Posted on 04/06/2016 12:31:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Florida couples shacking up together are no longer breaking the law.
Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday signed a bill to repeal the state's largely unenforced prohibition on cohabitation. It was one of 20 bills he signed into law.
Under a law that has been on the books since 1868, a man and woman living together could be fined $500 and locked up in jail for 60 days. According to 2014 census data, there are nearly 438,000 unmarried male-female couples among 7.3 million Florida households.
The new law repeals the entire statute covering married or unmarried men and women "engaging in open behavior that is gross lewdness and lascivious.''
Florida is one of only a handful of states that still has a law making cohabitation illegal.
Surprised that law never made it to the supreme court.
It didn’t impact homosexuals.
One of the stupidest laws of all time. But I’m sure the holy-roller FReepers will condemn Scott and say these couples are going to Hell or something.
Strange.
I wonder if the Florida laws prohibiting homosexuality are still on the books?
Doubt it very much. Whether by court order or just a repeal - those probably went years ago.
Same comment here.
Let god sort it out and keep government out of it.
“One of the stupidest laws of all time. But Im sure the holy-roller FReepers will condemn Scott and say these couples are going to Hell or something.”
You’re at the wrong site.
That is how I look at it
Up until about ten years ago we had Common Law Marriage here in PA. If you cohabitated for a sufficient amount of time, the law just considered you to be married.
In NC it is illegal to have sex in any other position than missionary. It is also illegal to have oral sex. Oh and you can’t buy alcohol before 12 on Sunday. A few of our arcane laws.
How was it stupid? Laws that protected marriage actually benefitted the state as healthy marriages lead to more growth and less welfare.
Laws that advocated for the moral well being of a state resulted in an great American culture - the likes of which we will never see again.
Repealing these shacking up laws and repealing laws against homosexuality have directly resulted in same sex marriage laws that have been FORCED by illegal court orders on us Americans.
“Going to Hell” has nothing to do with the issue. We are weaker and less economically stable as a nation since we abandoned these common sense laws.
A rare victory for those opposed to the Nanny State.
You're right. Because the majority of conservatives believe that an adult man and an adult woman shouldn't be living together. (Rolls eyes)
What did Scott do with the Alimony Reform Bill they passed?
That’s what inquiring minds REALLY want to know.
This law did nothing to benefit marriage. It was the welfare state that broke the family apart, not some asinine law prohibiting adult couples from living together. Man and woman having been living together for millenia even before this law.
Laws that advocated for the moral well being of a state resulted in an great American culture - the likes of which we will never see again.
Get rid of all the Great Society and all of the other poverty pimp programs then. People will instinctively return to the family for support. I don't need some law that "advocates" for some moral well-being. This is just as bad as Carrie Nation demonizing alcohol.
Sure did. But the connection between economic wellbeing and the dreaded "social issues" has now been severed. Economic prosperity now requires putting guys in the girls' locker room. Or so our Chamber of Commerce informs us.
Actually, you are. Theocratic law is not conservative.
Nothing stupid about it. The state has a legitimate interest in outlawing cohabitation.
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