Soft Justice
Issue date: 9/12/05 Section: Bullyrag
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An impotent Italian man who kept his problem a secret from his wife until after their wedding must pay her damages for 'eroding' her right to have a family, Italy's Supreme Court has ruled.
The woman, identified by the Italian media as Cristina S., was quick to get her marriage annulled in the 1990s after learning to her horror that her husband could not consummate it.
She then demanded damages, saying she had been robbed of her "right to sexuality" and the promise of a family. Despite losing legal battles in lower courts, she kept appealing, and finally the Supreme Court found in her favor.
"Her fundamental right (was) eroded to fully realize a family, as a woman and a wife, and eventually as a mother," according to excerpts from the court ruling published in Italian newspapers Thursday. The damages will be settled by a lower court in Sicily, where they were married.
Legal experts in the US say the case should have no impact on American legal thinking. "This ruling violates three important foundations of American society, namely Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. US courts are also unlikely to rule against lying to someone to get them to marry you. We do approve of the level of litigiousness that this case displays though."
The woman, identified by the Italian media as Cristina S., was quick to get her marriage annulled in the 1990s after learning to her horror that her husband could not consummate it.
She then demanded damages, saying she had been robbed of her "right to sexuality" and the promise of a family. Despite losing legal battles in lower courts, she kept appealing, and finally the Supreme Court found in her favor.
"Her fundamental right (was) eroded to fully realize a family, as a woman and a wife, and eventually as a mother," according to excerpts from the court ruling published in Italian newspapers Thursday. The damages will be settled by a lower court in Sicily, where they were married.
Legal experts in the US say the case should have no impact on American legal thinking. "This ruling violates three important foundations of American society, namely Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. US courts are also unlikely to rule against lying to someone to get them to marry you. We do approve of the level of litigiousness that this case displays though."