Paternity Fraud Rampant in U.S.

Just one of the problems with the tort law system in the US is judges and juries are willing to award victims settlements against companies that have no responsibility for the injury other than they have the ability to pay. An example: Stella Liebeck. In 1992, Stella, then 79, spilled a cup of McDonald's coffee onto her lap, burning herself. A New Mexico jury awarded her $2.9 million in damages. The same thing is happening with child support.

What is more insidious with the child support cases is the government is participating in the fraud. Nonpayment of child support is a big problem that state welfare agencies often must make up for. So in the interest of securing funds to offset the expense the court has abandoned the presumption of innocence on the part of the accused father for the expediency of getting financial support for the child.

More than three years ago, a Maine district court judge ruled that Geoffrey Fisher no longer had to pay child support for a child that wasn't his.

But that didn't stop the state from revoking Fisher's driver's license and coming after him for thousands of dollars it says he owes in back payments.

Last year, Maine sent Fisher, 35, a letter seeking $11,450 in child support, even though officials know that DNA tests proved he isn't the father of the child in question.

In the summer of 2001, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services took him to court because of delinquent payments. The court ordered him to pay up, and the state had his license suspended under the "deadbeat dad" law.

That fall the girl, then 3, was placed in foster care. When Fisher pushed for custody, the state ordered a paternity test, which proved he wasn't the father.

At that point, one branch of the human services department told him he could no longer see the girl because he wasn't the father, while another said he owed $10,000 and couldn't have a driver's license because he was the father.

As the nation experiences an unprecedented increase in unwed motherhood, more men are finding themselves named as "fathers," for purposes of child support, simply because of their ability to pay, say several recent studies.

It has been found that as many as 30% of men paying child support are doing so for a child that is not theirs. The tests that are used by some states are so unreliable that men who never knew the woman have shown positive for paternity. Other tests are more reliable but in some cases the accused was precluded from using them.

If we value justice and the rule of law than such cannot continue. The tragedy of single motherhood will not be solved by letting fraud continue. The reasonability of both parents needs to be addressed. By letting one go while the other puts an innocent on the hook only reinforces irresponsible behavior, something our court system should not be complicit with.