One more example:
Not old enough to vote, drink alcohol or smoke a cigarette. But old enough
to get married.
Court: 15-year-old girls can marry
Colorado recognizes common-law marriages
DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- A 15-year-old girl can enter into a common-law
marriage in Colorado, a state appeals court ruled Thursday. Younger girls
and boys may also be able to marry.
While the three-judge panel stopped short of setting a specific minimum age
for such marriages, it said they could be legal for girls at 12 and boys at
14 under English common law, which Colorado recognizes.
The ruling overturned a lower-court judge's decision that a girl, who is
now older than 18, was too young to marry when she was 15. The panel said
there was no clear legislative or statutory guidance on common-law
marriages, and that Colorado courts have not determined an age of consent.
Colorado is one of 10 states, plus the District of Columbia, that recognize
common-law marriage, which is based on English law dating back hundreds of
years.
For traditional ceremonial marriage, Colorado law sets the minimum age at
18, or 16 with parental or judicial approval.
"It appears that Colorado has adopted the common-law age of consent for
marriage as 14 for a male and 12 for a female, which existed under English
common law," the ruling said. "Nevertheless, we need only hold here that a
15-year-old female may enter into a valid common-law marriage."
The appeal was filed by Willis Rouse, 38, who is serving time for escape
and a parole violation. He argued that he and the girl began living
together in April 2002 and applied for a marriage license a year later. The
girl had become legally independent by then, but her mother also consented
to the marriage and accompanied the girl and Rouse to obtain a license, the
ruling said.
A judge invalidated the marriage, saying anybody under age 16 needed
judicial approval for either common-law or ceremonial marriage.
While Thursday's ruling found that the girl was old enough to marry, it did
not conclude whether she and Rouse have a valid marriage. The court sent
the case back to the trial judge to make that determination.
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