Monday, April 21, 2008

Outrageous, again

State Rep. Rob Briley (D-Nashville) is proving, again, why he needs to step down from the State Legislature. As if his personal battle with alcoholism and keeping his family together weren't enough he's decided that men who have been mistakenly identified as the father of a child, and paying child support as a result, shouldn't have any relief from that injustice. This inthe same year that Rep. G. A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) proposed to DNA test every child to establish paternity. What's up with these men?

But back to the current nonsense. This from Rep. Stacey Campfield's (R-Knoxville) blog post:

My bill to allow non biological parents (proven by DNA) to stop future child support payments was killed in full judiciary this last week. The bill did not cover people who had adopted or used artificial insemination or such cases. It was drafted for people who had been defrauded into believing they were the fathers and were not.
We're talking fraud here. We're talking about instances when mom wasn't faithful and kept it a secret from dad...for financial gain. And here's the astonishing exchange initiated by Rep. Briley via AC Kleinheider (now of the Nashville Post). He's got the transcript if you don't have a few minutes for this video.

This: "Yet you want to punish a child as the result of an adulterous situation," said Briley. "You put the child in the position of bearing the burden of a parent's conduct." Ummm...Rep. Briley, that's life. It's what happens. Sins of the father (and mother) are visited upon the children as you well know. It doesn't do anyone any good to compound that error with further injustice.






KnoxNews has a few more details.

1 comment:

Wendy said...

I still don't understand Briley's questions. Obviously, he didn't either or he would have been able to restate the questions. I personally know of a man who was in a relationship with a woman, during which time a girl was born. Sixteen years later he found out that he is not the biological father to his daughter. The disappointment and betrayal has made his relationship difficult with his daughter and his current wife. His daughter now has doubt about how truthful her biological mother is. No longer is the state of Ohio requiring him to pay child support. He has no regrets of calling her daughter and continues to support her anyway he can. The harm done to the daughter was not done by him, but by her mother. The only reason the biological mother pretended for 16 plus years was to not have to work. It was all a scam. Yes our children pay dearly for the sins of us parents. I agree with the State of Ohio for no longer holding fathers accountable for children they did not father.