TRENTON — A bill to repeal obsolete statutes that some senators say degrade women overwhelmingly passed the Senate today. The bill (S2665) would repeal a 100-year-old state law that would allow officials to waive a waiting period for marriage licenses if the groom-to-be has been "bastardy, rape, fornication or of having had carnal knowledge of an unmarried female, and the...
TRENTON — A bill to repeal obsolete statutes that some senators say degrade women overwhelmingly passed the Senate today.
The bill (S2665) would repeal a 100-year-old state law that would allow officials to waive a waiting period for marriage licenses if the groom-to-be has been "bastardy, rape, fornication or of having had carnal knowledge of an unmarried female, and the accused person consents to marry such female."
It would also do away with a law that says a woman forfeits her property rights to her husband if she's been "ravished, consent to the ravisher" -- unless the husband forgives her and allows her to live with him. The Married Women’s Property Acts, a well-meaning law from the late 19th century that gave married women legal and property rights they had previously been denied, would be repealed because they are now obsolete.
The bill passed 37-0.
Previous coverage:
• Archaic, sexist laws need to be updated to reflect the times