Evening star., 1935-05-04
D. c. Measure Comes Up
at Next Meeting of
Senate Group.
ADVOCATES OF LIBERAL
LAW CITE TWO RULINGS
Endorsements Of District and
Women's Bar Association
Presented at Hearing.

Approved by q subcommittee follow
ing hearing yesterday afternoon. the
bill to broaden the grounds for abso-
lutte divorce in Washington will come
up for action at the next meeting Of
the Senate District Committee.
The subcommittee voted q favorable
report after representatives of the Dis
trict and the Women's Bar Associa-
tions had supported the measure, CALL
ing attention to two decisions in which
the District Court of Appeals sug-
geSted the need for more liberal law
to overcome difficulties growing out
Of divorces obtained elsewhere.
Under existing Law adultery Is the
only basis for an absolute divorce in
the District. The pending bill would
add the following grounds: Cruelty,
desertion for two years, drunkenness
for one year, or final conviction of a
felony involving moral turpitude, for
which all or part Of the sentence was
served. Litigants would still have the
right, however, to ask for q legal sep
aration If they are opposed to absolute
divorce. The bill provides further
that persons who have obtained
limited divorce within two years of the
passage Of this measure could apply
for an absolute divorce.
Boardman Cites Precedent.
In speaking for the District Bar
Association, George c. Gertman said
he understood the bill also is favored
by the Commissioners and the Fed
orattnr1 nf ritf1a~et
Endorsement of the Women's Bar AS
sociation was presented by Mrs.
Martha r. Gold.
Jean M. Boardman, another attor-
ney who supported the bill, said 1t is
not a new proposition here, pointing
cut that from 1870 to 1901 the District
laws allowed cruelty, desertion and
drunkenness as grounds for divorce.
The code adopted in 1901, however.
went back to the restrictive basis of
infidelity as the only grounds.
While we have the strictest divorce
law. we have one Of the most liberal
annulment laws" said Boardman,
adding that the District also is near
the top of the list of cities in the per
capita rate of litigation between hus-
band and wife. The majority of these
suits are for limited divorce or main
tenance. but each one, he said, is "a
tombstone TO broken home"
Boardman asserted that nine out Of
every ten absolute divorces granted
here are based on an act of infidelity
occurring after the husband and wife
had already become separated from
some other cause.
No Increase in Suits Expected.
In many cases, he said, couples
already separated hire detectives to
get evidence for an absolute divorce.
He argued, therefore, that the pending
bill would not increase the amount of
litigation between husbands and wives,
although it might increase the num-
Der of absolute divorces. Gertman
emphasized that those who are op-
posed to absolute divorce would still
have the right to obtain limited
divorce.
Gertman and Boardman described
how local residents go to nearby
States or to Reno, New. to obtain di-
vorces.
Mrs. Gold said South Carolina alone
declines to grant a divorce for any
reason; all Of the other States recog-
nize adultery as a cause for divorce:
IS recognize cruelty and desertion; 40
allow it on the ground Of drunken
ness or drug addiction, and 40 recog-
nize imprisonment for a felony as
sCfficient cause.
In the District Of Columbia, how
ever, there Is but one recognized
cause for divorce-though nearby
jurisdictions recognize several such
causes and thus create the conditions
referred to in the court opinion before
cited" Mrs. Gold said.
The subcommittee considering the bill
was composed of Senators Copeland
of New York, Cspper OF Kansas and
Reynolds of North Carolina, but SEN
ator Reynolds was out of the city yes
terday. No one appeared in opposi-
tion to the bill