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Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman, D-District 18, has introduced a new bill to be considered in the upcoming state legislative session that would require couples seeking a marriage license to first attend a conflict resolution class.
“Under existing law, the only requirements to enter into a marriage are to complete a marriage document and pay a recording fee. This bill would require couples seeking to enter into a marriage to complete a premarital conflict resolution class before the marriage may be recorded. This bill would also require the Administrative Office of Courts to determine minimum requirements for an acceptable premarital conflict resolution class and to create a form to verify class attendance,” the bill reads.
Smitherman’s bill argues that the requirement could help reduce domestic violence between partners.
“About one in four women and one in seven men have experienced physical violence by their intimate partner at some point in their lifetimes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the bill states. “Annually, domestic violence is responsible for over 1,500 deaths in the United States… [and] According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, in almost 20 percent of all marriages and intimate partnerships, couples slap, shove, hit, or otherwise assault each other.”
“Emotional abuse, such as verbal threats, degrading remarks, and controlling behavior, is even more common… and over 15 million children in the United States live in households where intimate partner violence has occurred at least once in the last year,” it continues.
According to the Prevention Institute, a national nonprofit focused on issues of health and safety, an improved understanding of conflict resolution can effectively reduce instances of violence.
If Sen. Smitherman’s bill passes into law, Alabama couples will be required to complete a conflict resolution class, after which they will receive a verification letter from the state that will allow them to file and register their marriage.
With the bill tasking the Administrative Office of Courts with determining the specifics of what these classes would look like, it remains unclear how much these classes would cost and who would be responsible for paying any such cost.
