Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert Split: Was Couple's Quick Divorce Illegal? [PHOTO]
They seem to be moving on just fine as friendly exes, but Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's divorce may have broken Oklahoma state law.
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According to The Oklahomian newspaper, the pair's divorce, which was filed in secret, actually breaks a law in the state that requires such records to be made completely public--something that wasn't done for the county superstars, who filed after four years of marriage.
Shelton's petition to dissolve the marriage was filed on July 6, with the divorce decree being issued on July 20, and both papers, as well as others, were sealed from the public by a judge, with only one online docket showing the couple's initials of B.T.S. and M.L.S. being made public, which is a listing of the legal filings in the case.
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However, the move to keep the records sealed is apparently illegal.
According to the newspaper, legislators in the state approved a new law last year which required a judge to only seal civil, divorce and other court records only if a compelling privacy interest outweighs the public's. Any time a judge does make a sealing order however, that decree must be made public. Judges are also required to seal only the portions of the case subject to confidentiality and keep the remainder of the records open.
In the case of the Shelton and Lambert's divorce however, the sealing order was not disclosed, and the entire filing is not open to the public.
"Oh yeah, they're definitely not following the law on it," former State Rep. Aaron Stiles, who wrote the law, told the publication. "I can't imagine a scenario where you would ever seal an entire civil or divorce case."
"The average citizen, they don't get their cases sealed. Their records are made public," he continued. "All it is is about protecting their buddies and cronyism...Somebody needs to put rogue judges in their place. They're not a dictatorship."
Another attorney also spoke up about the potentially illegal act, noting it was probably done because the couple is famous, but that doesn't make it right compared to everyone else in the state.
"I think it was a favor done...because of their celebrity status. I'm sure that every Oklahoman getting a divorce would like to have their records sealed...but they don't," he said.
