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Is there freedom in divorce?

The Jewish holiday Passover begins in a few days and a central theme of the holiday is freedom. The irony of my divorce is that while I divorced for freedom I have never been more oppressed in my life than in divorce. Facing the mess that the crooked New York State Supreme Court system has left behind in my life has virtually enslaved me to NY State Child Support Collection. The penalties, endless harassment, strong-arm tactics and embarrassment of being publicly labeled as a deadbeat for money that I could never possibly afford to pay begs the question; Where are the protections of US Constitution in New York civil courts?

I took some time this weekend to calculate how long it will take to pay my current child support and maintenance and arrears on a 65% wage garnishment. I accrued arrears because I was unemployed and could not afford a lawyer to assist with a modification of my child support and the court was not at all interested in my story. When I finally found a job I had fallen $60k behind in payments.

Before I show the figures I want anyone who is contemplating divorce to think about this. After taxes and garnishment I am now left to live on 14% of my wages. This could happen to you in New York, easily. So it will take me 10 years paying $84,000 a year in wage garnishment to pay current support and maintenance and arrears. My opening arrears balance was $60,000 but since my 65% garnishment doesn't cover the current child support award, let alone arrears, my balance will accrue to over $127,000 with New York Child Support Collections before it begins to reduce. I'm sure that the good people over there will be overjoyed to hear my story that I don't have the money as they continue their endless barrage of letters to credit agencies, banks, employers, past employers, 1099 payers, etc.

The answer to the question that began this article is clearly NO. At least in my case there is no freedom in divorce. While I have no regular contact with the ex we still share children. I am living on $3,000 a month and need assistance from friends and family for most everything financially and will for at least 10 years. In the New York City suburbs $3,000 a month is not an appreciable sum.

I don't know why New York has the power to force pro se into trials where the penalties are so harsh. I don't know why no one cares that people who can't afford attorneys will lose everything in corrupt New York Supreme Courts filled with Judges who will sit idly by while a pro se loses his children or all his possessions and future earnings with no protections of due process or legal representation.

New York has an obligation to respect the US Constitution and Andrew Cuomo and the rest of the legislature could care less about the abuses that ordinary people suffer in the corrupt New York Supreme courts. Anyone who speaks up is some kind of nut upset about his child support, anyone who questions the ethics of attorneys and judges is ignored by ineffectual discipline committees. We are shoved back into the same convoluted, corrupt court systems that we couldn't afford in the first place that are only more expensive and convoluted as we fail in the impossible appeals process. The Civil Appeals Management Program of New York won't even meet with a pro se as they would if an attorney was involved making appeal even more impossible for pro se.

This year at my Seder for the first time I will truly be asking the question 'am I free?'.