The U.S. Child Marriage Loophole: Why Reform Still Faces Fierce Resistance
Sherry Johnson, just 11 years old at the time, stood in a Florida courtroom in 1971 wearing what she later described as a wedding dress. She was about to be married against her will to a church deacon who had raped her and made her the mother of his child at age 10.
Ms. Johnson’s marriage, forced upon her through legal and religious channels, exposed a glaring legal anomaly: In Florida at the time, children of any age could be married with judicial approval if pregnant. Her case became the catalyst for change in her home state; after years of advocacy, in 2018, Florida finally passed legislation tightening its marriage laws.
Though Ms. Johnson’s ordeal occurred decades ago, her story is a stark entry point into a broader, often overlooked question in the United States: Why is child marriage still legal in large parts of this country – and what are states doing about it?
