11.05.2008

Arkansas - Equal Rights for "Idiots" but not for Sinners

AR passed a ballot measure that prevents those living together out of wedlock (in AR law) from adopting or acting as foster parents. It is aimed at gays, but includes heterosexual couples. Here is the text:

Section 1: Adoption and foster care of minors. (a) A minor may not be adopted or
placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a
foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is
valid under the constitution and laws of this state. (b) The prohibition of this
section applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.
So if you are single and have sex with random strangers, you can adopt, but if you live together and choose not to get married, no kids for you. It is not strange for, say, an aunt to take custody of her troubled nieces kids - and auntie may be divorced herself, but living with her boyfriend. Even in my short stint of pro bono family law, I have seen this over and over. Well, not any more in AR.

On the other hand, AR has amended its constituion to remove language in Article 3, Section 5, which says: "No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector."[anyone who can vote in AR is called an "elector"]. Based on the results above, it seems to me these people can already vote.

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