Civil and Criminal Defendants - Who Has The Most Rights?

"Civil contempts are sometimes civil in name only, entailing what are in reality criminal punishments." -- Wyman v. Uphaus, 360 US 72(1959)

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Well, you haven’t been diligent and have fallen behind in your alimony payments. The ex-spouse has filed a motion for contempt of court against you. Now what do you do?

As you will see, you have fewer rights than a criminal. Criminal defendants are assumed innocent until proven guilty, provided a public defender at taxpayer expense, given a trial by jury and given every consideration to guarantee that their civil rights aren't violated in the process of ascertaining their guilt. If they are convicted, they receive a jail term that is definite. Whereas a spouse can be deprived of children, home and life savings, and freedom with none of these constitutional protections.

In Civil Court, child support and alimony trials operate on a presumption of guilt, where ‘the burden of proof may be shifted to the defendant,’ according to the US National Conference of State Legislatures, which favors aggressive prosecutions and ignores due process of law. Contrary to Common Law and the US Constitution, courts have ruled that ‘not all child-support or alimony contempt proceedings classified as criminal are entitled to a jury trial,’ and ‘even indigent obligors are not necessarily entitled to a lawyer.’ Thus impoverished spouses who lose their ability to pay alimony and/or their children through literally ‘no fault’ of their own are the only defendants who must prove their innocence without counsel and without a jury of their peers.

You’ve just been railroaded and you won’t get to enjoy the ride. Is this justice and equality? No, you’ve just entered the Twilight Zone!

Despite prohibitions on incarceration for debt, a spouse can be jailed without trial for failure to pay not only child support and alimony but also the fees of lawyers, psychotherapists and other professionals he has not hired. A judge can summon a legally unimpeachable citizen who is minding his own business and order him to turn over his earnings or go to jail.

Family law is now criminalizing such basic rights as free speech and freedom of the press. In many jurisdictions it is a crime to criticize family court judges or otherwise discuss family law cases publicly. Under the pretext of ‘family privacy’, parents are gagged from publicly disclosing how government officials have seized control of their children.

I ask you, is this the justice due an American citizen??? I hardly think our forefathers ever had this in mind when they signed the constitution.

WOMEN RULE: MORE ON THE SUBJECT:
* Islam feminists urge gender jihad

EXAMPLES OF A JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND JUDGES GONE AWRY:
* This Land Is Not Your Land: Judges go wild.
* Group Says Palumbo Shows Bias in Cases

INTERESTING READING:
* Now they are trying to make it a federal crime not to pay support. See H.R.4861 - Title: To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide penalties for failure to pay certain obligations to spouses and ex-spouses that are similar to the penalties imposed for failure to pay child support obligations, and for other purposes.
* SJC ruling validates prenup agreement
* Proposed constitutional change qualifies for ballot – a constitutional amendment on next year's ballot that would strip judges of immunity from lawsuits over decisions they make.

Be sure to visit this site: www.abolish-alimony.org/