Friday, January 6, 2017

Italian Senate seeking to de-criminalize adultery.



With about half of Italian married men, (and a third of the women) admitting to having had extra-marital affairs, it is not surprising that the Italian Senate is considering a bill to outright de-criminalize adultery in the country. 
Supporters of the Bill, such as Senator Laura Cantini, argue that the concept of “fidelity” in marriage is  “outdated and obsolete”.  They therefore want the word to be removed from marriage contracts, just as it is missing from the contracts used by same-sex partners in their gay “marriages.”
The proposal has already been passed to the Senate Judiciary Committee to consideration.
Making a case for the change, Senator Cantini argued that the current marriage contract is “the legacy of an outdated and antiquated vision of marriage, family and the duties.”  Several comments from the public as noted by Christian.org were however critical of the Senator’s argument. On Facebook, Myra Frost wrote: "A marriage is also a commitment... to be faithful for better or worse. If one can't see himself/herself adhering to it, why bother? http://www.christian.org.uk/news/faithfulness-marriage-outdated-claim-italian-lawmakers/
            Meanwhile a judge in Illinois in the US has angrily noted that adultery is still an offense in the state.  Judge Richard Posner made the comment after he and his other two colleagues at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals had reluctantly agreed with a man who sued his wife for wire-tapping his email, that the woman indeed had a case to answer.
Paula Epstein had tapped his husband’s email to gain access to his communication with several mistresses with which he was having adulterous affairs.  After the woman submitted these emails to back her filing for divorce, Epstein came up with the wire-tapping charges, which is a federal offense in the US.  Judge Posner remarked: “Mr. Epstein wanted to conceal his infidelity from his wife primarily it seems because the revelation of it would give her added leverage in a divorce proceeding. I don’t understand why federal, or for that matter state, law should protect an interest so lacking in any social benefit, especially when one considers that adultery remains a crime in 20 of the nation’s 50 states.” Obviously fuming, Judge Posner wrote:“I don’t understand why law should promote dishonesty and deception by protecting an undeserved, a rightly tarnished, reputation.”
Details at http://christiannews.net/2016/12/22/adultery-remains-a-crime-judge-notes-in-case-of-man-who-sued-wife-for-reading-email-from-mistresses/

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