Love & the Law

Happy Valentine’s Day!

For Presidents’ Day in 2020, I wrote about the Presidents with Harvard ties - this year, I’m turning to the lovers! Read on for five of the weirdest, wackiest, AND most important love stories in American law.

Bonnie & Clyde (1934)

Arguably the most infamous duo in American crime

A Valentine’s post wouldn’t be complete without these law-breaking lovers! Clyde Champion Barrow and Bonnie Parker, AKA Bonnie and Clyde, met in Texas in 1930. Bonnie was 19 (and married to an imprisoned murderer) and Clyde was 21. Soon after they met and fell madly in love, Clyde was arrested for burglary and sent to jail. Bonnie proved her devotion by aiding in his escape, but Clyde was quickly re-captured. In February 1932, he was paroled and rejoined Bonnie to begin their infamous two-year crime spree.

The pair started with car theft and a series of robberies, mostly targeting stores and gas stations. The lovers didn’t work alone - Bonnie and Clyde were leaders of “the Barrow Gang,” which included Clyde’s brother Buck and sister-in-law Blanche, among others. Though the Gang was extremely violent, the public perceived Bonnie and Clyde as romantic, Robinhood-esque outlaws. Though they never “stole from the rich to feed the poor,” the duo did pose for now-famous photographs (see below) and Bonnie - a cigar-smoking, gun-toting female criminal - proved especially fascinating.

By the time they were cornered, Bonnie and Clyde had committed 13 murders and dozens of robberies across Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. They were ambushed and shot to death near Sailes, Louisiana on May 23, 1934, after a truly historic manhunt. Their car was riddled with over 103 bullets, and the pair died instantly.

A couple fun facts: Despite spending all their time running from the law, both Bonnie and Clyde had trouble walking! While in prison, Clyde chopped off two of his toes (!!!) to escape work detail; a few years later, a shattered car battery spurted acid all over Bonnie’s right leg and she never fully recovered. Additionally, Bonnie wore a wedding ring when she died, but it wasn’t Clyde’s! She was still married to classmate Roy Thornton, whom she married six days after turning 16. Finally, the infamous duo aren’t buried together; Bonnie’s mother insisted that her daughter be placed in a separate cemetery, away from Clyde’s “bad influence.”

Loving v. Virginia (1967)

The SCOTUS case that ruled interracial marriage bans unconstitutional

Loving v. Virginia is a very famous and very important case in American law. By 1960, 31 U.S. states still had statues, called “anti-miscegenation laws,” restricting interracial marriage. Virginia was one such state, and violations of VA’s Act to Preserve Racial Integrity (disgusting, right) could entail one to five years of imprisonment.

In June 1958, a white man named Richard Loving and an African American/Native American woman named Mildred Jeter exchanged wedding vows in Washington, D.C., where interracial marriage was legal. They returned to their Virginia home and hoped to keep a low profile, but were startled awake at 2 am just five weeks later. The Lovings were arrested and indicted on felony charges for their marriage. DISGUSTING, RIGHT?

Richard and Mildred pled guilty and were sentenced to a year in prison, but sought to vacate their conviction with help from lawyers of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The judge refused, and the case progressed all the way to the Supreme Court. During oral arguments before the 9 justices, the ACLU lawyers argued that the Virginia statute violated the 14th Amendment’s guarantees of Equal Protection and Due Process under the Constitution. They argued that anti-miscegenation laws were “not health and welfare laws” but “slavery laws,” “rooted in racism and white supremacy.”

On June 12, 1967, the Court agreed. UNANIMOUSLY!!! Though anti-miscegenation laws remained on the books for many states, Loving v. Virginia made them unenforceable. Richard and Mildred moved back to Central Point, VA, where Richard built them a home and they raised three children.

In 2007, a year before her death, Mildred commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Loving decision:

“My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God's plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation's fears and prejudices have given way, and today's young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry...I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about.”

Excuse me while I go cry a little.

Burt Pugach & Linda Riss (1968)

Love Gone A c i d l y Wrong

I’ve written about these two before - that’s how fascinating they are! In 1959, Burt Pugach (a New York city lawyer) started dating a 21-yr-old woman named Linda Riss. It was going swell until Linda discovered Burt was already married with a daughter. She immediately broke things off, and Burt wasn’t thrilled. He threatened to hurt Riss if she left, reportedly saying “If I can’t have you, no one else will have you, and when I get through with you, no one else will want you.”

Have you ever seen such romance???

