In a recently issued opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “deadbeat” parents facing jail time for failure to pay child support aren’t automatically entitled to an attorney. In the case, Turner v. Rogers, the father claimed he couldn’t afford either his child support payments or an attorney to defend himself in the case against him. Despite his claims, Mr. Turner was sentenced to a year in jail for “civil contempt”.
This was an interesting, but common, situation. The threat of civil contempt of court is often used in cases where a parent required to pay child support fails to pay. However, in these cases the sentencing of a parent to jail is appropriate only where a court finds that the paying parent has the ability to meet his obligation, but refuses to do so. Contempt is not intended to be a punishment in situations where the parent lacks the resources to pay.
Normally, if one is charged with a crime and he or she is unable to pay for an attorney the court will appoint one. The Constitution guarantees that. But Mr. Turner wasn’t charged with a crime, he was accused of “civil contempt”. The difference is subtle, but powerful.
The Supreme Court justices said that Mr. Turner did not have an automatic right to a lawyer to defend against “civil contempt”. But some of the justices said that Mr. Turner should have gotten some kind of protection, even though it didn’t have to be a lawyer. For instance, a court cannot sentence a parent to jail without reviewing the amount of child support the parent owes to make sure he or she can actually pay it. This makes sense, as the purpose of civil contempt is to force those who are able to pay, not punish those who cannot afford it. Since Mr. Turner’s claim that he could not afford his child support was not considered, his jail sentence was overturned.
There are two important lessons learned from this important update to family law: First, if a parent is obligated to pay child support and can no longer afford to pay because of a job loss, reduced hours or otherwise, the parent needs to go back to court to request a new child support order. Second, if a parent is entitled to child support and is not receiving it, there are tools in place such as “civil contempt” that can help the parent get the money he or she is entitled to.
