Attorney Find Blog

Keith Fisher, serving up to seven years for robbery in the Pennsylvania prison system, scored a victory for deadbeat dads who also happen to be convicted criminals earlier this month.  Fisher convinced a panel of judges that money he received as “gifts” while in prison was off limits for child support enforcement.

Fisher, whose court order requires him to pay $288/month in support for his two minor children, posted only $66 in earned income over a four month period in 2005.  During that same period, he spent nearly $1,200 in prison, including $330 at the commissary.  Fisher also paid for cable TV in his cell and a $65 pair of Adidas sneakers.  Although the prison system defines all money in an inmate’s account as “income”, state domestic relations law is much narrower.  Thus, Fisher’s cable television and commissary snacks remain safe, while his children go without support.

According to Phillyburbs.com, a 1998 study estimated that 38,000 custodial parents in the United States were then owed a total of $122 million in child support from incarcerated non-custodial parents.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.