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Recovering Lincoln's Teaching on the Limits to the Courts--and Giving the News to David Blankenhorn

History clearly demonstrates that the legislative branch can legitimately act to counter the rulings of the judicial branch. This is as true for marriage as it was for slavery.

The Marriage Cure

Don't Make 'Religious Freedom' a Pawn in the Culture Wars

This recent American dynamic of expanded gay rights in tandem with stronger guarantees of religious liberty offers important lessons. First, it reminds us that no right is absolute. Even a fundamental right exists only in relation to, and often in tension with, other important rights. Second, it sho...

Does Championing Marriage Exclude Single Parents?

That rising income inequality is a likely driver for many of the risk factors for children in single-parent households. The "Call for a New Conversation" echoes that concern: "We propose a new conversation that re-establishes the link between marriage and money, the nest and the nest egg. What econo...

Second Chances : A Proposal to Reduce Unnecessary Divorce

Second Chances: A Proposal to Reduce Unnecessary Divorce

Kansas Gov.-elect Sam Brownback reiterates arguments against "marriage penalty" for those receiving welfare

In May 2008, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and David Blankenhorn wrote an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal calling for an end to what they described as the "marriage penalty" for people receiving welfare. Brownback and Blankenhorn, founder and president of the Institute for American Values,...

Is New York Ready for No-Fault Divorce? : The Voiceless Third Parties

Because New York is the last state to come to this debate, it has a responsibility to heed the lessons of the past four decades. Chief among them is to keep in mind what we know about the effects of divorce on children. On this score, a consensus among social scientists has emerged. It distinguishes...

Marriage and the Law : A Statement of Principles

100 family and legal scholars come together to critique current family law practices, affirm seven great truths about marriage and the law, and to offer three general insights that can be applied to a legal theory that is more respectful toward and supportive of marriage as a social institution.

Marriage and the Law : A Statement of Principles

100 family and legal scholars come together to critique current family law practices, affirm seven great truths about marriage and the law, and to offer three general insights that can be applied to a legal theory that is more respectful toward and supportive of marriage as a social institution.