he probably wants to be anyway.
And all of this ‘advocacy’ and ‘protesting’ by normal means has accomplished… what?! Murtari put his personal freedom and life on the line to raise the visibility of our cause; for that he has my support and loyalty.
My advice is this: they powers that be should watch this situation very closely and compare this to names like Darren Mack, Michael Bochicchio, John Allen Muhammad. And then they should realize something very important- deal fairly with a hunger striker or get shot by an angry psychopath… because when people are robbed of everything and have no legal or financial recourse left to pursue justice, they usually turn to violence.
I’m with Murtari’s approach… because nothing else has, or will, work.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Sounds like a lot of hot air.
If you are aggressive and proactive in a divorce, you can come to a much more agreeable settlement. However, if you use your right to say NO to the court, they will make your life miserable and you won’t see your kids at all.
The day family court is equitable and fair is the day the IRS tells us we can stop paying taxes. It won’t happen and things will get worse than they are now. That is why marriage is dying and men like Murtari are driven to desperate but ultimately pointless gestures.
I’m only advocating taking the most productive approach to an impossible situation. In the family court system, if you stand up and say “Don’t Tread on Me”, you are going to have a bootprint on your face.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
And, just a question…
Are you advocating the shooting of judges? You cited Darren Mack and John Allen Muhammad (?)
August 10th, 2006 at 9:11 pm
bethesda_paul said:
“Murtari really is only sending the message that he doesn’t want to pay child support. If he really cared about his child, he would do what I do: pay support and visit often. Sometimes the law makes life intolerable, but you have to cope. Family comes first, not family law protests and publicity stunts.”
Until people are willing to sacrifice for their inalienable rights as John is doing, then all there will be is coping with tyranny. No wonder we are losing more freedoms everyday. People can not even recognize the sacrifice of others, much less take action themselves. Raising your children is as basic a right as breathing, yet government takes it away, and people blame the person fighting back with the only thing he has left, his life – and mock him for doing it. We need every person imprisoned by family court to do what John is doing and family court may change.
“If he really cared about his child, he would do what I do: pay support” is feminazi speak. He should have his children 50% of the time and not pay anyone else for raising his children. The first step to regaining our rights is to recognize that the government as taken them. Many still do not have a clue.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
bethesda_paul
I’m only advocating taking the most productive approach to an impossible situation. In the family court system, if you stand up and say “Don’t Tread on Meâ€, you are going to have a bootprint on your face.
You know, I was just reading up on “A Case Of Harlequin Fetus With Psoriasis In His Family” (http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath=journals/ijd/vol1n1/harlequin.xml)and your defeatism is far more depressing than that article.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
bethesda_paul
you advocating shooting judges?
I posted:
I’m with Murtari’s approach… because nothing else has, or will, work.
And you sir are a Troll. Sorry I fell for it…
August 10th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Well, my child support is a very tiny fraction of my income. I visit very frequently and stay involved. I’m okay with a happy single life and dealing with the system the best I can. I don’t think shooting judges or doing jail time for contempt of court buys fathers any more time with their children.
Maybe if you guys would set your sights higher than WalMart, you’d have enough income to manage better.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
bethesda_paul
From my profile on another website:
THE FOLLOWING I post as a warning to young men who are considering marriage. Don’t. Period.
I worked my way through college driving a truck in the middle of the night and attending class by day. I earned everything with my own two hands and asked no one for anything…
Then, after I had gone from being a poor kid from a redneck town in Florida to make almost a $100K a year, the government allowed my ex-wife to destroy my life and nearly ruined the lives of my kids.
Long story short- I lived on Wal-Mart spaghetti and eggs for for years because they were cheap. When I went down in flames, it was the government holding the torch and enabling this lunatic to do the damage.
I worked my way through it. Most people who are unemployed, it is by choice… no one, no organization, no govt. agency, no church was there to help me. The help I did receive, in the form of opportunity or cash, came from a Jew, a Catholic and an Evangelical. I respect these people and literally owe these three men my life. Otheriwse, when it comes to ‘the poor’ or ‘the government’ or some greedy preacher asking for cash, my attitude is very simple:
f-ck ‘em all.
