Court Opinion

ID: 9728637
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:12:55.830712+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:50.517392
License: Public Domain

D. C. Riley, J.
(concurring). I concur in my colleagues’s disposition of this case. However, I write separately to urge the Legislature to modify MCL 750.5201; MSA 28.788(12).
As presently written, the statute only recognizes sexual assault between spouses if the couple is living apart and if one of them has filed for separate maintenance or divorce. Although I can readily accept the requirement of separate quarters to demonstrate rejection of the marriage, I cannot agree with the necessity for filing. There are many possible financial and social reasons why a spouse might separate but not seek a divorce. I do not believe that these spouses should be penalized for their choice, one which may have been selected out of necessity. A far more equitable law *540would be one that would recognize sexual assault after a certain length of separation, say one month. This modification would be more just since it would have equal application to persons of all social, religious and economic backgrounds.