PARENT'S RIGHTS NOW!

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that “Sixers star Andre Iguodala is being sued for child support by a South Jersey woman.” The mother of the child is seeking temporary support of $12,000 to $15,000 a month. Mr. Iguodala’s attorneys have reportedly stated, "We have made all reasonable efforts . . . to resolve this matter without litigation. In spite of those efforts, the demands that were made were beyond what is reasonable." However, the paper provides no information on what Mr. Iguodala’s attorneys consider a "reasonable amount of support" to expect from a man who’s reported income is approximately $1,000,000 a month.

In a related story, The New York Times reports that Dallas Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki “has filed court papers seeking sole custody of his former girlfriend's unborn child should genetic testing proves he's the father.” There is no word yet on how much Mr. Nowitski may be willing to pay for child support in the event that he proves to be the father and does not obtain custody. Nor is there any report on whether he is willing to pay maternity medical bills for his former fiancée. It is apparent, however, that this multimillionaire would rather let his child’s putative mother sit in jail than pay her dental bills.

The Post and Courier reported in today's edition that South Carolina State Representative Chip Limehouse wants to pass state wide legislation authorizing the imposition of user fees on county inmates. Although impostion of user fees is already being done in a number of counties without legislative authorization, we note that we have previously stated that we think this is a bad idea. Additionally, we suspect that many County Sheriffs will resist this legislation because they would then have to account for the money they are receiving from various unmonitored sources.

An editorial in The Post and Courier exhorts government entities to Tell public how money is spent. We think this is a good idea. We would especially like to know how much money the Family Courts and Sheriffs' Offices are generating through fines, fees, interest, penalties, and court costs and how these funds are being spent. Keep in mind that it was recently discovered that a jail captain in Dorchester County South Carolina managed to embezzle at least $300,000 without anyone noticing. The fact that so much money could have been taken without detection alone suggests that the amounts of off-the-book receivables must be staggering.