A Proposal to Reduce Unnecessary Divorce - Razorplanet
A Proposal to Reduce Unnecessary Divorce - Razorplanet A Proposal to Reduce Unnecessary Divorce - Razorplanet
50 justice leah Ward Sears was the youngest person and first woman to serve as a superior court judge in Fulton County, Georgia. When appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia by Governor Zell Miller, she became the first woman and youngest person ever to serve on that court. In retaining her appointed position as a supreme court justice, Justice Sears also became the first woman to win a contested state-wide election in Georgia. In July 2005, she became the first woman to serve as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Justice Sears received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1976 and her juris doctor from Emory University School of Law in 1980. She earned a master’s degree in appellate judicial process from the University of Virginia in 1994 and has honorary doctor of laws degrees from Morehouse College, John Marshall University, Clark-Atlanta University, LaGrange College, and Piedmont College. She is also the recipient of the Emory Medal, Emory University’s highest honor. In 2009, Justice Sears retired from the Supreme Court of Georgia after twentyseven years of service in the judiciary. After her retirement, she joined the Atlanta office of Schiff Hardin LLP, as a partner in the Litigation Group, where she currently practices general and appellate litigation, as well as handles corporate compliance issues. In addition to practicing law, Justice Sears works on issues affecting American families. She was a visiting professor on contemporary issues in family law at the University of Georgia School of Law for the 2009–2010 academic year, and currently serves as the William Thomas Sears Distinguished Fellow in Family Law at the Institute for American Values.
ENDNOTES 1. Paul R. Amato and Bryndl Holmann-Marriott, “A Comparison of High- and Low-Distress Marriages that End in Divorce,” Journal of Marriage and Family 69, no. 3 (August 2007); Alan Booth and Paul R. Amato, “Parental Predivorce Relations and Offspring Postdivorce Well-Being,” Journal of Marriage and Family 63, no. 1 (February 2001): 197–212; Susan M. Jekielek, “Parental Conflict, Marital Disruption and Children’s Emotional Well-Being,” Social Forces 76, no. 3 (March 1998): 905–35. 2. Amato and Holmann-Marriott, “Comparison of High- and Low-Distress Marriages,” 621. 3. Amato and Booth, “Parental Predivorce Relations,” 211. 4. See Family Scholars, Why Marriage Matters: Twenty-Six Conclusions from the Social Sciences, 2nd ed. (New York: Institute for American Values, 2005). 5. Paul R. Amato, “The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Social, Cognitive, and Emotional Well-Being of the Next Generation,” The Future of Children 15, no. 2 (Autumn 2005): 88–89. 6. See the review by Paul R. Amato, “Research on Divorce: Continuing Trends and Recent Developments,” Journal of Marriage and Family 72, no. 3 (June 2010): 650–66. 7. Nicholas H. Wolfinger, Understanding the Divorce Cycle: The Children of Divorce in Their Own Marriages (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). An Australian study of twins found a 57 percent overall greater risk for divorce by age thirty-two for those whose parents had divorced. Genetic factors accounted for only one-third of the differences in risk for divorce. See Brian M. D’Onofrio et al., “A Genetically Informed Study of the Intergenerational Transmission of Marital Instability,” Journal of Marriage and Family 69, no. 3 (August 2007): 793–809. See also Elizabeth Marquardt, “The New Stigma—Children of Divorce Are No Longer Stigmatized, Until They Start Dating,” Huffington Post, November 16, 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost. com/elizabeth-marquardt/the-new-stigmachildren-of_b_781149.html. 8. The national average in 2007 was 3.6 divorces per 1,000 population. The Massachusetts divorce rate in 2007 was 2.3 and the Illinois rate was 2.6. Source: Division of Vital Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, http://www.cdc/gov/nchs/ nvss/marriage_divorce_tables.htm and http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/mardiv.htm#state_ tables. The rate for Great Britain in 2007 was calculated for rates per 1,000 population from official government tables provided at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/Stat- Base/Product.asp?vlnk=581. The number of children avoiding experiencing a parental 51
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50<br />
justice leah Ward Sears was the youngest person and first woman <strong>to</strong><br />
serve as a superior court judge in Ful<strong>to</strong>n County, Georgia. When appointed <strong>to</strong><br />
the Supreme Court of Georgia by Governor Zell Miller, she became the first<br />
woman and youngest person ever <strong>to</strong> serve on that court. In retaining her appointed<br />
position as a supreme court justice, Justice Sears also became the first<br />
woman <strong>to</strong> win a contested state-wide election in Georgia. In July 2005, she became<br />
the first woman <strong>to</strong> serve as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.<br />
Justice Sears received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University in<br />
1976 and her juris doc<strong>to</strong>r from Emory University School of Law in 1980. She<br />
earned a master’s degree in appellate judicial process from the University of<br />
Virginia in 1994 and has honorary doc<strong>to</strong>r of laws degrees from Morehouse College,<br />
John Marshall University, Clark-Atlanta University, LaGrange College, and<br />
Piedmont College. She is also the recipient of the Emory Medal, Emory University’s<br />
highest honor.<br />
In 2009, Justice Sears retired from the Supreme Court of Georgia after twentyseven<br />
years of service in the judiciary. After her retirement, she joined the Atlanta<br />
office of Schiff Hardin LLP, as a partner in the Litigation Group, where she<br />
currently practices general and appellate litigation, as well as handles corporate<br />
compliance issues. In addition <strong>to</strong> practicing law, Justice Sears works on issues<br />
affecting American families. She was a visiting professor on contemporary issues<br />
in family law at the University of Georgia School of Law for the 2009–2010<br />
academic year, and currently serves as the William Thomas Sears Distinguished<br />
Fellow in Family Law at the Institute for American Values.