18-YEAR OLD LEGAL CASE STUNS CHILD SUPPORT RESEARCHER

SHOWS ACES TRUE COLORS

Wednesday, February 24, 1999

Child support reform activist and legal researcher Lowell Jaks, was dumbfounded when he stumbled across an 18-year old adoption case of none other than Geraldine Jensen, the founder of ACES (Association for Children for Enforcement of Support). "I was researching a custody case where a mother put her own children up for adoption for the sole purpose of preventing her ex-husband from getting any visitation rights. That was bad enough, but when I found out it was Geraldine Jensen, I was absolutely stunned," Jaks said.

"Here is the founder of the most influential child support advocacy groups in the country and she’s refused money from her ex, violated numerous court orders, moved 1,500 miles away with the children against court orders, stole Christmas gifts her ex sent to the kids, wouldn’t allow the children to visit with their grandparents or talk on the phone to their dad – and she’s treated like royalty. Politicians, judges - even Hollywood – all came knocking on her door for policy advice. It’s absolutely incredible that her dark side was never exposed," added Mr. Jaks.

John Smith, a research analyst with ANCPR said, "Talk about the fox guarding the hen house! It doesn’t get much worse than this." Jensen’s case (1981 WL 5460 (Ohio App. 6 Dist.) is posted on the Internet at www.ancpr.org/jensen.htm. After winning her case in trial court, Jensen lost when her ex-husband appealed. "People wonder why we have declining academic achievement and an increase in youth crime when we let one parent essentially kidnap children just so they can get revenge. Seeing this immature behavior really makes you wonder about the politicians who have endorsed and adopted ACES policy recommendations lock, stock and barrel," added Smith. One such politician is California Assemblyman Scott Wildman whose website endorses ACES. Disney’s ABC Television division teamed up with William Morris to make a movie-of-the-week tribute to Geraldine Jensen which aired in 1998. "You won’t see any of the real-life court case facts even hinted at in the movie. She’s slicker than teflon," Smith noted.

ACES’ sole focus is on collecting child support – tax-free money with no accountability required by the custodial parent as to how it gets spent. "If money is so crucial to child well-being (which it isn’t), why doesn’t ACES demand that custodial parents be required to document how the child support was actually spent?" asks Jaks. A 1993 study in the Journal of Labor Economics reported that only 20% of child support received is actually spent on the child. ANCPR is proposing replacing child support and custody with shared parenting. "It will give kids what they need: both parents. Government bureaucracies will shrink dramatically in size and expense since the majority of parents will choose to raise their children instead of paying child support," said Jaks. Smith noted, "The strongest support showing that child support is unfair comes from radical feminist Karen Winner, who in her book Divorced From Justice, writes ‘There is accumulating evidence that men are challenging their wives for custody of the children precisely because it is cheaper to keep them than to pay child support.’ It doesn’t get any clearer than that."

 

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