No-Fault Divorce is Institutionalized Evil

By S. Michael Craven on September 6th, 2009
S. Michael Craven

S. Michael Craven
Center for Christ & Culture
Throughout history, Christians have fought against countless social evils from slavery to child labor and these battles inevitably began with a campaign of sustained public persuasion that exposed the hidden evils to a public largely unaware. Similarly, no-fault divorce has become so commonplace that its evil is either obscured or ignored. But the availability of no-fault divorce has served to increase family dissolution at a rate greater than ever before in history; furthermore, it undermines the institution of marriage itself, perhaps more so than any other single factor in history. We would not be standing on the brink of same-sex marriage were it not for the corrosive effect upon marriage-as-an-institution that followed the divorce revolution.
Constitutional and family law attorney J. Shelby Sharpe says, “No-fault is national catastrophe. Anything which overturns the order or systems of things whereby families are destroyed and the whole of society adversely affected is by definition a catastrophe.”
You may be surprised to learn that the initial efforts to advance no-fault divorce legislation were underwritten by Hugh Hefner through the Playboy Foundation, which financed an army of young lawyers working to advance these antifamily policies. Let’s see…America’s largest pornographer working to rewrite public policy related to the family? There’s something seriously wrong with this picture! Alfred Kinsey also played an instrumental role in reducing these legal protections by falsely reporting that adultery was commonplace in most marriages. This reduced the stigma associated with adultery and ultimately served as the basis for eliminating all laws against adultery. Hefner and Kinsey both saw marriage as the final barrier to sexual freedom and thus determined to remove its inhibiting influence upon unrestrained sexual activity.
Cheap divorce (Credit: Kevin Dooley)

No-fault divorce is much more than just divorce; it is a legal tyranny that denies the fundamental right of due process to a defendant. Prior to no-fault divorce, the party seeking divorce (plaintiff) was required, by law, to demonstrate cause on the part of the other party (defendant) prior to dissolving the marriage, dividing the family’s assets, and destroying the two-parent structure essential for children. These measures provided strong legal protections—primarily to women and children who might otherwise find themselves abandoned by husbands and fathers who simply sought “greener pastures.” (You might think me overly hard on men here. Granted, both men and women can be guilty of abandoning marriages; however, statistically speaking, women and children are most often the victims.)
Under the system prior to no-fault divorce, the state was limited in its actions and intrusion into the private affairs of the family except in those cases in which one of the parties committed a legally recognized offense against the other. In the wake of no-fault divorce, the state has been given unprecedented access into and unconstitutional authority over what was previously sacrosanct: the family. Historically, the law regarded the family as a preserve of privacy that was largely off-limits to the government. It was what Supreme Court Justice Byron White (1962–1993) called the “realm of family life, which the state cannot enter.”
What is most shocking about no-fault divorce is the inherent unconstitutionality of it all, a direct violation of human rights. A retired circuit court judge writes, “To the characterization of no-fault divorce laws as both ungodly and inhumane I would add unconstitutional as well.” In my conversation with attorney J. Shelby Sharpe he was confident that if a case involving no-fault divorce were ever brought before the U.S. Supreme Court it would no doubt be ruled unconstitutional and no-fault divorce abolished!
One of our most fundamental protections secured by the U.S. Constitution is the right to due process, which secures the right of an individual to be heard regarding issues of life, liberty, or property. This means that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, property, or of any right granted him by statute, unless the matter involved is first adjudicated or ruled against him at trial.
No-fault divorce completely usurps the defendant’s constitutional right to due process. In the case of Judith Brumbaugh, author of Judge, Please Don’t Strike That Gavel on My Marriage, with whom I spoke, her husband of twenty years had an adulterous affair, formed a relationship with the other woman, and decided that he no longer wanted to be married. Under the no-fault procedure he was able to file for divorce claiming that their marriage was “irretrievably broken.” Judith contested this claim, hoping to preserve her marriage; however the no-fault procedure ultimately gave her husband and the court the right to deny her due process. She was, in essence, charged with a crime, found guilty, and sentenced without ever being heard. The marriage contract was unilaterally dissolved.
Judith lost her home, her children, and her husband; she was left nearly destitute from legal expenses and utterly without recourse—which is legally impossible in every other contractual obligation in this country! And yet in the most important contractual obligation in society, under no-fault divorce the plaintiff is able to break his or her contractual obligation without the right of due process being given to the other party in the contract. The defendant’s life can be ruined, her liberty restrained in countless ways, and her property taken away by the courts. I know, and I’m sure you do as well, too many women and children who have suffered similar results.
This is a travesty of justice that affects more than a million families each and every year, with an annual related cost to taxpayers of more than $48 billion! This cost doesn’t even begin to consider the secondary societal effects of family dissolution upon crime rates, welfare rolls, and the emotional and psychological effects upon the children of divorce. No-fault divorce has created an easy divorce culture, which, according to Maggie Gallagher, an affiliate scholar at the Institute for American Values and a nationally syndicated columnist, “demotes marriage from a binding relation into something best described as cohabitation with insurance benefits.”
No-fault divorce is a social and legal atrocity that needs to be abolished both for the sake of families and children that have, for too long, been subjected to the tyrannical actions of family courts, and because it has encouraged, through law, radical selfishness on the part of narcissistic, self-indulgent spouses. What must be understood by Christians is that no-fault divorce functions as a direct enemy of the gospel of the kingdom by opposing the in-breaking reign of God and his desires for the family.
I will be sharing more on this and what you can do in the months ahead
S. Michael Craven is the President of the Center for Christ & Culture. Michael is the author of Uncompromised Faith (Navpress).The Center for Christ & Culture is dedicated to renewal within the Church and works to equip Christians with an intelligent and thoroughly Christian approach to matters of culture in order to demonstrate the relevance of Christianity to all of life. For more information on the Center for Christ & Culture, the teaching ministry of S. Michael Craven, visit the Center for Christ & Culture.
Note: Reader comments are reviewed before publishing, and only salient comments that add to the topic will be published. Profanity is absolutely not allowed and will be summarily deleted. Spam, copied statements and other material not comprised of the reader’s own opinion will also be deleted.
Subscribe to this feed • Discuss on Newsvine • Add to Mixx! • Email this • Twit This! • CrossFeed This • Sphere: Related Content • Technorati Links • Save to del.icio.us • Digg This! • Share on Facebook • Stumble It! • Add a comment • Add to Windows Live Favorites • Submit to Reddit • Google Bookmark This • Fark It • Add to Yahoo MyWeb2 • Buzz Up!

