Living in sin: Unmarried Fla couples can face jail for cohabitating; & hundreds have been charged

[DonViejo]

Living in sin: Unmarried Florida couples can face jail for cohabitating — and hundreds have been charged

Florida lawmakers have proposed legislation that would finally make it legal for unmarried couples to live together.

Under current Florida law, it is punishable by a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail for an unmarried man and woman to live together.

“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,” the law states.

Two Democrats, State Sen. Eleanor Sobel and state Rep. Rehwinkel Vasilinda, have filed legislation to repeal the law, which has been on the books since 1868.

Lawmakers have proposed legislation to repeal the law before, but previous efforts failed.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/living-in-sin-unmarried-florida-couples-can-face-jail-for-cohabitating-and-hundreds-have-been-charged/

[KamaAina]

1. Dear FSM, they'd have to turn half the state into a private prison!

And I'll hazard a guess that few if any of the hundreds who have been charged are white.

[In_The_Wind]

2. IMO: The manner in which Florida decides what's right or wrong defies logic.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. Here are some more dubious Florida laws

http://www.dumblaws.com/laws/united-states/florida

[In_The_Wind]

10. Did they really need to go there:

It is illegal to sell your children.

Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

[img][/img] Please note: smilies are solely the opinion of this DUer.

[Ilsa]

13. " You may not kiss your wife's breasts."

WTF? Are they afraid it would lead to sex between married people? I guess suckling is okay?

[awoke_in_2003]

18. Notice they didn't say anything about...

kissing other women's breasts

[lastlib]

21. I've heard that Floridians can't have sex standing up--

somebody might think they're dancing.......

[Earth_First]

3. 700 charged between '06 and '11...

What year is it?!

[VanillaRhapsody]

4. In Georgia a married couple can go to jail for oral sex...

one couple did...

[sheshe2]

6. I think it's well past time...

for the government to get the hell out of our bedrooms and out of women's vaginas. They are the ugliest of voyeurs. GHC!

[quaker bill]

8. in Florida too.

[hifiguy]

17. The SCOTUS killed off all the "sodomy" laws

with regard to consenting adults some years back. See Lawrence v. Texas 539 U.S. 558
123 S. Ct. 2472; 156 L. Ed. 2d 508; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 5013; see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas

Even if still on the books, it is almost certainly unconstitutional under the ruling of Lawrence.

[VanillaRhapsody]

22. Good...but many do still have them on the books....

[cui bono]

7. Jesus. I could see an antiquated law being left on the books, but they're actually prosecuting that?

[former9thward]

14. No.

If anyone had been prosecuted the story would have said that. It does say that 700 were "charged" with that but that is coming from some tv station and it does not say who said that or where that number came from. It is either poor reporting or a bs story or both.

[Mariana]

16. That's why they shouldn't be left on the books.

You never know when some asshole will come along and start prosecuting people for breaking these laws.

[B Calm]

9. That will destroy right wing retirement communities.

[appalachiablue]

11. So it's for the revenue, $500 per person I guess-

[LiberalElite]

12. Of course Baxley's a Repug - The other one Takahashi is only part time resident (and a nosybody IMO)

what was that about getting government out of people's lives?

[davidn3600]

15. Where's the Tea Party on this?

I thought they support freedom and getting the government out of our lives?

[jeff47]

19. It's not guns, taxes or regulation on business, so they wouldn't be upset.

Apparently it's only big government if its taxes or business regulations or gun regulations. Anything else is just fine to them.

[ND-Dem]

20. It's illegal to cohabit, or just if you do it 'lewdly and lasciviously"?

[csziggy]

23. The second state Representative's full name is Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda

I'm not sure why they truncated her name unless the writer of the article thought her first name was Rehwinkel.

[pipi_k]

24. Hah!

I'm just imagining my almost 81 year old mom and her man friend, who live together, being charged with lewd and lascivious behavior

No doubt they would feel flattered...