A family court judge has ordered a serial philanderer not to remarry until he proves that he can stop cheating. The decision, by a Maryland judge, has alarmed some legal observers who warn of a growing movement against adultery.
Decision spurs criticism of 'activist judges'
By Sonia Finklemeyer, Legal Correspondent
CHEVY CHASE, MD—A Family Court judge has ordered a Chevy Chase, MD resident not to remarry on the grounds that he is a serial philanderer. The 48 year-old man, identified in court papers as Richard M., has been sued for divorce three times because of infidelity. In Maryland, as in most states, adultery constitutes justification for an absolute divorce.
In the decision, made public yesterday, Family Court Judge David Grudin said that he was taking the unusual step of barring the defendant from more matrimony, arguing that adultery is injurious to the spouse and children in the damaged relationship.
"Until this defendant is able to prove that he is capable of fidelity to a single woman, the court is ordering the gentleman not to marry again," Judge Grudin wrote in his decision. Grudin warned that the defendant could be jailed for contempt of court if he attempts to secure a marriage license in the state of Maryland.
Cheaters need not apply
This is the first known ruling that singles out an adulterous husband and orders him not to marry on the grounds that he is a compulsive cheater. Courts in other states have ordered drug-addicted and homeless mothers, along with 'deadbeat dads' who fail to pay child support, not to have any more children, and have even refused to allow women to divorce because they are pregnant.
Legal observers say that Judge Grudin's decision is part of a growing conservative movement to strengthen marriage by banning adultery, which causes some 30% of divorces every year. Pro-family groups are proposing that a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage be made stronger by inserting language that would prohibit adultery.
Registry for adulterers? 
The head of one pro-family organization has already said that she hopes that Judge Grudin's decision will form the basis of further legal restrictions on adultery. "We have a commandment from God that says 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,'" says Lisette Burder, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Defend Our Marriages. "We'd like to see penalties including house arrest or even jail time for spouses who stray."
Some legal experts say that it may be necessary to compile a registry of adulterers in order to enforce the edict against infidelity. For example, Richard M., the defendant in Grudin's case, is currently barred from applying for a marriage license in Maryland, but until congress passes a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and adultery, he may marry in other states. A nationwide registry of adulterers or fidelity violators would notify residents if and when an adulterer moved into their neighborhood, much like the sex offender registries currently in use throughout the country.
Most elected officials stray
Regardless of how widely the crackdown against adultery is enforced, Judge Grudin's decision is already sending shockwaves through Maryland, home to a huge number of government officials, congressmen and Capitol Hill staffers, a demographic that is statistically more likely than the population at large to commit adultery. In recent years a number of high-profile politicians including Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and Gary Condit have seen their secret romantic dalliances exposed to the white-hot glare of media scrutiny.
One Washington insider says that adulterers on Capitol Hill may be as common as lobbyists. The reason: congressmen—and a few women—who are far from their spouses, and a culture of permissiveness that affects even those at the very top of the political power structure. "The first day the 109th class got sworn in, you had your old-timers taking the new members around, showing them where the strip clubs are and how to find a hooker or an escort," says the insider. "It's just how it's done here."
White House opposes activist judges, adultery
In recent months, legislators, conservative talk show hosts and the White House have all come out publicly against so-called activist judges, who, like Judge Grudin, ignore legal precedent, written law or state and federal constitutions, but instead hand down decisions that correspond to their politics.
While conservatives have yet to go after Grudin, President Bush released a statement earlier this year warning that "[t]he sacred institution of marriage should not be redefined by a few activist judges."
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