100%

Hmm

(You might think me overly hard on men here. Granted, both men and women can be guilty of abandoning marriages; however, statistically speaking, women and children are most often the victims.)

WERE, not 'are'.

Originally Posted by gaynorbarry

No-Fault Divorce is Institutionalized Evil

""No-fault divorce is much more than just divorce; it is a legal tyranny that denies the fundamental right of due process to a defendant.""

of course it is understood the no -fault bit is conferred on the feminit wimyn under the right to choose copout bequeathed as a gift to clewless wimyn as they seriously follow their noses wherever it may lead them;

needless to say the the right to due process is another bequest for feminit wimyn -men don't get a look in - men are needed to meet her invoices and other financial emotional and assets rip offs after the ruling

every successful confidence trick needs a patsy

daddy that is !! who left sans wealth kids and self respect by the feminit star chamber referred to as the Family Court in PC feminit spiel

waal ! it courts her I guess

should be called Her Court

after all it is in fact why not in name too

just a thought

The problem isn't no fault divorce per say, but all the incentives given to females to do it. Getting custody almost automatically, child support, alimony, getting the spouse's assets. Without these, the number of divorces would go down dramatically.

Originally Posted by RebelliousVanilla

The problem isn't no fault divorce per say, but all the incentives given to females to do it. Getting custody almost automatically, child support, alimony, getting the spouse's assets. Without these, the number of divorces would go down dramatically.

duh duh duh

Great idea. Make it harder to split. Pull the children through the process so they can be cross-examined. Preferably on the stand.

Lawyers can make gazillions of dollars. So can private eyes. Open access to all your life secrets for local social service agencies! A never-ending process that allows your ex to challenge your choice in religion or rummage through your bank accounts, looking for all that dough you've been hiding.

Look, these are sacrifices we must make in the name of the institution. Plus all them bitches will be taught a lesson, amiright doooooooods?

Best of all: It will totally end marriage as an institution. No one in their right mind will ever get married.

And that's a good thing.

Best of all: It will totally end marriage as an institution. No one in their right mind will ever get married.

And that's a good thing.

hmmm..this statement is remarkably simular to a feminist quote i read so many times

in Canada no fault actually means-his fault--he works hard to get what he wants-gets a woman for a year or two and BAM she hits the jackpot for nothing more than spreading her legs--the battered women's shelter's help with the paperwork and then the fight starts over the kids because money is now a non-issue-the only thing left to fight over is the control over the children

of course the feminist controlled family courts only see no fault as automatically his fault-so usually he is extorted to the 9th degree for the love and contact of his children-if he can afford to fight-he is then pasted as an abuser for trying to control the 'ex becuase he wants visitation and to be part of his children's lives-if anyone has ever been there? they will have seen how the courts work in unison against men and their children

Surely any discussion of no-fault divorce would include the efforts of erstwhile Governor of California Ronald Reagan, who enthusiastically pioneered the nation's first no-fault divorce law, quickly followed by other states. Why have you forgotten to include this fact?

