So the runaway bride is agreeing that she will try to make amends for the city of Duluth's expenses (nearly $60,000) in trying to find her. The city of Duluth is quoted in this article as being of the position that she should pay some of the expenses incurred by the city.
I'm sorry, maybe I'm confused. Why exactly is it that she should pay some of those expenses?
I'll certainly agree that she was should have told her groom she was flaking and going for a ride, but the reality is that she's under no legal obligation to do so. People have the right to just up and take a trip on their own without checking in first. People have the right to simply vanish and not tell their friends and family where they're going. It's a shitty thing to do, but it's not something they need to pay the government money for when it's all over, simply because everyone assumed the worst.
Now, yes, the chick did lie to the police who found her, but the expenses had already been incurred at that point. It's not as though "her lying" led to the government's loss of cash. That loss of cash had already long since happened.
I think it'd be spiffy if she did repay some of the loss, but I certainly don't see it as a "should" situation.
I couldn't agree with you more. Every time I've heard it discussed, everyone keeps trying to tie together the lie she made to police and the the previous 4 or so days they spent looking for her.
I think it's because she (or family) has the money. In fact, one could take the cynical point of view that it was because of the family money that so many resouces were spent on the runaway bride.
You are right in New York. You are wrong in Georgia. The answer isn't written in the law, they are probably tecnically the same. The answer is in the mindset of the people.
60K in Duluth is nothing, Duluth is affluent, suburban McMansion, with huge shopping centers, malls, golf courses (GTE Bellsouth PGA Event is in Duluth). When I was in Georgia 3 weeks ago, I was amazed by the enormity of some of the churches there, by our standards HUGE. Believe it or not, people still "tithe" to the church down there, not $5 in an envelope, but amounts like 10% of their salary.
By the "runaway brides" actions, she spurned the church, thus incurring the wrath of the populace, many of whom surely see this as an egregious sin. She felt the pressure, fled, concocted a story, was caught in a lie and was brought back.
She wouldn't have to pay anything if she didn't piss off the "bible beaters" down there. Georgians ask you three questions when they meet you: 1) What do you do? 2) Do you go to church/what denomination? 3) Any hobbies? (i.e. you should consider spending 3 hours in church this weekend).