New Book: State Regulation of Marriage and Divorce Unconstitutional

    COLUMBIA, MO, March 25, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- In what will surely will be welcome news to those who pay child support, especially involuntarily, and to proponents of Covenant Marriage, a controversial new book doubts the legality of the State to interfere in the historically private and religious parenting decisions.

In his second public policy book, attorney Alan W. Cohen, now retired after 25 years of family practice, uses historical and legal analysis to challenge the constitutionality of state regulation of marriage as well as federal child support laws. Cohen argues that an 19th Century Supreme Court decision that is the sole authority for state regulation was based on the now invalid notion that states had the authority to establish their own religions, and, as a result, states adopted marital rules that were based on the teachings of the Anglican Church, including the tenet that the husband had the primary duty of support, a tenet that is the basis for federal paternity and child support mandates. Cohen says what courts call common law duties of marriage, including the duty of support, were not duties at all, but contractual obligations for those that married in the Anglican Church, and thus were completely voluntary. Nonconformists, especially Jews and Quakers, were excluded. Thus, for more than a century, courts are wrong to refer to these contract obligations as common law marital rights and duties.

Available exclusively on Amazon, Private Vows: The Case for Ending State Regulation of Marriage and Divorce proposes that the only way to restore the dying institution of marriage is to restore it to what it was at our nation's founding. Cohen cites the Supreme Court's decision gay marriage case that found that marriage began in America as a purely private affair, but since evolved. Cohen calls the current federal and state system untenable, giving broad discretion to trial court judges to interpret the law as they see fit, thus undercutting any state or federal policy. As with his 2015 book, America Solved: A New Family for the 21st Century, Cohen blames Congress' inane and inept attempts to reign in welfare for the destruction of what we call traditional marriage.

Attorney and author Alan W. Cohen practiced family law in the St. Louis area for more than 25 years. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and the Washington University (St. Louis) School of Law. He is the author of seven books, including his 2017 release, Private Vows: The Case for Ending State Regulation of Marriage and Divorce and his 2015 publication, America Solved: A New Family for the 21st Century. He writes the blog, "The Libertorian", commenting on political, social and legal issues. Mr. Cohen has also been a frequent guest of St. Louis area and internet radio stations where he espouses the Libertarian point of views.

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