Michigan's 74-year-old law banning cohabitation -- a remnant of a bygone era on the books in only a handful of states today -- is being challenged by a divorced Ferndale man barred from sleeping under the same roof with his girlfriend when his young daughters visit.We really don't need anymore laws just contracts between people.
Christian Muller, 35, said his girlfriend, Michelle Moon, has to sleep in his van parked in his driveway or spend the night with friends when his daughters, ages 5 and 7, come to visit on alternate weekends.
"Somehow we've been able to keep this from them," said Muller, who divorced in 2003 after seven years of marriage. "The kids wake up in the morning, and I get them their breakfast, and after that I go out and wake up Michelle, and she comes in and nobody says anything. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up."
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday they had appealed on Muller's behalf, asking the Michigan Supreme Court to hear the case and ultimately overturn a lower-court ruling.
If the court rules in favor of Muller, the decision likely would overturn the 1931 law that forbids cohabitation in Michigan -- one of only seven states that have kept such a law on the books, according to the ACLU.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Michigan Dad asks court to let girlfriend sleep over
The Detriot Free Press reports: