Fail Math? Daddy Goes To Jail
An Ohio father was jailed -- and for six months! -- because his adult daughter failed to get her GED.
Now, expecting somebody to get her GED is not exactly a high standard. And these two parents didn't exactly raise the next Einstein, or raise her with enough discipline to see that she showed up in school -- or didn't get pregnant as a teenager. (I'm suspecting the divorce didn't help matters.) And, who knows, maybe she got a scoop of really dumb girl genetics.
Whatever's going on here, one adult should not be held responsible for the behavior of another. And as Glenn Sacks points out, to jail parents because any kid fails a class is just outrageous. But, here, from WCPO.com, that's exactly what happened:
Butler County Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Gegner to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor by not following a court order which required Gegner to be sure his daughter got her GED.This comes after ongoing problems of Brittany skipping classes at Fairfield High School and then, Butler Tech.
While Brian Gegner had custody of her, Brittany says it was while she lived with her mother that she was truant.
"I'm about to be 19 and my Dad's being punished for something I did when I was 16," she said.
"It's like I should, if anybody should be punished for this," said Brittany. "I would way rather me go to jail than my Dad."
"They probably should have punished me if they were going to punish anybody," said Brittany's mother Shana Roach. "Because she did live with me at the time, but because he had the custody, that's why he's being punished."
"But I don't understand the punishment all together because she's going to school, she's been going for four months," said Roach. "The only thing that's holding her back is she can't pass her math test."
Brittany has a daughter who's about 18 months old.
She says she's determined to pass the GED for her daughter - and her father.
The judge says if she passes the test, her father could get out of jail before his six-months sentence is up.
Brittany's step-mother worries the time in jail will ruin their family.
She says he could lose the job he's worked for 15-years.
"I never dreamed they would put him in jail for this - for six months - it's crazy," said Stephanie Gegner, Brittany's step-mother.
"He has no control over what his adult daughter does," she said. "He just doesn't."
Glenn Sacks writes:
The jailed father goes before Judge David J. Niehaus on Friday--I urge all of you to call Niehaus and also the Governor of Ohio to demand Brian Gegner's release. The contact information is:BUTLER COUNTY
Juvenile Justice Center
Judge David J. Niehaus 513-887-3318
fax: 513-887-5592
Contact Ohio Governor Strickland here:
http://www.governor.ohio.gov:80/Default.aspx?tabid=448
Phone: (614) 466-3555
Fax: (614) 466-9354Michael Robinson of the California Alliance for Families and Children ... has been checking into the case and speaking with Ohio officials. Robinson reveals several important facts about the case:
1) Both Robinson and Ohio WCPO TV reporter Deb Silverman have been digging into the Gegner family's history, and Robinson says "both parents are clean, they simply were unable to get their daughter to stay in school."
2) This sad chain of events was set off because the parents did the right thing--they were concerned about their daughter's truancy, acknowledged that they were not able to control her, and called the police for help. I would also add that this is an example of two divorced parents working together to try to help their child, something this country needs a lot more of.
3) Perhaps most significant of all, Judge David J. Niehaus and two colleagues were specifically accused of judicial abuse by Butler County Commissioner Mike Fox in his 2003 report "A Culture of Secrecy, Fear and Judicial Abuse."
Other relevant details:
1) According to CBS, the judge is "standing firm" and says Gegner will "only be released if his daughter passes the GED." So a parent can be held in jail until his or her child passes a test?! If my son fails Geometry, should my wife and I be jailed until he passes Geometry in summer school?
2) In "A Culture of Secrecy, Fear and Judicial Abuse," Fox writes:
"The Domestic Relations and Juvenile Courts of Butler County foster a culture of secrecy, fear and judicial abuse that violates the most fundamental and sacred rights guaranteed by our nation's Constitution -- the rights of due process of the laws. Those who are most directly affected by decisions of these courts -- parties to the actions -- are routinely excluded from court proceedings and deliberations, told to wait outside the hearing room in a hallway while their lives, personal property, children and homes are divided up by strangers." To read the full report, click here.
