Bill would put parents' divorces on hold
A new bill before the Alabama Legislature requires a waiting period of 365 days before a divorce becomes final if the divorcing couple has children younger than 18.
Under existing law, a court can make a divorce final 30 days after filing, said Sen. Hank Erwin, the bill's sponsor. Erwin, R-Montevallo, believes the extra time will open the door to more counseling and opportunities for reconciliation.
Erwin understands the bill's chances for passage are slim for this session, but he wants to get the dialogue started on how to make more marriages last.
There isn't anyone in the Alabama Senate that I dislike more than Hank Erwin. Dislike isn't nearly a strong enough word....so let me explain. When good ol' Hank is called home to meet his maker I hope he goes out by getting hit by a Greyhound bus full of homosexuals on their way to gamble in New Orleans. Any questions?
Hank seems to think it is his 'christian duty' to abolish a woman's right to choose, ban tax-paying, law-abiding, gay citizens from getting married and now the Christian death-cult buffoon wants to regulate how long straight couples with children under 18 have to wait before they can divorce.
What BUSINESS is it of Hank Erwin's or the Alabama legislature if a couple with children decide to sever the knot?
The government should NEVER BE GIVEN THE POWER to REGUALTE MARRIAGE or DIVORCE! It is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. These are PRIVATE FAMILY MATTERS!!!
Hank Erwin's 'War on Divorce' will probably go about as well as the government's war on poverty and war on drugs has gone.....which means that in a year people won't even be getting married anymore and they will just shack up instead. Now, wouldn't that be poetic justice?
I wish someone would introduce a bill that would ban Hank Erwin from introducing bills that seek to regulate and exert government control over private family matters that are NONE OF HIS BUSINESS. Hell, let's go one step further and just ban this jackass from initroducing any bill of any kind whatsoever. We'll all be much safer.
6 comments:
I'm about as much a fan of Hank Erwin as you are, Loretta. However, this is one issue on which I somewhat agree with him. He's not disallowing divorces. Rather, he wants a longer waiting period so that the couple can cool off. It's one of my more liberal-leaning areas.
Maybe it's because I was a product of a very nasty divorce, but I think that most couples if given the chance can work out their differences like adults instead of saying "to hell with it" at the first sign of trouble and leaving their kids in a psychological limbo. It's worked out great in other states. I do have some issues with the bill-- like it's lack of provisions in cases of abuse. At the very least, I bitched when they were trying to "preserve the sanctity of marriage" by tackling gay marriage instead of divorce between heerosexuals, so I have to give Erwin SOME credit for at least targeting that which is the biggest real threat to the "sanctity of marriage."
What about the cases of abuse, intimadation, etc? Extending the legal tie only increases the risk. It isn't the governments place to try to regulate private behavior. I don't need or want a big brother.
Another fine example of our tax dollars at work (right?!?!?!)
Tom from Mobile
See that's just the thing that people don't understand. When Alabama citizens gave the government the power to prevent marriage between the same sex they also gave them the power to determine things about heterosexual marriages.
The government has no business regulating a contract between two consenting adults. PERIOD!
Next thing you know they will be requiring everyone to have a certain number of children in a certain amount of time after marriage. They need to stay out of people's private lives plain and simple.
Loretta, would it be incredibly cynical of me to think that Erwin knows perfectly well this thing won't pass b/c of the Senate stalemate but he wants credit with his constituents for "standing up for marriage"?
Yeah, I know it wouldn't pass anyway -- the good ol' boys in the Legislature know their potential trophy wives won't wait around that long, and at least some of the women and non-good-ol'-boy men will recognize the pitfalls mentioned above.
All that said, I don't think a couple should just walk away from marriage without attempting to resolve their differences (in the absence of abuse, etc.), but it's not up to the government to mandate how long they have to wait.
I'll step down off my soapbox now. :)
This might be my fault. :)
Some time ago, I sent a satirical letter to all my state and federal congresscritters. In it, I suggested that their efforts to "protect marriage" by keeping them darn gays down didn't go far enough. If they wanted to keep marriage Biblically pure and prevent another 9/11 attack as Falwell and Robertson had warned, they also needed to outlaw divorce.
I had actually bet money on Sessions taking it seriously, but Erwin wasn't going to surprise me much either. In fact, Sessions's office was the only one to send a (generic form letter) reply.
Patriot, I've seen that form letter many many times. And yes, it remains the same no matter what issue you are voicing. I will give Sen. Sessions credit on one thing. He has a really well-worded way of saying "f@#k off."
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