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Judge Orders Florida Man To Take His Wife on a Date
NBC Miami ^ | Wednesday, Feb 8, 2012 | Daniel Arkin

Posted on 02/08/2012 8:55:29 PM PST by nickcarraway

The ruling stipulates flowers, bowling, and Red Lobster.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, a Florida judge ruled on Tuesday that a man involved in a scuffle with his wife treat her to an evening at a local bowling alley and a romantic meal at Red Lobster.

Judge John Hurley ordered that Joseph Bray, 47 and his wife Sonja, 39, also visit a marriage counselor.

Hurley handed down this ruling instead of setting bond or slapping Bray with a prison sentence after he deemed domestic violence charges leveled by Bray's wife to be "very, very minor."

According to Bray's arrest affidavit, Bray and his wife got embroiled in a spat after he failed to wish her a happy birthday. Bray's wife claims that her husband shoved her against a sofa and grabbed her neck.

The judge, citing Bray's otherwise clean record and the incident's apparent lack of serious violence, did not consider Bray's behavior a major offense. However, Bray must follow the stipulations of Hurley's ruling very closely if he wants to avoid potential jail time.

"He's going to stop by somewhere and he's going to get some flowers," Hurley said at a hearing, according to Florida newspaper Sun Sentinel. "And then he's going to go home, pick up his wife, get dressed, take her to Red Lobster. And then after they have Red Lobster, they're going to go bowling."

Hurley noted that he would not typically treat a domestic violence charge in a similarly jocular or light-hearted manner.

"The court would not normally [make this ruling] if the court felt there was some violence but this is very, very minor and the court felt that that was a better resolution than the other alternatives," Hurley said.

According to Google Maps, there is a Red Lobster conveniently located in Plantation, Florida—Bray's city of residence—adjacent to a Kohl's and nearby the Broward Mall.

Fortunately for Bray and his wife, the Plantation Red Lobster receives high marks in Google Maps' Review section.

Google user Georgia Valente writes that "of all the Red Lobsters in South Florida," the couple's dinner destination is "quite possibly the best."


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Society; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: floriduh
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To: nickcarraway

Thank god there are people on the bench who take a balanced view of things. Everything is not solved through the criminal justice system.


21 posted on 02/08/2012 11:40:44 PM PST by ketelone
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To: nickcarraway
.

Date night at a bowling alley?? Now, that's a classy deal.

She can put on her tight hip-hugger jeans, super-lowcut tight blouse, 2 lbs of makeup and get a big new 'do' at Sally Sue's Hair Botique and Bobbie Jo Is Doing Nails. He can wear the jeans (with the Skoal imprint on the back pocket) that hang down below his beer belly and his Bass Pro Shop wife-beater tee shirt with a huge phoney-gold chain around his neck. Speaking of necks, all the beer they drink will be Bud long-necks.

Later at Red Lobster he will pay for the dinner with a coupon (whata you mean, I gotta pay the sales tax??? It says right here, 2 dinners free with coupon. I don't care about no sticking small print that says 'customer is responsible for sales tax'). "Cheap ass frigging place....I'll never come back here again and spend my good money for dinner." And, of course, he will leave a large tip on the table.....a quarter, a dime and 3 pennies.....for the young waitress who had to suffer through his bitching, belching and passing gas (pull my finger, honey) for the past hour.

Ahhhhhh ... life is good.

22 posted on 02/08/2012 11:52:19 PM PST by jmax
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To: jmax

You made me feel like I was a fly on the wall.


23 posted on 02/09/2012 4:15:23 AM PST by Raycpa
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To: SirLurkedalot

probably from the “Top Secret Recipes” guy:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Recipes/top-secret-restaurant-recipes-red-lobsters-cheddar-biscuits/story?id=2788706#.TzP7PXL4WSo


24 posted on 02/09/2012 9:12:56 AM PST by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: jiggyboy

That sounds familiar.


25 posted on 02/09/2012 11:23:50 AM PST by SirLurkedalot (Live Free Or Die)
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To: nickcarraway
Just in time for Valentine's Day, a Florida judge ruled on Tuesday that a man involved in a scuffle with his wife treat her to an evening at a local bowling alley and a romantic meal at Red Lobster.

Not exactly setting the bar very high here!

26 posted on 02/09/2012 11:27:20 AM PST by 6ppc (It's torch and pitchfork time)
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To: 6ppc

The judge asked the woman if she was hurt. She said she was not. He asked her if she was afraid of her husband. She said she was not. He asked her what she would like to do (They were arguing over his forgetting her birthday when the scuffle broke out.) She said she likes to go to Red Lobster and bowling. Thus the ruling. Other women will be horrified, but I think it was a great ruling. Why destroy this man’s life?


27 posted on 02/09/2012 11:44:56 AM PST by publana (Beware the olive branch extended by a Dem for it disguises a clenched fist.)
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To: publana

Ruling was just right! Just trying to make a joke there!


28 posted on 02/09/2012 12:07:42 PM PST by 6ppc (It's torch and pitchfork time)
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To: 6ppc

my purpose all sublime
I will achieve in time
to make the punishment
fit the crime.


29 posted on 02/09/2012 2:07:54 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: thecodont

The legal system is not for marriage counseling. This is the stupidest judge on the planet, and it’s idiots like this that are responsible for the sorry state of jurisprudence in this country. Arrogant judges order unenforceable crap like this all the time.


30 posted on 02/09/2012 2:14:55 PM PST by Cyber Liberty ("If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost." --Winston Churchill)
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To: Cyber Liberty

newsflash.

The case was to be dismissed based on her testimony.

Read what she said.

The judge could not have issued this ruling without the consent of the parties. The husband had to be willing to abide by this. The wife had to be willing to abide by this.

oh and newsflash, divorce proceedings in fl CAN be abated for purposes of marriage counseling if the parties agree. Not this type of case but the law does provide.


31 posted on 02/09/2012 2:18:35 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory
The judge could not have issued this ruling without the consent of the parties. The husband had to be willing to abide by this. The wife had to be willing to abide by this.

Irrelevant. If everybody were willing to abide, there was no purpose to the order. I say it's damaging because this feeds into more and more stupid decisions injected into an already overloaded legal system. I read this all, so don't assume I am somehow ignorant. This story has been out there for days, and I have read about it.

Newsflash: Cyber Liberty is not stupid and ignorant. Take your newsflash and do the predictable thing.

32 posted on 02/09/2012 2:28:51 PM PST by Cyber Liberty ("If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost." --Winston Churchill)
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To: Cyber Liberty

Newsflash, they did not object, the time for appeal has passed.

(could not resist one more newsflash...)


33 posted on 02/10/2012 7:46:16 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory

Also irrelevant to my point (I couldn’t resist either).


34 posted on 02/10/2012 10:05:26 AM PST by Cyber Liberty ("If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost." --Winston Churchill)
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To: mylife

35 posted on 02/10/2012 9:13:55 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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