*Revenge Porn UPDATE*

It does not appear that the Michigan Legislature's Committee on Criminal Justice made any decisions on the SB 924 or 925 by legislative year end, so the proposed laws are effectively dead. 

Revenge Porn Laws

All of us have thought of taking revenge on an ex at some point (ok, maybe not you “saintly” types).  However, most of us have not thought of exacting that revenge by posting sexually explicit pictures of them online; pictures that were once taken when we were in love (or lust as the case may be) and meant for our eyes only.

The Michigan Senate passed two bills in 2014 that would criminalize these types of actions – Senate Bills 924 and 925.  Per the proposed law, a person cannot “post on the internet any sexually explicit photograph, drawing, or other visual image of another person with the intent to frighten, intimidate, or harass any person.”  And, if you do post one of these things, and the other person provides you with a written request to take it down, your refusal to do so would also be a crime.  On a side note, can you imagine drafting that “written request?”  “Dear John,  Please take down the picture of me on ihatemyex.com…All the best, Suzie.”

The criminal penalty for a first offense would be up to 93 days in jail and a $500.00 fine, or both, with the crime being classified as a misdemeanor.  If you’re dumb enough to commit the same crime twice, your second violation is also a misdemeanor but the jail time is increased to up to a year and the fine to $1,000.00, or both.

Michigan has used other laws to prosecute offenses such as this, by going after individuals based on a law prohibiting the unlawful posting of a message on the internet.  That was the case for one Michigan resident who will remain nameless.  He allegedly made the bright choice to place some nude pictures of his former girlfriend on the internet, naturally without her consent.  The law that he was prosecuted under carries a $5,000.00 fine and is a two-year felony, which is much more of a stiff penalty than what the proposed Senate bills carry.

Where you really don’t want to commit this crime is Illinois.  It recently passed a law for the same behavior, and those convicted can be hit with a $25,000.00 fine and spend a blissful one to three years in prison.  This law takes effect on June 1, 2015.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that posting nude pictures of your ex is going to get you in trouble, and cause a great deal of harm to the individual whose image is shared.  Then again, no one ever said criminals with scorned hearts were smart.

Apology comes a little too late

Have you ever had that “friend” that apologized to you waaaaaay too late, after all of the conceivable damage from the offense had been done?  I think we can all answer yes to that question.  But imagine if that apology came 10 years later, after you had a criminal conviction marking your record, and had paid a lot of money for something that wasn’t your fault.

That is the story of Texas resident Candice Anderson, who pled to involuntarily manslaughter in 2006 for driving in the automobile accident that killed her finance Gene Erikson, and left Candice badly injured.  Candice was driving her trusty Saturn Ion when she lost control for seemingly no reason, crashing into a tree.  The car’s airbags did not deploy, with no explanation for 10 years after the crash.

Automaker recalls are common in the industry, some being much more serious than others, and the unfortunate thing is, people usually have to be injured or die before a recall is put into place.  In February 2014, General Motors (GM), the manufacturer of the now defunct Saturn brand, issued a recall for 2.6 million of its vehicles, citing a problem with the ignition switches wherein the engines can stall, and power steering, brakes and airbags can fail.  And guess what?  Candice’s Saturn was one of the cars that would have been in the recall.

GM finally acknowledged that Candice’s accident could have been caused by the recall problem, and issued a letter to that effect, leading to Candice’s conviction being expunged.  While I generally look at apologies as “better late than never,” I can share in Candice’s frustration that it took GM a decade to come forward.  The car company has stated that it cooperated fully and provided information, and just thought that it was best for the judicial process to take its course before it became involved.

Not surprisingly, both Candice and her deceased fiance’s family sued GM, but the case was settled after they became one of the many who joined the compensation program set up for the recall.

It’s a sad case all around – a woman was horribly injured, held accountable for something that wasn’t her fault, and lost her future husband.  The lives of their families were forever changed. What’s most depressing is that GM waited so long to help vindicate an innocent victim.  

Baby Daddy Drama

I was having a conversation with my mom the other day and she brought up an interesting question – if a woman slept with identical twins and became pregnant, could anyone tell who the real baby daddy was?  My first thought was, “Wow, that’s a really weird question coming from my mom,” and my second thought was “I wonder if there are any cases on the topic?”

Because Google® is the best search engine ever, I found a great result as soon as I plugged in the question.

