Background: Last month Ohio’s Butler County Child Support Enforcement Agency launched a highly-publicized new campaign which puts mug shots of the County’s “Most Wanted Deadbeat Parents†on pizza boxes. The idea was the brainchild of Agency Executive Director Cynthia Brown.
I debated Brown on FOX News’ nationally-syndicated Morning Show with Mike and Juliet–to watch the debate, click here. To learn more about the story, see my co-authored column Ohio Pizza Box/’Deadbeat Dad’ Campaign Unfairly Stigmatizes Fathers (Cincinnati Post, 4/2/07), or click here.
I have long pointed out that the “Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent’ lists put out by many states and district attorneys are filled almost exclusively with low-income men. During my debate with Butler County Child Support Enforcement Agency Executive Director Cynthia Brown (pictured right), I detailed the occupations of the men on her pizza box “Wanted” poster, all of whom were blue collar workers.
Well, perhaps by chance or perhaps because she was annoyed by me, Brown has finally, finally found a guy with a decent job who’s behind on his child support–Dwight D. Heisler, an attorney. According to the article Attorney’s Law License Suspended Over Child Support (WCPO, 4/26/07):
“If you don’t pay, you can’t practice. That’s the message from Butler County’s Child Support Enforcement Agency to a local attorney who owes back child support. The agency was behind the push to have Dwight D. Heisler’s law license suspended. It’s director says Heisler owed $3,900 as of the end of 2006. The group has aggressively gone after non-paying parents by putting their pictures on pizza boxes and having driver licenses suspended. Now it plans to go after personal property.”
This is not to say that Butler County’s action is necessarily correct–Heisler may be legitimately unable to pay, too. His business could have gone bad, he could have been asked to pay too much, and he might be financially wiped out from the divorce. We don’t know if he was given a fair custody arrangement, or if that arrangement is being honored by his ex. But at least Brown finally, finally found a “deadbeat” with a decent job and an education–congrats, Cindy…
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