Interesting phrasing.The people of the State of California send greetings to: Henry C. Bukowski
Yes, it was (is?) common for divorces in the USA to be based on fault. That is the origin for all of those set-ups where a spouse and a woman/man are "discovered" in a hotel room - factual "proof" of infidelity. Staple of many classic films. No-fault divorces are relatively recent. I would be curious to see if any evidence of cruelty was submitted. Would such proof only be required if the divorce was contested? I presume Buk didn't contest the divorce so that evidence might not have been presented.I don't know about US-law, but in Germany there used to be a principle with divortions that claimed, that one of the partners needs to take the "guilt" for a failed marriage - by law.