The TIW Blog

A Pickens County inmate escaped while on a work detail and, after two days, was recaptured. You’d think that someone in jail must have actually done something wron, but of course, all he did was fail to pay child support.

So-called “dead-beat” dads have been the subject of much derision for decades, but the truth remains that the system is horribly skewed against them. First, the family court system in every state favors the claims of the female in virtually every case. Secondly, the family court awards child support payments to the mother regardless of the mother’s need and regardless of the father’s ability (or inability) to pay. Finally, the use of the legal system to “enforce” child support issues has resulted with the unabashed persecution of males living in poverty.

The fact that a man has failed to pay child support does not constitute a legal violation: it constitutes a man unable to comply with an unreasonable demand of the court. Furthermore, the incarceration of men for failure to pay child support does nothing to solve the “problem.” If a man cannot pay to begin with, how is putting that man in jail going to help make him pay? Do you think David LaTour was earning more on the recycling crew than he was earning on his job (assuming he was working)? I don’t think so. The truth is that county jails are replete with child support “offenders” who not only lack the means to catch up their payments, they lack the means to get out of jail, period.

Meanwhile, is/are LaTour’s child/children any better off with him in jail? Is not the mother still devoid of the child support cash cow she was awarded by the court? This case is just one more that illustrates the futility of child support enforcement and the desperation felt by the men who are imprisoned by it.

From The Greenville News:

Escaped inmate recaptured
Prisoner had walked away from work detail

By E. Richard Walton • Staff writer • January 1, 2010

A 30-year-old inmate from Pickens County was recaptured in Easley on Thursday afternoon two days after authorities said he got away from a recycling work detail.

David J. LaTour, 30, jailed for failure to pay child support, was captured about 3:45 p.m., Pickens County Assistant Sheriff Tim Morgan said. He said LaTour surrendered without incident and was re-arrested while walking in front of the Pickens County Library.

Morgan said deputies, Easley police officers and the U.S. Marshal’s Service had been searching for LaTour. “They were checking around the clock,” he said.

LaTour had been working with a county recycling truck when he walked away, said Lynn Fisher, an assistant county administrator.

He was being held Thursday night without bond, authorities said, and was scheduled to have a hearing this morning.