I love my kids, work hard and keep a low profile… I don’t need the government. It needs me and millions more like me who keep this economy and country afloat.
And for the clowns who think they are ‘entitled’ to this or that… get-a-job-or-starve.
I’m glad for you your CS is so low… a matter of fact it’s SO low you should probably pay more… Actually, you should go to your ex and brag how low it is and see how long of a wait you have before you’re right back in court.
BP, your arrogance will be your downfall.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
bethesda_paul said,
“Well, my child support is a very tiny fraction of my income. I visit very frequently and stay involved. I’m okay with a happy single life and dealing with the system the best I can.”
And there we have it. ME, ME, ME. The modern metrosexual man of America. I hope you do not lose your income and have a taste of reality. If you do, I hope people show you more respect and compassion than you are showing here.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
The problem with your approach bethesda is that it is NOT productive. It has never been productive, in the face of tyranny. It is like appeasing Hitler, Hezballah, or King John I. If you throw meat at a tiger, it will not become a vegetarian.
I plead the Antipeonage Act. And the 14th Amendment, and the Bill of Rights, and Zablocki v. Redhail, and any other reasonably supportable argument I can think of. (I don’t do gold fringed flag or titles of nobility amendment) I admit it has not been the easiest road for me to travel, but I also believe that it would be easier if I was not so damn lonely!
There is power, bethesda, real power, in NEVER, EVER conceding that they have ANY RIGHT AT ALL to this shit to us.
18 U.S.C. §1581 defines it as a felony and obviously no one has any right to do it! If there is no excuse for domestic violence then neither is there any excuse for violating the Constitution of the United States!
Yes I have had my drivers license suspended for child support. After they blew the serve required by the statute. 5 criminal charges of DWLS, 5 dismissals, 4 with prejudice, and 1 without prejudice after the statute of limitations was up. No agreement to pay any money for prosecutor’s costs. No deferred prosecution. No nonsense. No bullshit. No probation. No sentence. Just complete victory for the defendant, little ol’ me.
You see, there are over 200,000 NCP’s ordered to pay child support at any given time in the State of Washington. Imagine if a mere 2,000 were to take the “Don’t Tread on Me” approach I have taken.
There would be no need for a hunger strike. No need for any violence. No need for any suicide.
We would win and the enemy would be running for their lives, not from us, but from the federal grand jury!
August 10th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
Arrogance? Troll? Where is all this coming from?
My only point was that Murtari is completely wrong in what he is doing. I’m sure his son would like to see him, even if it’s just once in a while. What if Murtari dies of cardiac arrest due to his weakened condition?
Is making a point that important? He is one man who will be completely ignored by the state. Nobody cares about Murtari but himself, his son and his family. The government serves itself and the interests of those who staff it’s courts and it’s endless buildings full of feminist social workers.
If every man paying support stopped paying until equal parenting was established, perhaps things would change. As things stand, the courts run the show and will be in charge for a very long time.
Maybe fathers who pay support and stay involved are “good little boys” as you say, but they are alive and they aren’t in jail or dying of hunger strikes.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
Roger Knight
We would win and the enemy would be running for their lives, not from us, but from the federal grand jury!
Damn, I like your style.
Bravo!
August 10th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
bethesda_paul
Maybe fathers who pay support and stay involved are “good little boys†as you say, but they are alive and they aren’t in jail or dying of hunger strikes.
BP, let me answer you with this:
To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last–but eat you he will. Ronald Reagan
Murtari is saying ‘Enough.’ And his sacrafice of his freedom, and maybe his life, benefits us.
We need to take his sacrafice and honor it by motivating ourselves to do more- write, call, and pster everyone in the media and in government. And not stop… because eventually you, or someone you love, will be eaten by the crocodile…
August 10th, 2006 at 9:50 pm
I see that side of it, but I don’t see much media coverage of Murtari’s situation. Maybe he may have to give his life to attract attention to how f’d up the family courts have become. It just seems an awful waste for him to do it.
Murtari is doing the non-violent, non-cooperation that Gandhi advanced. Fine, it works when you are dealing with a moral opponent. The British were basically moral people and realized when it was time to leave India. With Murtari, he is not facing a moral enemy. He’s facing an enemy that wants him either paying support and being quiet, or they would like him dead and out of the way. US family courts are not moral. The system wants easy answers which always favor women.
