Marriage and Divorce in a Multicultural Context: Multi-Tiered Marriage and the Boundaries of Civil Law and Religion

Cover......Page 1
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN A MULTICULTURAL CONTEXT......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
To Jennifer I choose you again and again......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Detail Contents......Page 11
About the Editor......Page 17
List of Contributors......Page 19
Preface......Page 21
Permissions......Page 25
Introduction......Page 27
I. INTRODUCTION......Page 37
II. A SHORT HISTORY OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE LAW JURISDICTION......Page 41
III. DOMESTIC MOVEMENT TOWARD MULTI-TIERED MARRIAGE......Page 45
A. Covenant Marriage Laws (Louisiana, Arkansas, and Arizona)......Page 46
B. New York’s Get Statutes......Page 49
1. Jewish Law of Marriage and Divorce......Page 50
2. Effect of Dual Systems of Marriage and Divorce......Page 52
3. The Introduction of Get Statutes......Page 55
4. New York’s Laws as Precursors to Covenant Marriage Statutes......Page 57
IV. INTERNATIONAL MODELS......Page 58
A. India......Page 59
1. Hinduism......Page 62
2. Islam......Page 64
3. Christianity......Page 67
4. Parsi (Zoroastrianism)......Page 68
5. Civil Marriage and Divorce......Page 69
1. Choice of Law: Personal Laws......Page 70
2. Choice of Forum: Kadhi Courts......Page 74
C. South Africa......Page 75
1. Civil/Christian Marriage......Page 76
2. Customary Marriage......Page 77
3. Muslim Marriage......Page 80
D. Canada......Page 81
V. CONCLUSION......Page 84
2 Pluralism and Decentralization in Marriage Regulation......Page 86
I. CURRENT AND GROWING VARIETY AND DECENTRALIZATION......Page 87
A. Delegation......Page 90
B. Individual Contracts......Page 91
D. Choice of Law......Page 92
III. INTERESTS IN UNIFORMITY......Page 93
IV. THE NATURE OF MARRIAGE AND THE ROLE OF THE STATE......Page 94
V. LIMITS?......Page 97
VI. GOVERNMENT INTERACTIONS WITH RELIGION......Page 99
VII. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES......Page 101
VIII. CONCLUSION......Page 102
I. A ROILING POLITICAL ISSUE......Page 104
A. The English Common Law......Page 107
B. Colonial, Early Republican, and Nineteenth-Century America......Page 108
A. The Right to Privacy......Page 110
B. The “Mystery Passage”......Page 112
C. “Landmarkism?”......Page 113
D. The Future......Page 114
IV. CONCLUSION......Page 117
4 Unofficial Family Law: Ann Laquer Estin......Page 118
A. Marriage Celebrations......Page 124
B. The Interaction of Religious and Civil Law......Page 126
II. DIVORCE LAW: CONFLICT AND ACCOMMODATION......Page 128
A. Legislative Responses to Religious Diversity......Page 131
B. Consent, Dissent, and Exit......Page 135
A. The Gatekeeping Function of Marriage Law......Page 138
B. Families Underground......Page 141
IV. CONCLUSION......Page 143
I. WHAT IS COVENANT MARRIAGE?......Page 146
A. Premarital Counseling......Page 148
B. Declaration of Intent......Page 149
C. Restricted Grounds for Divorce......Page 150
A. Covenant Marriage Emphasizes Strengthening Marriage, Not Merely Preventing Divorce......Page 152
C. Covenant Marriage Invites Religion Back Into the Public Square to Assist in Serving a Public Whose Need is to Preserve Marr......Page 154
E. Covenant Marriage Offers Traditional Communities a Refuge from the Broader Postmodern Culture......Page 155
F. Covenant Marriage Offers the Promise of Surviving Migratory Divorce......Page 156
III. MARRIAGE – AND “CIVIL MARRIAGE” AND “RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE”......Page 157
IV. WHY NOT OTHER OPTIONS?......Page 160
V. CONCLUSION......Page 162
I. INTRODUCTION......Page 164
II. JEWISH MARRIAGE LAWS: MOVEMENT FROM CONTRACT TO COVENANT......Page 166
III. JEWISH MARRIAGE CONTRACTS AND AMERICAN LAW......Page 170
A. The Enforceability of the Ketubah as a Contract......Page 171
B. Rabbinic Arbitration Agreements to Construct Jewish Marriages......Page 172
C. The New York State Jewish Divorce Laws......Page 174
IV. JEWISH MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN PRACTICE IN NEW YORK......Page 180
A. Prenuptial Agreements......Page 182
B. New York’s Get Statutes......Page 184
2. Case Two......Page 185
4. Case Four......Page 186
