FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 8): White Plains, N. Y. – An alimony suit which the husband apparently faces life imprisonment unless the courts find some way to give him relief from contempt judgments was studied Saturday by Justice George H. Taylor, jr.
Mrs. Clara L. Pettet, the wife, has adopted a policy
designed to keep her husband, John D. Pettet, in jail. When Pettet was $4,500
in arrears with his alimony Mrs. Pettit began to apply for her husband’s
commitment for contempt of court, not for non payment of the total sum, but for
amounts ranging from $200 to $600. If Pettet was able to pay on any particular
occasion his wife immediately served another order.
~ New Order Always Ready ~
Four times Pettit was able to pay, but on the fifth he
failed and was put in jail. That was Aug. 7. Oct. 10 he married to raise the
sum called for and released. As Pettet walked from the jail his wife’s six
order was served and he was forced to return to his cell.
A few days ago Mrs. Pettet obtained her seventh order for
commitment on default of $525. Her fear now is that Pettet might pay up on a
legal holiday, be released and then leave the state before she could get
another commitment order.
The wife’s attitude was described by Frances Fallon, her
attorney, in the words “She feels that jail is the place for him.”
~ Life Term Possible ~
Justice Taylor, commenting on the situation, said:
“I have been convinced for several weeks that Mrs. Pettet’s
purpose is to keep her husband in jail. It appears that the imprisonment of
Pettet will be terminated only by his death unless the courts find some way to
give him relief. And life imprisonment was not and is not the intent of the
law.”
Pettet has a radio supply store in Mount Vernon. His wife
obtained a separation in May, 1931. Alimony was fixed at $75 a week at that
time. Later it was reduced to $35.
The legal point before Justice Taylor now is Mrs. Pettit’s
motion restrained the sheriff, in whose custody her husband is held as a civil
prisoner, from accepting payment of any alimony sum on a holiday.
[“Back on Alimony; Faces Life in Cell – New Contempt Order
Is Served When He Pays,” syndicated (UP), The Milwaukee Journal (Wi.), Dec. 24,
1932, p. 1]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 2 of 8): White Plains, Dec. 23. – Justice
George H. Taylor jr. intimated today in reserving decision in the Supreme Court
on a motion by Mrs. Clara Pettet for an order to prohibit the release of her
husband on any legal holiday, providing he should pay up the amount of his back
alimony for which he is imprisoned, that he did not wholly approve of her
motive.
Mrs. Pettet explained she feared that if her husband, John
D. Pettet, might pay up the arrears, go free on a legal holiday when it would
be impossible for her to serve on him another contempt order she was holding in
reserve and skip out of the court’s jurisdiction before she could get him back
into jail. It is her conviction that jail is the place for him.
“The situation presented by these arrears in alimony,” said
Justice Taylor, “is such that it would appear that imprisonment of the
defendant will be terminated only by his death. I do not think that the law
ever contemplated such a situation; and when and if application is made by him
for discharge from imprisonment for such other commitment, if the matter is
heard before me, I will endeavor to make such disposition of it as will be in
the interest of justice, knowing that while the defendant is in prison his
business, his own interests and those of the plaintiff, dependent upon him
financially, must suffer. I respectfully ask the learned counsel on both sides
to co-operate with me so as to arrive upon a disposition which will relieve the present unhappy
situation.”
Although Mr. Pettet is $4,500 in arrears in his alimony, the
order of commitment upon which he is in the county jail for default of only
$300. Justice Taylor reduced this sum to $75 today. Therefore if the
restraining order sought by Mrs. Pettet is withheld and he pays $75 on Monday,
a legal holiday when civil orders of
arrest do not run. Mr. Pettet might walk out of jail and depart for New Jersey or
Connecticut.
Mr. Pettet is forty-four years old, is a member of the New
York Athletic Club and has a radio supply store in Mount Vernon. Mrs. Pettet
obtained a separation in May, 1931. alimony was fixed at that time at $75 a
week. Subsequently it was reduced to $35 a week. Mr. Pettet’s business not
being what it was.
Even with the alimony reduced by more than 50 per cent, Mr.
Pettet continued to fall into arrears. The policy adopted by his wife was to
apply for an order for his commitment for contempt of court, for non-payment of
the entire $4,500 but of sums ranging from $200 to $600.
Four times Mr. Pettet managed to pay up the sum mentioned
before the order was served, but the fifth time, on August 7, he failed to
raise it and was put into jail.
Mr. Pettet languished in jail until October 10, when he
managed to raise the sum for which he was in pawn and was released. As he
walked out of the jail, however, Mrs. Pettet’s sixth order, the one issued for
default of $300, was served upon him and back he went to jail.
A few days ago, with her husband still in jail in default of
the $300. Mrs. Pettet obtained her seventh order of $525. like the sixth, this
was to be served on him should he pay what was due on the sixth order and be
released. It is this seventh order which Mrs. Pettet fears may go to waste if
her husband should be released on a legal holiday.
