Stolen Vows

The Illusion of No-Fault Divorce and
The Rise of the American Divorce Industry

Reagan's role in divorce law not his crowning achievement
- by Judy Parejko

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram 6-14-04

The death of Ronald Reagan provides a time to reflect on his accomplishments. He is being hailed by some as one of our greatest presidents, as evidenced by a push to have his image replace Alexander Hamilton's on the $10 bill. One of the values he stood for was the importance of marriage and family. But, being human, his life was flawed with contradictions in living out this value.

He was reported to have been alienated from his first two children. No doubt, he would have preferred it otherwise.

Other reports tell of how his 'handlers' pushed these children away during his campaigning because they came from his first marriage, which had ended in divorce. Building a reputation as a social conservative and also being divorced was tricky business.

One of his achievements - something that is never included in the list of his memorable deeds - was his signing of California's watershed 'no-fault' divorce bill during his first term as governor. Little did he know the monumental impact it would have. If he had known, he never would have signed it, and it's reported he expressed regret about his role.

Gov. Reagan entered office after California's divorce reform movement was well under way. The bill wasn't his idea, but he was lobbied successfully by the bill's two sponsors - Sen. Donald Grunsky, who was known as a prominent conservative; and Assemblyman James A. Hayes, who, at the time, was being divorced by his wife on the ground of "cruelty", unbeknownst to the public.

The law-change was a clear conflict of interest for Hayes because it would benefit him in the end by taking away any responsibility he had for his actions. At the time, both men assured Reagan that this law-change was for the public good. Ironically, all three of these men were Republicans, which means that one of this country's biggest assaults on marriage was carried out by the very party that has now put itself in the role of "defending" marriage.

Governor Reagan signed this bill into law on September 4, 1969, and it took effect Jan. 1, 1970. The rest is history.

By removing the old "fault" system of divorce, the previous safeguards for marriage were lost. With the change, one of the spouses could then break the marriage vows and face no penalty. For the other spouse there would be no recourse to stop the divorce. What was enacted was a revolutionary system with no real due process.

Governor Reagan was sold a phony bill of goods about this new law. News reports that leave out his role in loosening the bonds of marriage might mean that he has been absolved of responsibility for the ensuing fallout, including a divorce rate that quickly rose to 50 percent and still hovers there.

The current push for same-sex marriage, viewed by some as a threat to marriage, is nothing compared with what was done back then.

After California's success, a national lawyers' group, known as the Uniform Law Commission, promulgated a 'model' law in 1973 - called the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act - based on California's bill. No-fault divorce was promoted to the rest of the states within 15 years.

I am still listening for someone to mention Gov. Reagan's role in this important piece of our history. But, I don't expect to hear it.
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Judy Parejko is the author of Stolen Vows (www.stolenvows.com), and can be reached at jparejko@juno.com.