Re: Passport blacklisting and due process

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On 7/24/05, Sam Watters wrote:
> To Whom It May Concern:
>
> My name is Sam Watters and I would like to ask a question
> about due process and passport revocation.
>
> The State Department says that a person who is US$5,000 or
> more in arrears for child support cannot be issued a
> passport or have an exisiting passport renewed. I live in
> overseas and a passport is vital to my employment.
>
> My situation is that in 1998 the mother of the child I am
> financially responsible for remarried and told me that she
> no longer wished for my support. I sent a letter to the
> F.O.C. stating that I would not be making any further
> payments. Obviously this was a giant mistake on my part
> but I received no correspondences from the F.O.C. (despite
> keeping the same address) and assumed everything was fine.
> Three years later (2001) I received a letter from the same
> F.O.C. stating that I was in arrears exceeding US$50,000.
>
> Obviously before the debt was $50,000, it was $25,000 and
> before that is was $10,000 and even before that it was
> $5,000---which is the amount at which a passport is
> marked. I am now trying to renew my passport and having
> tremendous difficulty.
>
> My question is does the F.O.C.'s waiting until the debt was
> well past the legal limit before contacting me violate my
> due process? If I had received this information in a
> timely manner I could have rectified the situation before
> it became so large.
>
> Any information or insights will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Sam Watters

You CANNOT, repeat CANNOT, simply send a letter stating that
you're stopping payment, no matter the circumstances. Only
the courts can issue such an order and if you would have
spoken with an attorney, you would have realized that.

You owe the money and they have every right to revoke your
passport until it's paid or arrangements are made. There is
no 'due process' violation here.