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opinion
Thursday, February 25, 2021 • Page 4A
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What you need to know...
A Father’s Rights
Cannot Be Assumed
Ladies and gentlemen, we
are at a crossroads. Do we
want to live in a country
where people do the right
thing or do we plan to do what
we want without a moral com
pass? Are we a country of laws
or can some people get away
with murder? I dare say that
our democracy (and our
world) will only survive if each
of us is committed to do the
right thing.
In response to Republican
Senator Pat Toomey explain
ing that he had voted his con
science when he voted to find
President Donald Trump
guilty for his incitement of the
insurrection and was com
mitted to do the right thing, to
my shock and disdain, Mr.
David Ball, chairman of the
Washington County GOP in
Pennsylvania, proclaimed:
“We did not send him there to
do the right thing.”
He then voted to censor
Senator Toomey, a long-time
loyalist to the Republican
agenda. Having a conscience
and doing the right thing
“If we do this,” council
member Ryan Tucker said,
“you may never have to touch
it again.”
Action is contingent upon
approval of USDA.
In other business:
•Council approved a
$54,909 contract with Coggins
Construction for damaged
owned, although the physical
pain does not compare to the
loss of his mother, sister, and
grandmother, all of whom
passed away in the flames.
Thomaston Native Zac
Hendrix has been a mentor
to Johnson for the last five
years and jumped to action
the minute he was informed
of the incident. In less than a
month, Hendrix spread
awareness across the nation,
making national headlines
while he coordinated a Go-
FundMe page, providing
Johnson with Super Bowl
LV tickets and a quarter mil
lion dollars, among other do
nations.
The two met five years
ago through the Clarke
County Mentoring Program
while Hendrix, age 24, was
an undergraduate student at
the University of Georgia.
Over the last five years,
Taeden and Zac have become
best friends and Zac has con
sistently been a part of young
Taeden’s life.
Hendrix received a mes
sage on Jan. 27 from
Taeden’s cousin via Insta-
gram, informing him that
Taeden’s family members
had passed away, soon noti
fying that the house had
caught on fire. Hendrix im
mediately packed a bag and
drove from Thomaston to
Athens, meeting with his
seems to have been irrelevant
to Mr. Ball’s political expe
diency. Have we crossed the
Rubicon?
Sen. Toomey thought dif
ferently and explained that
when President Trump’s legal
challenges failed to turn the
election in his favor: “Pres
ident Trump summoned
thousands and inflamed their
passions by repeating dis-
proven allegations about
widespread fraud... He urged
the mob to march on the Cap
itol for the explicit purpose of
preventing Congress and the
Vice President from formally
certifying the results of the
presidential election. All of
this to hold on to power de
spite having legitimately lost."
Does Mr. Ball have a
spouse, children, friends,
business associates, and rel
atives who depend on him to
do the right thing? If you are
not a person that lives by up
right principles, I certainly
would not want you anywhere
in my life.
When did we lose our
sidewalk panel replacement.
Cost is less than half of the
$115,000 budgeted for side
walk repairs.
•Council approved a
$20,000 expense to Georgia
Safe Sidewalks, which utilizes a
procedure to “trim” rather than
replace uneven panels. If re
sults are acceptable, the pro
pastor before getting to
Taeden.
Taeden was released
from the hospital and was in
the care of his paternal
grandmother in Athens when
Zac arrived.
“As soon as we saw each
other, Taeden ran into my
arms and gave me a hug,”
commented Hendrix.
“[Taeden saying], ‘I love you,
bro, you are just a few of the
family I have left...’ has left
me crushed, but I am trust
ing God's plan through this
tragic event.”
Hendrix has spent every
day since working to secure
Taeden’s future. He created a
GoFundMe immediately
after the accident, which has
raised $243,725 from 5,700
donors and received 9,200
online shares as of Monday.
“So many people came
together and it’s such a bless
ing to see the support,” said
Hendrix.
Soon after, Hendrix, who
works in national sports op
erations, received a call from
the Atlanta Falcons Com
munity Department, “who
have been absolutely incred
ible,” he said. A representa
tive asked what all was
needed, but all the needs had
been taken care of, so she
took a different approach.