[“Life Term Held Too Severe in Alimony Case – Court Cool to
Westchester Woman Seeking to Keep Husband in Jail,” New York Tribune (N.Y.),
Dec. 24, 1932, p. 12]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 3 of 8): White Plains, N. Y., Dec. 27 –
John D. Pettet, owner of a radio supply store in the Westchester County jail
since August 7 for arrears in alimony payments to his wife, will remain in jail
indefinitely as a result of an order signed in Supreme Court today by Justice
George H. Taylor jr., restraining the Sheriff from accepting payments on any
day except a legal court day.
Justice Taylor denied eighteen of twenty sections in four
motions made by counsel for the wife, Mrs. Clara L. Pettet, but granted the
sections prohibiting the husband’s release on any legal holiday, Mrs. Pettet
had explained Friday that she feared her husband might pay up the arrears on a
holiday, when it would be impossible for her to serve on him another order for
contempt of court she was holding in reserve.
The sections denied included six aimed to impound affidavits
submitted Mr. Pettit in the case; sections demanding that Mr. Pettet and his
attorneys be fined for alleged improper conduct, and sections designed to force
business records of the husbands to be submitted to the court.
In reserving decision Friday Justice Taylor indicted that he
did not approve of the wife’s desire to keep her husband forever in jail.
Today’s order, however, makes it impossible for Mr. Pettet to clear the $75
arrears, for default of which he is now in jail, without being served at once
with a seventh order for contempt of court for default of a payment of $525.
The alimony was fixed at $75 a week when Mrs. Pettet
obtained a separation in May, 1931, but later reduced to $35 a week. Mr. Pettet
continued to fall into arrears, which have reached $4,500. the wife’s policy
had been to apply for orders for his commitment for contempt of court, not for
nonpayment of the entire sum but for sums from $200 to $600. Mr. Pettet evaded
arrest four times by paying just before the orders were served, but the fifth
time, on August 7, he failed to raise payment and was put in jail.
[“Court Balks Pettet Plan To Pay Back Alimony – Wife Gets
Order Barring Liquidation on Holiday,” New York Tribune (N.Y.), Dec. 28, 1932,
p. 8]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 4 of 8): White Plains, N. Y., Jan. 23. –
John D. Pettet, owner of Mount Vernon radio supply store, who has been in
Westchester County jail since August 7 for arrears in alimony payment, failed
to gain his scheduled release from jail today when he offered only $150 of the
$200 payment fixed as a condition of his release.
He also had been able to obtain the $1,500 bond required as
a guaranty that he would not attempt to leave the state’s jurisdiction for two
months, as agreed last week in Supreme Court before Justice Joseph Morschauser
by counsel for him and his wife, Mrs. Clara L. Pettet, who obtained a
separation in 1931.
Justice Morschauser extended the terms of the agreement
until Thursday after hearing Pettet’s plea that he could raise the money if
given a little more time.
“I want this man out in the street,” said the justice. “I
want to give him the chance to help himself and, in a measure, to help his
woman, too. I want to give him two months, in which he says he can restore his
business and make regular payments to his wife. Then, when he comes back to me
on March 27 we will have decided what to do. Perhaps by then the Legislature
will have remedied this situation.”
[“Alimony Prisoner Falls $40 Short of Freedom – Mount Vernon
Man Gets Three Days More to Raise $200.” New York Tribune (N.Y.), Jan. 24,
1933, p. 8]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 5 of 8): White Plains, N. Y., Jan. 31 –
John D. Pettet, Mount Vernon electrical appliance dealer, who has been in the
county jail in Eastview since last August 7 under a series of contempt orders
obtained by his wife, Mrs. Clara D. Pettet, after he fell behind in his alimony
payments, was released from the jail today under an agreement which granted him
two months freedom. During that time he must rehabilitate himself to the point
where he can resume paying alimony or else go back to jail.
Mr. Pettet seemed pretty cheerful for a man who had so much
to do in such a short time. He explained that his business had been ruined
during his absence and he had $18,000 in judgments against him. His son, Harry,
tried to run the store during his imprisonment but could not make it pay. Mr.
Pettet didn’t know which way to turn, he said, and would take a few days to get
his bearings. Even the thought that the alimony payments, which he said
amounted to $50,000 between 1921 and 1931, were not yet ended, failed to chase
the smile from his face.
“I ought to feel good,” he said. “You know this is the first
time I’ve been out of doors in six months.”
~ Released Under Bond ~
Justice Joseph Morschauser, of the Supreme Court, signed an
order releasing him after he had paid $200 toward his alimony arrears, which
are approximately $4,000 and after he had posted a $1,500 bond not to leave the
state before March 27. At that time he will make a report of his progress in the
outside world; what he has done toward supporting his wife and settling his
alimony arrears. If by March 31, he is in a position to pay alimony of $35 a
week, he may remain a free man. If not, he must return to jail.
Mr. Pettet has not been removed from the jail today when his
attorney, Paul Bleakley, and Francis M. Fallon, his wife’s attorney, engaged in
a hot dispute over the wording of the order that Justice Morschauser
interrupted with exasperation.
“I don’t any more fooling here,” he said.
“No matter what anyone else tells you,” he said, “don’t try
to leave the country. Nobody wants to keep you in jail. I want to give you a
chance to see what you can do and maybe before you know it you will have solved
most of your troubles.”
