The Clinton administration is defending the federal "deadbeat parent" law from a constitutional challenge and trying to get Congress to toughen its provisions.
Declaring that "parental responsibility does not end at the state line," President Clinton sent the Justice Department to court Monday in Phoenix to try to save the Child Support Recovery Act of 1992. The law makes it a federal crime for a parent to withhold support from a child living in another state.The act was declared unconstitutional July 26 by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Rosenblatt in Phoenix. So far, his ruling applies only in Arizona; the act remains in effect elsewhere.
It was used by FBI agents earlier this month in Vermont to arrest the nation's worst deadbeat dad, Jeffrey Nichols, who owes $582,000 in overdue child support payments.
The government has filed more than 75 cases and is investigating another 500. About 20 people have been convicted. The law provides up to six months in prison for the first offense and up to two years for each subsequent conviction.
"I respectfully disagree with this decision," Clinton said in a statement from Jackson, Wyo., where he is vacationing. The act "gives us the power to punish deadbeat parents who cross state lines to avoid paying child support. The states cannot bring these criminals to justice - especially the `hard core' group of parents who flagrantly move from state to state to evade their obligations."
Clinton also has proposed strengthening the federal law by requiring states to deny drivers' and professional licenses to deadbeat parents. That legislation passed the House in March; the Senate has yet to vote on it, but Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., included a similar provision in his welfare reform bill.
In Phoenix on Monday, U.S. Attorney Janet Napolitano asked Rosenblatt to reverse or modify his decision. The judge was away and did not respond. If Rosenblatt won't budge, Napolitano will appeal his ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.