I’m convinced Murtari would do much more to change things by living and staying out of jail.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
bethesda_paul
I’m convinced Murtari would do much more to change things by living and staying out of jail.
BP, they pick us off one at a time… Murtari may becoming a Noble focal point for this movement… we’ve needed that for a long time.
Sure, he may be able to help himself, but I get a feeling this is more about what his son will face in the future than what John is trying to fix now.
That six week vacation seemed a bit excessive to me until I realized that maybe he was saying goodbye… We need to make Everyone aware of this man… EVERYONE… by any non-violent means available…
August 10th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Hello,
I have lived well below the poverty level for the last 18 years, all the while the state seizing 60% of my paycheck. For the last 18 years I have used a bucket to relieve myself, I do not have the money for a traditional living arraignment. I have eaten rotten meat because I don’t have refrigeration and I don’t have any transportation. I have lost everything to child support. I have died inside and admire Murtari. Good luck to all you that have not lost it all yet. If it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. It is just time before misandry starts working its way up the food chain and takes what you have, in a blink.
August 11th, 2006 at 3:10 am
I fully support John’s protest.
And I am pleased to see that he is costing the state much more than the average inmate. Going to the emergency room and the other medical expenses add up quickly! I have heard it costs the average of $30 to $50 dollars a day to keep someone in jail without added expenses:
7 x $30.00 = $210.00 per week or $10,920 per year.
So, when it starts to really costs the taxpayers to play the lock up the “deadbeat (or more than likely “deadbroke”) dad” game the less often incarceration will be used.
We are not going to get past that “in the best interests of the child or children” mantra by being nice and stepping up to the plate and all the rest of that archaic rot!
John is showing us the way and he is a true hero in my opinion.
August 11th, 2006 at 6:53 am
BP, I agree that the system could give a sh*t about John and children, but that’s not who he’s trying to affect here. It’s PUBLIC OPINION that is important. In other words, we NEED publicity to generate sympathy for our cause. If feminists didn’t have public opinion on their side, they would just dry up and blow away.
August 11th, 2006 at 7:30 am
My support is behind this guy 100%. By all accounts he is a class act and he is attracting much more *positive* attention to the cause by what he is doing. What did you really expect though? This is still the MSM we are talking about. Why would they report on this anyways? I don’t think too much spin can be applied.
That being said, I could not condem someone for shooting a judge in one of these cases IF IT WAS THEIR ONLY OFFENCE. Yep, that’s what I believe and I’m brave enough to say it. Judges take an oath and when they deviate from the constitution and continue to trample people’s rights they become criminals. If a criminal was taking my rights then I would have no qualms about defending myself.
It is the RESPONSIBILITY of courts and judges to protect our freedoms and when they fail in that they need to take personal responsibility for their actions.
August 11th, 2006 at 7:59 am
I certainly admire what Murtari is doing.
There are issues here other than financial, such as a custodial parent being allowed to move a child across the country thus effectively removing the parenting rights of the non-custodial parent. What is more important than access to your child?
However, I would like to know what the financial facts are.
FamilyLawyer wrote “This man pays less than .003% of his annual income towards the care of his child.” .003% of say $100,000 would be $3! I doubt this is true. It makes me wonder if FamilyLawyer is a feminist who can’t do math, a feminist who lies, or both. Am I being redundant here?
Murtari has claimed he can not afford the court ordered payments. Can anyone point me to the facts of what his income is and what he is being told to pay?
August 11th, 2006 at 8:00 am
This situation COULD be a perfect opportunity for men to get out the message about Family Courts; about how they need a complete review, how they operate and possibly how they need an overhaul. The first observation I’ve noticed is that practically no men have bothered to show up to demonstrate about this in numbers great enough to attract attention to the underlying issue: Family Courts. The second observation I’ve noticed is that there isn’t even much activity, and even less a consensus, about the issue here. I can only guess as to why this hasn’t lit a fire among men, by those who have been burned by the Family Courts, and by those who have been getting the message by places such as MND.
