Police State USA
Thu, 09 Jan 2014 23:03 CST

Hall and Son
� FOX 26 Houston
Clifford Hall will go to jail for 6 months for doing too much for his son.
A father will spend half of 2014 behind bars for doing too much for his son. After overpaying child support and seeing his son too often - breaking terms that were secretly modified without his knowledge - a judge sentenced him to a lengthy jail sentence.

Clifford Hall has been doing his best to give care to his 11-year-old son, who lives with his ex-wife. He pays his child support and visits regularly. "I'm his father it's my responsibility to take care of him," Hall said.

Last November, his child support payments were paid in full. Sometime between then and now, the child support agreement between Hall and his wife was modified without his knowledge.

Hall wound up overpaying by $3,000, a fact that Harris County District Court Judge Lisa Millard found contemptible.

Another term that was modified without his knowledge was his visitation schedule. Subsequently, Hall was found to have over-visited his son.

Judge Millard ended up finding Hall in contempt of court.

When she said I remand you to the Harris County Jail for 180 days my mouth just dropped," Hall told FOX 26 Houston.

In addition to the six month jail sentence, Judge Millard is forcing Hall to pay his ex-wife's attorney fees.

"I can't be there for my son in jail," Hall said. "I can't pay child support in jail. This is not in the best interest of the child."

Hall is correct. Such heavy-handed actions on the part of the court serve no one. Not only is the child going to be deprived of his father for the next 6 months, but taxpayers will have to pay the father's incarceration, and will potentially be forced to subsidize the mother's living expenses in lieu of the child support payments.

It just goes to show us that no good deed goes unpunished in Police State USA.

That is just plain stupidity.

The ex comes across as a bitterass b I t c h.

They should give the Dad custody.

harris county is so corrupt... i hate dealing with the sheriffs out here...

The broad could have given him back the overpayments and did she not allow the kid to go with the dad?

something is missing from the story,,,but, it isn't the best result for the child

probably, but he was charge with breaking the child support agreement... he had his son when he wasn't supposed to have him, breaking the terms of the agreement...

seems to me the wife is causing the fuss, and the judge agreed with her lawyer...

sad, the judge should be more dignified...

he "over paid" so the county figured he had some money to spare and they wanted their share

So now he'll probably lose his job, fall behind on payments due to unemployment, and the county will get more..... but not the child

He should hire a street tough to take care of that judge.

they should vote that judge out...

take the kid away from the drama queen biatch and give him to a dad who cares

or they could always give the money to me....I 'd go for that :)

It looks like the OP missed something. The original story doesn't say he paid too much. More like he just paid off all the past-due debt. If it takes dragging his butt back to court to get the payments, then that's probably a bad sign.

http://uptownmagazine.com/2014/01/man-jailed-paying-child-support-visiting-child/

That said, it still looks like a bad judgement. The guy wasn't deliberately over-paying or even under-paying. His employer garnished his wages per state law, and apparently, they were taking/paying the wrong amounts. Also, Clifford Hall is appealing the judgement, so he hasn't actually gone to jail, yet.

good, I researched a little myself about it and its possible some of the 'contempt of court' sentencing resulted from how he behaved IN THE COURT itself instead of just because of the breach in the custody and child support agreement,,,


but I do hope they will not take him from his child or impede his ability to continue caring for it,,, too many fatherless children these days,,,,