Although Hendrix knew it
was a “stretch,” Taeden had
focus on honesty and inte
grity? As Americans, aren’t
these principles at the core of
what we hold dear? At what
point did Mr. Ball think he
had the monopoly on how a
man or woman thinks and
acts? The Bible teaches that as
a man or woman thinks, so
are they. Does this then mean
that Mr. Ball is a man without
a conscience; does it also
mean that those who voted
with Mr. Ball are also without
a moral compass?
We all had grandmothers,
parents, teachers, pastors,
friends, and neighbors who
impressed on us not only to
treat everyone as you want to
be treated but to “always” do
the right thing (honorable and
just) - don’t lie or steal and
make your word your bond.
“So whoever knows the
right thing to do and fails to
do it, for him it is sin.” “Do not
be overcome by evil, but over
come evil with good.” “Do not
be deceived: God is not
mocked, for whatever one
sows, that will he also reap.”
“Do not grow weary in doing
good.” “Seek the LORD and
his strength; seek his presence
continually!” “Repay no one
evil for evil, but give thought
to do what is honorable in the
sight of all.” “If your enemy is
hungry, feed him; if he is
thirsty, give him something to
drink; for by so doing you will
heap burning coals on his
cess would save on future side
walk repair, according to
Thompson.
•Council approved $9,000
to Thompson Trucking for
demolition of the water depart
ment office building on North
Center Street.
•Council approved the sale
of 3,076 kilowatts of excess
never been to an NFL game
and he informed the com
munity department of the
wish, to which he was told,
“We’ll make it happen.”
After several days had
passed, Zac and Taeden were
invited to join a Zoom call
with CBS World News, who
brought in Atlanta Falcons
player Grady Jarrett to sur
prise Taeden with two tickets
to Super Bowl LV, courtesy
of the NFL, Atlanta Falcons,
and Grady Jarrett.
Taeden and Zac enjoyed
complimentary first-class
flights to and from Tampa, a
hotel room, two seats in the
stands of Raymond James
Stadium, as well as two spots
in a sky box suite. Taeden
even got to sit in the pilot’s
seat before the flight.
Throughout the last
month, Hendrix has escorted
Johnson around the county
while introducing him to a
multitude of supporters, ce
lebrities, coaches, and ath
letes, including his “favorite
person,” Quavo, Tiger
Woods, Cardi B., and others.
Taeden returned to
school last Monday and Hen
drix is organizing a lawyer
and CPA to handle the pro
ceeds from the GoFundMe.
Funds will benefit Taeden
Johnson’s future, his college
fund, and his trust fund.
Funds will also benefit
head.” ’’For what shall it profit
a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own
soul?”
Where have all these les
sons gone? When does doing
the right thing become a cause
for derision?
I am dismayed to say that
many people like Mr. Ball
think we are in an America
that is waging a “zero sum”
war within. That is to say for
me to win, you must lose. Our
better angels are calling for all
of us to learn to live with the
differences among us that
made this country great. A
zero-sum mentally ensures
that we all lose.
“Now, the effects of the
corrupt nature are obvious: il
licit sex, perversion, prom
iscuity, idolatry, drug use,
hatred, rivalry, jealousy, angry
outbursts, selfish ambition,
conflict, factions, envy, drunk
enness, wild partying, and
similar things. I’ve told you in
the past and I’m telling you
again that people who do
these kinds of things will not
inherit God’s kingdom. But
the spiritual nature produces
love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithful
ness, gentleness, and self-con
trol.” (Galatians 5:19-23)
Even though we often fall
short of these rules of the
road, we all subscribe to them.
Step back from the line. Let us
not cross the Rubicon.
power through a MEAG agree
ment to the City of Sandersville
at $6 per kilowatt, for a total of
$18,456 net to Thomaston.
•Council approved the ap
pointments of Lila Bryan and
Claude Burgess to the Historic
Preservation Commission and
Dennis Boyd to the Thomaston
Tree Board.
Johnson’s half-sister, who is
in need of support, and
Taeden’s paternal grand
mother will become benefici
ary.
