Money can’t buy you love but in Illinois it can compensate

Arthur Friedman asked his wife to have sex with other men.  She said yes and fell in love with the third wheel.  Art then sued the invitee and won $4,802 under Illinois’s alienation of affection doctrine.

Aside from voyeurism the case raises some interesting issues.  Friedman surely does not have a right to his wife’s affection – he can’t sue her if she doesn’t love him – so if another man steals what Friedman does not own how can Friedman have a claim against the other man?  It’s cases like this that push me towards Murray Rothbard’s position that you don’t have a right to other people’s thoughts.  As a result, there can be no just laws against alienation of affection but also since you do not have a right to your reputation (it is in other people’s heads) there can be no just laws against libel.

Thanks to Monique van Hoek for the pointer.