I am passionate about rectifying the antiquated laws of divorce starting in Illinois and subsequently carrying this campaign throughout the country. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act provides a simple formula for determining maintenance when courts apply statutory guidelines. Under the current statutory guidelines, the court has no discretion in limiting or waiving maintenance in cases that include marital misconduct (i.e. domestic violence). This renders a victim of abuse, of any nature, susceptible to being ordered to pay their abuser through maintenance payments. From the perspective of a victim, this current law, that turns a blind eye to the misconduct of a partner in the marriage, purports that the higher earner has to pay this calculated formula payment regardless of abuse endured, including but not limited to severe physical abuse. This law is preposterous. A partner that is abused should not be made to pay the abuser in order to live in a safe environment. In essence, this law demands that a victim pay for their survival. The current law is a violation of our constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is the law, but the principal of which it is built is faulty and requires adjustment. I am working with State Representative Thaddeus Jones to effect change.
I hope that you can stand with me and rally behind this bill, the Domestic Violence Victims Rights Bill, to change this law and allow victims to become free and flee the abuse and subsequent punishment that is then purported unto them by the legal system through maintenance payments.
