Were You Raised Without A Father? by Chip Spradley

Used with permission of the author

It matters little what state or country you live in. If you are a father you have no rights.

Maybe it was because the system in Georgia ran him off. He, like thousands, may have been jailed and bankrupted, and got the message that trying to see his children would get him more of the same with very little contact with his children. Actually, when a man has children in marriage, and is divorced or has a child out of wedlock, the system teaches him quickly that he has no parental rights or responsibilities except to pay child support. This reality creates the mindset that he is really not a parent, only a paycheck to the mother and others in the system. Court ordered visitation and custody for the father is often not enforced. When the father tries to enforce visitation and hires an attorney, he may have a restraining order placed against him, which costs him again. Next come false allegations of child abuse and jail, which costs him big dollars and probably his job. Also, the court will order him to have a psychological evaluation to make sure he is mentally fit because he is a man. More money. The case gets delayed time after time, and the attorney fees keep going up.

Dad pays his attorney, her attorney, the guardian ad litem (the child's court-appointed attorney), the psychologist, alimony and child support. Now with all this he probably has lost his job, business, health, children, and self respect, but that seems to be part of the plan. The typical father can easily spend at least $30,000+. While this is going on, his child visitation is usually very limited or zero. The verbal abuse the man often constantly receives from his ex is unprintable, and even when recorded to show proof of it, it will be excused by the court. However, he will be charged with stalking based on lies. More jail. An interesting example is that at least 1100 of the 3300 prisoners in the Dekalb County jail are there as a result of the above items. Taxpayers take note. Thousands of fathers endure this travesty, paid for by your tax dollars.

Of course, many Superior Court judges go right along with this gender bias. Anything to punish the man and run him off. Remember that when an incumbent judge is on the ballot. After all, this “anti-father position” of running the father off has been supported by five top Georgia politicians for at least twenty years. They understood, and it was plainly evident that this “anti-father position” created many problems that could now be talked about and solved by more government programs. Just what government needed. And, don't tell anybody, but everybody in the system either makes money or owes their job to this “anti-father position.”

The liberal press thought they were doing good and gave them credit for helping people. The press never criticized these five top politicians who have killed numerous pieces of legislation for at least twenty years that would help solve the problem. Besides, they got a lot of votes for helping people and from those profiting from the system. Until now most fathers have not realized the connection between all of the above problems and these top five. As more fathers were run off, the lawyers and psychologists made more money, the government needed more judges, court and jail employees, and of course more policemen. Fatherless homes produced more poverty and crime which means our social welfare system and prisons had to be greatly expanded-more government employees (voters). An amoral industry was developed at the expense of society. After being involved in the fathers movement for nine years, I do not believe these top five politicians will ever change their position. They apparently like the results, or do not have the leadership competence to effect change. These are the people primarily responsible for many children being raised without a father!

While the above effected everybody, the poor were hit also by the welfare system that was designed with the “anti-father position” of running the father off, instead of one that would encourage fatherhood. In fact, the welfare system totally replaced the father. We all know the results. Again these top five politicians never did anything to solve the problem.

Those top five in power politicians sometimes change, but the “anti-father position” of running the father off remains the same. After all, the press supported them. They did not care that lives were being ruined or else they would have supported change. Let's face it, no change has occurred.

If you have been effected by this political con game, you should know whom to blame. The five top power politicians in Georgia are currently [November, 2002]:

1. Governor Roy Barnes (State Senator for 16 years, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a State Representative for 4 years before becoming Governor)

2. House Speaker Tom Murphy from Breman-27 years as Speaker. His constituents now know how he has used his power. Always against fathers.

3. State Representative Speaker Pro Tempore Jack Connell from Augusta, second in command in the House, now retiring after 34 years.

4. State Representative Larry Walker from Perry, 30 years in office, now the Majority Leader.

5. State Representative Tom Bordeaux from Savannah, 12 years in office, now the House Judiciary Committee Chairman.

All five are attorneys and Democrats.

All the five top politicians seem to work together against children having fathers. Several dozen bills have been introduced over the years to help fathers, but they were all killed.

Here are some examples of the modus operandi against fathers. Tom Murphy told the Senator who sponsored the joint custody bill in 1997 that “You are crazy for sponsoring that bill.” With total power as House Speaker his word is NO on every bill to help children have a father. Governor Roy Barnes told me during a discussion on that bill that “The system works just fine like it is.” Maybe for the attorneys, I thought. Eight years earlier when he was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1989, he had sponsored the current child support guidelines based on gross income instead of net income like most other states. Tom Bordeaux would not let the Judiciary Committee vote on the child support guideline bill this year even though the Georgia guidelines were ruled unconstitutional in Superior Court on February 25, 2002. Jack Connell and Larry Walker, in the number two and three power positions in the House are against any pro-father legislation.

We have found that generally most of the rank and file Democrats and Republicans are for changing our laws to help solve this problem. Although the Republicans have tried to make changes, the top five powers have stopped them. The Georgia Senate which is controlled by the Democrats has generally been pro-family and passed a number of bills that would have greatly helped men to be fathers, but the top five killed them.

Many Superior Court judges, often appointed by the Governor, support the same “anti-father position” of running the father off and oppose any changes that effects their power. In fact, the Council of Superior Court Judges usually testifies against proposed legislation. They should be supporting fatherhood instead. Many of them apparently do not care about the lives they ruin any more than the top five in power. Just a reason to never vote for an incumbent judge unless you know his or her stand. Remember the election for judges is the primary election in Georgia.

Just for the record, sometimes it is the mother that is run off by a father using this system and that is equally wrong.

Chip Spradley

For additional information read The Myth of Deadbeat Dads by Stephen Baskerville.

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Last modified 4/20/20