A Bad Marriage: Jewish Divorce and the First Amendment

Authors

Paul Finkelman, Chicago-Kent College of Law

Abstract

The article examines the legal and religious challenges faced by observant Jewish women unable to remarry due to their husbands' refusal to grant a "get," a religious divorce document, even after obtaining a civil divorce. It argues that state intervention to enforce the issuance of a get, such as through New York's Get Law, violates the First Amendment's establishment and free exercise clauses by entangling government with religious matters. The author advocates for solutions within the Jewish community, emphasizing the need to balance individual rights with religious freedom without government interference.

Disciplines

Law | Law and Gender

Recommended Citation

Paul Finkelman, A Bad Marriage: Jewish Divorce and the First Amendment, 2 Cardozo J. Equal Rts. & Soc. Just. 131 (1995).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cardozoersj/vol2/iss1/10