Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
One Child, Two “Fathers” Paying Child Support
Some men’s activists were rightly pointing to the outcome of Department of Revenue v. Ryan R. in Massachusetts as an example of just how out-of-whack the child support system is. In this case, separate courts ruled that two men declared the father of her child and required to pay child support.
Susan (no last names are given in court proceedings) cheated on her husband, Sheldon, and conceived a child by her lover. Three years later, Susan initiated divorce proceedings against her husband. Despite the fact that Sheldon was not the biological father of the child, he was nonetheless ordered to pay child support, with the court in that case ruling that,
. . . the husband is the only ‘father’ that the child has known during his life, and as the husband has cared throughout the marriage for the child and there is a bond that exists between the child and the husband . . . the husband is the ‘de facto’ father of the child.
The problem for Susan, however, was that Sheldon was also ‘de facto’ bankrupt. So she also initiated child custody efforts against the biological father of the child, Ryan. Ryan resisted such efforts, saying that the divorce proceedings in Susan and Sheldon’s marriage had already established Sheldon as the ‘de facto’ father of the child and, as such, Ryan shouldn’t be liable for child support.
A Massachusetts Appeals court rejected that argument and ordered Ryan to pay child support.
Presumably Susan is kicking herself for not figuring out a way to have the state force additional “de facto” fathers and any number of other unrelated men to contribute to caring for her child.
Sources:
Department of Revenue vs. Ryan R.. Massachusetts Appeals Court, November 2, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
UN Investigating Sex Abuse Claims Against Congo Peacekeeping Force
In November the United Nations announced it was investigating as many as 150 allegations of sexual abuse carried out by the UN peacekeeping force in the Congo.
The actions followed a May 2004 announcement by the United Nations that peacekeepers were alleged to have committed about 30 cases of sexual abuse in the northeastern Congo town of Bunia.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said of the allegations,
I am afraid there is clear evidence that acts of gross misconduct have taken place. This is a shameful thing for the United Nations to have to say, and I am absolutely outraged by it.
There are close to 11,000 United Nations peacekeepers in the Congo. The United Nations cannot punish offending soldiers directly, but instead must return the soldiers to their country of origin and ask it to take action against the accused.
Sources:
UN: 150 Sex Abuse Charges in Congo Peacekeeping. Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, November 22, 2004.
UN Congo peacekeepers guilty of sex abuse. China Daily, November 20, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
Caesarean Birth Rate Continues Rise
Earlier this year, I mentioned the ongoing debate about the rise in elective Caesarean births. This week the National Center for Health Statistics released statistics highlighting the fact that the Caesarean birth rate in the United States set a new record in 2003.
In 2003, 1.13 million of the 4.1 million births in the United States were Caesarean deliveries — 27.6 percent of all live births. According to the NCHS, that represents an increase of about 1/3rd since 1996. Unfortunately, the report doesn’t distinguish between elective and non-elective Caesareans. This is the seventh straight year that the Caesarean birth rate has risen in the United States.
Another interesting trend is the odd trend at the opposite ends of the age scale. The teenage birth rate is continuing to drop, while the number of births by women 35-44 continues to increase.
The birth rate for unmarried teens fell, but the overall birth rate to unmarried women increased by 3 percent from 2002.
Sources:
Birth Rate for Women Aged 40-44 Years Rose in 2003, New Report Finds. Press Release, National Center for Health Statistics, November 23, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
South Carolina Senator Apologizes for Unwed Mother Comment
Jim DeMint, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina, had to apologize in October for saying that unwed, pregnant women should not be allowed to teach in public schools.
Earlier this year, DeMint had said that homosexuals should not be allowed to teach in public schools. When asked to defend that remark in an interview with the Aiken Standard, DeMint dug himself deeper by saying,
I would have given the same answer when asked if a single woman, who was pregnant and living with her boyfriend, should be hired to teach my third-grade children. I just think the moral decisions are different with a teacher.
Oddly enough, DeMint himself was raised by a single mother. He apologized for the remark the next day saying,
So as my wife often reminds me, sometimes my heart disengages from my head and I say something I shouldn’t and that’s what happened yesterday. I clearly said something as a dad that I just shouldn’t have said. And I apologize.
Polls currently show DeMint with a major lead over Democratic candidate Inez Tenenbaum.
Sources:
Senate candidate apologizes for comment. Jennifer Holland, Associated Press, October 6, 2004.
Candidate: No single, pregnant teachers in classroom. Associated Press, October 6, 2004.
DeMint keeps lead in S.C. poll. Associated Press, October 13, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
Sex In Public Restrooms Legal in Italy, So Long as Stall Door Is Closed
An Italian court ruled this month that having sex in a public restroom is legal in that country, so long as the door is shut.
A couple from Switzerland were arrested having being caught having sex in a restroom at a bar in the Italian town of Como. They were charged with public indecency, but Judge Luciano Storaci ruled that as long as the door on the restroom stall remained shut, that there was no indecency.
