Recently, a family court judge handed down a very unique order: he forbade a father from having any more children until he could show that he could support the additional child as well as his existing kids. Although this case did not take place in Atlanta, we felt that it was unique and noteworthy enough to share with our Georgia blog readers, and we would be interested to hear your opinions on the judge’s decision.
The defendant in the case was a 44-year-old man who currently owes nearly $50 in child support arrears, as well as $40,000 in interest, for a total of almost $100,000. The father currently has nine children with six different mothers.
Following a June 2011 arrest for failure to pay child support and related offenses, the judge sentenced the man to three years of probation and then, relying on an earlier court decision from that state, added a unique clause to the probation order. The judge ruled that the man may not have any more children until he can prove that he is able to support not only a new child, but his nine existing kids.
In that earlier court decision, the judges found that forbidding a parent from having more children until he or she could prove that they could support their existing kids did not interfere with the constitutional right to have children. The parent is still able to procreate, as long as he or she still makes all court-ordered child support payments for all children.
Source: Journal Times, “Deadbeat dad sent to probation, ordered not to procreate,” Kristen Zambo, Dec. 3, 2012