CHEATING ON YOUR SPOUSE IS STILL A MISDEMEANOR IN ARIZONA: Phoenix New Times

blogs:

​If your marriage includes some (ahem) extracurricular activities with someone who isn't your spouse, you're not just a cheater -- according to Arizona law -- you're also a criminal.

That's right, cheating on your spouse is a misdemeanor in Arizona -- and a Glendale man actually used the statute as grounds to call the cops on his straying wife.

Turns out, even if you're single you can be prosecuted under Arizona law. ...

The officer who finally took Banks' police report told him it was unlikely the Maricopa County Attorney's Office would prosecute the case. He also told Banks "It's about time she got on with her life and you get on with yours."

more

Labels: adultery, Arizona, culture, law, Marriage

posted by Eve at 10:28 PM VOTE

Brewer Signs Arizona Bill on Adoption Preference: The Arizona Republic

reports:

Married couples will have preference when it comes to adopting children under a new measure signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday.

Senate Bill 1188, which was sponsored by Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, would require an adoption agency to give primary consideration to adoptive placement with a married man and woman, with all other criteria being equal.

The bill applies to both state and private adoption agencies. Previously, only Utah has a law requiring priority for married couples, though several other states have bans on adoptions by same-sex couples or by unmarried couples.

Conservative groups and other supporters of the measure said children should have every opportunity to grow up in a household with a mom and dad. But critics said the bill will discourage singles from considering adoption in Arizona. About one-third of the foster children in Arizona are adopted by an unmarried person.

more

more on what the statute does:

Senate Bill 1188, sponsored by Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, would require an adoption agency to "give primary consideration to adoptive placement with a married man and woman." It permits the agency to consider a single person if, among other things, the child's best interests require the adoption by a single person or if a married couple is not available and the alternative is extended foster care.

link

(you can read the statute here in PDF, and IMAPP's suggested wording of a marriage-preference statute here in PDF)

Labels: adoption, Arizona, Marriage

posted by Imapp Staff at 3:47 PM VOTE

Ariz. Bill Gives Married Couples Adoption Preference: East Valley Tribune

reports:

Saying children do better in a home with a mother and a father, the state House voted Monday to give married couples preference when placing children for adoption.

HB2148 would overrule the existing practice of the Department of Economic Security that makes the "best interests of the child" the primary factor when considering placing a child for adoption. Instead it would require DES - or any agency that contracts with the state - to give "primary consideration to placement with a married couple."

DES could consider a single person "only if a qualified married couple is not available."

The measure is being pushed by Rep. Warde Nichols, R-Gilbert. He said married couples should be "moved to the head of the line" for adoption if they've gone through the certification process.

And Nichols, himself adopted, said his legislation is in line with what the law already requires. ...

Nichols said he agrees [that the best interests of the child sometimes favors a single person over a married couple]. And he said his legislation accounts for that.

For example, DES can favor a single person who is a relative of the child. A placement can also go to a single parent if the alternative is extended foster care.

It also permits DES to put a single person ahead of a married couple if a "meaningful and healthy relationship" already has been established between the prospective parent and the child.

And it allows placement with a single parent if that is "in the child's best interests."

more

Labels: adoption, Arizona, Marriage, single parenting

posted by Imapp Staff at 5:13 PM VOTE