Law Commons^™

Marriage And Opportunism, Margaret F. Brinig, Steven M. Crafton

Journal Articles

Spouse abuse is no longer a secret. It has become a thorn in America's conscience. Abuse even warranted a lengthy Supreme Court discussion in an opinion on abortion. It is certainly worth thinking about whether anything systemic caused the apparent outbreak of violence in the home. If there is a legal "fix" that would remove incentives to abuse, and therefore reduce the incidence of abuse at the margin, we should know about it.

It is the thesis of this article that increased abuse and other undesirable behavior is a natural consequence of the fact that in some states the marriage …