[Fwd: FMA / FF&C -> Cousin marriage -> Blue state/Red state]
David Chesler
to Professor Steve Bainbridge's blog at
http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2004/01/doma_the_fma_an.html
Prof. Bainbridge's proposed solution (if I understand it correctly) to
explicitly remove marriage from Full Faith & Credit (i.e. Alabama need not
recognize as married two men married under [post May 2004] Massachusetts law)
got me wondering. It sounds like too much of a recipe for chaos.
(A correspondent claims that marriage is not covered by FF&C and this
would just make it explicit that it isn't; he says "In practice, states
will generally recognize those out-of-state marriages that it doesn't
much mind (maybe cousin marriages), except those that it sufficiently
disapproves of (e.g., polygamous ones, highly incestuous ones, and for
many states gay ones)." I'd like to know about any marriage in recent
times (e.g. since after Loving v. Virginia) which was created in one
state and not recognized by another state.)
IIUC all states recognize common law marriages created in states
that allow it, even those states that don't themselves allow
common law marriages to be created. And the federal government
needs to know if individuals are married or not.
Cousin marriage seems non-controversial (in that nobody except
cousins who want to get married is particularly upset, and they're
not even holding rallies). You either can or you can't,
but as far as I know cousins married where they could are considered just
as married in places where they couldn't have become married as are peope
married without benefit of a blood test are in those places where a blood
test is required. First cousins may marry in some states but not others.
And I wanted to fact-check. And I found myself at
http://www.cousincouples.com/index.shtml?./pages/states.htm
a map of states that allow or prohibit first cousins to marry.
And that map looks awfully familiar doesn't it? It seems to correlate
very will the 2000 Election Blue State/Red State maps
(see for example http://www.makethemaccountable.com/misc/Maps.htm
or http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~sara/html/mapping/election/map.html )
This just struck me as interesting. I don't know what to make of
it. Maybe I should correlate backwards, and conclude that since
Blue states are progressive, being allowed to marry one's first
cousin is a progressive kind of thing. I also have to rethink all
those inbred hillbilly stereotypes -- cousin marriage is prohibited
in the Ozarks (except it's allowed in Gore's Tennessee).
--
- David Chesler <che...@post.harvard.edu>
Iacta alea est
John R. Levine
>cousins who want to get married is particularly upset, and they're
>not even holding rallies). You either can or you can't, but as far
>as I know cousins married where they could are considered just as
Massachusetts has some odd marriage laws, e.g., if your wife dies, you
can't marry her mother or daughter, even if both parties are otherwise
free to marry. It also specifically says that if a Mass resident goes
to another state to marry to avoid the Mass prohibition, the marriage
is void in Massachusetts. It implcitly says that if you live
somewhere else and marry your mother in law, then move to Mass, that
marriage is valid. Marrying your cousin is 100% OK, though.
I doubt this has been tested in court, but I gather that there are
these edge cases about ratification of other states' marriages all
over the place.
John F. Carr
>Massachusetts has some odd marriage laws, e.g., if your wife dies, you
>can't marry her mother or daughter, even if both parties are otherwise
>free to marry. It also specifically says that if a Mass resident goes
>to another state to marry to avoid the Mass prohibition, the marriage
>is void in Massachusetts. It implcitly says that if you live
>somewhere else and marry your mother in law, then move to Mass, that
>marriage is valid.
Yes, but not if you marry your mother.
Recognition of out of state marriages was defined in the 19th century.
The Supreme Judicial Court said Massachusetts would recognize foreign
marriages between non-residents without regard to Massachusetts law,
unless Massachusetts law explicitly refused recognition or the marriage
would be generally accepted as invalid (like a parent-child marriage).
For the "no going elsewhere to get married" rule they looked at what we
would call domicile today; you can't evade the law by taking a vacation
but if you honestly move away semi-permanently and later return, the
marriage will be recognized.
--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)