Judge Orders Man to Marry Girlfriend or Face Jail Time

A judge in east Texas ordered a 21-year-old man to marry his girlfriend as part of his probation sentence. Josten Bundy was being sentenced for assault charges stemming from a fight he had with the ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Jaynes, according to KLTV. Court transcripts show that Smith County judge Randall Rogers told Bundy he could either serve 15 days in jail or marry his girlfriend within 30 days.

Bundy told KLTV that the judge wouldn’t let him call his job to tell them he’d be unavailable for two weeks. Fearing losing the job, he agreed to marry Jaynes and the two tied the knot in a courthouse by the judge’s deadline.

“My father didn’t get to go, and that really bothers me,” Bundy told KLTV. “None of my sisters got to show up, it was such short notice, I couldn’t get it together.”

An attorney specializing in constitutional law said the sentence was not legal and likely would have been struck down during an appeal in a higher court.

[KLTV]