In
A.W. v. I.N., (Sup Ct Nassau Cty NY, Jan. 2, 2020), a New York state trial court held that the 1st Amendment precludes it from looking beyond a wife's sworn statement that she has, to the best of her knowledge, removed all barriers to the Husband's remarriage.
NY Domestic Relations Law §253 requires such a statement from a plaintiff in a divorce action, and also provides that the court may not look into any religious or ecclesiastical issue. In this case, the husband sought a stay in entering a final judgment of divorce because the wife refused to appear before an Orthodox Jewish religious court and accept a
get (divorce document) from the husband. According to an affidavit from a rabbi submitted by the husband, the husband is prevented from remarrying without the wife's acceptance of a
get. The wife contends, on the other hand;
the parties were not married religiously nor was there any religious ceremony. Therefore ... since there was no marriage according to Jewish Law, there is no religious divorce to be had. The Wife states that she refused the Husband's offers for a religious wedding ceremony because she wanted to avoid any religious divorce rituals. The Wife argues that in any event, the Husband is not a practicing Orthodox Jew.
The court said in part:
It would be a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution for the Court to order the Wife to participate in a religious ritual when she did not agree to do so.
