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The last public hearing on the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines
will be held this Tuesday, July 24, from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at the
Springfield Hall of Justice at 50 State Street in Springfield. This
is also known as the Hampden County Hall of Justice and also as the
Springfield District Court. Please report to the Jury Assembly Area.
To get there, from all points: Take the Mass Pike to Exit 6 (I-291).
Take I-291 South to I-91. Take I-91 South to Exit 5 (Broad Street).
At the traffic light at the end of the ramp, turn left onto Broad
Street. Take Broad Street to the next traffic light and turn left
onto East Columbus Avenue. Take East Columbus Avenue to the second
traffic light and turn right onto State Street. Court Square is
bordered by State Street, Main Street, Court Street and East Columbus
Avenue.
A map can be found at:
www.state.ma.us/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/springfielddistrictmain.html
Once in the Jury Assembly Area, look for a sign-up sheet for speakers.
The previous four hearings were filled to capacity, except Lawrence,
which was only three-quarters full. All of the hearings have been
overwhelmingly dominated by people who feel that the Child Support
Guidelines are too high. At each hearing, there have been a few
taxpayer-supported poverty lawyers advocating the other way. (These
are the same unbiased folks who refuse to represent indigent
fathers.) We must be sure that the Jury Assembly Area is overflowing
and that our view predominates in Springfield, as in the previous
four locations. WE ESPECIALLY NEED SECOND WIVES AND GRANDPARENTS TO
APPEAR AND TO SPEAK.
I estimate that approximately 350 supporters of lower Child Support
Guidelines have turned out at the previous four hearings combined.
Is this a good result or a bad result? Half empty or half full?
Clearly, our point of view has predominated. But compared to the
thousands of people who have complained to us about the Child Support
Guidelines,and the tens of thousands who haven't called us, it is a
paltry turn-out. The hearing rooms could have been overflowing into
the streets. In a democracy, people's fate is in their own hands.
You can choose to be at Springfield, and make a difference, or you
can assume that change is impossible and that nothing can be done.
The second choice, of course, will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Ned Holstein, MD, MS
President
Fathers and Families
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