Fathers in Arizona who aren't delivering court-ordered child support payments may discover their mugs plastered all over social media soon. Arizona governor Doug Ducey this week unveiled a bizarre new name-and-shame campaign to publicly mock so-called “deadbeat dads,” a crackdown on "the worst of the worst" parents who fail to make child support payments.
What could possibly go wrong with such a brilliant campaign? Can't possibly imagine anything going wrong.
WANTED: #AZ Child Support Evader Aaron Ace Anderson – Owes $170,993 #Deadbeat https://t.co/blLisyQJAc pic.twitter.com/Bz9ZjXJGde
— AzDES (@ArizonaDES) January 11, 2016
Snip from NBC News Arizona coverage:
The hope is that the public shaming will make some of them pay up and give other dads (and moms) second thoughts about evading child support. Ducey, a father of three, called out "deadbeat dads" in his State of the Union address on Monday, saying he was troubled by the high number of vulnerable children in Arizona.
"For too long, you've been able to remain anonymous — able to skirt your financial and legal responsibilities with no shame. Not anymore," the governor proclaimed. Effective immediately, he said, the state would begin posting the photos, names and money owed by "these losers" to social media, with the hashtag #deadbeat.
Arizona Uses Facebook and Twitter to Publicly Shame 'Deadbeat Dads' [NBC]
WANTED: #AZ Child Support Evader Scott A. Baughman – Owes $29,108.35 #Deadbeat https://t.co/7YapgWiFPl pic.twitter.com/csJRdKbSqG
— AzDES (@ArizonaDES) January 13, 2016
In total — all #deadbeat parents in Arizona owe $1.74 BILLION — with a B. It’s time for them to man up, and pay up. https://t.co/XLdH7S82ia
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) January 13, 2016