Florida bill allows judges to cut off alimony News
Florida bill allows judges to cut off alimony

[JURIST] In a 68-44 vote, the Florida House of Representatives [official website] has passed a measure that would allow judges to reduce or eliminate alimony when a recipient ex-spouse moves in with someone else. Under current Florida law, and in most jurisdictions in the country, judges are allowed to end alimony when a recipient remarries. Supporters of the measure, HB 1181 [text], introduced by state Representative Edward B. Bullard [official profile], say that many alimony recipients try to get around the law and replace the former spouse by simply living with someone without marriage. Opponents of the bill suggest the legislation will harm women, and that alimony should be based on what someone contributes to the marriage. The bill now goes to the Florida Senate. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.