Alabama, the state that has long been the butt of stereotypical redneck jokes can now relax a little. Georgia is contesting the field.
A story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week highlights the conflicting laws that can result from a Georgia legislature often bent more on meeting a forty-day conclusion of business by midnight than with studying legislation.
Here is how the story goes, according to the AJC. Lisa L. Clark, 37, began having an affair with the 15-year-old buddy of her son. The boy's grandmother, who he lived with in her trailer, allowed the boy to go places with Clark and her son because they could give him things the grandmother could not afford to give him. (I should say not!)
When the grandmother learned that her grandson had gotten Clark pregnant, she called the sheriff to complain. Before an arrest warrant could be served on Clark for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Clark and the unidentified teen snuck off to neighboring Dawson County, obtained a marriage license, found a retired magistrate, and tied the knot.
Why did the Dawson probate court and the magistrate perform this evil deed? A juvenile cannot get married without parental consent. That's Georgia law.
HOWEVER...and this is a big HOWEVER...the Dawson officials say they had no choice. If the bride to be is pregnant, Georgia law permits the under-age marriage without parental consent. And Clark was visibly pregnant.
Love conquers all, especially in Georgia.
After the marriage, the couple returned to Hall County. The pregnant bride was promptly arrested and jailed for child molestation. The groom is now in juvenile detention on an unrelated matter.
What a way to spend a honeymoon.
Meanwhile, the reporters, TV cameras, and other vultures of their ilk, hover around the jailhouse in Gainesville, waiting to pounce on the carcass when it emerges.
With that kind of publicity, all that's left to say is, "Move over, Alabama. Here comes Georgia!"