San Francisco Family Law Blog

Those of you who know me or have read this blog probably have figured out I am personally pretty moderate on the issues that come up in child support (when representing clients, I put their beliefs forward on these issues, not my own). Yes, a lot of very bad situations can arise: people in very serious debt, people being put in jail, loosing licenses, etc. But, the one thing I see time and time again that people do not do which could prevent ALL of this is to file a motion for modification as soon as something happens.

The attached press release is interesting. But, I do think Mr. Pemberton is going about it the wrong way. Finishing his protest in front of Comm. Wightman's court room is abrasive and does not make his point. The Commissioner is a very good one; she knows the law well, works very hard to help people out. The Commissioner does not have a lot of discretion, however. Most child support laws are inflexible and mandatory. If Mr. Pemberton wants change then the proper place is in front of the legislature.

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MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Government waste has
reached epidemic proportions, Kermit Pemberton says, and the child support
system that is supposed to protect the child is draining money from both
the system and the parent paying the support. Hard working parents' lives
are being destroyed because of this national greed, and Mr. Pemberton is
tired of it.

On January 20-21, 2008, Mr. Pemberton is going to hold a hunger strike
in protest of what he perceives as overzealous agencies that are dipping
into the pockets of Americans. His protest will begin at 12:30 p.m. and end
12:30 p.m. the next day in front of Commissioner Rebecca Wightman's
courtroom in San Francisco at Civic Plaza in front of City Hall. He also
has a scheduled court date on January 23, 2008, at 1:30 p.m. in her
courtroom.

Mr. Pemberton is also going to hold a hundred parent march starting at
6 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m. on January 21, 2008. Having been abused by the
system himself, he has dedicated himself to making the public aware of the
waste of their tax dollars. Fed up with the injustices himself, Mr.
Pemberton has dedicated all his spare time to organizing activities and
creating informative websites to help citizens be informed and fight
governmental waste and excess.

To embrace what he is fighting for, the rights of the children for the
sake of the children, Mr. Pemberton will be holding a carnival with the
theme "Focus on the Kids," on Sunday, January 20th at the Civic Park in San
Francisco. Located at 350 McAlister, this public event is free and all
rides are free for the kids. We invite all the parents that are in similar
situations to come down and show their support.

As a victim of the system Mr. Pemberton says he has had his bank
account levied, his credit ruined, and his passport and driver's license
threatened. He wants the public to know that this could happen to you, too.
Thousands of dollars can potentially be spent to fight these impositions of
the government while most citizens are powerless to fight government
bureaucracy.

This man has paid more that six thousand dollars in travel expenses
alone, and his crusade does not want the average citizen to go through the
same injustices that he has gone through.