Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Family Law Blogs -> The Illinois Family Lawyer

Family Law

: The Illinois Family Lawyer

By Peter Olson, Esq.

My letter to the editor concerning the Trib. November 5, 2007 lead editorial:

What a disappointing position from the Tribune...essentially, because adultery is not uncommon our public policy should therefore not discourage it.

An important purpose of our civil litigation system, and specifically tort cases (such as alienation of affections), is to discourage certain types of behavior. Torts are not criminal behavior, so I suppose it is correct to say that people are "legally entitled to do" such acts. But, they are civil "wrongs" that we want to discourage...like doctors who screw up during surgery or the person who drives through the front door of my home.

I think marriage is something to be encouraged and a person's conduct that undermines marriage should be punishable. With the elimination of "fault" in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the alienation of affections cause of action is the only punishment that is left. The tone of the Editorial, "courts...starting" to hand out these financial awards is misleading. This type of action has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. Also, success in this sort of case is rare I think due primarily to judges allowing personal views to cloud their jurisprudence.

We should encourage greater use of the Alienation of Affection cause of action. Please don't discourage marriage Tribune.

Full post as published by The Illinois Family Lawyer on November 09, 2007 (boomark / email).