RI General Law 15-3-9 allows someone to object to a wedding in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. This outdated, ridiculous and absurd Rhode Island Law has not been repealed yet! This RI divorce post was authored by an experienced Rhode Island divorce attorney.
Objecting at a wedding! How could this play out?
If someone submits an objection at a Rhode Island wedding:
- Must the wedding be stopped until the lawful objection has been removed?
- What is a Lawful Objection?
- How does the objection become removed?
Can someone ruin a wedding based on this wacky RI Law?
Who determines whether the objection should be removed? Who determines whether the objection will be removed? This could lead to the theater of the absurd. Nonetheless, R.I.G.L 15-3-9 is still the LAW in Rhode Island.
Objections should Only s be used to challenge Capacity to Marry
This objection is only supposed to be utilized by someone asserting that the parties lack the capacity to marry. The statute specifically states that the objection must be in written form. However, it is a free country so there is nothing stopping someone from verbally asserting an objection in addition to a written objection. This objection should not be utilized to object to the suitability or appearance of the bride or groom. In other words, objecting to a wedding should not be utilized by an ex paramour to ruin, impede or obstruct a wedding!
The statute also states that the wedding officiant “shall proceed no further until the lawful objection has been removed.” This begs the question, how is the objection removed and what level of proof must be set forth to remove the objection. Must there be a hearing, of some sort, to remove the objection. Does the hearing occur in Court or at the actual wedding or does the priest hold an evidentiary hearing? What happens if the only way to remove the objection is documentation that the bride and groom cannot access until the day after the wedding? What happens when someone punches the objector and the police arrive? What happens if an objection is false or in bad faith? Does wedding insurance cover this? What a mess!
Perhaps it’s time to shred this law:
- 15-3-9 Statement of objections to marriage. – If any person has any lawful objection to the marriage of any two (2) persons, he or she may state the objection in writing, under his or her hand, to the minister, elder, justice, or warden about to solemnize the marriage, at which time the minister, elder, justice, or warden shall proceed no further in the marriage until the lawful objection has been removed.
Objecting to a wedding:
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- guy ruins wedding by yelling i object
15-3-5. Officials empowered to join persons in marriage.
“Every ordained clergy or elder in good standing; every justice of the supreme court, superior court, family court, workers’ compensation court, district court or traffic tribunal; the clerk of the supreme court; every clerk, administrative clerk, or general chief clerk of a superior court, family court, district court, or traffic tribunal; magistrates, special or general magistrates of the superior court, family court, traffic tribunal or district court; administrative clerks of the district court; administrators of the workers’ compensation court; every former justice or judge and former administrator of these courts; every former chief clerk of the district court; every former clerk, administrative clerk, or general chief clerk of a superior court; the secretary of the senate; elected clerks of the general assembly; any former secretary of the senate; any former elected clerk of the general assembly who retires after July 1, 2007; judges of the United States appointed pursuant to Article III of the United States Constitution; bankruptcy judges appointed pursuant to Article I of the United States Constitution; and United States magistrate judges appointed pursuant to federal law, may join persons in marriage in any city or town in this state; and every justice and every former justice of the municipal courts of the cities and towns in this state and of the police court of the town of Johnston and the administrator of the Johnston municipal court, while he or she is serving as an administrator, and every probate judge and every former probate judge may join persons in marriage in any city or town in this state, and wardens of the town of New Shoreham may join persons in marriage in New Shoreham.”
Citations:
“Except for melodramatic movie weddings, the minister’s instruction that “if anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace” almost always gets omitted from ceremonies these days. All three wedding officiants contacted for this article said they never utter the line. “It has become obsolete,” said Paula Posman, a New York City-based officiant who runs the wedding services company A New York Way to Say I Do. http://www.livescience.com/22193-wedding-marriage-objection.html
“My mother objected, wailing, ‘You’re too young to get married!’ What she was really objecting to was the groom. Most of the guests thought she was being a typical Irish mother — at 32, I was still too young to wed. The truth was my parents were unhappy that my husband was divorced and less educated than me — despite his superior intelligence. Not only did she object, she wore black and was escorted by my ex-fiancé — the man she wished I’d marry! Even after 38 years of a happy marriage my husband can do a perfect imitation of my mother’s wedding outburst — which always makes me feel, at once, embarrassed, angry and sad.” —Kathy” http://www.brides.com/blogs/aisle-say/2015/09/real-brides-share-wedding-ceremony-objections.html
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