“A Georgia paternity fraud victim’s point of view” – Pt. 1
Subj: Paternity Fraud
Date: 2/28/02 5:53:03 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Jim Albertelli
To: dbeasley@ajc.com
Dear Editor:
This editorial is written on behalf of all Georgia Men who have been defrauded in the most diabolical way: that is, defrauded into believing they are fathers.
As one of these men, I have experienced the pain caused by discovering that I am not the biological father of children I believed to be mine. After my divorce from the children’s mother, I was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition which prevented me from having children. I was devastated by this news and sought the truth from the mother. Instead of admitting her crime (she had the relationship with the biological parent over five years of our marriage) and trying to determine the best way to make the adjustment for the children, she chose to seek additional child support from me and conceal the identity of the biological father. It has been approximately two years ago that I learned my two sons were in fact the offspring of another man.
Realizing the importance genetic information has been in my life, I sought relief in the Georgia Courts and offered irrefutable evidence that I was not the biological father. The superior court ignored the evidence and held me in contempt. I filed an additional action in the superior court to set aside the divorce decree based upon fraud and to have a guardian ad litem appointed to assist the children. To this day, the guardian ad litem has taken no action and neither has the court.
The system which claims it acts in the “best interest of the children” failed to take any action to remedy its fraudulent order or the psycho-social ramifications of the fraud. The system has proven the superior court’s malaise concerning domestic cases and its willingness to ignore the Constitution to enforce an illegal order.
All is not lost. There is hope for the future in the legislature right now in the form of House Bill 369. Recently released from Senate subcommittee, it languishes in the House’s Judicial Committee waiting upon an opportunity to reach the floor. Because of the rights of children to know their biological parent, the rights of men to be free from fraudulent debts, the rights of the citizenry to be free from unconstitutional decisions and patent unjustness, we must take the first step to remedy the situation in the form of House Bill 369.
“A Georgia paternity fraud victim’s point of view” Pt. 2
Opponents of the Bill have cited the “best interest of the children” and the necessity of a statute of limitations in an effort to derail the Bill, however, the logic behind these arguments is fallacious. “The best interest of a child” concept stems from the domestic decisions attempting to determine custody in non-fraud situations.
Those non-fraud cases examine, between consensual parents, which person would serve the best interests of the child. To apply the inquiry, you must have adopted the child or are related by voluntary consanguinity.
There is no other circumstance in which to apply the best interest analysis. Certainly, one who is neither related by blood nor enters the relationship consensually with all of the protections of Georgia Law should be bound. There is no best interest because it is not your child. The best interest analysis is pretermited by your non-relationship.
Second, proponents of a statute of limitations fall into the best interest fallacy and propound a rule which violates the Constitution. There can be no limitation on an action to recompense for fraud until after the fraud is discovered. Would the state limit a person who discovers that they are a slave to bring an action because the overseer depends upon the labor? Certainly, not. In both situations, the taking is unlawful. In both situations, it is a violation of Due Process.
Why should the deceitful mother, benefit from her coercive (with the Court’s acquiescence) action because she depends on the money? Why should the Georgia Government receive Federal matching funds on the bounty of duped men?
Fathers in this State are pursued to pay child-support. Should they fail to pay, they can be incarcerated, pay court costs and fees and lose licensing privileges. The system depends upon credibility to give the judiciary a modicum of integrity. The leader of the paternity fraud movement, Mr. Carnell Smith was quoted as saying that we always hear about “Deadbeat dads, but where is the law for fraudulent mothers?” It is a valid inquiry. The answer, in part, is H. B. 369.
To learn more about H. B. 369 contact Mr. Smith at www.paternityfraud.com .
Jim Albertelli, Atlanta