Posted on 12/11/2017 4:22:33 PM PST by Brown Deer
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The bride was 14, the groom a little older, at 17. When Richard Baker encountered the couple two years later, it was to work up the papers for their divorce.
''They were young,'' recalled the Birmingham attorney. ''They had problems in the marriage and she didn't come across as being the most mature person. ... She wasn't ready to be married.''
Before he had completed the divorce papers, he got a call from the girl's father. There would be no divorce. The wife, at 16, had died of a drug overdose.
Baker said that case comes to mind first when he thinks about a state law that allows children as young as 14 to marry in Alabama. A bill in the state Legislature that called for raising the minimum age to 16 -- as it is in most other Southern states -- died Thursday night after a filibuster shut down the Senate.
The Alabama law allowing 14-year-olds to marry was enacted in 1852, when the state was largely agrarian and people generally began having children at an earlier age.
But in 2001, a law allowing young people barely into their teens to marry is just plain outdated, said Rep. John Hilliard, D-Birmingham, who sponsored the bill.
''That is too young. Times have changed,'' said Hilliard.
The measure was inspired by news reports that teens under age 16 were brought by adults from Georgia to Alabama for the sole purpose of being married.
Hilliard said he followed stories about the Atlanta-based House of Prayer, which advocates marriage for female church members as young as 14 and has encouraged transporting girls over state lines to marry in Alabama.
Marjorie Baker, who oversees counseling for victims of family violence in Montgomery, said teen-age spouses are often vulnerable and can be emotionally immature.
She said that in her 16 years at the Family Sunshine Center she has seen many cases in which young girls married men an average of 10 years older who were abusive and controlling.
Typically, Baker said, the marriage takes place because the girl is in need of approval from an older man. But the young wife often is not even permitted to have friendships with schoolmates.
''The dynamics are similar ... she is very isolated from family members and of course her social life is very limited -- to none,'' Baker said. ''Also, the female victims don't have the opportunity to advance in their education because they are being encouraged to finish high school and become a housewife.''
Hilliard said he wanted to change the law in part because Florida, Georgia and Tennessee -- states that border Alabama -- have set 16 as the minimum age a person can marry, with the consent of a parent or guardian.
The minimum marrying age is 16 in other Southern states as well, except in Mississippi, which has no minimum age with the consent of a parent or judge, and Arkansas, where the minimum age is 14, according to The Council of State Governments.
North Carolina is considering a law this month that would set 14 as the minimum age, with teens aged 14 and 15 requiring the permission of a circuit judge. Most Southern states allow a female under the age of 16 to marry if she's pregnant.
According to Alabama statistics, 63 brides in 1999 were 14-years-old, compared to 100 in 1995. No boys age 14 were married in 1999, though one 14-year-old boy was married in 1995.
The numbers of teens marrying in Alabama increases starting at the age of 15, with 186 brides in 1999, compared to 232 in 1995. There were six 15-year-old boys married in 1999, compared to eight in 1995.
Statistics from the state Department of Health don't indicate whether the couples are Alabama residents.
Calhoun County Probate Judge Arthur Murray, on the bench more than 25 years, said it's not his official role to make a judgment about marriage at such a young age.
But personally, Murray said his experience is that most teen-age marriages don't last long. There were 44 teens married in Calhoun County in 1999.
''They are not mature enough to make a real lasting decision of that nature,'' Murray said.
Missed that. Sorry.
Sure and the thousands of underage minority kids not even
bothering to be married having kids is just a cultural norm
Every one of my grandparents with the exception of maternal grandpa were dead by 55. My dad’s mom at 37 of pneumonia.
Biscuits in a wood stove oven are different. Can’t exactly describe it. A better crunch and flavor.
One of my best friends in HS married at 17. Her husband was young too. Within the his parents died and the adopted his three younger siblings.
That is such a great point. We have single moms in poverty and on the dole. Is that better than when we had them married young and social norms provided great pressure to keep them together? Since our single mom poverty kids are worse off, I’d say the answer is clear.
So did I at first. It was easy to miss, & not noted above.
The same people who push to change these parental consent laws scoff at abstinence education as impractical, promote teen sexual promiscuity, and also believe these minors should be able to consent to abortions without parental consent.
There are some bad parents, but the state is not better at raising children. We, as a society, must support the role of parents in such matters, and do more to help marriages to succeed.
I am NOT disagreeing with you! The law WAS suitable for the times - but it’s kinda dumb now.
I’m actually in favor of outlawing marriage before the age of 30! (ok...not really)
Even though I married at 23 (41 years this Jan) I’ve seen marriages go bad due to impulse and bad judgement. Got a beautiful granddaughter to prove it...but she lives with me.
Yes, thanks to a greater level of wealth, it has outlived its usefulness.
Oh yeah!!
Modern age of marriage should be 34.
Speaking of the maturity thing... I’m glad I waited that long :)
Thanks.
Why change the law now when some states are sliding toward Sharia law where apparently six-year-olds can marry?
After all Aisha married Mohammed when she was six. According to the Koran that is just fine.
I was 18 and hubby was 19. 43 years this January.
If your name is your location, we were married in Tuscaloosa.
“Oh, as of this past September, weve been married 50 years.”
We just had our 51st yesterday.
My wife and I have been with each other for 30 years. I was 31 and she was 17 when we met.
By the way, she hit upon me the first time we met.
However, the moment my I set eyes on her I was in live.
30 years later we are still as much in love as the day we met.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.