Michigan Senate Seeks to Repeal Adultery as Felony

State Senator Ron Jelinek (R - Berrien County) has introduced a bill in Lansing to repeal adultery as a crime. The bill, which has a companion in the Michigan House, has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill, expected to be presented for the Governor's signature sometime during this legislative session, could become law in 2009.The Michigan Penal Code has long-contained a chapter on adultery, defined as, "the sexual intercourse of 2 persons, either of whom is married to a third person." The scope of the criminal conduct includes divorced but cohabiting persons. The statute requires the cuckolded spouse to swear-in as the complaining witness and has a brief statute of limitation; one year.The adultery statute was codified into the penal code back in 1931. The caselaw...

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Posted in: adultery,Michigan Compiled Laws,Michigan Penal Code,Ron Jelinek

Same Sex Union Gains Ground in Midwest

In a highly controversial ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court, same sex couples received a green-light for marriage when a state law banning such marriages was determined unconstitutional. In a 63 page decision (the first 6-pages of which listed a series of opposing amicus groups that had legal representation in the briefing of the case), the Iowa Supreme Court held that the state law banning gay marriage violated the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution by treating same-sex couples differently than other couples without a sufficient government interest justifying the classification.The full decision of the Iowa Supreme Court is attached in the link below:http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/us/20090403iowa-text.pdfThe case moved the battle over same sex marriage from the...

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Court of Appeals Decides Another Relocation Case

One of the most significant (and often painful) events in divorce proceedings is when a parent seeks a change of domicile; a relocation of the children beyond the 100-miles allowed by the Legislature in the Child Custody Act. These motions often result in hearings that can be more traumatic to the parties and children than a full-blown divorce trial.The losing parent often appeals the result thus, the Michigan Court of Appeals issues a steady diet of relocation decisions. The most recent is the case of Skeins -v- Mead and can be read in its entirety by clicking on the following link:a href="http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/OPINIONS/FINAL/COA/20090317_C287426_49_287426.OPN.PDF">http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/OPINIONS/FINAL/COA/20090317_C287426_49_287426.OPN.PDFIn that case, the parents...

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