I remember the screams when Congressional Republicans (and many Democrats) voted to reform bankruptcy law — in ways that, from what little I heard, struck me as generally reasonable. But what about this?

Many dads have lost their jobs or suffered significant drops in income. Because it is difficult for fathers to get their child support orders modified downward, many decent, loving fathers are being jailed because they can't keep up with their child support obligations.

Ed O'Donnell, chairman of the New Jersey State Bar Association's Family Law Executive Committee, says that it "usually requires in excess of six months before a judge will say, '[The job loss] is possibly a real change in circumstances'... Six months is a long time, when you're desperate."

This problem is creating many outrageous, well-documented injustices.

For example, in one case highlighted by the Boston Globe, a divorced father who worked in the real estate industry had been paying $6,000 a month in child support, plus additional expenses such as health insurance and tuition. When the real estate industry crashed, he fell behind and, with an application for a downward modification still pending, was handcuffed in court and jailed for 30 days.

Nobody should ever do time in jail for debt. Except for fathers.