EDITORIAL
Child support law
pays off for kids
Finally, a new Oregon law is making dead-beat par
ents accountable to their children.
The law, whit h went into effect July 1. allows the state
to suspend the occupational vehicle licenses of
plumbers, electricians, truckers and other workers if
they fall behind in child support payments. So far, the
stale has threatened to take away the licenses of 900
workers. Ninety percent of them have agreed to begin
making full child support payments.
Any law that results in more support for Oregon's chil
dren should be considered a godsend For too many
years, children have suffered tin? most when parents
split up. when Dad "forgets'' to mail his monthly check
and when Mom and Dad declare war over child support.
Parents, not children, should be punished when they
don't take responsibility for their sons and / or daugh
ters This law aims to do just that. Child support money
belongs to children, and the state should make every
possible effort to make sure children don't pay for the
mistakes of their parents.
The new law provides an overdue answer for delin
quent child support payments. For years, state officials
have been debating ways to make parents accountable.
Although it's impossible to legislate accountability, any
measure that forces people to put their children first is
crucial.
The threat of losing one's license to work is a power
ful incentive for repaying child support.
However, more needs to bo done to protect children
and punish dead beat parents. The law shouldn't stop at
blue-collar workers. Doctors, lawyers, businesspeople
and other professionals have the same responsibility to
their children as truckers ami plumbers do.
In the next legislative session, the state will consider
expanding the law to include alt driver's licenses and all
state-licensed occupations. The revisions ant necessary
to make the law applicable to all parents, resolving any
problems of discrimination that may result from a law
that punishes only blue-collar workers.
Maine passed a law similar to Oregon's but gave state
officials the authority to revoke the driver's licenses of
any parent who does not pay court-ordered child sup
port. Maine also was given the power to revoke the pro
fessional licenses of doctors and lawyers. Warning let
ters to affected parents resulted in $11.5 million in back
child support payments.
Oregon should follow Maine's example and take this
new law further. All child support-paying parents
should face penalties if they do not pay.
Oregon also needs to makes sure this new law is care
fully implemented Don’t let it bocome just another
warning that people will start to ignore Exact the threat
ened punishment.
Making sure Oregon’s children have a chance at a
docent future is the least we can do.
Oregon Daily
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GoAfiOiHC OUH OLO WA«J/M/)S ,
■ OPINION
Free speech includes everyone
Freedom of s|«mm h is one of
the most im|iortnnt civil
lilxtrtte* m this countr> It
is something most Americans
take for granted until that free
dotn is taken a wav
While 1 was working on my
fngh school newspaper. I dis
i overed how crippling the loss
of freedom of speech could be
The problems began when the
editorial board of the Tigard
High School newspaper, the Hi
Spots, endorsed the right to free
dom of speech for an under
ground newspaper
The underground newspaper.
Low Spots, published an issue
that provided student criticism
of various topics, including the
school administration One arti
cle criticized the principal and
contained the phrase “Fuck the
principal." This statement was
considered obscene by the
administration and, therefore,
unfit for sj hoo! distribution
The editorial by our school
paper at knowledged that
obscenities were not appropriate
for the school paper, saying,
“even though their mode is not
appropriate for Hi Spots, we
appreciate an underground
newspaper's special opinion
and angle ”
This viewpoint was unat.i ept■
able to the school administra
tion.
The school distrii t adminis
tration told the members of the
newspaper that w e lost our right
to freedom of speet h w hen we
entered the school — meaning
that the freedom of speet h was
against school policy and that
we couldn't endorse an under
ground newspaper.
The administration censored
the editorial, saying that as an
extension of the curriculum, we
couldn't go against district poli
cy.
Several members of the paper
thought the administration was
trampling our freedom.
I decided to call the American
Civil Liberties Union to see what
M arc hum Kdw ards
we could do. 1 was told we
could pursue legal action
At that point we had to deter
mine how important this issue
was to us Four of us decided it
was important enough to contact
lawyers. We met with two
lawyers who explained our
rights to us They also told us
what w'e could do to try to save
our freedom of speech.
We. along with three members
of the underground newspaper,
filed a c.is 11 suit m Washington
County Circuit Court All of us
spent hours in depositions
telling our sides of the story
Then we went into the court
room to testify
Meanwhile, the Tigard School
District implemented stricter
regulations concerning student
publications. District adminis
trators c ould now look, at any
issue the students produced
They could also pull any story
they did not like
At the c irc uit court level, the
court said the Tigard School Dis
trict violated our rights under
the Oregon Constitution. How -
ever. the court also ruled that
the distric t could operate under
the new guidelines Regarding
the underground paper, the
court said that the school dis
trict had no right to censor the
publication.
The seven plaintiffs, along
with the ACLU, appealed the
decision to the Court of
Appeals The appellate court
overturned the case, claiming
that it was moot because we (the
students involved in the action)
had graduated. The decision
said that because we could no
longer be harmed by the dis
trict's regulations, the case
should he dismissed. However,
this ruling ignored the fact that
other students could he harmed
by the strict publications policy.
Two years later we are still
embedded in the legal system
While the members of the group
have gone our separate ways, we
are still anxious to hear the out
come of the next step. Two oth
er University students also are
involved in the case.
Today the Oregon Supreme
Court is hearing our appeal at
the University's School of Law.
The justices will decided how
important the freedom of speech
is for people who have not yet
graduated from high school.
The problem is that most peo
ple sitting on the courts with
which we have dealt are adults
Some do not remember what it
is like to be in high school and
to he developing beliefs and
ideas It is very disturbing that
these students are not able to
express their opinions just
because they are in the public
school system
Article I, Section 8 of the Ore
gon Constitution says that no
law shall he passed restraining
the free expression of opinion,
or restricting the right to speak,
write or print freely on any sub
ject whatever. It is a shame that
some people don't think that
right applies to everyone.
freedom of speech is extreme
ly important to a Democratic
society Mow would people on
both sides of the political spec
trum ho able to express their
opinions if freedom of speech
were not allowed? How would
President Clinton know what
the public felt about health care
or gun control?
it is absolutely essential that
all people, at every age, in every
place in the United States In*
able to practice their freedom of
speech.
Marcrlrnr Edwards is the com
munitv editor for the Emerald.