By Elizabeth Koh and KK Rebecca Lai
The Texas Tribune
Texas — New limitations on proxy marriage in Texas — a measure legislators passed last session to prevent benefits and insurance fraud — will also rule out tying the knot for people who are incarcerated.
House Bill 869, which takes effect Sept. 1, will no longer allow those seeking proxy marriages — weddings where either the bride or groom or both are not physically present — to appoint another person to stand in during the ceremony, unless they are serving in the military and stationed outside of the country. (Click here to see a video about how the new law will affect prisoners who want to get married.) Because marriages cannot be conducted inside Texas prisons, inmates have relied on such stand-ins to get married while they are incarcerated.
The 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision Turner v. Safley preserves an inmate’s right to get married. But without changes to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) policy that prohibits weddings from being conducted inside prison facilities, inmates will no longer be able to get hitched until they’re released.
Full story: Proxy Marriage Restrictions End Inmate Weddings