The message I leave with is that it is a waste of my time to be involved with men’s rights issues except within my own circle of friends. I also leave with the understanding that the threat to my rights as a man are not only feminists and feminists enablers, but also the fact that most men really do not care strongly enough about their own rights to want to fight for them (with due respect for Stephen Baskerville, Mike LaSalle, AngryHarry, and several others).
August 11th, 2006 at 8:57 am
While I do support Johns protest, it’s not the only way to fight back from jail. When you find among criminals, it’s interesting they listen to their lawyers. They give up their right to a speedy trial, then take a deal they would have gotten ten minutes out of the gate. The purpose of giving up your rights is to increase your lawyers billable hours.
When you find yourself among these criminals, and explain to them what a joke the lawyers have turned the legal system into, they will demand their speedy trials. Of course by trying to pad their bills the lawyers have created such backlog that they can’t try all the criminals.
I was jailed 16 years ago for failure to pay lawyer support (civil contempt). I was given an indefinite sentence. I used this tactic and was released in 11 days.
I had decided a year earlier to quit playing by their rules, when the child support racketeers decided that I should be paying their protection. I wasn’t behind, and the amount was doable, but it was the second time around with the racketeers. I quit paying. They threatened once to charge me, but when I went to them and suggested they make good on their threat. They showed their true colors. Once you make it clear to them that you will be a political prisoner, they will not want you in their jail. But if you accept them treating you like a criminal, they know they’ve broken you.
August 11th, 2006 at 11:45 am
According to the newyorkchildsupport.com website,
The child support enforcement program has legislative authority to collect overdue child support (arrears) and to obtain medical coverage through a variety of administrative procedures. Administrative procedures can be put into action without going to court.
The administrative procedures are methods by which child support orders are made and enforced by an executive agency rather than by courts or judges.
It appears they will and can whatever it takes for Mr. Mutari to pay even if it kills him.
I did find this October 2005 Editorial from the New York Times. It is very long and tedious but read carefully for I found this, “A consensus has emerged that child support should be paid to families and not treated as government revenues. The research is clear that many fathers are unwilling to pay when their child support payments are kept by the government, effectively taxing them at a 100 percent rate. The policy of holding back collections to repay welfare benefits has driven many fathers of children receiving welfare benefits away from steady employment and regular contact with their children and helped to push them into the underground economy. However, the Wisconsin pass-through demonstration and other studies provide solid evidence that fathers pay more support when the money goes to their children instead of the government. Both Senate and House TANF reauthorization bills reflect that consensus by authorizing states to pay more of the child support to children, rather than the government. Yet, if these proposed cuts go through, states will not be able to afford to carry out the distribution reforms intended to bring the child support program into line with the self-sufficiency and family reinforcement goals of welfare reform.”
August 11th, 2006 at 11:47 am
Here is the editorial:
http://www.clasp.org/publications/backing_away_on_child_support.pdf
August 12th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
FamilyLawyer
Well, I’ve been waiting for two days for your numbers on Murtari and his .003% child support, as you claim.
Next time, at least be wearing a boot when you decide to kick a man when he’s down.
August 13th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Eric Johnson: Firstly, I have a life, and Murtari is not part of it. I read the saga that he has created when I have time – it is not consuming my life.
You, and everyone else, can find all the facts about Murtari on his website.
On his web site, it is stated that he has an annual income of $20,000 plus – $22,000 if I remember correctly. He pays $50 per month – or $600 per year. The math is quite simple after that.
The man has a Masters Degree in computer science. He owns his own company where his 2 employees make more money than he does. Could he make more money? More than likely – but he would rather squander his life in jail and making meaningless protests.
The last thing that the “movement” needs is a deadbeat parent, such as Murtari, pushing for reform.
August 13th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Lawyer
manperson,You’ve obviously never spoken with John Murtari. It also seems you’ve focused on the child support aspect of this, when in fact, his message is about civil rights and equal parenting. Some people will just never get it. Are you one of them?
Teri
August 14th, 2006 at 1:13 am
[...] For more information on John Murtari click HERE. [...]
August 14th, 2006 at 9:19 am
Dear All,
I am sure that whatever people’s views on family law, or John’s campaign objectives, we would all wish that he comes through this self imposed ordeal without harming his health too much in the process.
Please send him my good wishes if any of you are in contact with him, and tell him he has proved his committment beyond any reasonable doubt.
