"Covenant" Marriage Law

[Vance R. Koven]

At 9:32 AM 6/21/97, Robert Cochran wrote:
>Several years ago, Elizabeth Scott
>did a very interesting piece in the Virginia Law Review that advocated the
>state recognizing and enforcing different levels of commitment at
>marriage; it was based on a contract model.

I didn't read that article, but I wonder if it considered the issue of how
to treat the remedies for breach. I think it will be conceded all around
that the law should not be permitted to decree specific performance of a
marriage contract, but should it be treated like a contract for personal
services a la Napoleon Lajoie (we won't insist you play for this team, but
we'll prevent you from playing for any other), thereby recreating in the
secular law the Roman Catholic position on divorce? Or will the law simply
leave the parties to their "remedies at law," namely money damages, which
is what modern divorce is all about?