No.. No.. Notorious. At least living together in North Dakota

The Aberdeen American news has a story on our neighbors to the north who live in that Artic wasteland known as North Dakota. Apparently it's illegal to "openly and notoriously" live together, despite the need to huddle together for warmth:

Legislators are again being asked to do away with a state law that forbids unmarried couples to "openly and notoriously" live together as if they were married.

Freshman state Sen. Tracy Potter, D-Bismarck, said he will sponsor a bill in the 2007 Legislature to repeal the cohabitation law, which officials say is rarely enforced.

Efforts to repeal the law have failed in the last two sessions. Before that, the most recent effort to abolish it was in 1991, when the House voted down a repeal measure by almost a 3-to-1 margin.

and...

"I just don't understand - if nobody's going to enforce it, why do we have it on the books?" he said. "It clearly steps on the toes of freedom of association. We should be able to lead our lives the way we want to."

and...

Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, said he does not believe the law prohibits heterosexual couples from living together and opposes a repeal. He believes the law only bars couples from living together in a way that fraudulently leads others to believe they are legally married. The state Supreme Court rejected that view in 2001.

Mathern said he would vote against a repeal again "if it's the exact same bill and the exact same argument" as before.

Read it here. Anyone notice that both the proponent and the opposition are democratic? (and that I slyly inserted a duran duran reference in there?)

Even conservative me recognizes that the whole measure is silly.