Posted in Divorce on May 21, 2013
A Texas judge has ruled that same-sex couple Carolyn Compton and her partner, Page Price, who have lived together and taken care of Compton’s children for nearly three years, must live apart.
Compton is a resident of Collin County, Texas, and the mother of two children. On Tuesday, Judge John Roach Jr. enforced a “morality clause” in Compton’s child custody settlement, which prohibits any person who is not “related by blood or marriage” to be in her home after 9:00 p.m. Price wrote about the judge’s ruling on her Facebook page last week, claiming that the judge invoked the morality clause because he disapproved of their lifestyle choice.
Compton and her ex-husband separated in 2011, but the case was reopened last month to dispute custody. Price and Compton say that Compton’s ex rarely visits their two children and that he hired a private investigator to look into Compton’s life. In 2011 Compton’s ex-husband was charged with third-degree felony stalking, but plea bargained down to a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespassing.
Price and Compton said that they were trying to re-build a safe and supportive home for the children and that Judge Roach’s ruling will force them to endure another traumatic break up.
Surprisingly, morality clauses are relatively common in legal documents. The clauses are often written into divorce settlements. The attorney for Compton’s ex-husband said that this is a very common order in custody cases, and that Joshua Compton was abiding by it himself. He stated that they are seeking to enforce that order because it wasn’t being complied with by Carolyn Compton. The attorney also mentioned that, while he and his client were sympathetic to the position the order places Carolyn Compton and Page Price in, same-sex marriage is “a legislative issue” and is unrelated to Joshua Compton’s goals.
Despite Texas’ conservative court system, Compton plans to appeal the case. She believes she stands a good chance of winning because she and Price have worked hard to build a healthy family environment. The outcome could set a precedent for how Texas courts interpret the morality clause.
Source: The Huffington Post, “Lesbian Parents Say Texas Judge’s ‘Morality Clause’ Ruling Will Force Them Apart,” Meredith Bennett-Smith, May 21, 2013.
The post Morality Clause Forces Couple to Live Apart appeared first on LawBlogVancouver.