DNA liberation

— Glenn Sacks wrote in the L. A. Daily News: When Larry Nicholson went to court after receiving a child support order, he knew something wasn’t right. “I looked at the child,” he says. “The child is white. I’m black. Now I’m not an expert in genetics, but I knew something had to be wrong.” … Continue reading “DNA liberation”

— Glenn Sacks wrote in the L. A. Daily News:

When Larry Nicholson went to court after receiving a child support order, he knew something wasn’t right.

“I looked at the child,” he says. “The child is white. I’m black. Now I’m not an expert in genetics, but I knew something had to be wrong.”


It sounds like an easy problem which any reasonable judge would remedy with one pound of the gavel, right?

Of course, the answer is “wrong.” California, and most other states, presumes that all children born to a married couple are the husband’s issue, even when they clearly aren’t; it also presumes that women’s declarations of paternity are correct if they aren’t challenged promptly. So Rod Wright has written a bill making it a crime for a woman to sign a declaration of paternity against a certain gentlemen unless he’s the only possible father. I worked with Rod the last time he tried to get some DNA testing into the law, and Sheila Kuehl, the man-hater who guides the Democratic Caucus on family law, shot us down. I do believe this approach will fare better.