Thursday, September 1, 2011

Who Cares About Those Bastards, This is About Legislating Morality!


This comes under the topic of "What the Hell Are You Thinking?" Florida, statute 798.02 reads as follows:
Lewd and lascivious behavior.If any man and woman, not being married to each other, lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together, or if any man or woman, married or unmarried, engages in open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.History.s. 6, ch. 1637, 1868; RS 2596; GS 3519; RGS 5407; CGL 7550; s. 773, ch. 71-136.

While the statute is old, it may come as a surprise that in the last twelve months, 104 people have been fined under the Florida law that makes it illegal for a man and a woman to live together unless they're married. (Now if you are gay or lesbian and live together, apparently no problem. But if you are heterosexual, you could find yourself serving actual jail time.) What are the powers that be thinking? If a couple has a child out of wedlock, either mom or dad better move out or someone is going to jail. Best we impose the legislature's idea of morality upon the constituents regardless of the consequences to "that bastard child." Before you jump on the legislative bandwagon, keep in mind that 41 percent of births were to unmarried women in 2008. That's up from 28 percent in 1990, according to "The New Demography of American Motherhood." And before you rush into stereotypes, the trend crossed major racial and ethnic groups. Consequently, while generally conservative at heart, this ultra conservative statute makes me want to puke in a day and age when single men routinely step up and actually parent their offspring.

According to recent census figures, more than a half million couples in Florida appear to be openly breaking the law. Florida is not alone. As of 2005, 4.85 million unmarried couples were living together in the U.S. Furthermore, and as of 2002, half of all women aged 15 to 44 admitted to having lived unmarried with a partner. Nevertheless, most Florida lawmakers seem to avoid talking about the 19th century statute for fear of offending their conservative base. One who spoke off the record said, “Cohabitation of unmarried people is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by $500 or up to 60 days in jail. The same statute can be used to penalize cheating husbands and wives." One lawmaker, Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, is in favor of eliminating the penalty for cohabitation and adultery. HB 4021 has been filed but may die in committee before ever receiving a hearing on the proposed change. In the meantime, 5 or 6 other states have similar laws; however, they are all likely unconstitutional. See Lawrence v Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003). For example, in 2005 Virginia's Supreme Court struck down a state law prohibiting sex between unmarried people. The justices based their ruling on a U.S. Supreme Court decision voiding an anti-sodomy law in Texas. However, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, and West Virginia appear to still be living in the dark ages when it comes to legislating morality.


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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A biweekly story? Must be a return to the old days. Excellent.

HT said...

Like to get my hands on the "who cares about bastards" politician. Time to throw those jerks out of office.

Anonymous said...

I laughed real hard until I realized that this story was factual.

Video Guy Edited said...

Can we say it not now…”Theocracy”. Read your bible, religion has always been in your bedroom…did you know that in ancient times the local priest was entitled to two birds (preferably chickens for food) every time one of the male citizens masturbated. They got this information through confession…as they ate well and molested the children.

Seen a seg about Lauren today on MSNBC….oh well, the rich will go on killing the rest of us… that they can by freedom, even for murder is a sad state. If you have more cash than the other guy one can do as they feel.
Maybe the speriers will think again about our lobbying structure as government influence for profit, now that they have lost their daughter…something thy did not consider until it happened to them….now they know, the rich kid can kill your daughter…and so what!, but only if they contribute to the local politician… the replugocrates = Stalin, Hitler…and yes, Jim Jones who failed to convince the masses, but he got to a few thousand of them anyway.

Go ahead and drink their kool-aid…It is not about freedom…it is about taking it away, and for your own good, before you hurt yourself….if you have enough cash!

Lets see…have sex with your wife other that the missionary position = death.
Molest a child and your are invited to Rome…

Blow (a criminal's) brains out…an eye for an eye. Let the family understand the same loss that no lawyer or bought politician can provide.. had they went with the truth, at least they could have visited him in prison for 25 years…something the (victim's family) will never see in relation to their daughter.

Maybe they should put their efforts into blowing (criminals) away, since the judicial is on the take…remember Marie Antoinette and her fat husband, the king of France that said, “let them eat cake”…and started democratic thinking in Europe. Course the Greeks had them by a thousand years.

There will always be someone trying to buy our republic…that is why we have the right to bear arms… Did you forget!

Video Guy edited said...

Shoot (the guilty party) in the head…send the message that rich kids cannot drug and molest our sisters, daughters and who ever they think they can.

I’ll take the contract and video tape it too…watch the bitch boy scream as he confesses to watching the rape of (a victim) by his friend who cannot get chicks unless he drugs them or tapes a $100 bill to his head…so he looks more attractive!

Legal…you will prob delete this and I don’t blame you…just forward the cash and deduct it under victims rights…they have no support in any way. Loose a child…so what!

Anonymous said...

It just shows you that state sanctioned marriage needs to become a thing of the past. Leave marriage up to the churches and do not automatically mandate property rights with marriage.

??? said...



getting pregnant is never a reason to get married in 2013!

if you don't love the father, don't marry him!

Anonymous said...

One more example of why marriage strike advocates may be right!

Anonymous said...

Shocking to think some of these laws are still on the books let alone enforced.