Chicoine v. Chicoine, 479 N.W.2d 891 (S.D. 1992)
In the case Chicoine v. Chicoine (S.D. 1992), the parties were married for three years before the wife engaged in a series of openly same-sex affairs. The husband obtained a temporary custody order for their two children and later filed for divorce on the grounds of extreme cruelty. The trial court awarded custody to the husband, granted the wife restricted visitation including unsupervised overnight visits, and imposed an additional condition prohibiting unrelated women or gay men from being present during the visitation. The Court also divided the couple’s marital property.
The husband appealed, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion by permitting unsupervised overnight visitation and that exposure to the wife’s queer lifestyle would harm the children’s development. The South Dakota Supreme Court considered the best interests of the children, and noted that although the wife and her psychologist testified that she could provide a suitable environment, such assurances were speculative in light of her past conduct. The Court reversed the visitation order and directed that a home study be conducted, with appropriate enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with restrictions. On the issue of property division, the Court deferred to the trial court’s discretion, holding that the distribution was proper because the trial court had considered all relevant factors. This case reflects historical judicial attitudes toward same-sex relationships in the context of child custody and visitation and how courts once imposed restrictions on visitation based on sexual orientation, framing such conditions as tied to the best interests of the child.
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- 1992
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Jurisdiction