House kills divorce law reform without a vote

Rep. Andy Gipson on Tuesday killed two divorce-law reform bills without a vote, saying he was worried allowing domestic abuse and lengthy separation as grounds would "open the floodgate" and cause more divorces.

"Given our high divorce rate in this state, the floodgate is already open — we don't need to completely tear it down," said Gipson, R-Braxton, chairman of the House Judiciary B Committee and a Baptist preacher who said his personal conviction is, "we need to find ways to strengthen marriages, not further ways to erode them."

Gipson told committee members he had received many calls from people about the divorce bills and "learned a lot more about our divorce laws than I ever thought I would." But he said he has some "fundamental concerns" about the current proposals and wants more time to consider changes. "Maybe next year," he said.

Kent Dear, 73, of Jackson, who has been trying to get a divorce for 10 years come May, was flabbergasted. He had come to the Capitol on Tuesday after reading articles in The Clarion-Ledger about Mississippi's divorce laws and efforts to reform them and wanted to support the measures.

"They didn't even bring it up, to discuss it," Dear said. "How the hell? — I'm pretty exercised about this ... We've been separated since June of 2007. It's been through three judges. I've spent over $80,000 in expenses and lawyers' fees."

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Dear said he and his erstwhile wife could not reach agreement on financial terms, so the divorce dragged on. In May, they agreed to claim "irreconcilable differences" and let the judge decide numerous issues for them. But after nearly a year of waiting, that hasn't happened yet, Dear said.

"We have no kids," Dear said. "There's no real property involved or anything ... The point is, after nearly 10 years of separation, we're still not divorced. Ten years. I'm 73 years old ... I want to get on with my life."

In Mississippi, with laws little changed over the last 100 years, getting a divorce can be a long and expensive ordeal.

Many experts say Mississippi's antiquated divorce laws trap spouses and children in abusive situations and-or financial limbo. The state's complex and expensive divorce process puts low-income people at a disadvantage, especially those who are victims of domestic violence. It clogs the courts and costs taxpayers with cases that can drag on and on.

Mississippi and South Dakota are the last two states in the Union without a unilateral "no-fault" divorce provision. In practice, this allows one spouse to hold up a divorce, sometimes for years.

Lawmakers and religious leaders have opposed reforms in an effort to uphold the institution and sanctity of marriage, yet Mississippi's divorce rate continuously ranks near the top — seventh highest at a rate of 21.6 per 1,000 people in one recent study.

Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, authored Senate Bill 2073, backed by anti-domestic violence advocates, that would add "including domestic abuse" to the "habitual cruel and inhuman treatment" grounds for divorce. Doty also supported Senate Bill 2483, authored by Sen. Sean Tindell, R-Gulfport, which would have created "bona fide separation of two or more years as an additional grounds for divorce, provided a couple had no children younger than 20.

"I am very disappointed with the action of the House committee today, that they didn't even take them out of committee," said Doty, who saw a similar domestic violence divorce bill die late in the session last year. "The chairman (Gipson) offered some excuses, but I think the fact remains the domestic violence bill passed the House last year ... with a very strong vote.

"It's disappointing to me, and I'm sure it's even more disappointing to those victims of domestic violence who are out there in the state of Mississippi that need some help getting out of a marriage."

Gipson said the Senate bill on separation as a ground "would allow somebody for any reason just to leave, go find another mate or whatever and be gone for two years and have a ground for divorce against the innocent party."

"I don't think that's good policy, and I didn't have enough time to work through all the implications of how we might address those concerns."

Gipson said, "The law already provides a ground for divorce for habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, which would include domestic assault." He said the way the Senate bill is worded, domestic abuse, is too broad and vague and "to me the way it's worded could possibly be interpreted that if someone raised their voice at their spouse, is that domestic assault? ... If that's the case, then a lot of people would have a ground for divorce in Mississippi."

A judge may grant a divorce in Mississippi if a spouse proves any of 12 grounds — including natural impotency, adultery, habitual drunkenness or drug use, or habitual cruel and inhuman treatment. However, proving the grounds is generally difficult and expensive, with many requiring "clear and convincing evidence." In practice, the "habitual" part of cruel and inhuman means an abused spouse has to take more than one beating, and experts say a spouse who leaves home — perhaps to a shelter — then returns home is often considered to have "condoned" the violence and has lost that ground until the violence happens again.

"Victims of domestic violence suffer from our current divorce system," Sandy Middleton, director of the Center for Violence Prevention, said recently.

Gipson said he hopes there is a way in the future to "craft a narrowly tailored bill" if a divorce is held up by "an unreasonable refusal."

Gipson said his committee over the last few years has passed dozens of bills strengthening state domestic violence laws.

"We passed them into law, many of them, and I've worked with the AG's office and others," Gipson said. "If anybody's suffering from abuse, they need to get out and get help, and there is help available."

Contact Geoff Pender at 601-961-7266 or gpender@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter .