Does Washington State Really Care for the Kids?

Here's an article I found on WorldNetDaily. A homeschool dad is charged with violating child labor laws and faced extreme fines. Some quotes from the article:

In 2003, Jude Doty was fined $34,000 by the agency for "employing" his then 11-year-old and 13-year-old sons even though both boys did not fit what Doty says are the criteria for official employment. Later, he was assessed $20,000 for unpaid workers' compensation insurance for his children and other workers, along with $87,000 in penalties.

"It was a $250 a day fine for them working during school hours even though we legally set our own hours as homeschoolers, $500 a day for having no superior court judge permit, $1,000 a day for them working on a construction site (our private property), $1,000 a day for them working near our heavy equipment, plus $1,000 a day for them operating our backhoe and $1,000 a day for being a 'helper on a public roadway.'"

Doty, who is the father of seven, says the department conspired with Child Protective Services to take his son Zach from him when he visited the Labor and Industries building. Later, he says, the agency secured a court order that "directed … all persons in active concert … to remove" Doty's boys from any work site or equipment.

Ron Langley, a spokesman for the Department of Labor and Industries, explained the agency's position on the case – that Doty has endangered his children with the specific things he directed them to do on the job.

Current policy – and current state law – in terms of child or teen labor … is that, with the exception of agriculture, the same laws' protection that apply to any minor under 18 would apply to any business in which family members are working," he told WND. "Essentially, the same requirements would apply either way."

Continued Langley: "Doty was cited for violation of state child-labor laws because his boys were engaged along with Mr. Doty in his business in activities that are deemed by law and regulation too hazardous for minors to be doing."

Reuel Paradis is the Yakima regional administrator for the state agency. "My bottom line is that these children should have an opportunity to survive to adulthood," Paradis told the Times. "I absolutely support [Doty] in his contention that he was in the right to teach his children a work ethic, but I also really believe that there are jobs that aren't appropriate for some age groups."

So what does the state do to "protect the kids"?

Doty, who says he has paid over $40,000 in legal fees, relays the financial action the state has taken against him:

"They seized over $100,000 in cash bonds, my bank account, the properties, a contract and equipment. With the liens, I wasn't bondable, which completely put me out of business! They referred to me as a 'felon,' and for 16 months have identified me as a 'repeat offender' on their website."

Said Langley: "Labor and Industry has placed liens on real estate and equipment for collection of premiums, penalties and interest for workers' compensation coverage. We have not at this point exercised any of those liens."

Doty closed his business in July 2003 and will likely lose his home tomorrow: "L&I even took title to our family van, and now our home is scheduled for a sheriff's sale on Feb. 4."

Who keeps the money? The kids? No. The state. Some protection. They make the kids homeless to protect them and take the money needed to support them in order to pay for the beaurocrats needed to enforce such injustice. This is liberlism (socialism) at its finest.