by Bob Karls
Fathers' Rights Consulting & Research
PO Box 55443 Shoreline, WA 98155
A paternity judgment and support order had been entered against the father. The father's compliance with the support order had been poor. On that basis the trial court dismissed the father from the action using state statute which stated:
"That in the case of an illegitimate child the father cannot maintain or join as a party an action unless paternity has been duly established and the father has regularly contributed to the child's support." RCW 4.24.010.Since the support provision applies only to fathers, the court found it to be in violation of Washington's Equal Rights Amendment and struck it from the statute.
For you legal beagles interested in constitutional rights, this decision says that Washington's ERA has "swept away" traditional equal protection analysis applied to gender classifications under the federal constitution, and even the narrow exceptions permitted under the strict scrutiny test do not apply.
"The capacity to suffer loss when a child dies is not unique to mothers." Guard v. Jackson, 83 Wn.App. 325 (August, 1996).
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