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Court voids one same-sex marriage because one spouse had a civil union with somebody else in Vermont
By adamg on Thu, 07/26/2012 - 11:36am
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that people joined under Vermont's old civil-union law first have to dissolve those bonds before they can marry somebody else in Massachusetts.
The ruling comes in a divorce case in which one of the parties discovered the other was still legally a partner with somebody else in a civil union in Vermont. That state has since ditched civil unions in favor of full marriages, but it did not automatically grant people in civil unions an upgrade to marriage status.
The state's highest court ruled a Vermont civil union was the equivalent of a marriage in Massachusetts and therefore falls under state laws against bigamy and polygamy.
Under Massachusetts law, polygamy is against public policy, and there is no good faith exception. Commonwealth v. Mash, 7 Met. 472 (1844) (ignorance of or honest belief about spouse's death no defense to crime of polygamy). The plaintiff has a spouse in Vermont; therefore, his marriage to the defendant was void ab initio [from the beginning] G.L. c. 207, § 8.
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Comments
So wait , what so bad about
So wait , what so bad about polygamy?? If all parties are consenting and "monogamous" within all parties involved, whats the big deal? Thats multiple streams of income, and child care, it takes a village after all. cant wait for you backwards baby boomers to die off already.
In before mormon this n that hurr durr
In this case, it sure sounds
In this case, it sure sounds like all the parties didn't consent to a V-shaped three-person arrangement.
The part I don't understand is why it matters. The second marriage was already being ended with a divorce. Is there a big legal difference between a divorce and the secular equivalent of an annulment?
my beef is that polygamy
my beef is that polygamy should be legal.....the fact that it even needs "governmental approval" is amusing and sad....diff strokes for diff folks
That's very big of you
So if a group of people come together and form a partnership to share financial burdens and household economies, etc... at what point does that just become sort of a corporate entity of a partnership as opposed to a marriage? The marriage definition has had to get very functional in order to define the various rights and obligations that one has in the eyes of the law when one enters into a marriage (sex of the parties and procreation not considered). In this context if you start throwing more people in the mix it starts to sound a bit like you're forming a legal entity with particular benefits and responsibilities like a corporation or something. In a religious context the same scenario is just your usual patriarchy deal (a bit more familiar). I've never given polygamy this much thought, so I'm sure there's lots I'm missing here.
I can't think of any cultures that have had polygamy in a mixed gender scenario -- couple of husbands a few wives... that just sounds like a hot mess....in more ways than one.
Robert Heinlein, when he got old....
> I can't think of any cultures that have had polygamy in a mixed gender scenario
... seems to have been intrigued by this idea (e.g. Stranger in a Strange Land, Moon Is a Harsh Mistress). Not a real world culture, of course.
The main problem with polygamy
Underage brides.
If the state's interest ended with "are the participants old enough to agree" and "does everybody involved agree", I doubt it would be an issue. Rare people would enter into such domestic incorporations, but most would avoid it because the entanglements would have the force of law.
From a cultural perspective...
I think the bigger problem is unmarried males. If a single male takes 3-5 wives, what about the 2-4 other males who are left out? It theoretically ends up like the nature documentaries where the younger males maneuver to overthrow the dominant male and take over the "harem".
What will we see in a generation in China with a current ratio of 120 boys to every 100 girls? Female dominated polygamy?
polyandry
It's been a while since my cultural anthro days, but I recall there being a few examples of polyandry, but far more polygynous examples (like Mormons, and a whole host of Biblical examples). I think it was more common that a woman ends up boinking a few brothers -- so she's got multiple hubbies, but it's not like they're her "male harem."
Again, I'm just impressed that the brain cells that recorded the term "polyandry" still exist. Just wait, those brain cells will remain but the ones that maintain bladder control or remind me where I put my keys will be jettisoned to the Lagavulin.