Marriage at 14 was legal in Alabama until 2003

Marriage at 14 was legal in Alabama until 2003, which means, “courting” young teens was seen differently than is today.

All 50 states currently allow children under the age of 18 to marry. Some require parental consent, while half have no age limit. Between 2000 and 2015, over 200,000 children have been married across the country, according to data from 38 states and two counties collated by advocacy groups and later published by PBS's Frontline.

Just over 8,600 of those child marriages took place in Alabama. The youngest was 13, and the biggest age divide between spouses was 60 years. A 14 year old girl married a 74 year old man, according to the Frontline data.

Alabama ranks as the 4th highest in the country for total child marriages since 2000. Over that time, Texas has allowed more than 40,000 child marriages, highest in the country.

When viewing child marriages as a percentage of all marriages, Alabama drops to 10^th. Idaho saw 84 child marriages per 10,000 marriages, the highest rate in the nation since 2000.

For a more comprehensive discussion of the back story on these issues see 
http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2017/11/understanding-sexual-harassment-other_21.html