Fairness in child support hearings
Francois v. Gabriella F. Richman
In brief
- Where it stands
- Dismissed
Petition denied.
- What it’s about
- Wilkenson Francois asked the Supreme Court to review whether child-support incentive payments create a financial conflict, whether state collection of VA disability benefits also apportioned to the same dependents conflicts with federal law, and whether the support magistrate can be shielded from lawsuits under judicial immunity (a rule protecting judicial officers).
- Who it affects
- Francois did not get Supreme Court review of his claims, and the Court did not rule on them.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about
The Court refused to hear the case (denied review) and did not decide those questions.
The petition arose from a child-support enforcement dispute reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Question presented
1. Whether the federal Title IV-D incentive payment structure (42 U.S.C. § 658a; 45 C.F.R. Part 305), when administered through state contracts with publicly traded private corporations operating state child support disbursement units, creates a structural pecuniary interest in case outcomes that violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment under Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510 (1927), Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., 556 U.S. 868 (2009), and Williams v. Pennsylvania, 579 U.S. 1 (2016)? 2. Whether federal law preempts state-court income execution against Veterans Affairs disability compensation benefits when the United States Department of Veterans Affairs is concurrently apportioning a portion of those same benefits to the same dependents pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 5307 and 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.450 and 3.451, and whether such double collection exceeds the limits set by Rose v. Rose, 481 U.S. 619 (1987)? 3. Whether absolute judicial immunity under Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349 (1978), extends to a state actor whom the State itself classifies as a civil service employee under N.Y. Civil Service Law § 62—having accepted a “Statement in Lieu of Oath” rather than the constitutional oath of judicial office required of judicial officers under N.Y. Const. Art. XIII § 1—or whether the threshold determination of judicial-officer status under Forrester v. White, 484 U.S. 219 (1988), turns on the actor’s classification under state law rather than the title borne by the office? 4. Whether a state actor enforcing a child support obligation in violation of the continuing exclusive jurisdiction provisions of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, 42 U.S.C. § 666, acts “in the clear absence of all jurisdiction” within the meaning of Mireles v. Waco, 502 U.S. 9 (1991), such that absolute judicial immunity does not attach?
Documents
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AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
AI analysis generated: Decision Record
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Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.