Wife Sentence
This may qualify as the most insane item of the day--then again we're writing it before noon, so who knows? It turns out that if gay couples in Wisconsin choose to wed in California they may face criminal penalties when they return to the Badger State.
Wisconsin is a state that imposes criminal penalties on residents if they enter a marriage outside the state that would be prohibited in the state. The law was created to prohibit underage couples from crossing state lines to marry, but it could be interpreted to apply to same-sex marriages, according to Glenn Carlson of Fair Wisconsin, an advocacy group for gays and lesbians. In Wisconsin, the penalty is a fine of up to $10,000, nine months in prison, or both.Don't some people get more lenient sentences for real crimes? Sigh. Oh and the gay rights organizations were all over this one.
"Some people will go, and I think it's great," [Carlson] said. "I haven't heard of anyone who wants to use this as a way to challenge the courts. That message seems to be getting out: Please don't make a federal case of this."
Lambda Legal, a civil rights organization that focuses on gay rights, has issued an advisory called "Make Change, Not Lawsuits." It urges same-sex couples to let the issue work out state by state instead of risking a setback with a lawsuit at the federal level or in their home state.
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