Criminal Nonsupport and a Proposal for an Effective Felony-Misdemeanor Distinction
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Criminal Nonsupport and a Proposal for an Effective
Felony-Misdemeanor Distinction
Over the years, different programs have been instituted on both the
state and federal levels to deal with the problem of nonsupport of chil-
dren. For example, every state has enacted the Uniform Reciprocal En-
forcement of Support Act (Act) or a substantially similar statute.1
Furthermore, all states impose criminal sanctions for a parent's failure to
provide support for his or her child.2 These measures, however, have not
proven to be as effective as hoped, and nonsupport remains a very serious
problem in this country: fifty-three percent of all children entitled to
child support do not receive the full amount ordered by the courts.3
The problem of childhood poverty demands close and immediate
attention because it seriously affects our society in two ways. First, when
children are forced into poverty by their parents' failure to provide sup-
port, the state, that is, the taxpayer, bears the burden of providing that
support through welfare payments. One of the primary causes of child-
hood poverty in this country is nonsupport by parents.4 In 1981, over
6.5 million children in female-headed, single-parent families in the
United States were living below the poverty level,5 and the poverty rate
1. 9A U.L.A. 647-746 (1979). See F. HARPER & J. SKOLNICK, PROBLEMS OF THE
FAMILY 235 (1962). In California, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act was
adopted in 1951 and is now the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act of
1968. CAL. CIv. PROC. CODE §§ 1650-1699.4 (West 1982 & Supp. 1986).
2. See, eg., CAL. PENAL CODE § 270 (West Supp. 1985). Criminal statutes in all 50
states and the District of Columbia make it either a felony or a misdemeanor for a man to
neglect his children. F. KUCHLER, LAW OF SUPPORT 34 (3d ed. 1980).
Although the California Constitution proscribes imprisonment in a civil action for debt,
CAL. CONST. art. I, § 10, imprisonment for failure to provide child support is constitutional
because the obligation is not a debt, and prosecution under section 270 is not a civil action.
Lyons v. Municipal Court, 75 Cal. App. 3d 829, 839-40, 142 Cal. Rptr. 449,453 (1977); People
v. Champion, 30 Cal. App. 463, 465, 158 P. 501, 502 (1916).
3. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, U.S. DEP'T OF COMMERCE, SERIES P-23, No. 124, CHILD
SUPPORT AND ALIMONY 2 (1981) (Advance Report) [hereinafter cited as CHILD SUPPORT].
4. See infra notes 47-58 & accompanying text. The official poverty level is defined by
the Department of Agriculture. See infra note 46 & accompanying text.
5. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, U.S. DEP'T OF COMMERCE, SERIES P-60, No. 140,
MONEY INCOME AND POVERTY STATUS OF FAMILIES AND PERSONS IN THE U.S. 22 (1982)
[hereinafter cited as MONEY INCOME].
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Criminal Nonsupport and a Proposal for an Effective Felony-Misdemeanor Distinction
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