NPO Blog Archive

Tucson, AZ–The drawings above were taken from Kara Bishop’s www.postcardsfromsplitsville.com. Bishop works with Children of Divorce, a class run by Tucson, Arizona-based Divorce Recovery. The class did an art project that included “sending away” the frustrations of divorce. The website is a place where Kara says “children can share their divorce-related feelings anonymously and parents can get a new perspective on how this life-changing experience impacts their children”s lives.”

To learn more, click here. Kara can be reached at Kara@PostcardsfromSplitsville.com.

Boston, MA–“When he turned 18, Michael B. Elgin Jr. was a homeless father of a toddler, trying to get himself through high school while living with friends, relatives and, sometimes, in his car. Elgin did not know at the time, his lawyer says, but by failing to register for selective military service within 30 days of his 18th birthday, he broke the law.

“Last year, Elgin’s employer of 18 years, the Internal Revenue Service, fired him, citing a ban on federal employment of men who have not registered, despite his exemplary record and appeals from his supervisors and co-workers. Last week, Elgin, 42, of Stoughton, challenged his dismissal in federal court in Boston on the grounds that it discriminated against him because he is a man. Women are not allowed to register.”

I think this guy was treated unfairly. He and his lawyer focus on the fact that there’s a gender discrimination issue–men have to register for the draft and women don’t. I think that’s a fair argument–a burden was put on him as a young man that would not have been put on him were he a woman.

I would add that there are also other fair arguments here.

For one, what about a statute of limitations? The guy failed to register for the draft within a month of his 18th birthday–a punishment 20 years later seems very draconian.

Also, I think he could also make an economic hardship argument.

Thanks to Marc Angelucci of NCFM for the story.

Man who didn’t register for draft sues IRS over firing
By Anna Badkhen
Boston Globe
January 5, 2008

When he turned 18, Michael B. Elgin Jr. was a homeless father of a toddler, trying to get himself through high school while living with friends, relatives and, sometimes, in his car. Elgin did not know at the time, his lawyer says, but by failing to register for selective military service within 30 days of his 18th birthday, he broke the law.

Last year, Elgin’s employer of 18 years, the Internal Revenue Service, fired him, citing a ban on federal employment of men who have not registered, despite his exemplary record and appeals from his supervisors and co-workers. Last week, Elgin, 42, of Stoughton, challenged his dismissal in federal court in Boston on the grounds that it discriminated against him because he is a man. Women are not allowed to register.

Elgin declined to speak for the record.

His lawsuit is the latest challenge to the Selective Service System, the federal registry of all men 18 and older that would serve as the basis of any future military draft.

“It labels women as second-class, and it imposes a burden and a penalty on men . . . that it doesn’t impose on women,” said Elgin’s attorney, Boston civil rights lawyer Harvey A. Schwartz. Men who fail to register for selective service are barred from ever working for federal agencies or receiving federal loans, and, in 35 states, are not allowed to obtain a driver’s license, said Dan Amon, a spokesman for the registry. Violators also can be fined up to $250,000 or imprisoned for up to five years, Amon said, but those provisions have not been enforced since the 1980s.

Schwartz said barring women from registering for selective service is an “anachronism.”

Elgin was hired by the Internal Revenue Service in 1991 as a low-level data transcriber in Andover and worked his way up in the agency, according to the lawsuit he filed Dec. 28, naming as plaintiffs Henry M. Paulson Jr., the secretary of the Treasury, and the Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS. Elgin’s son grew up and served an 18-month tour of duty with the US Army in Iraq, the lawsuit states.

Elgin received repeated praise and numerous promotions at work, until the agency discovered, during a routine background investigation when he was proposed for a promotion in 2002, that he had failed to register for selective service, the lawsuit states.

Los Angeles, CA–“I’m gonna find me a reckless woman / razor blades and dice in her eyes / Just a touch of sadness in her fingers / thunder and lightening in her thighs”–from “Silver Stallion,” by The Highwaymen

I was something of a fan of the former country music super group The Highwaymen (Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson), but I had to laugh when I heard the lyrics above recently. It sounds great Waylon, but usually about five years later guys who do hook up with a woman like you describe are filling out my Family Law Help Form. It’s not worth it.

