TENNESSEE: Judge Denies Straight Couple’s Divorce Because Obergefell Has Destroyed Marriage Laws

A judge in Tennessee has refused to grant a straight couple their requested divorce because all marriage laws are now meaningless due to the Obergefell ruling.

Hamilton County Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton denied the divorce petition last week after hearing from seven witnesses and going through 77 exhibits. Among several reasons he cited in rejecting the couple’s divorce, one was the Supreme Court’s June ruling. Atherton said the Supreme Court must clarify “when a marriage is no longer a marriage.” Otherwise, he contended, state courts are impaired from addressing marriage and divorce litigation altogether. “The conclusion reached by this Court is that Tennesseans have been deemed by the U.S. Supreme Court to be incompetent to define and address such keystone/central institutions such as marriage, and, thereby, at minimum, contested divorces,” Atherton wrote. The couple — Thomas Bumgardner, 65, and his wife, Pamela, 61 — were married in November 2002, records show. They had no children together and filed for divorce in September 2014, citing irreconcilable differences.

Legal experts say that Atherton is grandstanding. Ya think? (Tipped by JMG readers Andrea and Mike)