Divorce by Legislation
In the 1861 territorial session, the Washington Legislature became a de facto divorce court, forcing members to adjudicate the intimate failures of local couples.
The Washington Territorial Legislature spent considerable time during its eighth session debating the private lives of its citizens. During the Council session on January 9, 1861, members took up the bill divorcing John and Ann Cantwell. The Council Sergeant-at-Arms was directed to procure the attendance of Henry Miles, Mr. Stone of Cowlitz, and Dr. Warbass to provide testimony. The President of the Council objected to the body being converted into a jury for divorce cases, noting a disturbing trend of hasty, ill-advised proceedings. In the House, the same bill was addressed by Henry Miles, Esq., and subsequently passed under a suspension of the rules. By the following day, the floodgates had opened: numerous other divorce bills were introduced, leading Mr. Stone of Kitsap to sardonically give notice that at 10 o'clock the next morning, he would introduce a bill divorcing all married persons in Pierce County, while Mr. Ferguson promised a similar bill for Kitsap.
“The President of the Council very justly objected to the Council being converted into a jury to try divorce cases. It is really ventilating to see a disposition even thus late, to stay these hasty, ill-advised divorce proceedings.”
Long before modern no-fault divorce laws, state legislatures were the only path to legal separation in the territories, turning private heartache into public, and often performative, political theater. The cynical proposal by legislators to 'divorce all married persons' in their districts highlights the absurdity of a system that once forced lawmakers to act as arbiters of marital failure.
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