Family Law

Is Cheating Ever Justified or Deserved?

By Ben Stevens

I was in a settlement conference recently in which the husband's attorney tried to argue that his client's adultery "was really o.k " because my client had suffered from depression and therefore wasn't a great wife.  Of course, I pointed out that was baloney and reminded him of the actual defenses to adultery.  However, his argument begged the question of whether cheating is ever justified or deserved.

CNN.com recently published an article on this very subject, citing to such well-publicized adultery allegations as those against John Edwards and Jon Gosselin.  At the time that article was published, news of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's affair had not yet broken. 

The article questions whether the conduct rendered by "bad spouses" justify the "innocent spouse" seeking romantic companionship elsewhere.  It concludes "cheating isn't right, but neither is emotional abuse and neglect."  What do you think -- is cheating ever justified?  Submit your comments below.

Source:  "Is Cheating Ever Deserved?" by Wendy Alterberry, published at CNN.com.

Full post as published by SC Family Law Blog on June 30, 2009 (boomark / email).