Use this page to send a letter to your local media concerning the injustice of the Bradley
Amendment.
READ THE LAW YOURSELF
SEND A LETTER TO CONGRESS REQUESTING THE REPEAL OF THE
BRADLEY AMENDMENT
READ ABA ARTICLE ON INJUSTICE OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT
READ WASHINGTON TIMES ARTICLE ON INJUSTICE OF THE
BRADLEY AMENDMENT
Directions:
Below is the text of a sample letter that you can send to your local papers and
television stations concerning the injustice of the Bradley Amendment.
First: Select the text below, and hit "copy"
(Ctrl C).
Second: Then go to the ANCPR
National Media Guide at
Third: Enter your zip code, or click on your state and
select the papers and stations to whom you want to send the message.
Fourth: Paste (Ctrl V) the message into the message box
provided, enter your contact information and hit submit.
Dear Editor,
In 1990, Lockheed employee and divorced father Bobby Sherrill was captured in Kuwait
and spent nearly five harrowing months as an Iraqi hostage. The night after his release
Mr. Sherrill was arrested for not paying $1,425 in child support while he was a hostage.
A similar shock awaited Clarence Brandley. In 1980, the Texas high school janitor was
wrongly accused of murder. He spent nearly 10 years in prison, most of it on death row,
until his exoneration in January 1990. In 1991, Mr. Brandley sued the state for wrongful
imprisonment. The state responded with a bill for nearly $50,000 in child support that
Mr. Brandley didn't pay while in prison.
By federal law, neither of these men can have their child support arrears modified or
eliminated for the time it was impossible for them to have made the payments. The Bradley
Amendment [42, U.S.C. 666(a)(9)(c )] says that once a child-support obligation
has been established, it cannot be retroactively reduced or forgiven by a judge.
If a child support obligor becomes disabled, imprisoned, unemployed, or even slips into
a coma, unless they have the wherewithal or presence of mind to file for a suspension or
reduction, their debt will continue to accumulate, and cannot be modified for any reason.
The Bradley amendment all but ensures that any parent who has a dip in cash flow will
be buried under a debt that cannot be legally escaped. It often helps chase poor men into
illegal activities or the underground economy, away from "mainstream" jobs and
their children. This is clearly wrong, and violates every principle of justice and fair
play for which we Americans have always prided ourselves.
I call upon your readers to join me and contact their representatives asking for
legislation that would repeal 42, U.S.C. 666(a)(9)(c ), commonly known as the Bradley
Amendment, and substitute language that would allow retroactive modification of child
support arrears in the interest of justice, and when determined to be in the best interest
of the child. This would allow rational judges to do what is right in order to eliminate
the manifest injustice faced by tens of thousands of child support obligors.
Readers can use the ANCPR Legislative Action Center at www.ancpr.org
to gain access to their legislators as well as sample letters.
Sincerely,