...4) To watch a video of the daughter discussing her father's jailing, click here.
A counterpoint posted by Jay R., a commenter on Glenn's site, regarding his telephone conversation with Rob Clevenger, Director of the Juvenile Justice Center in Butler County.:
As I recall, he said that, to his understanding, it was not true that the parents had initiated contact with the "system." He also said that it was not true that the daughter had lived with the mom during the entire three years of "chronic truancy" which is the premise of the original criminal complaint, which was automatically brought against the parent with legal custody. He could not explain why mom wasn't also/instead charged, but did say that he is aware of cases where (mostly single) moms have also been prosecuted. He did not say that any women have gone to jail.He really was a nice, reasonable person, who acknowledged the huge problems associated with fatherless homes. He had nothing to say, though, when I noted the lack of any governmental or societal efforts to keep fathers in place in families.
Clearly, all these problems are caused by gays and lesbians "ruining" the institution of marriage by asking to be allowed in -- especially all those gays and lesbians who want to provide stable homes for their children with all the rights and privileges straight people get for their partners, family, and children.
Do you think gay parents' children are more likely to pass math? I mean, these people are not having kids by accident, so maybe their kids are less likely to be truant and all the rest -- not that any parent should be jailed for their children's behavior, unless there's a clear case of willful child neglect.
UPDATE: The judge backed down. Glenn Sacks reports that the jerk "judge" (there seems to be little judgement in the guy) will let Brian Gegner out of jail if his daughter takes a GED test prep class, which she must schedule before the next court date.
Better circumstances for the guy, but still wrong -- to have one adult's freedom depend on whether another adult does something. This "judge" should be busing tables at Denny's. If that.
I don't think it matters whether a child's parents are gay or not - proper discipline and a stable home environment are essential to a child's scholastic success. Setting boundaries, then expecting and insisting a child adhere to them also helps. It seems like this girl's parents did neither, but I'm curious as to why the parents called the police rather than try to get their child some kind of assistance through a mental health counselor or something. My daughter #2 has some anger issues that we've been seeing a counselor for, and it's been helping tremendously. She still has a problem with homework, but she knows what's expected of her and does her best to fulfill that.
(It doesn't help that her father keeps absolving her of her responsibilities and says that she "doesn't have to listen to [mom's] boyfriend". The only time BF ever disciplines her is when he's backing me up when she doesn't listen to me. At least we're working on it. Ex has issues of his own that he's not ackowledging.)
Flynne at May 16, 2008 6:21 AM
"a stable home environment are essential to a child's scholastic success." Not to offend but by your own statement above the stable home environment is not essential. Does it make everything a hell of a lot easier for all involved, oh yes.
When I was that age my biggest gripe with dad was that he was a hipocracy. Big issues were 1) You need to get good grades 2) You need to finish High School 3) You need to go to college and graduate 4) Always lead by example. His action were 1) Got poor grades in school unless he like the subject 2) Got GED in USMC (which he was stridently against me joining, did just about everything legal to keep me out) 3) He went 3 times and finally graduated after I had finished undergrad. 4) See 1 through 3.
Don't demand from your kid something you couldn't or didn't do. You can explain why they should do it but if you couldn't then what makes you think they can? So when we have one he or she is screwed. We both have masters, I have a perchant for stupid mistakes (I know that's stupid and dangerous cause I did it) and the wife was a straight A student.
The reason for my dads behavior and why Academia holds a special loathing for both of us was discovered a few years ago as both of us are SEVERELY ADHD.
vlad at May 16, 2008 6:52 AM
Back on topic: What the hell was the judge and Rob Clevenger smoking, scratch that nothing you can smoke can make you that squirrel shit. I get the idea that busting parents for the child truancy may not be such a bad idea. Here's why, the kid gets no where in life and sits on the public dole. So we fine the parents to support said public dole. Sticking dad in jail is lunacy. First he's now on the public dole and will likely lose the job and be more on the public dole. Second 3 year later how the hell do they jam him 3 year later she's an adult how can you make someones release dependent on the behavior of someone else.
vlad at May 16, 2008 7:00 AM
Not to offend but by your own statement above the stable home environment is not essential. Does it make everything a hell of a lot easier for all involved, oh yes.