The video of “Silver Stallion” can be seen here or below.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVZpWy5qaOs&feature=related]

Welshpool, England–Mom leaves the country for six weeks, leaving her 14-year-old daughter to fend for herself rather than allow her to be cared for by her ex-husband. When confronted with this she “apportioned blame for the situation on everybody else apart from herself.” And check out her excuse for leaving the girl with only £100. Anybody want to bet she retains custody of the girl? The story is below–thanks to Malcolm, a reader, for sending it. Girl ‘home alone for six weeks’ BBC NEWS, 1/18/08 A woman abandoned her 14-year-old daughter for six weeks with just £100 and a fridge full of food while she traveled abroad, a court has heard.
The woman, who cannot be identified, was visiting her boyfriend in 2007. She told Welshpool magistrates she had arranged for a neighbour and her ex-husband to look after her daughter. The woman denies wilfully causing her daughter to be neglected and abandoned. The case was adjourned until 8 February. The court heard the woman had stocked her fridge and freezer with pizza, oven chips and microwave meals before she went abroad between April and June. Of her £100 allowance, £60 was spent almost immediately on school dinners for the period her mother was away. She spent most of the remaining £40 on clothes and CDs, magistrates were told. Social services were alerted to the girl’s situation after only two days and arranged for her father, also the woman’s ex-husband, to look after her for the remainder of her mother’s holiday. He said he was unaware his daughter had been left home alone.

Murfreesboro, TN–Background: When discussing child support enforcement, I often refer to them as “The IRS on steroids.” Child support enforcement agencies are notorious for their bureaucratic bungling and incessant computer errors, and there is practically no idiocy which they don’t and won’t commit.

For some examples, see my coverage of the outrageous Herbert L. Chalmers case, as well as Child Support Enforcement Accuses Teenage Boy of Fathering Child When He Was Three from Australia, and some of the cases I document in my co-authored column Memphis Commercial Appeal, Chest-Thumping Sheriff Humiliate Hard Luck Noncustodial Parents (Tennessee Tribune, 4/27/06).

Knock me over with a feather–here’s another abusive Tennessee child support screw-up. The Tennessee Department of Human Services tries to shake down an innocent father for $50,000 for some other guy’s kids, and even years later the problem has not been straightened out.

DHS’s defense? “The children’s welfare is the No. 1 concern.” Of course.

Man Involved In ID Mix-Up Over Child Support
1/15/08
NewsChannel5.com, Nashville, TN

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Imagine being told you owe $50,000 in child support for children that aren’t yours.

That’s what’s happening to a Murfreesboro man.

The Tennessee Department of Human Services has thousands of names of parents that owe child support. One of those names is Dennis Joe Brannon.

No one knows where he lives, but the state does know where Dennis K. Brannon lives.

They apparently want him pay for the other guy’s children.

“I’ve been married happily over 21 years and it’s just not possible that I’ve got kids in another county,” said Dennis K. Brannon of Murfreesboro.

Brannon has letters from the state demanding he pay child support.

“It’s in the sum of $50,000,” he said as he looked at the latest letter.

The letter came from the Attorney General’s office in Huntsville, Tenn., which is northeast of Knoxville.

The state is looking for Dennis Joe Brannon, but Dennis K. Brannon is receiving the threatening letters.

Initially, Brannon and his wife thought the mix-up was funny.

“We kind of made a running joke about this, but then it gets aggravating after awhile,” he said. “After two or three years, it’s time to get it straightened out.”

He claims he’s called several times.

“Well I’m sure if he’s been in contact with our office, we would do whatever we needed to do to rectify the situation and make sure we have the right person,” said Lori Jones, Assistant District Attorney of Child Support Division.

That isn’t the case, Brannon said.

“They told me I’d have to come up there and do a DNA test and prove I’m not the father of these children,” he said…

Read the full article here.

