Grundy County, Iowa-
A Deputy County Clerk of Court has been charged with two counts of felony forgery and one count of felony perjury in a gay marriage scam.
Iowa is one of eight states that allow same sex marriages. Investigators say the Brigitte Van Nice, 42, used her position to file false documents to marry a gay Florida couple, even though the two men never visited the state. Investigators discovered the false documents after one of the men contacted an attorney about getting a divorce.
In February, Van Nice filed a falsified marriage license stating that she officiated the couples marriage and that two women had witnessed the marriage. Van Nice, who is ordained to perform marriages, claims that she met the two men at a truck stop and arranged for their marriage the next day. Investigators learned that this meeting never took place and that Van Nice profited $150 dollars from the two men.
The two men are not being charged, as prosecutors believe that they were unaware that they were being taken advantage of.
Gay marriage has been a controversial topic for many years now, and this story is gaining national attention. This is the first case of gay marriage fraud that has been reported.
As a reader, is gay marriage an important issue to you? Do you feel like cases like this are going to be more common as many states continue to deny gay marriage? Should the federal government take action?
I feel that gay marriage should be left to the states to decide, which is the current system. I am still uncertain whether or not gay marriage is the best thing for society. There is support from many people to allow for gay marriage and that is offset by the many that oppose it. It's a moral dilemma in which both sides continue to make their cases known.
I am sure that other cases like this will happen in the future, and I'm sure that there are more that will be discovered.
Whether you believe in same sex marriage or not, it is going to continue to be an issue. I like to consider it the "new abortion" ,in that, it is extremely controversial and stakeholders claim similar views based on religion and liberalism. It's a controversy based on morals with two opposing sides. That's a different way of saying that this debate will never end.
As a person who is for gay marriages, I think this is kind of ridiculous. A person able to consciously fake a gay marriage--or marriage in general--deserves to get caught. As one of eight states that actually allow same sex marriages, people should be trustworthy in that the couple came to them for that reason alone and wants everything to go smoothly. I understand that this is a controversial topic, but regardless, wrongs should be righted. I'm glad that the couple isn't being charged with anything because from the sounds of it, they aren't at fault.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I think people should be able to decide whether or not they want to be married, and it shouldn't matter who you are going to get married to. I have no problem with gay marriage. However, there are a lot of people against it, and if it is allowed in all the states people are going to be angry. It is a lose lose situation for the state because one side of the argument is going to be mad either way. I agree with you that it is a good thing the couple didn't get into trouble. It would be sad to see that, especially since they didn't know they were being taken advantage of.
ReplyDeletePersonally i don't care if gay people want to get married or not. It's all up to them. I think all the states should just let them get married, it would make things a lot simpler. Having someone fake it just to get money is insane. Its not fair for them to be taken advantage of like that. But the whole deal does seem a little sketchy. They should have thought it was a little sketchy when it all went down.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is funny, and i am glad that this crooked lawyer got what was coming to her. Taking advantage of the couple by just letting it go through is pretty dirty, but I thnk the couple should be held responsible too as they should've known that they would have actual went to the state and performed the marriage.
ReplyDeleteI am personally not a believer in this gay marriage law I think its wrong, sure let them be together but I feel marriage was set aside for a man and a woman and we shouldn't allow it any other way. I also think that with the new laws that this type of fraud is going to occur a lot but it will be pretty hard to catch unless the married couple files for divorce.