Marriage isn’t a word, it’s a sentence
Judge: Marry her or go to jail
SHOWING up to court on assault charges, and leaving with a fiancee – this is the unusual punishment dished out to a 21-year-old Texas man.
A Smith County judge gave Josten Bundy the choice to marry his girlfriend within 30 days or spend 15 days in prison.
The defendant was arrested after punching his girlfriend’s expartner, and was given the ultimatum by Judge Randall Rogers, reported KLTV.
The marriage would be part of Bundy’s probation, which also included writing Bible verses and getting counselling.
At his sentencing last month, the judge asked Bundy about the fight: ‘‘Is she worth it?’’
Bundy said he responded with: ‘‘To be honest, sir, I was raised with four sisters and if any man was talking to a woman like that, I’d probably do the same thing.’’
So the judge told Bundy he would have to marry her.
His 19-year-old girlfriend Elizabeth Jaynes was at court and was embarrassed when the judge made her stand up. ‘‘My face was so red, people behind me were laughing,’’ said Jaynes.
However, the couple were afraid Bundy would lose his job if he was behind bars so they applied for their marriage licence and scheduled a date.
‘‘It just felt like we weren’t going to be able to have the wedding we wanted,’’ said Jaynes. ‘‘I didn’t even have a white dress.’’
The couple had been together for a year, and had talked about marriage far in the future.
But they were given just 18 days to plan.
The rushed wedding meant important people in the couple’s lives were not in attendance to witness the special day.
The bride’s father was angry at the judge’s ruling.
Bundy and Jaynes plan to have a larger wedding in the future when they have saved enough money.
US lawyer Blake Bailey told KLTV that an order to marry was not legal.
‘‘To say you’re not going to be criminally punished if you get married is way out of left field,’’ he said.
‘‘It sounds like the old days of shotgun weddings, but not even the judge is capable of enforcing what he thinks is best for some people in his court.’’