~ Estranged Since 1918 ~
The Pettets were married in 1904 and became estranged in
1918. in 1921 Mrs. Pettet started suit for divorce, and, pending trial of the
action, was granted temporary alimony. Prosecution of the suit was postponed
and Mr. Pettit continued paying the temporary alimony until 1931, when the
divorce action was dropped and a separation suit was instituted. Mrs. Pettet
obtained the separation and alimony of $75 a week was set.
After his release today Mr. Pettet recounted the
difficulties of an alimony prisoner. A rather and slim, he appears much younger
than his fifty-eight years. He wore horn-rimmed glasses was dressed in brown.
He spoke with feeling of one man in the jail who had been working three days a
week on an unemployment relief job, only to be put in jail for failure to pay
alimony.
“A civil prisoner hasn’t much chance under the present
laws,” he said, “although I have nothing but praise George Casey and the jail
staff. But here’s what happens. If a criminal escapes all that happens is that
the police go looking for him, and if they catch him they put him back in jail.
~ Alimony Prisoner Closely Guarded ~
“But a civil prisoner out in jail for debt is the county
sheriff’s responsibility, and if he escapes the sheriff must make good the
amount for which the man was incarcerated. I guess that’s the reason why my
only air, exercise and diversion consisted of walking up and down a corridor of
about twelve feet long.
“I’ve been so cut off from the world since I was in jail
that I don’t even know where to start. My term in the alimony jail hasn’t
served any purpose. A man should pay in accordance with what he earns and not
above his earning capacity. A man should go to jail if he is concealing his
assets or when he attempts to hide his sources of income. But if he is sent to
jail without having a proper determination of what he can definitely earn, why,
he can’t squeeze money out of the bricks in the jail.”
Mr. Pettet was serving time under the seventh court order
obtained by his wife. Each time he caught up on the deficit for which he had
been jailed she would obtain another order for alimony accrued during his
incarceration. Her attorney said that she had an eighth order in reserve.
[“Prisoner Freed For 2 Months to Raise Alimony – Business
Ruined, $18,000 in Debt, Mount Vernon Man Faces Task Hopefully,” New York
Tribune (N.Y.), Feb. 1, 1933, p. 3]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 6 of 8): White Plains, N. Y., March 13. –
John A. Pettet, Mount Vernon electrical contractor, released from the county
jail on January 31 after six months imprisonment for failure to pay alimony to
Mrs. Clara D. Pettet, who obtained a separation in 1931, appeared before
Justice Joseph Morschauser in Supreme Court today and paid $35 on his alimony.
The agreement under which he was released stipulated that if by March 31 he was
in a position to pay $35 a week alimony he might remain free, but if not, he
must return to jail.
Pettet was confident he could meet the payments and said he
had found a new backer for his business, which suffered while ha was in jail.
He would not discuss his plans for financial rehabilitation, he said, until two
weeks from today, when he appears before Justice Morschauser again to give
proof of his ability to play.
[“Wins Freedom With $35 – White Plains Contractor, Jailed 6
Months, Pays Alimony,” New York Tribune (N.Y.), Mar. 14, 1933, p. 11]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 7 of 8): White Plains, N. Y., March 13. –
John A. Pettet, Mount Vernon electrical contractor, released from the county
jail on January 31 after six months imprisonment for failure to pay alimony to
Mrs. Clara D. Pettet, who obtained a separation in 1931, appeared before
Justice Joseph Morschauser in Supreme Court today and paid $35 on his alimony.
The agreement under which he was released stipulated that if by March 31 he was
in a position to pay $35 a week alimony he might remain free, but if not, he
must return to jail.
Pettet was confident he could meet the payments and said he
had found a new backer for his business, which suffered while ha was in jail.
He would not discuss his plans for financial rehabilitation, he said, until two
weeks from today, when he appears before Justice Morschauser again to give
proof of his ability to play.
[“Wins Freedom With $35 – White Plains Contractor, Jailed 6
Months, Pays Alimony,” New York Tribune (N.Y.), Mar. 14, 1933, p. 11]
***
FULL TEXT (Article 8 of 8): White Pains, N. Y., Mar. 6. –
Mrs. Clara D. Pettet, of Mount Vernon, whose successful efforts to keep her
husband, John D. Pettet’s lawyer, for alleged failure to pay $50 in fees.
Justice Witschief said that he had received a letter from
Mrs. Pettet telling him that her husband was living up to the agreement made
with her when he was released from jail and that she was released from jail and
that she did not wish to see him incarcerated again. Mr. Pettet, a Mount Vernon
electrical contractor, was released from the Westchester County jail on March
14, 1933, after an imprisonment of six months, but the terms of the agreement
with his wife were not made public.
[“Kept out of Jail by Wife Who Used to Keep Him In –
Ex-Member of Alimony Club Saved by Change of Heart,” New York Tribune (N.Y.),
Mar. 7, 1934, p. 4]
***
For more revelations of this suppressed history, see The Alimony Racket: Checklist of Posts
***
No comments:
Post a Comment