Right, why'd I ask.

People should be able to leave a marriage whenever and for whatever reason they want. Why are conservatives for smaller government everywhere but in the bedroom?? All of the sudden, we DO need government in our personal lives, telling us whom we can or can't marry, demanding we provide evidence before the government "allows" us to leave a marriage. Doesn't matter what the bible says, b/c you cannot force biblical law onto the American public; we have freedom of religion here. Doing so would make you the mirror image of the Taliban-forcing your religious beliefs onto others, as a national policy. Good luck with that.
Additionally, the vile comments left about women just prove that you're very sexist. The feminist movement began simply b/c of these types of views that stereotype women and work to oppress them. Your ideals would work to force people to stay in abusive and unhealthy and loveless marriages just because of your beliefs in religion. Who are you to make such demands? What makes your religious beliefs better, or more relevant, than other people's beliefs? What, except that YOU believe it?
I'm guessing many of the men who commented so hatefully towards women, and who support such a ridiculous law, have done so b/c they were once married, but once their wives found out how truly vile and ignorant they were, left them. And there was nothing the men could do to force their wives to stay. I'm guessing that's why they've become so bitter. I can't imagine such anger and ignorance existing without such a pathetic reason. And with their attitudes, they WOULD need the government to help force any woman to stay with them! Good luck with that as well.
Great news on Prop 8- freedom for ALL, not just the bigots. And not just the American Taliban, those who attempt to legislate their religious beliefs, and force onto the public restrictions b/c it's THEIR religion that must be obeyed.
Thanks for your time.

Interesting that you would say no fault divorce would be unconstitutional. You cite due process, but that is a stricture for criminal, not legal actions. Furthermore, legislating how and when a couple can split is a far bigger intrusion than allowing them the liberty to live as they wish, when they wish. You should be very careful not to equate no-fault with unilateral. No fault means people no longer have to perjure themselves or get the state's permission to live free of a bad marriage. It does not mean that one party can initiate and complete a divorce and leave the other high and dry. No state has unilateral divorce. No fault states still require agreement on child custody, financial, and other issues. No fault does NOT mean unilateral or predatory.

I am not a Christian. Does that mean I have toaccept and obey Christian-influenced rules on marriage and divorce?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

People should be able to leave a marriage whenever and for whatever reason they want. Why are conservatives for smaller government everywhere but in the bedroom?? All of the sudden, we DO need government in our personal lives, telling us whom we can or can't marry, demanding we provide evidence before the government "allows" us to leave a marriage. Doesn't matter what the bible says, b/c you cannot force biblical law onto the American public; we have freedom of religion here. Doing so would make you the mirror image of the Taliban-forcing your religious beliefs onto others, as a national policy. Good luck with that.
Additionally, the vile comments left about women just prove that you're very sexist. The feminist movement began simply b/c of these types of views that stereotype women and work to oppress them. Your ideals would work to force people to stay in abusive and unhealthy and loveless marriages just because of your beliefs in religion. Who are you to make such demands? What makes your religious beliefs better, or more relevant, than other people's beliefs? What, except that YOU believe it?
I'm guessing many of the men who commented so hatefully towards women, and who support such a ridiculous law, have done so b/c they were once married, but once their wives found out how truly vile and ignorant they were, left them. And there was nothing the men could do to force their wives to stay. I'm guessing that's why they've become so bitter. I can't imagine such anger and ignorance existing without such a pathetic reason. And with their attitudes, they WOULD need the government to help force any woman to stay with them! Good luck with that as well.
Great news on Prop 8- freedom for ALL, not just the bigots. And not just the American Taliban, those who attempt to legislate their religious beliefs, and force onto the public restrictions b/c it's THEIR religion that must be obeyed.
Thanks for your time.

i get your point about how some want small government BUT for gays getting married or something. i just assume the more liberty the better.
if the gays want to marry the state , i think they are just as hopelessly stupid
as the straight people who want to marry the state.

i am very curious what a lesbian divorce would look like... there not being a MAN
to blame the courts would be very confused. i suppose they would make the most masculine butch lesbian pay out all of her possessions.

by the way , the rest of what you said is completely childish.
you are VERY confused about the reality of our system.

run a long , continue worshipping women.