Judiciary
Ga. Supreme Court Sponsors ‘Get Married, Stay Married’ Billboards
Posted Nov 24, 2008 6:12 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A Georgia Supreme Court commission is so concerned about the impact of broken families that it is sponsoring a dozen billboards throughout the state with the message “Get Married, Stay Married.”
Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears told the Fulton County Daily Report that she hopes the billboards will help bring down divorce and crime rates, and push fathers to stay involved in their children’s lives.
"It's our job to say to the legislature, and to the executive, 'We see and notice this,' " she told the publication. “We do more than just read cases. We see a lot of human devastation. It's my job to speak out."
Sears is promoting intact families despite her own divorce after 20 years of marriage, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “It’s politically incorrect to say marriage has benefits,” she said. “Let’s not be afraid to say marriage is a good thing.”
The Georgia Supreme Court’s Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law sponsored the billboards and convened a pro-marriage conference last week. Participants talked about topics ranging from the role of spirituality in supporting marriage to whether gay marriage promotes family stability. Sears moderated the gay marriage debate, but didn’t take a position. She told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the issue needs to be addressed by legislation.
The Georgia Bar Foundation paid the $50,000 cost to produce the billboards, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia donated the space, Sears said. Private foundations also picked up much of the cost of the marriage summit.
The billboards picture a happy looking family or a contented baby and carry an additional message, according to the story in the Fulton County Daily Report. The blurb on some billboards reads, "Children do better with parents together." The other message simply says, "For Children's Sake."
The billboards also list a website, www.getmarriedstaymarried.org.
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Comments
B. McLeod
Nov 24, 2008 7:02 AM CST
More “Do as I say, not as I do.” Great. Have the Georgia courts no real work to do? Maybe they can shoot some anti-smoking spots too.
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A. Darby
Nov 25, 2008 5:46 AM CST
“Get married, stay married”—so your husband can continue to beat you and/or your kids.
“Get married, stay married”—Just ignore the fact that your spouse is cheating on you and that you’re so depressed you could kill yourself.
“Get married, stay married”—It’s for the kids’ sake. When you suddenly divorce during their freshman year of college, it won’t have any effect on them at all.
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Ms. Stewart
Nov 25, 2008 7:01 AM CST
Isn’t Georgia one of those states that passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting same sex marriage? Another good reason to stay the heck out of Georgia.
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Erin
Nov 25, 2008 7:55 AM CST
A more effective billboard would read “Think long and hard before you get married, because a bad marriage will ruin your life. Use contraception while you’re thinking long and hard so there aren’t any children to force your hand.”
But this is Georgia; I don’t expect that kind of intelligence from them.
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Erin Mathias
Nov 25, 2008 8:11 AM CST
Hey Darby - Im unaware of why an argument such as “get married stay married” should not be promoted simply because there are counter-arguments. I suppose you find your arguments to be absolutely correct. Isnt that as presumptuous as a court engaging in propaganda?
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Geogia Attorney
Nov 25, 2008 8:27 AM CST
What is wrong with Supreme Court Justices using their personal time to try to improve the community?
Are any of you (numbers 1-4) married? If so, it sounds like you have miserable marriages and can’t stand the thought of some people having great marriages (like I have).
And to anyone who now has “another good reason to stay the heck out of Georgia,” do us a favor: stay the heck out.
By the way, it’s okay to be liberal and to love your family…something most people learn once they graduate law school, get through their first 2 years as an associate, and/or have some other real life experiences.
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Victoria
Nov 25, 2008 9:01 AM CST
Not all marriages work out, some marriages should never have happened, some children are born with two strikes against them. That being said, the Georgia Supreme Court is not without scientific and sociological evidence to support it’s stand. None of this is the point, however. The question to be addressed is not your stand on marriage, but your stand on the judiciary taking an active role in what is a non-legal issue. What a justice or a lawyer does on her or his own time is certainly up to them, but to use the power of the the position and tax payer funds seems inappropriate. (Just as an aside, there is no need to think that someone in a state different from the one in which you reside or practice law is any more or any less intelligent. Such chauvinistic attitudes are misplaced and are dangerous to the fair and unbiased administration of justice or life.)
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dms
Nov 25, 2008 9:19 AM CST
Ah, yes… teaching kids that it is far better to be married and miserable than divorced and happy!
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Froglily
Nov 25, 2008 9:21 AM CST
If you’d actually read the article you’d see that no taxpayer funds were used for this project. And the message isn’t Stay Married Despite Whatever but Try It Before You Make Babies.
