In practice, it is a simple system of collusion and abusing the privilege of authority. The "prosecutor" for the child support enforcement system "just does it", and the judge "just ignores it." Lawyers, whether willing or unwilling, are caught between hell and high water, but fundamentally are an integral part of the fraud, and reap enormous financial dividends from it.
A couple gets a divorce, and immediately the "presumed non-custodial parent" gets a notice from the child support enforcement offices demanding that they "appear" and reveal their financial information. Many States have statutes that say this information must be revealed, under penalty of contempt. Federal, constitutional law however says that your civil rights to not answer, under the 5th Amendment, extends to all aspects of law, not just the criminal arena. "Too bad", says the State court, "Answer � or else!"
The "caseworker" determines who gets custody, and how much child support will be paid. Enforcement is immediate. The first three legal frauds discussed above are committed in one basic act, not by a judge, but by a caseworker. The court merely "approves" whatever the caseworker says. Supposedly, that makes it a "legal decision." Note the lack of any hearing, any evidence or any actual "findings" issued by a court. This is the entire basis of their procedural fraud, to simply ignore any actual "procedure" that might demonstrate that essential "due process."
Ostensibly, the caseworker is required to use "guidelines," set by the State but regulated by the federal funding mandates, to set the amount of child support. In theory, that is 17% of your gross income for one child, 25% for two, etc. The trick is that they can "impute" your income. The original idea of "imputing wages" was to "catch" people who are making more than they claim or seek "under-employment to reduce the child support amounts. However, it is commonly and widely used to "up the ante" and increase child support revenues.
Your first instinct is to hire a lawyer and appeal this decision. Lawyers, as "officers of the court" are prevented from arguing for your rights in these supposed Family Courts! Either by "court rules", a fraudulent misrepresentation by the lawyer in as much as the State's own published Court Rules make no such mention, or by the retributions of the court and prosecutor aimed at all of that lawyer's other clients. Basically, their sole function is to "cut a deal" for you, probably better than the original exorbitant imputation, but still more than "the truth".
Since now you are under a court order to pay child support (or go to jail), the odds are that now you can't afford a lawyer at all. Forget any deals. Neither the prosecutor nor your Ex will present any evidence to demonstrate this fraudulent imputation, and even though you have competent, clear evidence to the contrary, which neither the prosecutor nor your Ex will contend is false, the judge will "dismiss" your appeal. This is the procedural fraud of "administrative ruling." No actual "finding" is made by the court, which would then have to include that evidence and testimony. Judges will even "wave away" documentation you have, making you just read it out loud, as a means of keeping it from being entered into your record.
Judges are commonly known to "go home and do some research" and enter that alleged evidence in support of their dismissal. This is a further fraud, this time called "substantive fraud". The judge is "acting for the prosecution", and "entering evidence outside of the courtroom." Both are fundamental violations of every State's Court Rules, and a fundamental denial of any constitutional rights toward due process.
Needless to say, you appeal that decision again, but of it is within the same court as before, and of course the result will be the same. In fact, you are required to appeal twice before that court before being allowed, and told you can appeal to a higher court, the State Court of Appeals. For 99.9% of the population, this is a daunting task beyond their knowledge and comprehension. Without a lawyer, it seems impossible, and the cost of such an appeal can run $15-20,000. Now, six months of excessive child support payments has made you nearly or completely destitute.
It is called "adjudication by fiscal attrition." When you go to that Appeals Court, they will not "refund" the excess, nor cease those collections, but merely, and only possibly, reduce those payments to what they should have been all along. "The Law" becomes a matter of whether it is bottom-line cheaper to pay their "buddy lawyer" for "justice", or to pay their extortive demands. The bottom line is that most people cannot afford either.
The Extortion Fraud
Ultimately you reach a point where you cannot pay. These courts know that, and expect you to reach out to friends and family. They are using you as "bait" to "shakedown" the money any way they can. Again, US Supreme Court rulings state that this is clearly illegal. But ultimately, you will end up getting a Show Court Order, demanding that you appear in court and explain why you haven't paid.
When you appear, the prosecutor will not show evidence that you can pay this money but refuse to do so. Instead you are required to show why you cannot. There is ample federal case law that says you don't have to "show what is not" because it is nearly impossible to do! More case law that says the burden of proof is on the prosecutor, and more case law that says "an ability to pay" must be demonstrated before the penalties of incarceration can be applied.
The prosecutor has access to all of your records, such as employment, banks, etc., and is well aware that you can't pay the money. They will not present that evidence even though, by law they are required to. Arguing your rights to due process or suggesting they have no evidence of an "ability to pay" will end up getting you put in jail for contempt anyway. Many States have limits for contempt proceedings, like a maximum of $500, yet it is common for them to demand far more. The only answer the court has is "pay up or go to jail," and that answer was decided long before you entered the court.
Of course you can appeal this decision too, and of course it is in the same court. You know the answer to that. In some cases, they are known to enter that appeal or objection into the record of your case, but then simply refuse to answer it, not denying, dismissing or setting it for hearing - just ignore it! This is gross violation of every State's Court Rules. Of course you can appeal to the Court of Appeals, but you can expect that to be after you have already done time in jail. Nor does "doing the time" relieve you of the financial demand, and in fact more support "debt" will accrue while you are in jail. They can, in most States, keep putting you in jail, up to a total six months in any given year, making it just that much more difficult to even make any payments.
They can, after three "offenses" put you in jail for up to ten years. After accumulating more than six months worth of child support debt, they can take away your driver's license and any other "professional" licenses you may hold. Both of these would seem contrary to their supposed goal. You can't find work or maintain a job without a car, and usually those professional licenses are the means you have of making any money. To understand all of this, go back to the statement back at the top, that it not about the child support money, but the Federal and State funding.
