Jill Zeman reports: "Lawyers for gay couples told the Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday that a policy banning homosexuals from becoming foster parents is unconstitutional, but the state argued that it protects children's moral and spiritual welfare.
"Because the state has banned gay marriage, and its Child Welfare Agency Review Board bars unmarried couples who live together from becoming foster parents, gay couples cannot have foster children, said Kathy L. Hall, attorney for the Department of Health and Human Services.
"The state is appealing a 2004 lower court decision that found the welfare board's 1999 ban to be unconstitutional.
"The state's utmost concern is the health, safety and welfare of foster children, 'and that can't happen in a home where unmarried sex occurs,' Hall said."
[Let's leave aside for a moment the fact that the state has as much interest in the 'spiritual welfare' of children as it does the 'esp welfare' of children, and examine how another state solves the problem of children having sex...]
CNN reports: "A 15-year-old girl can enter into a common-law marriage in Colorado, a state appeals court ruled Thursday. Younger girls and boys may also be able to marry.
"While the three-judge panel stopped short of setting a specific minimum age for such marriages, it said they could be legal for girls at 12 and boys at 14 under English common law, which Colorado recognizes. "
[If I wrote the laws, I'd say (1) allow people to marry at the same age as they can enter legally binding contracts as adults (2) make marriage a gender-neutral legal contract between two people (3) let religions do whatever they want to make it a sky-monster-approved "real" marriage after the couple visits the courthouse for the gender-neutral legal contract. Everybody wins, except bigots and child molesters. What would you do if you wrote the laws?]
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