In North Carolina a jilted husband can sue his wife’s lover
Heartache is messy; marriage is made of compromise. How potentially satisfying, then, to see all the mess and ambiguity turned into something simple and unequivocal in a lawyer’s brief. In North Carolina and a handful of other states, a jilted spouse can indeed sue for heartbreak.
Under an archaic tort called “alienation of affection”, a third party—someone outside the marriage—can be liable if shown to have intentionally ruined the marital bond. Paramours are the most common target, though Alice Stubbs, a divorce lawyer in Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, says plaintiffs have sued their mother-in-law. Anyone who has sex with a married person is liable under another tort called “criminal conversation”.
The “heart-balm” torts are at the centre of a drama captivating the North Carolina capitol. On June 18th Scott Lassiter, an assistant school principal, sued Tim Moore, the speaker of the state House, for having an affair with his wife, who works in the state government. Mr Moore, the lawsuit says, “deprived [him] of Mrs Lassiter’s love, society, companionship and consortium and proximately caused [their] marital separation”. Mr Lassiter is seeking at least $200,000 in damages. Mr Moore says it was his understanding that the Lassiters had already separated, which, if true, could get him off the hook. The speaker wants his colleagues in the state legislature to ban lawsuits of this sort.
2023-06-29 09:38:40
Article from www.economist.com
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