The Unconstitutionality of State Bans on Marriage Between First Cousins

Authors

Rachel Frommer, Baker Botts LLP

Volume

2021

First Page

202

Last Page

245

Publication Date

2021

Document Type

Article

Abstract

A majority of jurisdictions in the United States severely limit or prohibit the right of first cousins to marry, cohabit, or have intercourse. Yet, unlike regulation of other relationships within close degrees of consanguinity, for instance between parents and children or siblings, these statutes are relatively recent additions to the marriage regulation landscape. These bans are unsupported by the commonly-cited concerns of harmful genetic or societal consequences. First cousin-marriages are, instead, popular and permitted in much of the world—as they once were in the United States. This Article demonstrates that the prohibitions against first-cousin marriages directly contravene right-to-marry jurisprudence and are unjustified state interferences born of discriminatory bias.

Keywords

Wills, Estates and Trusts

Recommended Citation

Rachel Frommer, The Unconstitutionality of State Bans on Marriage Between First Cousins, 2021 Cardozo L. Rev. De-Novo 202 (2021).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/de-novo/83