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Why
Minnesota’s Child Support Guidelines Are Unconstitutional:
Economic Exhibits [PDF], R. Mark Rogers, October
22, 2001.
A non-profit, children’s advocacy group, R-Kids
of Minnesota, began a constitutional challenge to that state’s
obligor-only (net income base) child support guidelines. This
report, containing the economic exhibits for the challenge,
was prepared by  .
It shows how that state’s guidelines were arbitrarily
expanded from welfare situations to all income cases without
economic basis. The exhibits show that the custodial parents
generally end up with higher standards of living than higher
grossing obligors. The guidelines conflict with economic standards
established by case law. A variety of equal protection issues
are addressed, included the use of cost of living adjustment
(COLA) price indexes.
Legal
Critique of Minnesota Guidelines [HTML],
John Remington Graham, Counselor at Law.
Includes discussion of guideline statutory and legal history,
constitutional issues, and suggestions for reform.
Legislation Introduced
HF3582
was introduced in the Minnesota House to be a new child support
guideline for Minnesota. It would have implemented 
and was sponsored by Rep. Andy Dawkins and co-sponsored by
Rep. Steve Smith. The local family advocacy group, Our
Kids, Inc. supported it.
Versus Minnesota’s
Proposed Shared Responsibility Child Support Guidelines [HTML],
R. Mark Rogers.
Shared Responsibility Guidelines have been introduced as legislation
by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota. DHS
claims that these new guidelines are an honest reform of the
state’s antiquated obligor-only income guidelines. However,
a closer look shows that the legislation has strong and pervasive
economic biases and do not conform to legal standards for guidelines
of equal duty that is proportional to income. |