Those who wish to sup
port Johnson and his family
can view and share the Go
FundMe at https://www.go-
fundme.com/f/taeden-johns
ons-house-and-family-ex-
penses?fbclid=IwARiww2eo
Z k F g b d i -
DHrYMKs7RIZOV6ocDU9J
JUgTmWeoxJpr-
IZJKLD8qiQ.
“We want to thank all
who have supported. All I did
was set it up, everyone else
started making it all
happen,” commented Hen
drix. “Anyone who feels led
can donate, but the best
thing to do is to share
Taeden’s story with others.”
Zac Hendrix is the son of
Cleve and Kathy Hendrix
and recently moved back to
Thomaston. He has been
working at Augusta National
Golf Club, and is currently in
the interview process with 16
companies, which include a
“dream job” at ESPN.
Hendrix is currently nar
rowing down his choices, but
ensures that no matter where
his career takes him, he will
continue to “spend a lot of
time with Taeden,” and re
main best friends.
It may be a somewhat un
comfortable topic, but it is a
fact of life that children are
often born out of wedlock. So,
who has what rights to the
child under Georgia law and
how are those rights estab
lished?
The rights of the mother
are quite simple. The birth of
the child to the mother estab
lishes her legal rights to the
child, however, it is quite a dif
ferent situation for the father.
For the father to establish his
rights he must legitimate the
child through a court action.
Until he does so, the mother
has all parental power.
The father is referred to as
the “putative father,” meaning
that he is alleged to be the
father, but he is not the legal
father in the eyes of the law.
The biological/putative father
has no legal right to custody or
visitation with the child until
he is established to be the legal
father through a legitimation
action. Once established as the
legal father, the court can rule
on the issues of custody and
visitation in the same legiti
mation action.
Many unsuspecting
unwed fathers are under the
misguided belief that if they
are listed as the father on the
child’s birth certificate, they
have legal rights to the child.
This is not correct under Geor
gia law. Many unsuspecting
unwed fathers are also under
the belief that they have rights
to the child because they have
had a DNA test and are paying
child support. This is also in
correct.
While the above beliefs
may seem logical, these facts
alone do not legally establish
the biological/putative father
as the legal father, nor do they
establish any custody or visita
tion rights to the child in the
father.
How can it be that a bio
logical father is listed on the
birth certificate as the father,
has a DNA test establishing
him as the biological father, is
paying child support and is
otherwise fulfilling the role of
father, and still is not recog
nized as the legal father and
has no custody or visitation
rights to the child? The fact
that a child is biologically the
child of the father is not
enough under Georgia law.
Georgia law provides that
when a child is born out of
wedlock, the biological father
has what is referred to as an
“opportunity interest” in the
child. This means that the
father has the opportunity to
establish himself as the legal
father. So how does a father do
this?
The father to a child born
out of wedlock must exercise
his opportunity interest by es
tablishing a bond with the
child, supporting the child,
providing for the protection
and education of the child, and
by seeking to have the child
declared to be legally his child
through the court in a legiti
mation action.
It is extremely important
for a biological father of a child
born out of wedlock to insti
tute a legitimation action in
the court system as soon as
possible to establish himself as
the legal father. This is be
cause the “opportunity inter
est” can be lost. The failure to
exercise his opportunity inter
est can, over time, cause the
father to lose the ability to es
tablish himself as the legal
father. Inability of the father to
do these things because of his
own actions, such as incarcer
ation, is no excuse and the op
portunity interest can be lost.
Since the mother has all
the parental power until the
father legitimates, what
happens if the mother does
not allow the father to estab
lish a bond with the child or
refuses the father’s efforts to
support and otherwise provide
for the child? This situation
emphasizes the importance of
filing the legitimation action in
court as soon as possible, be
cause while the mother’s con
duct would certainly be an
issue, the father would not
want it to appear that he has
consented to same through his
inaction and the passage of
time.
Life is not always straight
forward and other situations
can complicate matters. For
example, what if a child is con
ceived during a marriage but
the parents become divorced
before the birth of the child? A
child conceived during a mar
riage is presumed to be the le
gitimate child of the marriage
and legal, custody and visita
tion rights to the unborn child
should be addressed in the di
vorce action.