Linda said “okay weirdo, bye” and moved on with her life, but Burt did not. When he heard that Linda had gotten engaged to another man, Burt hired three assailants to attack her. The men threw lye in her face, leaving Linda permanently scarred, blind in one eye, and nearly blind in the other. Burt was convicted of the crime and spent fourteen years in prison, but don’t worry - he wrote to Linda that whole time.

Here’s the truly crazy part - when Burt got out in 1974, he and Linda began dating again and married soon after. In 1976, they capitalized on their odd experience and co-wrote A Very Different Love Story (which inspired a 2007 documentary called Crazy Love). In 1997, Burt was indicted again on charges of sexually abusing and threatening a mistress...but at trial, Riss testified that he was a "wonderful, caring husband."

I MUST add that book to my list.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

The SCOTUS case that ruled same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional

Mildred and Richard Loving had no way of knowing that their SCOTUS case would pave the way for same-sex marriage, half a century later!*

John Arthur and Jim Obergefell met the old-fashioned way, in a Cincinnati bar during the fall of 1992. They hit it off during a New Years party the following year, and built a life together in Ohio. Unfortunately, for the next 11 years, they faced legal discrimination in their home state - a 1993 amendment to the city charter eliminating protection for same-sex couples, and a 2004 law banning same-sex marriage. In 2011, John was diagnosed with ALS and his health began to rapidly decline; but in 2013, the Supreme Court struck down a federal prohibition on recognizing same-sex marriage.

That same day, John and Jim decided to get married.

They chose to tie the knot in Maryland, since only one person needed to apply for the license, but they couldn’t figure out how to get John to the state. He was confined to a bed and receiving hospice care, which made driving and flying commercial impossible - so Jim posted on Facebook, looking for pilots or medical companies in the area. Happy to say that in this case, Facebook came through in a big way!

On July 11, 2013, Jim Obergefell and John Arthur got married aboard a medical jet on a Maryland tarmac. It was a huge victory, as both knew that Jim did not have much longer to live; but when they got home, the pair learned that Mr. Arthur would be listed as “single” on his death certificate because their marriage was not recognized in Ohio. So they went to court!

Though John died in October of 2013, Jim Obergefell continued to fight for recognition of their marriage - and on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that States cannot legally prohibit same-sex marriages. Unlike the decisive 9-0 ruling in Loving v. Virginia, the Obergefell Court was divided 5-4; still, it seems unlikely that such a watershed decision will be overruled.

*Sucks that it took so long, but…that’s the subject for another post.

Count Von Cosel & Elena de Hoyos (1940)

The Macabre Romance of a Man…and a Mummy

Okay, let’s end on a weird note. Florida is involved, so you KNOW it’s going to be great!

Carl Tanzler, AKA Count Carl von Cosel, was an eccentric German-born radiologist who moved to Key West in 1927 (abandoning his German wife and children in the process). He took a job at the US Marines Hospital and kept a low profile until 1931, when a young lady named Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos entered his life.

Unfortunately, Maria had tuberculosis (a death sentence at the time); doubly unfortunately, Carl immediately fell in love with her. For years Carl had seen visions of a gorgeous, dark-haired woman who was destined to be the “love of his life,” and he was convinced that Maria was that woman.

Of course, she was dying, but Carl was DETERMINED to save her. It didn’t end well. After sending x-ray and electrical equipment to her home and literally trying to shock the TB away (?), Maria died on October 25, 1931. The heart-broken Carl paid for Elena’s funeral and an expensive stone mausoleum - but he didn’t tell anyone that he kept a key to said mausoleum.

You KNOW where this is going, but just wait. It gets worse.

Carl visited Elena’s body nightly for two years before deciding that he needed more time with her. So he took Elena to a makeshift lab, inside a DIY airplane, and used plaster of Paris, mortician’s wax, wires, and glass eyes to “bring her back to life.” For the next seven years, Elena stayed in Carl’s bed - and he kept her “alive” with wire hangers and rags, reapplying wax, replacing her hair, and dousing her in perfume to mask the smell of decay. He bought Elena clothing and perfume, and even installed a privacy veil around their bed.

After years of rumors, Carl was finally discovered when a local boy saw him dancing with a “giant doll” through his window. YUP. In October 1940, Elena’s sister confronted Carl and discovered her sister’s body - there are photos, which I didn’t include because they are HORRIFIC. Elena was taken away and actually displayed publicly for a bit (this poor girl) before she was finally reburied in an unmarked grave.

The Count was ultimately not charged for his actions, and lived out the rest of his days with a life-size effigy of his love, Elena.

And on that disturbing note - Happy Valentine’s Day!