With the facts reading straight out of a Maury Povich episode, two identical twin brothers from Missouri, Raymon and Richard Miller, both had sex with Holly Adams on the same day.  Allegedly, the timing of these encounters was pretty darn close too (did brother #2 enter through the front door while brother #1 left out of the back?).  It’s hard to believe things like this really happen, but I’m betting there was not a high moral standard with this group.

So, nine months later, Holly gives birth to a baby girl.  She writes Raymon down as the father but he contests it.  In a particularly salacious move, he drags his brother Richard into court as his defense.

Now, as you may know, identical twins have the same DNA.  One sperm fertilizes one egg that subsequently divides in two.  When the paternity test result was in, it showed that both brothers had a 99.9% chance of being the child’s father.

The tricky issue (well, legally; I’m sure family get togethers were a lot more awkward) was which brother would be held responsible for the little girl.  Who had to fork over the child support that was owed?  Judge Fred Copeland was certainly in a dilemma.  There was absolutely no way scientifically for him to conclude who the real baby daddy was.  So, he relied on Holly’s testimony and went with who she had originally named – Raymon.

Not surprisingly, Raymon was quite irritated and planned on appealing until he was vindicated.  Both brothers were quoted as saying the other just doesn’t want the financial burden or responsibility of a child.  Too bad the kid can’t just pick – my guess is she’d vote for anyone other than these two.

Courts to review the rights of transgendered individuals

Everyone has heard of workplace sexual discrimination, and the general thought that comes to mind is an employer doing something unfairly to an employee based on the employee’s gender of male or female.  Many people do not realize that the Federal Law, Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, has also protected transgendered workers since 2012.

On September 25, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) slapped R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Home Inc., of Garden City, Michigan, with a discrimination lawsuit, claiming its transgendered employee Amiee Stephens was fired after she advised them that she was going to live as a female.

When Amiee let her boss and fellow funeral workers know of her planned transition, she alleges that she was told it was “unacceptable” and fired a mere two weeks later.

In a much more publicized case, Chelsea Manning (formerly known as Bradley Manning), is suing the Federal government and Defense Secretary Hagel for failure to have her gender dysphoria properly treated while serving her 35 year prison sentence.  You may remember the little WikiLeaks espionage scandal Manning was the head of a few years back.

Once Manning announced that she would be living as Chelsea and not Bradley, she asked the military to compose a treatment plan to continue her transition.  Supposedly the military agreed, but Manning said she never received the military’s plan or any treatment.  In addition to the hormone therapy, Manning is seeking to be able to follow the prison beauty standards for female prisoners (i.e. longer hair and use of makeup).

Transgendered individuals face a high rate of discrimination, suicide and self-harm.  In particular, some male-to-female transgendered individuals will castrate themselves. 

Many individuals believe any additional treatment beyond what is “medically necessary” for prisoners is a privilege, not a right.  The government pays for prisoners to receive medical treatment for all sorts of conditions – mental and physical – prisoners have access to counseling, cancer treatments, dialysis, surgery, prescription medications, etc.  So is what Manning is proposing medically necessary for her diagnosis of gender dysphoria?  And if it is, should the government pay for it while she’s serving a 35 year prison sentence for espionage?  These are certainly only some of the many questions that the public is waiting for the courts to answer.

Amiee Stephens’ case seems more cut and dry – if she can prove that she was fired for coming out as a transgendered individual, her former employer will be in a world of hurt.  Manning’s case will really help define the rights of transgendered individuals in prison – and health care coverage for these conditions in general.

Alternate career choices for attorneys

A lot of attorneys do not like being an attorney – some loathe it while others just feel general disappointment with their career choice.  It’s depressing to spend all of your money, time and effort on attending and graduating from law school, studying and passing the Bar Exam, to then be forced to work in a career that you are not happy with.

I read an article recently that said the average private law school student debt was approximately $125,000 – thankfully mine is not that high but it is still far more than I ever wanted to have.  While there are always exceptions, by and large for the past few years, law firms have been cutting staff, but law schools are still churning out students at a record pace, creating a surplus of lawyers without jobs.  That whole supply and demand thing isn’t working out too well for those in my profession.

While I was lucky enough to have gainful employment during the years I was in private practice, I wasn’t always happy with my career choice.  Since I focused my practice area on family law, I dealt with high conflict, high stress cases day in and day out.  Migraines were common and I kept a surplus of antacids on hand at all times.  I thought about broadening my area of practice, but it was nice knowing a lot about one thing and being able to tell some of the creepers that would call that I didn’t delve into representation of the criminal world.  Besides, family law had plenty of cross over into that realm and I wasn’t exactly itching for more exposure.

