UnMarried Parents Beware

Town won't let unmarried parents live together

Wednesday, May 17, 2006; Posted: 11:41 a.m. EDT (15:41 GMT)


BLACK JACK, Missouri (AP) -- The City Council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.

Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.

The town's Planning and Zoning Commission proposed a change in the law, but the measure was rejected Tuesday by the City Council in a 5-3 vote.

"I'm just shocked," Shelltrack said. "I really thought this would all be over, and we could go on with our lives."

The current ordinance prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related by "blood, marriage or adoption." The defeated measure would have changed the definition of a family to include unmarried couples with two or more children.

Mayor Norman McCourt declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that those who do not meet the town's definition of family could soon face eviction.

Black Jack's special counsel, Sheldon Stock, declined to say whether the city will seek to remove Loving and Shelltrack from their home.

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I'm honestly at a loss for words at the absurdity.

 

wow...is that legal?

 

Wow...that's just wrong.

 

Uh ... WTF


That is utterly nosensical, what possible decent justification can there be for such a thing?

 

that can't be legal...

 

lol... thats soooo awesome. Some people, man... good to know puritan morals and ideals are still alive and strong in East-Bumsville, USA! That shouldn't be legal... how is that legal?

 

what!? that poor family, the mind boggles...

what about roommates? or single mama's that co-house together so that they can afford to make the rent?

that's just totally insane.

 

oops

 

Blood, marriage, or adoption.....Only in the south. Hello wake up it is 2006....Times have changed. Thank god for New England!

I am also in that category. I have twin girls and an outstanding boyfiend who supports us all so great. We love each other, we provide, we have a nice life and raise the kids the way kids should be raised. We would love to get married....Time and money is an issue, more so time. Not everyone has it. Give people a break. Then who's gonna bitch when the divorce rates go soaring. I think that is totally unfair, and this country needs more standards in that department. Not to mention tearing parents apart who are actually" trying not " to have a broken home for their kids...what a shame.

 

That is so messed up. So, if they have just one kid, it's okay, but more than one isn't?!?!

 

Another example of idiotic laws put there for no real reason. Who exactly is this law protecting? No one. It's a waste of time. Go chase after some real criminals, will ya?

 

hey now! That's not fair, and Missouri is not exactly what people think of when they say "Down South" is it? It could have been Iowa or Idaho, or Kansas, or anywhere else with a predominantly fundamentalist Christian population. Get over your prejudice of all things Southern, and take a look at why you believe that stereotype.


Back on topic, I don't see how such a law can possibly be enforced. But if I lived there, I'd be moving away somehow, if it meant packing all my belongings in a backpack and walking out!

 

geez, thats just plain confusing! Why on earth can you have one child out of wedlock and live together but not more??? And why if the father and mother are around and loving and not living in an abusive relationship is this a problem? Is there some weird cult or some horrible abuse case that has made people react like this?

They will miss out on some seriously good people living in and contributing to their community if they persue something like this.

 

Elaborate please...

 

uh, yeah....some people have too much time on their hands.
i'm not even gunna bother ranting about this one.....everyone said everything that I was thinking....except coming_soon.....

 

its a ordinance adressing the hispanics,(there all over), apparently the family in the article must be quite the couple..

 

This used to be law all over the place. The Conservatives are gaining more and more power again, and the idea that a town would try to legislate "morality" like that is sickening.

In the recent past, in many places it was against the law to live together, a man and womyn, if you were not married. The pigs...er, police....would use this even a few years ago, to search people's houses for "contraband" despite just cause, as the couple was "breaking the law."

In many states, until recently, certain sex acts, between consenting adults were illegal. It was illegal to have oral sex in Michigan. We vacation in Michigan a lot. Bear and I made sure to break the law as frequently as possbile.

 

Wait a minute...if they have kids, aren't the kids related by blood? Making it only two unrelated people? Even if the kids (or one of the kids) are biologically linked to only one parent, wouldn't that still count as only the odd-parent being unrelated? i don't get the math, lol.

But, this is missouri, so i totally believe it. As far as i know, oral sex is still technically illegal here, as well as any "other" sex that isn't "normal." Like, how (or why) do they think they'll enforce that anyway? "Just in case" it ever comes up? Like, charging someone with three counts of murder AND oral sex with his wife for over 19 years *gasp* Yeah, whatever.

 

this was even picked up by the local press here......hope it wasn't a vote of support for such a move!!

 

It's the Jimmy Swaggart attitude on life. I slept with underaged hookers and I'm going to heaven. You looked at another man\woman's butt, so you're going to hell. Everyone is bad but me. We're all guilty of that to some extent, but that's not a good way to run a government, local or national.