Tennessee Judge Who Refused to Grant Divorce Citing US Supreme Court Ruling get Reprimand

The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct publicly reprimanded Hamilton County Judge Atherton for declining to grant a divorce to a Signal Mountain couple due to the gay marriage decision by the US Supreme Court, according to timesfreepress.com.

On Aug. 31^st, 2015, Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton held that Tennessee courts cannot hear contested divorces as the ruling of the Supreme Court annulled their jurisdiction. By doing so, the board claims he breached two codes viz., compliance with the law as well as advancing confidence in the judiciary. In fact, Atherton was one of three judges who were publicly reprimanded in 2015, by the board in 2015 and Memphis, TN divorce lawyers were paying close attention.

After writing the order, Atherton was given a notice of complaint from the Disciplinary Counsel of the board. Several months have passed and mystery still surrounds as to who lodged the complaint, as only a judge or a complainant can discuss it legally. Besides, Atherton hasn’t come forward to comment publicly concerning his motivations behind the order. The Disciplinary Counsel is free to receive an official complaint that is not the sole requirement to initiate an investigation.

For instance, if a judge calls, someone sends an anonymous letter or any board member sees a newspaper report, all this is sufficient to set the counsel in motion. In this specific case, it was the media attention that possibly played a key factor. This is because as international media outlets caught on to Atherton's order, it spread quickly into public view.

The letter conveyed that Atherton cooperated fully with the Disciplinary Counsel. At a meeting with the counsel, Atherton agreed that the public could have misunderstood his order, as weakening its confidence in the integrity, impartiality, and independence of the Judiciary.

Your marriage is clouding over. Love is not in the air anymore. Perhaps it never was. Why did you get married so soon? Why did you not attend a pre-marriage class? Now you are a statistic. Yes, but you still need a Memphis, TN divorce lawyer. You may be unhappy 24x7 but this website operates 24x7: http://divorce.usattorneys.com/tennessee. You can find the legal help that you need. Hopefully you do not get married too quickly again. 

Scott County Leads in Divorce Rate

Tennessee’s divorce rate is one of the highest in the US. But in Tennessee, the Scott County has the honor of topping the list, according to an ihoneida.com report. According to information available from the Tennessee Department of Health, inhabitants of Scott County filed for divorce at the rate of 7.1 for every 1,000 persons, in 2013, making this county the third highest in divorce rates, in the state.

What causes such high rates of divorce? Regretfully, there is a lack of ready answers although divorce attorneys in Memphis, TN say that there are several reasons for this.

Usually, high divorce rates are the result of high marriage rates. According to experts, as more people get married, especially the younger couples, such marriages tend to end in divorce this is because they do not take a Catholic or Christian pre-marriage class where certain things can be discussed.

People get married too quickly. Just because you had a few fun dates does not mean you are marriage material. People are getting married without even discussing finances, politics, beliefs, family values, and so on. Why would do this? Should all couples be encouraged by anyone who has a license to marry to talk to them about vital issues and different scenarios that will pop up when they are married or encourage the couple to take a pre-marriage class before they are married? Moreover, but in the case of Scott County, the answer is not so clear-cut.

In Scott County, the marriage rate in 2013 was under the state average. In 2013, Scott County registered a marriage rate of 8.3 for every 1,000, with the state average at 8.4 for every 1,000. Interestingly, Scott County has only the 17^th highest marriage rate in the whole of Tennessee. This means that more couples are getting divorced than married in Scott County. What is wrong with this picture? This only keeps divorce lawyers in Memphis, TN busy which is not really a positive sign for our culture. This marriage thing needs to be looked at again all over.

Hire a Divorce Lawyer

If you wish to file a divorce petition in Memphis or any other city or county in the state, it would be prudent to seek help from a divorce legal professional. Your legal representative can help you sort out delicate issues such as alimony, child custody and support, division of property and assets, and any other related issues to make sure you get a fair deal.