Prohibiting procreation: a step in the right direction to protect the children of deadbeat dads; an analysis of the court decision in State v. Oakley.

I. INTRODUCTION II. STATE v. OAKLEY A. Policy Considerations B. Circuit Court Opinion C. Second Circuit District Court of Appeals of Wisconsin Opinion D. The Wisconsin Supreme Court's Majority Opinion III. STATE V. OAKLEY: DISSENT A. Dissenting Justice Ann Walsh Bradley B. Dissenting Justice Diane S. Sykes IV. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN STATE v. OAKLEY V. THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECT OF FAILURE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT ON CHILDREN A. The Relationship Between Neglect and Depression B. The Background of Depression C. The Definition of Depression D. The Effects of Depression on Children and Adolescents E. The Causes of Depression 1. Parental Practices & Personality 2. Genetic Vulnerability 3. Divorce and Parental Separation 4. Actual Case Studies Signifying the Cause and Effect of Depression F. Preventative Measures & Treatment G. The Effects of a Depressed Parent on a Child H. Childhood Depression and Suicide I. Summarization of Parental Neglect and Childhood Depression VI. REMEDIES A. Societal B. Special Programs C. Government Intervention D. Legislation E. Summarization of Remedies to Childhood Depression VII. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION David Oakley was born in 1966, at Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. (2) He never knew his father and was raised by his grandparents and the State of Wisconsin in a home for delinquent boys. (3) By the time he was twenty-one, Oakley had fathered four children with two different women. (4) At the age of thirty-four, Oakley had been divorced twice and had nine children with four different women. (5) Oakley amassed $25 in unpaid child support and was charged as a repeat offender, with seven counts of intentionally refusing to provide child support. (6) His repeat offender status resulted from a conviction for intimidating two witnesses in a child abuse case involving one of his children. (7) Oakley's criminal record also included convictions for disorderly conduct, receiving stolen property, and felony possession of a firearm. (8) Oakley plead no contest to three counts of intentionally refusing to support his children and was sentenced to three years in prison on the first count, a stayed eight year sentence on the last two counts, and a five-year period of probation consecutive to his incarceration. (9) The circuit court judge imposed as a condition of his probation that Oakley refrain from having any more children until he could show that he was supporting his current children, and that he could support an additional child. (10) Oakley's appeal of his probation order failed in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, 2nd District, and in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. (11) On December 2, 2002, the United States Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari. (12) This note will entail an in-depth analysis of the Wisconsin Supreme Court's majority opinion and the dissent. This note will also provide support for the majority opinion by evaluating how the court's decision will help protect the children of individuals like Oakley, who intentionally refuse to support them. While some may claim that the probation condition to prohibit Oakley from procreating was a drastic measure, it was the appropriate measure for the court to take. This sentence will serve as a deterrent to Oakley and other fathers who intentionally refuse to support their children. The probation condition will prevent any future children from being subjected to Oakley's neglect. It will also help the nine children that he already has because Oakley will be able to work full-time and he will have the means to provide child support to the four mothers of these children. …