Summary: A decades-old law prohibiting unmarried couples from living together has finally been repealed in Florida.
Florida may be a little behind the times, but they have finally made it official for unmarried couple to live together legally. Governor Rick Scott repealed the 148-year-old law making it illegal for unwed couples to live together.
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When the law was created back in 1868, violators faced a second-degree misdemeanor charge with a possible 60 day jail stint or $500 fine. The law was made to target those “engaging in open behavior that is gross lewdness and lascivious.” Three years after the law was created, violators could be sentenced to two years in prison and a $300 fine.
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The law has not been enforced in current times but Scott decided it was time to get rid of it anyways. The 2014 census reports that there are around half a million unmarried male and female couples living together. The wording of the law protected same-sex couples from being included, “If any man and woman, not being married to each other, lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together…they shall be guilty of a second degree misdemeanor.”
Rep. Richard Stark co-sponsored the repeal. He said, “I represent communities of seniors, where a lot of them are technically not married. They are living together, but it makes more sense financially or for whatever reason like Social Security to not be married. I don’t think that they want to be considered to be violating the law.”
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Michigan and Mississippi are the last two states with cohabitation laws still in place.
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/florida-unmarried-couples-live-together-444948
Photo: bbc.com