The Swiss man was fined approximately US$250, however, for breaking a lock in his haste to get dressed after the proprietor surprised he and his lover.
Sources:
Sex in a bar bathroom — Is it legal? Reuters, October 6, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
Assistant Principal Charged with Sending Herself Threatening Letters
San Marino High School assistant principal Mary Andrea Mitchel, 41, was arrested in July and charged with sending herself 39 threatening letters that she claimed a number of students had sent her. Mitchel faces 123 counts that carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail.
The letters were sent between March and November of 2003, and some of them included a white powder. Mitchel gave police the names of seven students she thought might have sent the letters. The students were investigated but no arrested were made.
Mitchel was given special police escorts and surveillance before, according to prosecutors, admitting that she had sent the letters herself. Some of the letters apparently also threatened the schools resources officer, Jim Henson, with whom Mitchel was romantically involved, and she was charged with threatening Henson.
Mitchel’s attorney, Michael Maycock, portrayed the letters as a plea for help,
She was attempting to extricate herself from a situation she couldn’t’ put up with. That was a cry for help.
Mitchel plead not guilty on all charges.
Sources:
Asst. Principal Accused of Faking Hate Mail. Associated Press, July 21, 2004.
Ex-school official’s bail slashed. Gene Maddaus, Pasadena Star News, July 27, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
Nursing Moms Must Leave, but Wet T-Shirt Contest Goes On at Restaurant
In the race to the bottom on barring women from breast feeding in public places, a reader pointed out the a recent such dustup at The Hoover House Restaurant in West Branch, Iowa.
A mother tried to nurse her 8-month-old at the restaurant and was asked to either move to the restroom, cover herself more or leave.
This particular incident is notable for two reasons. First, the restaurant’s actions were possibly illegal. In 2000, Iowa passed a law stating that, “A woman may breast-feed the woman’s own child in any public place where the woman’s presence is otherwise authorized.” According to the Des Moines Register, 25 states have such laws protecting breast feeding women.
Second, this particular restaurant apparently has a history of holding wet t-shirt contests, so why they are suddenly offended by semi-exposed breasts is something of a mystery.
As in the Houston mall case earlier this year, about 13 women decided to hold a “nurse-in” at the restaurant in response to the incident.
Sources:
Nursing mom asked to leave. Mark Quiner, DesMoines Register, July 13, 2004.
No charge being pursued in breast-feeding dispute. Erin Jordan, DesMoines Register, July 20, 2004.
Leaders recall law’s intent. Deidre Bello, Iowa Press-Citizen, July 17, 2004.
Breast-feeding law needs to be followed. Editorial, Iowa Press-Citizen, July 17, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
Jury Acquits Man Who Kissed Client
When computer repairman Steven Allen Moyer, 40, was called to the home of Victoria French, the Idaho man apparently decided that French’s love life could used an upgrade. So he kissed her once or twice and then suggested they move on to the bedroom.
According to Moyer, “She said she didn’t have a boyfriend. I asked her if she wanted a boyfriend for 15 minutes.”
She still didn’t want a boyfriend, so Moyer charged French $20 for the visit and left. Police later arrested him and charged him with battery for the nonconsensual kiss.
But at the end of June a five-man, one-woman jury took only 90 minutes to acquit Moyer of the charge, apparently convinced that the state had failed to show that an unwanted kiss constituted battery.
Sources:
Jury decides stealing kiss isn’t a crime. Associated Press, July 1, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
Morgan Stanley Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit for $54 Million
Investment banker Morgan Stanley this week reached a settlement with hundreds of women who claimed they had been sexually harassed and denied raises and promotions at the company. Morgan Stanley agreed to pay the women $54 million in total.
Since most Wall Street firms require employees to sign contracts requiring that they use arbitrators to settle legal disputes, Morgan Stanley’s trial would have been the first such trial of a brokerage firm had it proceeded.
Forty million dollars of the settlement will go directly to the 340 complainants, while $14 million will be earmarked for anti-discrimination training at the investment firm.
Morgan Stanley settles sex case. The BBC, July 12, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized
New Jersey Mandates Mammogram Coverage in Health Insurance
The Associated Press reports that New Jersey governor James McGreevey this month signed a bill requiring private health insurance companies pay for mammograms for covered women under 40 who have family histories of breast cancer.
Most health insurers already pay at least partially for mammograms, but some do not citing the ongoing medical debate about the effectiveness of mammograms in screening for breast cancer. With New Jersey’s change, 47 states now require insurance companies to pay for screening of at least some women under 40.
Regardless, mandates like this are simply a backdoor way of raising insurance rates which helps put basic access to health insurance further out of reach. Women and/or their employers should be free to negotiate whatever terms they like with health insurance companies free of such state-sponsored micromanagement.
Source:
NJ law: Insurance must cover of mammograms for women under 40 with history of breast cancer. Associated Press, July 8, 2004.
Tags: Uncategorized