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Man unable to pay support releasedBy WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE © St. Petersburg Times, published April 10, 1998 "I don't belong in no jail just because I'm broke," said Gregory, who has been jailed seven times since 1986 for failing to support his child. "I don't deserve to be treated like a murderer. This ain't justice." In January, Gregory told a hearing officer that he had no job, no money and no possessions beyond his clothes and could not pay more than $7,000 in child support he owes his former girlfriend. When the officer asked the value of all his clothing, he estimated $200. With that, Gregory was ordered jailed for 90 days or until he paid $200. But a Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge ordered Gregory's release Thursday, a week after the Public Defender's Office asked the state Supreme Court to declare Gregory's sentence illegal given his inability to pay. The 48-year-old St. Petersburg man says he'll now look for work -- of any kind. Previously, he said, he had been reluctant to take a job other than electronics technician, for which he received vocational training. Gregory was released on the day of the deadline the high court gave the state Department of Revenue, which oversees child-support enforcement in Florida, to file a response to the public defender's argument. The DOR filed its response -- after asking Judge Mark Shames to release Gregory. DOR officials and the law firm that prosecutes deadbeat Pinellas County parents declined to comment. But in the response to the Supreme Court, the DOR said Gregory's release was in the "interests of justice." The agency did not admit fault. Instead, it told the court the merit of the public defender's arguments could not be properly judged given an incomplete record of the hearing at which Gregory was ordered jailed. Therefore, it said, he should be released. Gregory's sentence was set to end Sunday. Assistant Public Defender Kari Kepp said the DOR's motivations are transparent. She said the agency agreed to release Gregory to prevent the court from considering his case and possibly making a precedent-setting decision against the agency. "A day ago they claimed everything was on the up and up and that they did everything properly and there were no problems," Kepp said. "I think it's apparent why all of a sudden they want a judge to release Mr. Gregory." Kepp argues that Gregory's case shows that Florida's child-support enforcement has turned the county's jails into debtor prisons. She asked the high court to declare the system unconstitutional. The order that sent Gregory to jail said he refused to pay child support, but Kepp said that is wrong. Kepp also said the hearing officer who asked Gregory the value of his clothing never gave the man an opportunity to sell it to pay. Instead, she said, he was jailed immediately. "They didn't even give him a chance to sell his used underwear," Kepp said. Gregory must pay $35 a week in support of his 13-year-old daughter and has made some payments in the past. But Gregory said in an interview he has had difficulty finding work in his field. He said he will now seek whatever job he can get and hopes to continue payments in the future. But Gregory, who has a record of shoplifting and writing bad checks, said it is tough to find work. He said his experience has taught him an important lesson in case he is ever called before a hearing officer again: "Next time someone asks me what my clothes are worth, I'm going to tell them $5."
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ARGO -- Anthony Gregory walked out of the Pinellas County Jail Thursday, his pockets empty, a cheap plastic cross dangling from his neck and a tattered paper bag in one hand containing, he says, all his possessions.