GrahamG
P.S. John may possibly remember me, I’m from the UK and perhaps he’ll remember our discussions regarding “a child’s best interests” and what that phrase may mean.
August 14th, 2006 at 9:56 am
Ms. Stoddard: I am familiar with what Murtari is attempting to accomplish. His labeling his actions as one of “civil rights” is a misnomer at best.
Murtari can perhaps make a compelling rationalization concerning his current situation by claiming that emotional support and visitation is much more important than the payment of child support. However, claiming that his “civil rights” have been violated is a stretch of the imagination. The fact remains that he and his ex were unable to communicate and had to ask a judge to resolve their disputes. The judge acted within the law. Shared parenting is more of a utopian concept than an exact science. Two parents who are unable to communicate make shared parenting a difficult concept to accept across the board.
Child support is the primary issue given that is what Murtari is in jail for. He is not in jail for protesting the family law system. If his failure to pay child support is actually a protest against the family law system then the classification of “Murtari the deadbeat” is appropriate.
In pressing for reform of the family law system, Murtari is now a liability for all concerned. Legislators are not going to take a twice convicted deadbeat seriously – anymore than they take adults dressing as cartoon characters climbing bridges and what not.
There are more productive ways to bring about changes to the family law system than the route that Murtari is taking. Refusing to eat and costing the taxpayer substantial amounts of money to keep him alive is not going to get an early release for Murtari and will not bring about any reforms.
A good parent will act like an adult and be responsible. Murtari is demonstrating once again that his priorities in life are a bit off center. He is acting like a spoiled child, and his extensive writings support that assertion.
August 14th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Dear Family lawyer,
I note that you make no comment as to wishing he comes through his self imposed ordeal without damaging his health.
Mr. Mutari isn’t here to defend himself from you and your accusations and slurs – is it a characteristic of yours to take advantage of anyone or take opportunities like this to attack someone who can’t currently defend himself.
Mr Mutari is a human being, whether or not we agree with his ideas or what he is doing. Your attitude towards him, and the attitudes of others who seem to not care whether he lives through this debases our Western society in my view.
Fathers are routinely being excluded from their children’s lives on the basis of fraudulent evidence. There are lawyers in my country appalled at the family law system they are forced to try to represent.
It isn’t so much of a surprise that people dress up in tights or superhero costumes, but that decent people are forced into such actions.
John is taking things to an even greater extreme and only he knows why he feels he must do this, but the legions of fathers similarly damaged is probably enough cause for this kind of response.
There are “NO” parental rights in relation to the child in the UK – probably contravening human rights conventions according to Clem Henricson of the National Family and Parenting Institute – so maybe John isn’t far off the mark.
Are you not acting like a spoiled child by coming here to defend your laws? If you pride yourself on being such an adult then maybe you should engage with other lawyers who oppose your support for current ‘unjust’ laws.
GrahamG
August 16th, 2006 at 12:45 am
[...] . Past posts on John Murtari . [...]
November 28th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
[...] Murtari’s being fed with a nasal feeding tube, but it wasn’t always this way. Prison officials waited 10 days before giving him the feeding tube. Murtari had an irregular heartbeat, low blood sugar, blood pressure so low they couldn’t read the second number, and he’d lost 27 lbs. [...]
December 26th, 2006 at 5:40 am
“My only point was that Murtari is completely wrong in what he is doing. What if Murtari dies of cardiac arrest due to his weakened condition?”
At least he’ll have lived for something. If you’re not willing to die for something, you’re not living. Murtari is courageouslydoing what he can and.
“Is making a point that important? He is one man who will be completely ignored by the state. Nobody cares about Murtari but himself, his son and his family.”
Not true as many stood outside the jail house in protest. Did you? The attitude you promote just continues the abuse us families are suffering. Looks like you need a little more suffering in your life to gain empathy for others.
I haven’t seen or talked to my two adopted children in eight years. I documented the entire ordeal we went through to be used as a tool by others in their fight. It took six years to finish Deadbeat Dad and another year to publish it. It can be found here. http://www.lulu.com/content/315711.
After you read it you might understand a little about what some of us went and are going through. I hope it is of some use to others.