The man and woman filed into the cramped, fluorescent-lit courtroom in downtown Brooklyn, N.Y., and took their seats before the magistrate judge. The woman, who appeared to be in her early 30s, had petitioned for an increase in the $82 weekly child support payments the man sends her for their two children. She also wanted a card from his dental insurance plan that would prove the children are covered. Neither had the benefit of counsel.
In a thick local accent, the magistrate judge requested pay stubs and W-2s from both parties and began punching numbers into her calculator. Unfortunately for the petitioner, she concluded that the payments were already at the ceiling of 25 percent of his income. She did, however, order the man to call his union and obtain a new dental insurance card for his kids.