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Dan L
Nov 25, 2008 9:30 AM CST
What an incredible waste of money! I would be loath to ever file a case in a state where the members of its Supreme Court are so incredibly ignorant of human behavior and the usually very sound reasons for divorcing—not to mention how naive they must be to think that a dozen billboards with their vapid message would persuade anybody to get married or stay married. It’s too bad that stupidity is not a valid reason for disbarment.
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steve
Nov 25, 2008 10:11 AM CST
I’m surprised by the tone of the commenters who disagree with these benign ads. The hatefulness and vehemence of their messages bespeak a refusal to recognize even the possiblity of legitimate points of view that differ from their own.
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Stan Martin
Nov 25, 2008 10:25 AM CST
Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears is also quoted (see the Fulton County Daily Report link) as saying:
“Society’s health, and our children’s health, is directly related to the health of our families”
and
“Our social science data shows that if marriage can be made more stable, if more fathers would stay involved, the benefits would be enormous for society.”
Does anyone seriously disagree with either of these statements? We should aspire to do better for our children and spouses. That some marriages fail and some children are abused does not detract from the truth of the statements above. That Chief Justice Sears and others have taken a stand is commendable. We are not just lawyers, but members of a larger society. I applaud them for their efforts.
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Andy the Lawyer
Nov 25, 2008 11:35 AM CST
My best guess is that the billboards will have just about as much effect on convincing people in irreparably bad marriages to stay married as billboards saying : “Get Married. Dump Him/Her” would have on convincing people in really good marriages to get divorced—that is, none whatsoever.
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AGB
Nov 25, 2008 11:53 AM CST
Anything as complicated and emotionally unsettling as getting married is bound to have it’s proponents and detractors. There is one thing most of us may agree on, the breakup of a marriage has significant negative effects on the psychological development of young children. ( I am not talking about those relationships where there is emotional/sexual/physical abuse of either the spouse or the children). In my two decades as a lawyer I have also noticed the much higher incidence of divorce in those families when the wife is the attorney in the family. I think this may also explain some of the anger in the earlier posts.
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Dan
Nov 25, 2008 3:02 PM CST
#6: “By the way, it’s okay to be liberal and to love your family…”
Actually, progressives and feminists report higher degrees of satisfaction in marriage, due to their egalitarian relationships. I suppose your message really should be to Neoconservatives…
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sidren55
Nov 25, 2008 8:28 PM CST
Thank you ABA for another interesting, thought/comment provoking article . I tend to agree with the comments of posters No. 4 and 7 (w/some exceptions). While I think the idea of “get married/stay married” is laudable, it’s unrealistic and superficial. It’s akin to the “just say no” anti-drug campaign that foundered miserably because it had no depth or vision. Why not put more energy into marriage education WAY before people are old enough to get married - like maybe starting in pre-school, and promote healthy role models - of not only marriage, but divorce, non-marriage and raising a family. It’s practical information young adults can use to make intelligent choices in life. Maybe this is info Henry the VIII could have used (as a silly example). History is replete with problematic relationships (both married and unmarried) so I don’t know why the institution of marriage should be so idealized (I actually do, but won’t go into it because this message is long enough). Sadly, media images which bombard us daily glamorize marriage and babies, without speaking to the underlying difficulties one can encounter along the way. The “dream” wedding, the “dream” diamond ring, cute babies, cute puppies, ad nauseum. Until we as a society are willing to realistically deal with the issue of sex, unwanted pregnancies, teen pregnancy, and sex education, I don’t know that a “get married/stay married” slogan makes much difference. I think the money spent on this campaign could have been put to better use. But at least it may start a dialogue.
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George Sly
Nov 29, 2008 4:24 PM CST
I have been married for nearly 35 years. My parents were divorced when I was four and I can speak to the harm done to children by their parent’s divorce from experience. I also know that my parents made a mistake and they were right to separate. Incidentally my mother was from Georgia.
However, the question here, is not about marriage or divorce, but whether the Georgia Supreme Court should be engaging in what is a political activity. I think not. The only political activity judges should and indeed must be permitted to engage in is voting. Nothing else. Any other political activity casts doubt on the judiciary’s impartiality.
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Carolyn Simpson
Dec 3, 2008 9:56 AM CST
Thank you Justices and the Georgia Bar Foundation! So many people do not realize the importance of marriage to the stability of society. I am so glad the Justices not only pointed out the costs of divorce and having children out of wedlock, but also sponsored a full day seminar, with CLE credit on addressing these problems. Sometimes doing the best thing for our clients does not just involve getting them the best terms in a divorce or custody hearing.
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