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September 12, 1999

The Honorable K. Mark Lloyd
Johnson County Circuit Court
Courthouse
5 E. Jefferson St.
Franklin, IN 46131
Phone: (317)736-3705
FAX: (317)736-3996

Dear Judge K. Mark Lloyd,

I am writing to you with reference to the case of Gordon Stuart (# 41C01-9705-RS-00053, Lou Ann Estridge vs. Gordon M. Stuart).

The sentence of house arrest and wage garnishment against Mr. Stuart is creating an immense hardship on his family of which he is the sole supporter. Mrs. Stuart lost her job of over 28 years due to a reduction in force. She must also remain at home in order to care for their twelve-year-old daughter, Alexandria, who suffers from learning disabilities and a seizure disorder. The disorder is apparently quite severe and I understand that currently she experiences from 5 to 6 seizures a day.

Mr. Stuart’s health is also bad. He suffers from a heart condition aggravated by diabetes and degenerative vascular disease.

It is troubling to me, as I know it is to many Americans, that Family Law has been criminalized to the point where parents can be incarcerated and have their wages garnished in order to collect child support and college expenses for a 21 year old "child" while the children of their second family are left to suffer. I am also concerned with the growing invasion of privacy and erosion of the Constitutional rights of parents.

Turning parents like Gordon Stuart into criminals does absolutely nothing for our nation’s children. It certainly is not helping little Alexandria. Furthermore, replacing debtor’s prison with house arrest, and a ball and chain with a monitor anklet is hardly indicative of an advanced civilization. In fact, I, and many like me, do not like what this says about our society. It is one thing to apply blind justice to rapists and murderers. It is quite another to do so to parents in Family Court.

The wearing of a monitor anklet is more appropriate for a sexual predator. It is most certainly inappropriate for a father supporting a family with a twelve-year-old girl at home. You have garnished his earnings, what more do you want? Furthermore, what does degrading Alexandria’s father by leashing him with a monitor anklet tell her and other children like her about our system of justice?

Therefore, I plead with you, in the name of human dignity and justice, to release Gordon Stuart from house arrest and the requirement to wear the monitor anklet immediately. I would also request in the name of justice and common sense that you declare Mr. Stuart’s older daughter emancipated and responsible for her own college expenses. Mr. Stuart’s payments on the arrears he owes could then be recalculated to allow his second family enough income to survive.

Respectfully,

Lowell Jaks
Executive Director