I expressed my displeasure over my career with a colleague of mine and he set me up to teach a course in Conflict Management at a local college.  The class was almost four hours long and I had no idea how I was going to fill up that time.  Then I remembered that I frequently talk non-stop and am psychotically outgoing, and I ended up having a blast.  I was easily able to apply my legal knowledge and negotiation skills to the class activities and course teachings.  Still, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave the law entirely.  And let’s be honest, it can be nice saying you’re a lawyer too.  There is an underlying layer of prestige that no one who suffers through law school wants to let go of.

In 2014, I was fortunate to land at Washtenaw County Friend of the Court as an Evaluator and Mediator, and I am really enjoying my new career.  It uses all of my legal knowledge, in the specialized field I practiced in, but has normal work hours and less stress (although you may not hear me say that every day).  I don’t have to represent difficult clients, and I am frequently able to help former couples reach agreements without nasty court battles.  This in turn benefits the children most, which is what it’s all about.

So if you are considering law school, or are in law school already, don’t limit your employment options to the 7 am to 9 pm big firm, high pressure gigs.  Yes, you can make enough money to pay your loans back in five years, but is it really worth it?  Most of the time the answer is no.  Your personal life can suffer tremendously and it can take a big toll on your physical health too.  Look around for a job that uses your knowledge but focuses on what you like best about the law.   Life is too short to be unhappy.

A Court's Discretion with Child Support

If I had a dime for every time child support interfered with a consent order being signed, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this article for you (or maybe I would, but it would be from a beach in Hawaii).  Child support is routinely a hotly contested issue during mediation, divorce and custody proceedings.

In cases where the custodial parent receives government assistance (Food Stamps, Medicaid, or cash), this is typically the only reason the action is filed in the first place.  The parents may be content as to their custody and parenting time arrangement, but the state will force an action and sue the other parent to establish a child support obligation.  Often times these orders for support award the mother custody, and award the father vague parenting time, simply stating “as agreed upon between the parties.”  There is, however, a definite child support obligation spelled out in the order.

Many people believe that parenting time and child support are tied together, and they are – to an extent.  A parent’s number of overnight visits with the children is a component to the Michigan Child Support Formula (MCSF) calculation, along with other factors like the parties’ incomes.  However, a parent can be ordered to pay child support even if he never sees his child.  Conversely, a parent can fail to pay support and still exercise all of his parenting time (assuming he has parenting time of course).  The separation of one’s child support obligation and parenting time rights is clearly delineated in the case Rzadkowolski v Pefley, 237 Mich App 405 (1999).

In the Ewald v Ewald, 292 Mich App 706 (2011) case, the father appealed the trial court’s calculation of his child support obligation.  The parties had two children, a son and a daughter.  The son primarily resided with the dad and the daughter primarily lived with the mom.  Dad saw the daughter regularly for parenting time, but mother and son stopped seeing each other.  Mom did not take any action to change or enforce her parenting time (or lack thereof) with the son.

The trial court determined that the father had a hand in estranging the parties’ son from the mother, and thought it unfair to not award the mother overnight credit (with the son) for purposes of calculating child support.  In doing so, this increased the father’s child support obligation.

The Court of Appeals vacated the trial court’s child support decision, noting that “the trial court erred because the Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act does not provide for the enforcement of parenting-time rights by adjusting child support obligations.”  If you remember, one of my past article discussed how one’s child support obligation can continue even if parental rights are terminated.

Courts do have discretion in awarding child support, but there are specific deviation factors set forth in the MCSF which outline what can be used as a reason for deviation (see MCSF §1.04(D) & (E)).  The trial court’s problem in the Ewald case was that alleged parental interference with visitation wasn’t one of them.

The MCSF also dictates that child support be calculated by crediting “a parent for overnights a child lawfully and actually spends with that parent including those exercised outside the terms of the currently effective order.” See MCSF §3.03(C)(4)(a) & (b).  So, if the last entered parenting time order gave dad 182 overnights per year, but he since moved to California and now only sees the minor child a few times a year, child support can be recalculated based on his new (and fewer) yearly overnights, without a change in the parenting time order occurring first.

I hear a lot of griping when this is explained, but think about it- why should a person receive a reduced support amount based on what is essentially a now inaccurate court order?  The other parent is providing the child with the daily necessities more frequently due to the decrease in parenting time.

It is said that money is the root of all evil.  I don’t know if that’s true, but it sure is the cause of a lot of court hearings.