Search

This article tests the hypothesis that judicial arbitrariness dominated alimony or child support appeals in the pre-no-fault era by analyzing data on all alimony and child support appeals in the District of Columbia from 1950 through 1980. Censored regression analysis is used to isolate the impacts of race and morals grounds for divorce on changes in alimony and child support awards from trial to appeal. The results show large race effects but small morals effects. Judicial discretion - measured by unexplained gaps in awards - dominated relevant economic factors in determining changes in alimony and child support awards during the pre-no-fault era., Jewell Mazique was a prominent scholar-journalist. She was a leader in human rights activity in the nation's capital and a crusader for quality education. Her husband, Edward Mazique, was perhaps [...]

This article examines the myth of bad credit in the Black community. Historically, Blacks have had higher savings rates and lower use of credit than Whites. Discrimination in lending led to an aversion to credit. Later, Blacks believed their credit to be bad, even among many better qualified Black loan applicants. The authors find that there is no statistically significant difference in the average level of 'bad credit' among Blacks and Whites who have been turned down for loans or who have not applied for loans, as seen in national data sets measuring wealth and expenditures. Contrary to conventional wisdom, no statistically significant difference exists in bad credit rates between Black and White households at the lowest and highest wealth levels. The authors contend that the observed differences in the bad credit rates between Blacks and Whites in the middle wealth range are attributable to different treatment of Blacks and Whites in credit markets.

Investigates the effects of race and morals on alimony and child support divorce cases in the District of Columbia from 1950 to 1980. Reference made to the divorce case involving Jewell Mazique, a prominent scholar-journalist and her husband Edward Mazique, an African American physician; Legal issues surrounding divorce in Columbia; Details on Victorian views of marriage and the family; Role of the state in preventing women from becoming private wards.