'K, vlad, I'll give you that one. But what I've told #2 is that I've already gone to school, and done my homework, and so has everyone else; she's not exempt just because she wants to be. We had her tested for ADD & ADHD; she's not. She's very damn smart is what she is, and she gets better grades than I did. BUT, she says "reading and writing suck", even though she's way beyond her age group in both when tested. I think she's bored by some of her classes and assignments, but that doesn't give her a pass. She's got to do her work, even if she doesn't like it. There's just no way around that, even when she spends more time arguing with me about doing the assignment than it takes her to just do it. And for the most part, she will "just do it". Sometimes she just gets a bug up her butt that she doesn't want to do her homework; I've tried to get it across to her that the sooner she does it, the sooner she gets do other things. She's getting it, slowly but surely. I haven't given up on her.
Flynne at May 16, 2008 7:05 AM
I get the idea that busting parents for the child truancy may not be such a bad idea. Here's why, the kid gets no where in life and sits on the public dole. So we fine the parents to support said public dole. Sticking dad in jail is lunacy.
So what should they have done? The parents were the ones who called the cops - and the father gets arrested and thrown in jail for their trouble, because the daughter was truant and can't get her GED because of her math? Why didn't the parents just get her a tutor? Why didn't she get herself one? A college student or something? There are plenty of solutions here that wouldn't or shouldn't have included sticking her father in jail because she's stupid.
Flynne at May 16, 2008 7:10 AM
My parents (or more specifically my mom), wanted all 3 of 'her' children to go to university. The reasons probably included the usual immigrant desire to see their children do better than they did. Since my parents are from Germany & Austria, I actually could have gone to university for free and for as long as I wanted over there, so may have been better off in Europe. They didn't have that option when they were at university-age because WWII had just finished when they were 17 and both countries were war-ravaged craters, I imagine.
I always told my mom that if she wanted the university thing so badly, she could just as easily go herself, as she wasn't working and could easily afford it, but she got upset at that idea. She insisted on keeping all of our diplomas framed on her wall.
My sister and I did attend university (I also attended community college) and my brother completed 2 community college courses, but I think our motivations were to avoid joining the workforce for as long as possible. My sister's motivation may have been to improve her market value as a trophy wife, as she completed her law degree, passed the bar exam and then never actually worked as a lawyer.
Chrissy at May 16, 2008 7:12 AM
I've been following this case. The judge is just a big douchebag. He is one of those types that follows his own screwed up internal agenda, whatever that may be. And I agree that parents should be held accountable for some things their minor children do. But his is idiotic. The judge should be removed and bitch slapped.
Sterling at May 16, 2008 10:09 AM
I think that judge was looking for some brownie points with the special interest group(s) that sponsors him.
Danny at May 16, 2008 11:45 AM
and here's the million dollar question.....
How come it's DAD who is sent to jail? Why isn't MOMMY who in theory is an "equal" parent being held to the same standard
oh wait silly me she's a woman and therfore not responsible for her actions...
DCR at May 16, 2008 12:16 PM
"So what should they have done? " Fine him. Putting him in jail serves no purpose. They are not protecting anyone from him. The parents behavior make it more likely that she'll be on public assistance so they should help pay it. Plus if she hated her father this would have back fired horribly.
"Sometimes she just gets a bug up her butt that she doesn't want to do her homework; I've tried to get it across to her that the sooner she does it, the sooner she gets do other things." Ah memories, yup that was me. Once I found a subject that I like and realized that there was an incentive to doing it diligently all the problems went away. Some kids respond to do it because I said so. Some respond better when the incentives for doing X become apparent even if gratification is delayed.
