“Someone Has to Prosecute Them”
Jason Kuznicki on Jul 10th 2008
Same-sex couples from Wisconsin who travel to California to get married will face nine months in jail and up to ten thousand dollars in fines.
“Someone has to prosecute them… That’s a defrauding of the government,” says a supporter of the law.
Now wait a minute. Sure, the law says that they should be penalized, but on what basis? Where is the harm that would make this a just penalty? How are the taxpayers being defrauded here? Why should the government consider itself “defrauded” over the mere existence of a non-binding piece of paper?
Filed in The Boudoir
How can that law possibly be constitutional? It’s not like this couple expects Wisconsin to honor their marriage (not that they could do anything about it even if they expected that). How is this any different than going to California with the intent to pass the bar exam there, only to return to Wisconsin, where it’s useless?
And don’t get me started on all of these “family” groups coopting the definition of family. It would all be utterly ridiculous if it weren’t so sad.
What if you move to CA, get married, then very shortly later decide to move back to Wisconsin?
I thought Wisconsin was, if not liberal, at least not nuts. But this law? One of the worst I’ve ever seen. 2 people who love each other want to get married. And they do where it is legal. Wisconsin won’t recognize it anyway. But it’s a crime? HuH?
And a related question, if Wisconsin doesn’t recognize your same-sex marriage, then can you now get opposite-sexed married in WI?
Just thought of something. If WI isn’t recognizing the marriage, it’s as if it never happened. And how can you be convicted of something that never happened?
So if they can arrest you, then that means they ARE recognizing it?
This is ridiculous. If I had to guess on the foundation for the prosecution, I’d guess it’s a law designed to prevent common law bigamy. The idea is, if I hold person X out as my spouse when legally she isn’t, then she can get certain government benefits that she otherwise couldn’t. If I do this with several women and the government doesn’t notice, then they can all get benefits and the government gets defrauded. Benefits fraud is one of the main reasons (other than child rape and whatnot) that fundamentalist Mormons get prosecuted for bigamy.
I tend to think those laws are overly broad even when applied as intended, but at least if you’re holding out someone of the opposite sex as your spouse there’s a real possibility the state will believe you. Same-sex partner in a state without same-sex marriage? Not so much. There’s no reason to prosecute these people other than making their lives miserable.