San Francisco, CA–“The capacity to love is a vital, rich and all-consuming function…you can find nobility and sacrifice and love wherever you may seek it out…”–Rod Serling

Most fathers would do anything to protect their daughters, and here’s another example. Like hero father James Kim, Albert Collins gave his life to save his family. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Collins’ last act was to throw his body over the top of his daughter to shield her from the barrage that would leave him dead, his daughter with a graze wound and two brothers injured…

“A cousin held Collins’ head. Nash said she watched helplessly, as her son made what would be his final requests. ‘He told his sister to look out for his son and his daughter.'”

The story is below–thanks to Brad Smith, a reader, for sending it to me.

A father gets gunned down saving his daughter
Jaxon Van Derbeken
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, January 6, 2008

On New Year’s Eve morning, Albert Collins took his 9-year-old daughter, Mariah, to pick out a treat at a candy house in the Sunnydale public housing project.
It was a fatal errand.

For years, candy houses have been makeshift havens in crime-plagued neighborhoods where residents sell and buy candy and other items in safety – rather than venture to liquor-dealing corner stores that are often magnets for trouble.

Collins, 30, had recently gotten a job through Goodwill Industries and was staying with his mother at the Sunnydale public housing project in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley. By all accounts, he was trying to make a better life for himself, his daughter and his 13-year-old son, Albert Jr., whom he took custody of after the boy’s mother had recently been jailed in Oakland.

But he didn’t get the chance.

As Collins stopped on the way to the candy house to talk to friends – two brothers who lived in the neighborhood – they were hit with gunfire at 11:40 a.m.
Collins’ last act was to throw his body over the top of his daughter to shield her from the barrage that would leave him dead, his daughter with a graze wound and two brothers injured.

“He turned and sensed something was happening and grabbed her,” said Inspector Michael Gaynor of the San Francisco police homicide detail. “At some point, he saw the guy with the gun – that was when he grabbed her.”

With that, Collins became the last of the city’s 98 homicides in 2007, the highest yearly death toll in more than a decade. According to police, he may have been an innocent victim in a gang-related shooting, by gang members firing at rivals nearby.

Read the full article here.

London, England–“[Poor men are] condemned to perpetual celibacy. For of course it goes without saying that if a tramp finds no women at his own level, those above–even a very little above–are as far out of his reach as the moon…there is no doubt that women never, or hardly ever, condescend to men who are much poorer than themselves.”–George Orwell

George Orwell is one of my favorite authors, particularly his writings about the Spanish Civil War and the politics of the 1930s and early 1940s. His 1933 book Down and Out in Paris and London is his semi-autobiographical account of living in poverty in both cities.

Orwell’s observations on the issue of gender and homelessness and of the enforced celibacy of poverty-stricken men are interesting. Orwell wrote:

“[Beyond hunger] The second great evil of a tramp’s life–it seems much smaller at first sight, but it is a good second–is that he is entirely cut off from contact with women. This point needs elaborating.

“Tramps are cut off from women, in the first place, because there are very few women at their level of society. One might imagine that among destitute people the sexes would be as equally balanced as elsewhere. But it is not so; in fact, one can almost say that below a certain level society is entirely male… at the [poverty] level men outnumber women by something like ten to one.

“The cause is presumably that unemployment affects women less than men; also that any presentable woman can, in the last resort, attach herself to some man. The result, for a tramp, is that he is condemned to perpetual celibacy. For of course it goes without saying that if a tramp finds no women at his own level, those above–even a very little above–are as far out of his reach as the moon…but there is no doubt that women never, or hardly ever, condescend to men who are much poorer than themselves.

“A tramp, therefore, is a celibate from the moment when he takes to the road. He is absolutely without hope of getting a wife, a mistress, or any kind of woman except–very rarely, when he can raise a few shillings–a prostitute…

“There is degradation worked in a man who knows that he is not even considered fit for marriage. The sexual impulse, not to put it any higher, is a fundamental impulse, and starvation of it can be almost as demoralizing as physical hunger. The evil of poverty is not so much that it makes a man suffer as that it rots him physically and spiritually. And there can be no doubt that sexual starvation contributes to this rotting process. Cut off from the whole race of women, a tramp feels himself degraded to the rank of a cripple or a lunatic. No humiliation could do more damage to a man’s self-respect.”

Thanks to Callum, a reader, for bringing this to my attention.