F&F: Do Some Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Judges Incarcerate Men at Excessive Rates? More Shocking Data

Article here. Excerpt:

'Last week, we reported the data gathered by Fathers and Families member Terry Brennan on the number of men and women incarcerated from Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts for incomplete payment of child support. We found that 95% to 98.5% of those incarcerated in Massachusetts for this violation from 2001 through 2011 were men.

I then took Terry’s data and compared it to national data on rates of child support payment. I found that mothers in arrears are incarcerated at lower rates even though they have higher rates of incomplete payment, pay a smaller percentage of their child support order, and have larger arrears than fathers. In fact, mothers with child support arrears in Massachusetts are incarcerated at approximately one-eighth of the rate that would be justified by their numbers if fathers and mothers in arrears were treated equally.'