Underage marriage ban clears Delaware General Assembly

The News Journal

A bill to outlaw marriage for anyone younger than 18 is dividing the Delaware General Assembly as lawmakers worry the push to prevent forced weddings could impact young couples marrying for what they say responsible reasons.

Delaware soon will become the first state in the nation to completely outlaw marriage for anyone younger than 18.

The state Senate voted unanimously Thursday to approve a controversial bill that would make it illegal for minors to wed, regardless of whether their parents approve of the union.

After the vote, a spokesman for Gov. John Carney said the governor plans to sign the legislation following a review by his legal team.

"I'm just amazed thinking about the children's lives that could be changed because of what happened here today," said Rep. Kim Williams, D-Newport. "My hope now is that other states will join us and end these loopholes that allow child marriage."

The vote also provided a major victory to Unchained at Last, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that has been fighting for years to change the decades-old marriage laws imposed by individual states across the country.

Several states have agreed to amend their laws but none have implemented a full ban.

A bill similar to Delaware's passed the New Jersey Legislature last year but then-Gov. Chris Christie refused to sign the measure, citing religious customs.

"Our hope all along has been that some state would step up and do the right thing," said Unchained founder Fraidy Reiss. "Delaware is that state and now we can show others that this is possible. The young women we work with all over the country now can see that this will end."

The legislation passed by the Senate on Thursday is largely aimed at preventing parents from forcing their underage children into marriage.

The most common reasons that parents insist their children get married involve pregnancy, an attempt to convert a minor who is LGBTQ or an effort to help an immigrant obtain a green card, according to Unchained.

Those marriages result in much higher rates of abuse and poverty, while underage spouses are far less likely to earn a high school diploma or college degree, they say.

Minors who marry also have almost no legal protections under the law. Underage brides, for instance, can not be admitted to domestic violence shelters in Delaware and would be too young to hire a lawyer to file for divorce.

At least 220 minors have been married in Delaware since 2000, according to data from various state agencies. The vast majority are girls, some as young as 14.

More than 90 percent of the child brides and grooms in Delaware were wed to someone older than 18. Roughly 40 percent were married to someone older than 21, although generally within five years of the minor.

Yet the rate of underage marriages in Delaware fell dramatically to fewer than six per year after 2007 when the Legislature passed new rules requiring a Family Court judge to sign off on such arrangements, along with a parent or guardian.

Family Court judges now hold a private hearing with both of the prospective spouses and the parent or guardian of each child involved. Judges are required to consider the wishes of the minors, their mental and physical health and the criminal history of those involved among other factors.

Williams and Unchained say they have no proof that any of those marriages were forced. But the advocacy group says its work in other states suggests that at least some of those weddings were coerced.

Not everyone was convinced.

The proposed ban faced stiff opposition last month from Republicans in the House who raised concerns that the legislation could have impacts beyond the forced marriages Williams is seeking to prevent.

Democrats rebuffed their efforts to postpone a vote and add an amendment that would allow underage marriages so long as the prospective spouses are close in age to each other.

"No one is in favor of a 45-year-old marrying a 14-year-old and if the intent of the bill is to keep that from happening, I think we all agree that's something we should keep from happening," state Rep. Mike Ramone, R-Pike Creek Valley, said last week.

"But we all know people who got married in their teens are still happily together today," he said. "Our concern is the unintended consequences that this bill could have on those families."

Several Republican state senators raised similar concerns Thursday.

"We as lawmakers have always said the family is sacrosanct," said state Sen. Colin Bonini. "So if a family is following a certain faith and they want to marry off their son or daughter at 17 and have been for generations, why is it our job in government to tell them they can't?"

Supporters, however, countered that the same law that allows underage marriage in Delaware also can be used to avoid the state's statutory rape laws.

Under state law, teens between 16 and 18 are barred from having sex with anyone older than 29 — but that rule does not apply if the couple is married.

State Sen. Anthony Delcollo, a Republican from Elsmere who signed on as a chief sponsor, called that loophole "an inexcusable monstrosity."

"The fact that this can be used to mask something we otherwise would consider to be rape means there can be no other position for me," he said. "We must stand up and draw a clear, red line."

Other legislators struggled with how to vote, noting that their own parents had married as teenagers.

"Next month, my parents will celebrate their 65th anniversary and would not have been able to marry under this [bill]," said Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark. "But times have changed and these are troubling things we have heard today."

Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, said he was particularly concerned about how underage marriage might be tied to human trafficking, which he called "the modern day equivalent to slavery."

"It's not something we had to think about until recently but it's a reality we have to think about now," he said. "If we can save one young lady, I think it will be worth it."

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.