An appropriate adaptation
of the letter which appears
on the right was sent to the
Governors and Attorneys
General in the following states:
Alabama, Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi,
New Jersey, North Carolina,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode
Island, South Carolina,
South Dakota, Tennessee,
Vermont, Washington,
and West Virginia
All of these states use the
term term "bastard" in
statutes, except for Ohio,
South Carolina, South
Dakota, and Washington,
which only use the term
"illegitimate."
Some states, such as
Arkansas, Mississippi,
New Jersey, and North
Carolina, use both terms.
The letters to the Governors
and Attorneys General
made reference to one or
both of these terms as the
situation exists in each of
these states.
Stop the
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June 26, 2001 Attorney General Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. Dear Attorney General McGraw: We would like to bring to your attention a disturbing fact of which you may be unaware. The State of West Virginia has enacted statutes which label children born to unmarried parents as "bastards." No baby should be welcomed into the world in such a rude and offensive manner. If there is a need to label such children at all, certainly a more appropriate term such as "nonmarital child" or "child born to unmarried parents" could be used. When we brought this problem to the attention of officials in Maine and Delaware, action was immediately taken to remove this derogatory language from all state codes. In each state a bill was introduced which was overwhelmingly approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by the Governor. West Virginia has the dubious distinction as being one of only 11 states which continue to brand nonmarital children as "bastards." We would be very pleased if we could remove West Virginia from this list in the near future. We are enclosing some materials which explain this problem in greater detail. On page 13 of our most recent newsletter you will find an article which discusses the recent legislative reforms in Delaware and Maine. We would like to hear your views on this issue, as well as any
information about bills which may be pending or are being drafted to remedy this problem
in your state. Thomas F. Coleman
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