Child Support Collection by Cell Phone Records
Wednesday / September 12, 2007
If you have a cell phone, Virginia will find you.
The State of Virginia has adopted a novel approach to
child support collection, according to Harrisonburg's
WHSV.com channel 3. The story says that finding
delinquent noncustodial parents is often
difficult. Because one in four children in
Virginia is involved in a child support case, a
great deal of money has been uncollected.
Someone in Virginia's Division of Child Support Enforcement noticed that about 76% of Americans use a cell phone. So the Division asked cell phone companies to share their cell phone records so that parents who are delinquent on their child support could be found.
The cell phone companies apparently refused to comply without subpoenas, so the Division served subpoenas on them. Rather than fight the subpoenas, some of the phone companies began cooperating. The numbers are big. The story quotes Nick Young of the Division of Child Support Enforcement: "We just sent them 268,000 records, they did a data match and they sent me back 52,000 phone numbers and addresses I didn't have." As more cell phone companies cooperate, "child support officials say they'll be able to track down just about anyone."
As is so often the case in child support collection, the motivation behind a state program is good, but the means are unsettling. According to the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Did the Division issue 268,000 warrants, or just one blanket warrant? If the latter, how did that warrant meet the requirements of the Fourth Amendment?
Someone in Virginia's Division of Child Support Enforcement noticed that about 76% of Americans use a cell phone. So the Division asked cell phone companies to share their cell phone records so that parents who are delinquent on their child support could be found.
The cell phone companies apparently refused to comply without subpoenas, so the Division served subpoenas on them. Rather than fight the subpoenas, some of the phone companies began cooperating. The numbers are big. The story quotes Nick Young of the Division of Child Support Enforcement: "We just sent them 268,000 records, they did a data match and they sent me back 52,000 phone numbers and addresses I didn't have." As more cell phone companies cooperate, "child support officials say they'll be able to track down just about anyone."
As is so often the case in child support collection, the motivation behind a state program is good, but the means are unsettling. According to the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Did the Division issue 268,000 warrants, or just one blanket warrant? If the latter, how did that warrant meet the requirements of the Fourth Amendment?
|
