Here is an interesting news article. A ring of extortionists faces federal charges for extorting divorces from Jewish men. Apparently they could be hired by Jewish wives, for a price.
Read article one here and article two here.
An Orthodox Jewish divorce is known as a “get” and has to be initiated by the husband. NJ law allows a Jewish wife to file for divorce and then motion the court to force the husband to grant a get. Apparently NJ has not been successful in doing so, and the extortion ring was called in. Is this acceptable under Jewish law? Apparently so. In First Things, Mark Movsessian looked into the issue and found that precedent exists under Jewish law for taking drastic steps to force a man to grant a get. Read here.