There were a few speed bumps in college like when the dip shit department head forgot that he was not a general and I was paying him not the other way around. Then this cretin came out and told us that there would be very few jobs for us cause industry doesn't know what we do. After 3 years of freaking "RA RA RA BME" and the debt I had accumulated, I was less then enthusiastic about my academics.
vlad at May 16, 2008 12:26 PM
I believe that this Judge should be immediately subjected to a Petition for Judicial review and removal.
It is unbelievable to hold a man hostage in prison and in the face of economic loss (his job of 15 years) because of his daughter’s unwillingness to go to school instead of sleeping with her boy friend.
It is a sorry state of affairs for anyone to expect the judicial department of any state to treat the individual fairly without predacious.
This Judges bias is evident and his complete lack of moral and judicial responsibility demands his immediate cincture and impeachment.
David K. Cordova at May 16, 2008 2:37 PM
When judges substitute their own judgement for the law, this happens. You can't cheer it for gay marriage and condemn it here. It takes the same asshat to do both.
Smarty at May 16, 2008 8:42 PM
You gotta love Social Services and the upside down Family Court system. Discipline your children? God forbid, Spank your children? One quick call to Child Welfare Services (they used to call it Child Protective Services but they don't protect children any more) and your children get taken away. What do you get? Orders to attend Anger Management classes (Cha Ching $$$$), Parenting Classes (double Cha Ching $$$$) and Avoidance of Domestic Violence Classes (Jackpot Cha Ching $$$$). And you all wonder why there’s so much money changing hands at DCSS and CWS?
So like I said, be a parent-Discipline the kid and you are in big trouble. Don't discipline your ADULT Baby Momma daughter who has an 18 month old, and you go to jail.
Who goes to jail? Is it the daughter who at 19 is an adult and a parent herself? Nope. Is it the mother that she was living with while she was spending more time in back seats that in classroom seats? NOPE. It's Dad. Good ol’ ATM machine, Deadbeat, Scapegoat-DAD.
Now kiddo here says she is having trouble with math but from what I can see, she's doing great at multiplying as she has a little bundle of Child Support of her own now. I wonder if Baby Daddy is next in line to go to the pokey. Maybe he and Grandpa can get acquainted, play some Gin Rummy, get matching tattoos.
I'm sick of Dad's having to pay and pay and pay, for the stupid decisions of women and yes, little daughter-dear, this includes YOU.
Women want to be able to do what they want, when they want with their bodies. Read-Roe V. Wade or last-second mind-changing during consensual sex that turns it into Rape.
Yes! No! Yes! No! More! -Wait- Not Yet! STOP, I think…
Women want what they want and they give plenty of lip service to calling it EQUAL rights until there's a pregnancy or an opportunity for child support checks. Then, presto magico! They don't want equal rights, they want special rights and by that, I mean ALL the rights. Full 100% rights to the kid, 100% rights to every dime the man makes for the next 18 years and 100% full rights to use the Social Services system to her benefit.
As a woman, I am ashamed. I am also ashamed of this judge (who probably has been getting some big Atta Boys from his wifey poo when he gets home every night). Buying into the feminist lie aided and abetted by CWS/DCSS and Women's Shelters. This is nothing less than a Civil Rights Violation and Gender Discrimination.
Did you hear that ladies? Discrimination. Just like you screamed, at the top of your lungs when you wanted the right to vote and the right to have an abortion.
Let me know where I can sign up to campaign for equal rights for Men. Men's suffrage in the family court can not, and will not be ignored. Come on guys, your children are counting on you.
Amy Mordan
Amy Mordan at May 20, 2008 10:47 AM
This judge should be in jail for abusing the law that was meant to protect people from people like him.
Roger at December 22, 2008 6:21 PM
pero si no le hechas ganas la gente va dejar de leer
productos para bajar de peso at June 25, 2011 1:54 PM
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