But what happens if the
pregnancy is not known at the
time of the divorce or what if
the husband of the marriage is
not the biological father of the
child? While more compli
cated for obvious reasons, the
biological father can still es
tablish himself as the legal
father and seek legal, custody,
and visitation rights through
the court system.
Under Georgia law, a man
that has intercourse with a
woman is on notice that a
child may result, and it is in
cumbent upon him to take ac
tion to establish his legal rights
to the child. There is a strong
public policy in favor of fathers
legitimating their children, but
legitimation is not guaranteed.
As always, specific facts
and circumstances can impact
legitimation as well as legal,
custody and visitation rights,
so it is always a good idea to
seek legal advice about your
specific case. The one constant
is that it is always better to
seek legal advice about your
specific situation sooner
rather than later.
D. Chad Nuce is an attorney with Pasley, Nuce,
Mallory & Davis, LLC with offices in Thomaston,
Barnesville, Griffin, and McDonough.
He can be reached at 706-646-3200.
Griffin Thomaston Barnesville McDonough
77(1.227.^811 706.646.3200 770.3583600 470.503.5510
Personal Injury Disability Workers’Comp Real Estate
Probate Estate Planning Criminal Law Family Law
wwwpnLawgroupcom
City Council,
Continued from Front
TPD, Continued from Front
fired a handgun in the direction of the
intruder’s voice, according to the report.
The female said she and her son
were watching television when they
heard noise in the son’s bedroom, then
both ran to her bedroom and locked the
door. When she heard a man’s voice, she
yelled for him to “get out” and fired her
weapon at the wall, after which she
heard a car drive away, the report stated.
Officers discovered a broken window
and multiple live rounds of ammunition,
and retrieved the fired bullet from the
wall of the residence. Officers conducted
a thorough search of the residence and
surrounding area to ensure the victim’s
safety, according to the report.
The victim said the suspect was wait
ing outside her house, armed with a
weapon that he stole from her sister’s
residence in Griffin, when she com
plained of an unwanted person two
hours earlier. The victim’s mother
signed a statement confirming her
daughter’s account of the incidents.
Two more felony burglary incidents
were reported, one at West End Mini
Storage on Crawley Street and one in the
Doty Drive area. No arrests have been
made in either case, according to re
ports.
Other recent arrests and charges re
ported by TPD include the following:
George Robert Hargrove, obstruct
ing or hindering law enforcement; Ra-
monica Regina Lockhart, theft by
shoplifting; and Jareem Youlman Har
ris, felony probation violation.
Mentee, Continued from Front
Power Cost,
council that he had received numerous
phone calls from constituents complaining
about the most recent cycle of power bills,
the first to include the adjustment. He cited
the COVID-19 pandemic and job losses as
reasons to delay the increase, and suggested
council revisit the issue at the beginning of
2022.
The power cost adjustment passed by
council reflected an added cost between
$1.56 and $2.56 per 1,000 kilowatt hours,
meaning that the average customer would
see an increase of approximately $3 per
monthly utility bill, according to City Man
ager Russell Thompson.
Council members Ryan Tucker and
Doug Head warned that delaying the inev
itable would result in sharper increases to fu
ture bills for power customers.
“Do you think there would have been
fewer calls if the bills were $3 less?” Tucker
asked Middlebrooks.
Tucker and Head both used the phrase
“perfect storm” to describe the latest cycle of
power bills, which reflected usage during an
extremely cold period. There also was a lapse
in meter reading times, resulting in several
extra days being added to the cycle, and a
mathematical error which increased bills 14
percent across the board.
The error has been corrected and cus
tomers were credited for the error, according
to city officials, but the shock resulting from
Continued from Front
multiple factors combined caused a harsh
reaction from some residents.
Council members compromised by re
scinding the adjustment for February,
March, and April billing, and agreed to re
visit the issue for May 2021.
Most recent city adjustments were a
water and sewer rate increase in 2017, and a
decrease in commercial power rates which
resulted in a minimal increase for residential
customers in 2018, according to Thompson.