Judge Sentences Man to Take Wife Out on Date Night

(NewsCore) - A Florida man was sentenced Tuesday to one date with his wife that included dinner at Red Lobster and a trip to the bowling alley.

Joseph Bray, 47, got into an altercation with his wife Monday after he forgot to wish her a happy birthday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

The fight escalated until Bray pushed his wife onto the couch, put his hand around her neck, and raised his fist but did not hit her, according to an arrest affidavit.

In bond court Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Judge John "Jay" Hurley asked the woman if she had ever previously been hurt by her husband and if she was afraid of him. She answered no to both questions.

Hurley confirmed that Bray had no prior arrests and then asked his wife, "Do you have something you like to go to? Is there a restaurant you like to go to?"

The woman said she enjoyed bowling and the chain restaurant Red Lobster.

"He's going to stop by somewhere and he's going to get some flowers," Hurley ruled. "And then he's going to go home, pick up his wife, get dressed, take her to Red Lobster. And then after they have Red Lobster, they're going to go bowling."

The couple was also ordered to attend marriage counseling within a week after their date night.

Hurley said he made the light-hearted ruling because the altercation was "a minor incident, in the court's opinion."

"The court would not normally do that if the court felt there was some violence but this is very, very minor and the court felt that that was a better resolution than other alternatives," he said.