Does the government have any right to tell people who they can and can't marry?

Question

some guy deleted his answer, i wonder why that is. :o

Answer 1

No, they do not, so long as they are between 2 adults.

Answer 2

No. But they still don't pay attention to that; it's the government. With evangelicals on the rise in politics (again) who the h**l do you think the "great silent majority" lovers are going to side with?

Answer 3

Yes, within limits... the government can tell you you cannot marry members of the same s*x, different species, partners who are too young, or too closely related etc. there even used to be laws forbidding interracial marriage.

Until the laws which bind them(government enforcers) are changed

Answer 4

A legal marriage is a contract recognized by the government that provides specific benefits to the parties involved, so the government (your fellow citizens) does have a say in what it recognizes. For example, you cannot marry someone who is under a certain age. You cannot marry more than one person, and you can't marry your sister or brother.

Obviously the government has a right, even an obligation, to set limits on what it will recognize as a legal marriage. The question is not whether it should set limits, but what those limits should be.

Answer 5

First the government has NO rights what so ever...they only have limited authority that is granted them by the different laws, statutes and constitutions.

Second...the government has the authority to regulate marriage, marriage is a civil ceremony and as such, is regulated the government.

Third, they already have several limitations on marriage, by not allowing people within certain degrees of sanguinuity (kinship) to marry

Fourth, they used to have the authority to limit inter racial marriage, but that was taken away by a Supreme Court decision in the 1960's

Finally, the only way to allow the government expanded authority to limit marriage is to amend either the state or federal Constitution

Answer 6

yes, to a reasonable extent.  for instance, a child, a mentally incompetent person unable to give consent, an animal, more than one spouse.