New York State Moves Boldly Into 1970s

After decades of struggle, the state of New York is on the road to approving no-fault divorce.

The availability of divorce without requiring one side to be found to blame for the end of the marriage has been increasingly common in the rest of the country since the 1970s.  The move away from fault was based in part on the view that marriage was a contract, and while those who break contracts are responsible for the financial consequences, they are not judged, in the words of Judge Richard Posner, to be “outlaws”.

Eliminating the requirement of fault is also thought to ease the process for all parties involved.  While victims of infidelity lose some leverage, the elimination of the fault requirement also eliminates the need for concocted allegations of spousal or child abuse to create leverage where it is not legitimately available.  Moreover, it allows parties who mutually wish to escape a bad marriage to do so without having to fabricate a good-guy/bad-girl (or vice-versa) story for the court.

The move is opposed, however, by the Roman Catholic Church, which alleges that no-fault divorce makes divorce too easy and too common, and therefore damages families, particularly children.  That may well be, but the overwhelming weight of evidence indicates that such situations are outweighed by situations where the search for fault and the protracted litigation surrounding it is even more damaging.  And whatever religious concerns may exist over the decline of life-time marriage as an institution are not a suitable foundation for public policy.