Abstract

Divorce, New York Style

The divorce laws of New York State make a farce of the courts, discriminate in favor of the well-to-do families, and cause more broken marriages than would occur if the law were humane and in step with contemporary opinion and custom. New York is considered by some Americans to be the country's Sodom and Gomorrah, the most sophisticated state in the country; yet its laws on marriage belong to the 18th century. New York has a divorce rate of .5 percent; the national average is 22 per cent. But one expert estimates that the total of divorces within the state, migratory divorces, desertions, annulments and separations is higher in New York than in any other state. New York State Supreme Court Justice Henry Clay Greenberg says of divorces granted in the state: 75 percent, at the very least, are based on phony raids and thus involve collusion. The time has come for New York to catch up with the rest of the nation and for all the states, or the federal government, to formulate uniform divorce law.