California has officially banned child marriage, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing legislation to end the practice that is still legal in 32 US states.
The new law, which will come into effect on 1 January, states people must be 18 to get married in the Golden State.
Newsom called it a “long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors”. He signed the bill into law with Courtney Stodden, whose parents allowed her to marry a 50-year-old Hollywood actor when she was just 16.
Marriage is a government tax and legal document. It doesn’t give, take, or mandate much else.
It gives predators an exception from statutory rape laws regarding their underage spouses. But I guess that’s mere substance
A comment here https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladviceofftopic/comments/8ouarp/do_statutory_rape_laws_apply_in_the_united_states/
Says that marital rape is illegal everywhere while it does exempt statutory rape in some places. If true:
To have a reasonable discussion about the topic, one must be able to rationally discuss that statutory rape is rape between consenting people where one party is considered unable to consent due to law. Marriage acts as exempting the inability to consent, making it legal.
For that to stand during a marriage, both parties must still consent, else it’s illegal marital rape.
One can argue that someone under 18 should never be able to lawfully consent, but the reality is people under 18 are constantly choosing to have sex, so a non-nuanced ban doesn’t reflect reality.
Hard lines are always nonsense, as 17.99+18 being hard illegal and 18.0+55 being totally fine, is also nonsense. So what is a good solution that protects the people who need to be protected and allows the people who want and should have their freedom? Probably isn’t one.
At what age can someone be considered able to consent “meaningfully”? What happens when someone is manipulated, groomed, or coerced into giving consent to a predatory “partner”? There are xtian cults in the US that teach their members pedophilia is Fine Actually, where the children consent to sex with adults. What does consent mean, there?
It’s easy to talk about choice and freedom, but less easy to discuss what produces a choice and what comprises freedom. Our understanding is imperfect, thus our laws are also imperfect…
Whatever the case, I think the important thing is being able to identify and stop predatory behavior and abuse. That’s something a community is more suited for than a government, unless we accept mass surveillance. Sadly, our communities at large are in a sorry state right now, but that’s a whole discussion in itself.
But Heaven forbid you marry more than one person, because then the government might send you to jail.
It originally started as a religious practice then became codified into law