Outlook

Bias in the Jury Box?=20

Richard = Morin=20
1,024 words
21 March 2004
The=20 Washington Post
FINAL
B05
English
Copyright 2004, The = Washington=20 Post Co. All Rights Reserved

Good=20 News About No-Fault

In=20 the past three decades, liberalized divorce laws have reduced suicides = among=20 women, sparked a dramatic reduction in domestic violence and led to a = decline in=20 women murdered by their partners, according to economists Betsey = Stevenson and=20 Justin Wolfers.

Specifically,=20 they claim, these benefits have resulted from the adoption of so-called=20 "no-fault" divorce laws, in which one partner can end the marriage = without the=20 consent of the other.

After=20 states adopted no-fault divorce laws, suicides among women dropped by 20 = percent, the rate of domestic abuse fell by a third, and the number of = women=20 murdered by their partners dropped by about 10 percent, Stevenson and = Wolfers=20 found.

Adoption=20 of unilateral divorce laws didn't affect the suicide rate of men or the=20 likelihood that they would be murdered by their partners. But domestic = violence=20 directed at both men and women declined, the researchers reported in a = recent=20 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. =

http://www.washingtonpost.com

Document=20 WP00000020040321e03l00053