From The Co-chairs....
Every year, nearly three quarters of a million Georgians get divorced, and almost four out of every 10 babies in this state are born outside of marriage. Of course, many hardworking single parents do an excellent job of raising their children. However, we cannot ignore the substantial body of research revealing that when adults fail to build lasting, stable marriages, children suffer – children of divorced and of never-married parents suffer disproportionately from emotional and physical illness; more of them drop out of school and fewer attend college; they earn less income; they develop more addictions to drugs and alcohol; and they are more likely to engage in violence or suffer it in their homes. Moreover, a recent report on the taxpayer costs of divorce and unwed childbearing estimated that cost to taxpayers of family breakdown in Georgia exceeds nearly $1.46 billion a year. But many Georgians aren’t aware of the effect that the increase in family fragmentation has had on our court systems.Fragmenting families are flooding our court dockets. They account for 65% of all civil cases in Georgia heard at the Superior Court level, and they outnumber all felony and misdemeanor criminal cases combined. Indeed, family fragmentation is a significant factor contributing to judicial backlog and overstretched budgets in courts all over the country. Thus, we believe that building a healthy marriage culture in Georgia is a legitimate concern for our legal system. As judges, we are often frustrated that we must work within a system designed to pick up the pieces after families have already fallen apart or have failed to come together. Thus, we decided that in order to make any real and lasting change, we would have to begin to address the root causes of this problem.
Established in 2006, the Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Children, Marriage, and Family Law’s mission is to deliver a clear message to the public that children thrive when raised by their two parents in an enduring, healthy marriage, and to work with others to support these marriages within the legal system, social service networks, and local communities. Despite our best efforts, we recognize that, sadly, there will always be some children born without committed fathers, and tragically there will always be abusive marriages that should not survive. Our goal, therefore, is not perfection, but progress. We seek not to eliminate divorce or unwed childbearing, but to reduce it significantly, and not to make every marriage last, but to help many moremarriages succeed.
Whatever the issue, we as Georgians believe that we can make a difference by working together. Problems, no matter how difficult, should be addressed and not merely endured. If we look for solutions, we will find them. What we do not yet know how to accomplish, we can learn. Accepting divorce and unmarried childbearing as inevitable means giving up on many of our children. Georgia’s children deserve far better than that. We can make a difference for this generation, and the next. Please join us.
November 24, 2008 - The Atlanta Journal Constitution- "Sears’ charge on social issue should be cheered"
November 20, 2008 - The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Conference examines institution of marriage
December 9, 2008 - The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Yes, marriage matters to nurturing of children
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