V. OTHER MODELS OF JEWISH AND SECULAR MARRIAGE LAW......Page 187
VI. CONCLUSION: THE PROBLEM OF OBEYING TWO LEGAL SYSTEMS......Page 188
7 Political Liberalism, Islamic Family Law, and Family Law Pluralism......Page 190
I. FAMILY LAW PLURALISM AND POLITICAL LIBERALISM......Page 193
II. THE RELATIONSHIP OF ISLAMIC LAW TO ISLAMIC ETHICS......Page 196
III. THE SCOPE OF ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO ISLAMIC ETHICS45......Page 199
A. Intra-Islamic Legal Pluralism and Islamic Family Law......Page 201
B. The Contractual Nature of Islamic Family Law......Page 204
C. Religious Regulation of the Family in Islam......Page 206
D. Marriages of Non-Muslims and Islamic Family Law......Page 210
V. THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF A POLITICALLY LIBERAL FAMILY LAW TO MUSLIMS......Page 211
VI. FAMILY LAW ARBITRATION, RELIGIOUS LAW, AND PUBLIC POLICY: THE CASE OF NEW YORK......Page 219
VII. CONCLUSION......Page 222
8 Multi-Tiered Marriages in South Africa......Page 226
I. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN LAW OF HUSBAND AND WIFE......Page 228
II. LEGALIZATION OF CUSTOMARY AFRICAN MARRIAGES......Page 229
III. APPLYING PRINCIPLES OF CONTRACT TO SOME MARRIAGES NOT RECOGNIZED UNDER SOUTH AFRICAN LAW......Page 235
IV. SAME-SEX MARRIAGES......Page 239
V. IMPOSING PRINCIPLES OF EQUITY AND JUSTICE FROM THE TOP DOWN......Page 242
I. INTRODUCTION: THE REALITIES OF PLURALISM......Page 245
II. ANCIENT ROOTS OF PLURALISM AND BOUNDARY CROSSING......Page 251
III. HINDU FAMILY LAW WITHIN COMPOSITE INDIA......Page 257
IV. THE TORTUOUS AGENDA OF LEGAL UNIFORMITY IN INDIAN LAW......Page 259
V. POSTMODERN INDIAN AND HINDU MARRIAGE LAW......Page 264
VI. POST-DIVORCE MAINTENANCE LAWS, THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION, AND HINDU LEGAL CONCEPTS......Page 270
VII. CONCLUSION......Page 275
10 The Perils of Privatized Marriage......Page 279
I. LIVED EXPERIENCES......Page 283
A. Faith-Healing Communities in the United States......Page 284
B. Family Law in Western Thrace......Page 287
C. Controversy Over Shari’a Courts in Great Britain......Page 290
II. REASONS FOR CAUTION......Page 294
A. Domestic Violence......Page 295
B. Child Physical Abuse and Corporal Punishment......Page 297
D. Summary......Page 299
III. TOLERANCE OF FAMILY VIOLENCE......Page 300
IV. DOES RESPECT FOR AUTONOMY TRUMP FORESEEABLE INEQUITIES?......Page 305
V. EVALUATING POSSIBLE REGULATORY RESPONSES......Page 307
VI. CONCLUSION......Page 309
11 Canadian Conjugal Mosaic: From Multiculturalism to Multi-Conjugalism?......Page 310
I. CONSTITUTIONALITY AND CONJUGALITY: THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS......Page 311
II. FROM MULTICULTURALISM TO MULTI-TIERED CONJUGALITY?......Page 319
III. CONCLUSION......Page 332
I. INTRODUCTION: THE CALL FOR MORE PLURALISM AND SHARED JURISDICTION IN U.S. FAMILY LAW......Page 335
A. An Initial Question: Should Religious and Civil Family Law Be Congruent?......Page 338
B. Tensions Between Civil and Religious Law: Gender Roles and Gender Equality......Page 344
III. PLURALISM IN U.S. FAMILY LAW: JURISDICTION, LOCATION, AND CITIZENSHIP......Page 346
A. Religious Marriage Contracts, Religious Arbitration, and the Get Statutes......Page 348
B. Adjudication of Islamic Marriage Contracts: The Mahr......Page 349
C. Resolving Conflicts Between Civil and Religious Divorce Law: Two Contrasting Cases......Page 352
A. Assessing Multi-Tiered Marriage Through a Gender Equality Lens......Page 355
B. Canada: Membership and Citizenship in Ontario’s Faith-Based Arbitration Controversy......Page 357
V. CONCLUSION......Page 365
13 Faith in Law? Diffusing Tensions Between Diversity and Equality......Page 367
I. PRIVATIZED DIVERSITY......Page 369
II. THE PREDICAMENT FACING VULNERABLE MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES......Page 372
III. FORGING A NEW PATH......Page 375
IV. REGULATED INTERACTION......Page 377
V. CONCLUSION......Page 382
I. INTRODUCTION......Page 383
II. THE EVOLUTION OF THE (WESTERN) LAW OF MARRIAGE......Page 387
III. RELIGION, FAMILY, AND THE STATE......Page 390
A. The Case for Shari’a Councils......Page 392
B. The Case Against Shari’a Councils......Page 393
C. Lessons and Analogies......Page 396
IV. FIRST AMENDMENT CONSIDERATIONS......Page 399
Index......Page 405