Marry your girlfriend or go to jail.

[s_stabeler]

Boo friggin' hoo.

normally I'd agree with you- however, the judge is FORCING them to get married, meaning they can't have the wedding they wanted. If it was a case that the wedding they wanted was ridiculously expensive, I'd agree.(oh, and I mean ridiculously expensive for a wedding)

To be honest, however, the main problem is that a judge can apparently force somebody to get married. Regardless of if they wanted to get married or not. Or, put it this way: EVEN IF they were going to get married within the time limit ANYWAY, so that they didn't actually have to do anything different, it would be unfair.

Not to mention, I thought marriages under duress ( which this IS) are invalid anyway?

[Shangri-laschild]

Boo friggin' hoo.

The wedding they wanted included having family members there. I believe 2 of the groom's family members weren't able to attend due to the short notice and one of those was his father. They hadn't saved up for costs because they had been planning this as an in the future thing, not in the next 30 days. Considering they shouldn't have been legally forced into marriage, they have every right to be unhappy about not being able to have their wedding in their control.

[Andara Bledin]

Not to mention, I thought marriages under duress ( which this IS) are invalid anyway?

This. So much this.

Their marriage, even if they wanted to be married eventually, is not valid because it was committed to under duress.

The judge is an asshole and a moron who doesn't deserve the responsibility of deciding matters of law he obviously doesn't actually understand.

[Gravekeeper]

Not to mention, I thought marriages under duress ( which this IS) are invalid anyway?

This is hilariously unconstitutional, yes.

[dendawg]

I'd get married, then file for an annulment the next day just to spite the judge. There ain't a damn thing he could do about it either, because technically, I followed his order. AFAIK he didn't specify how long to be married for.

[wolfie]

It's guys like this who would make Roy Bean (Old West judge billed as "The Law West of the Pecos", once fined a corpse for carrying a concealed weapon) ashamed to be a Texas Judge.

[mjr]

normally I'd agree with you- however, the judge is FORCING them to get married, meaning they can't have the wedding they wanted. If it was a case that the wedding they wanted was ridiculously expensive, I'd agree.(oh, and I mean ridiculously expensive for a wedding)

To be honest, however, the main problem is that a judge can apparently force somebody to get married. Regardless of if they wanted to get married or not. Or, put it this way: EVEN IF they were going to get married within the time limit ANYWAY, so that they didn't actually have to do anything different, it would be unfair.

Not to mention, I thought marriages under duress ( which this IS) are invalid anyway?

Judges have "forced" men to get vasectomies before, too. "Vasectomy or Jail". Guess what they chose...

http://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy...rs_father_of_7

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/28/...p-having-kids/

http://www.care2.com/causes/man-orde...plea-deal.html

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/05/1...going-to-jail/

http://www.medicaldaily.com/get-vase...ooses-scissors

[mjr]

The wedding they wanted included having family members there. I believe 2 of the groom's family members weren't able to attend due to the short notice and one of those was his father. They hadn't saved up for costs because they had been planning this as an in the future thing, not in the next 30 days. Considering they shouldn't have been legally forced into marriage, they have every right to be unhappy about not being able to have their wedding in their control.

"You can't always get what you want." -- Mick Jagger.

Sure, they can be unhappy about it. But it's not like they're the only ones ever who couldn't get the wedding they wanted. Where do you think the term "shotgun wedding" comes from, anyway?

[Andrew B]

Bump, because this turned up on WTFIWWY.

[s_stabeler]

"You can't always get what you want." -- Mick Jagger.

Sure, they can be unhappy about it. But it's not like they're the only ones ever who couldn't get the wedding they wanted. Where do you think the term "shotgun wedding" comes from, anyway?

a) shotgun weddings are equally unfair.
b) the ISSUE is that the judge had NO AUTHORITY to order them to get married. I happen to agree that them not getting the wedding they really wanted is a minor issue- HOWEVER, that does NOT justify what the judge did.
c) their ideal wedding was apparently one with their family there- which, considering that everyone's schedules did in fact apparently allow for that originally, is NOT an unreasonable desire.
d) those vasectomy mandates are ALSO legally dubious- though at least those are mainly in plea deals. ( in plea deals, theoretically anything goes)

[the_std]

"You can't always get what you want." -- Mick Jagger.

Sure, they can be unhappy about it. But it's not like they're the only ones ever who couldn't get the wedding they wanted. Where do you think the term "shotgun wedding" comes from, anyway?

This smacks of trolling. How can you be so insensitive to the fact that they were compelled to get married by someone in a position of legal authority? You're acting like they're kicking up a fuss over the colour of table linens!

[Rageaholic]

Bump, because this turned up on WTFIWWY.

The TGWTG one? Cool!

MJR: I don't know what point these other stories of power tripping judges proves (other than that there's a lot of power tripping judges).

And since I know it's going to come up, yes, technically, the judge gave them a choice. They didn't have to get married and he could have just gone to jail. BUT

1. This was likely his first offense. As a misdemeanor, the normal probation terms would have done just fine.

2. The girlfriend didn't do anything wrong. Yet she was put in this awkward position where she had to agree to marry him or let him go to jail. (had she said no, it could have been taken as if she didn't really love him). She's just as affected by this as he is.

[mjr]

How can you be so insensitive to the fact that they were compelled to get married by someone in a position of legal authority?

Because I can. That's why. I can be insensitive about whatever the Hell I want to be insensitive about. I'm not going to be candy-assed about it.

Why not have their attorney file an immediate appeal?

I assume at some point they were going to get married anyway.

The guy STILL had the option to take the jail time. His attorney/girlfriend/dad could have called his workplace.

[mjr]

c) their ideal wedding was apparently one with their family there- which, considering that everyone's schedules did in fact apparently allow for that originally, is NOT an unreasonable desire.

And? Lots of people have "reasonable desires" that go unfulfilled on a daily basis.

d) those vasectomy mandates are ALSO legally dubious- though at least those are mainly in plea deals. ( in plea deals, theoretically anything goes)

Legally dubious, but so far they've handled the legal scrutiny.

[Rageaholic]

And? Lots of people have "reasonable desires" that go unfulfilled on a daily basis.

And those are usually for reasons outside of anyone's control. In this case, it was the judge's ruling that fucked everything up.