Idaho Law Says You Can Be Sued If You Plan To Marry And Back Out
It's amazing the things you can find on the Internet these days. While researching Idaho laws recently, I came across a state statute that's over 100 years old that is hard to fathom.
I've been married for seven years now. After proposing to my wife in 2013, I never for one moment got cold feet and thought about calling the engagement off. I certainly would have never guessed in a million years that there would be a law on the books anywhere in the world that says a person (man or woman) could be legally punished for deciding they weren't quite ready to walk down the aisle.
Idaho Statute 32-208 does indeed say that if a person makes a pact to marry another and doesn't follow through, then they can be sued. Obviously, if someone were to pursue this type of legal action in Idaho today, it's not likely any judge would side with the plaintiff, and the entire process would be a huge waste of time.
There is actually a case on record in Idaho from 1930 where a woman named Sophia Kralick sued an Idaho Falls man named Fred Shuttleworth over this very action. The June 4, 1930 case date of "Kralick v. Shuttleworth," did indeed go to court. Statute 32-208 is referred to as the "Release From Contract for Unchastity."
I'm not exactly sure how this lawsuit played out, but just the fact a courtroom in Idaho was the actual setting for such a proceeding is both shocking and humorous.