Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
James D. Murphy Jr. - whose ex-wife and daughter live in Roanoke - was found guilty earlier this year of "willfully" not paying child support. In June, he paid $12,500 to his ex-wife and daughter, representing nearly five years' worth of back payments.
U.S. Magistrate Glen Conrad in June delayed entering the guilty judgment as he pondered attorneys' arguments about whether the 1992 Child Support Recovery Act was constitutional. Murphy's case was the first in which the act was used in the Western District of Virginia.
The law targets parents who move out of state to avoid paying child support. It allows authorities to deal with out-of-state parents through the federal courts rather than having to negotiate differing laws in other states. Parents who have willfully refused to pay court-ordered child support can face federal criminal penalties.
Murphy and his lawyer had contended that enforcement of state child support orders is not a power delegated to the federal government in the U.S. Constitution.
In sentencing Murphy on Monday, Conrad sided with the government's position. Julie Campbell, assistant U.S. attorney, had argued that the law does not usurp power from the states; rather, it creates a partnership between state and federal governments.
Last August, Murphy was identified as one of the state's "Ten Most Wanted" child support evaders. The top 10 were those identified as the hardest cases to enforce.
In October, Murphy contacted the Child Support Enforcement Division, promising to resume $240 monthly payments that had been ordered.
Then he disappeared.
In January, FBI agents arrested Murphy in Florida.
by CNB