An institution called marriage

This is very good... read a piece on the net here.

Charles Edward Hicks has been married 7 times, and his newest wife - Sandra Phipps Hicks, has sued him of bigamy, because he was, at the time of their marriage, still married to Julie Flint Hicks.

The problem, however, is that while he married Julie Flint Hicks, he was already married to Rose Marie Sewell. To put it simply, wife no. 7 sued him for being married to wife 6 also, but when he married wife 6, he was already married to wife 5. He did divorce wife 5 a few weeks after marrying wife 6, but the point is that since his marriage to wife 6 is in itself not valid, he cannot be found guilty of bigamy (unless wifes 5 and/or 6 decide to also sue him).

The court, meanwhile, dropped charges of bigamy, probably to take a break.