Phenix
02-11-2007, 02:13 PM
From SuicideGirls.com
North Dakota has nearly joined the rest of the world in this year of our Lord, 2007. On Friday, the state Senate passed a proposal that downgraded living out of wedlock from a sex crime to fraud. The punishment would remain the same; a maximum 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, but cohabitation would no longer be listed among sex crimes, such as rape and child molestation. Under the changed law, only couples who claim to be married but are not can be prosecuted.
Now the proposal moves to the North Dakota House, where a similar bill was defeated in 2005 by a vote of 52 to 37. After the House rejects the updated anti-cohabitation law, they are expected to take on bills about excessive dragon hunting and witch burning.
Since North Dakota became a state, a law barring unmarried couples from “open and notoriously” living together has been on the books. Anti-cohabitation laws exist in six other states: Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Arizona and New Mexico decriminalized cohabitation in 2001, which led to their societies spiraling into anarchy and constant sodomy.
Anti-cohabitation laws are still in effect because a vote to repeal them is seen as an assault on family values by conservatives. In North Carolina, a 201-year-old law barring unmarried couples from living together was ruled unconstitutional by a state judge in July 2006, but the ruling has been appealed.
"Our forefathers were wise, and such laws as the cohabitation law here in North Carolina are really important for holding up moral standards," says the Rev. Mark Creech, director of the Christian Action League. "Cohabitation simply imitates marriage, but without actually creating the internal, the emotional, the moral and the legal structure that protects couples."
In a delightful twist, anti-cohabitation laws usually only come up during child custody cases. When one spouse is attempting to gain custody of a child, they will use the law to expose their ex’s out of wedlock living arrangement. They will then use the “crime” to gain custody.
North Dakota has nearly joined the rest of the world in this year of our Lord, 2007. On Friday, the state Senate passed a proposal that downgraded living out of wedlock from a sex crime to fraud. The punishment would remain the same; a maximum 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, but cohabitation would no longer be listed among sex crimes, such as rape and child molestation. Under the changed law, only couples who claim to be married but are not can be prosecuted.
Now the proposal moves to the North Dakota House, where a similar bill was defeated in 2005 by a vote of 52 to 37. After the House rejects the updated anti-cohabitation law, they are expected to take on bills about excessive dragon hunting and witch burning.
Since North Dakota became a state, a law barring unmarried couples from “open and notoriously” living together has been on the books. Anti-cohabitation laws exist in six other states: Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Arizona and New Mexico decriminalized cohabitation in 2001, which led to their societies spiraling into anarchy and constant sodomy.
Anti-cohabitation laws are still in effect because a vote to repeal them is seen as an assault on family values by conservatives. In North Carolina, a 201-year-old law barring unmarried couples from living together was ruled unconstitutional by a state judge in July 2006, but the ruling has been appealed.
"Our forefathers were wise, and such laws as the cohabitation law here in North Carolina are really important for holding up moral standards," says the Rev. Mark Creech, director of the Christian Action League. "Cohabitation simply imitates marriage, but without actually creating the internal, the emotional, the moral and the legal structure that protects couples."
In a delightful twist, anti-cohabitation laws usually only come up during child custody cases. When one spouse is attempting to gain custody of a child, they will use the law to expose their ex’s out of wedlock living arrangement. They will then use the “crime” to gain custody.