From: elf@coho.halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Newsgroups: alt.sex,alt.sex.wizards
Subject: The alt.sex FAQ, Part 11: UNITED STATES LEGAL ISSUES REGARDING SEX
Date: 23 Jul 1996 19:13:01 GMT
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc.
Originator: superdj@marge.cs.mcgill.ca (David Johnson)
Moderator: elf@halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Archive-name: alt-sex/faq/part11
UNITED STATES LEGAL ISSUES REGARDING SEX
UNITED STATES SODOMY LAWS, STATE BY STATE
IN THE FIRST COLUMN, AN M INDICATES MISDEMEANOR, F IS FELONY.
ALABAMA
M 13A-6-65,Sexual Misconduct, 1 year/$2000
Does not apply to married couples.
ALASKA Repealed effective 1980
ARIZONA
M 13-1411, Crime Against Nature (anal intercourse), 30
days/$500
M 13-1412, Lewd and Lascivious Acts, 30 days/$500
ARKANSAS
M 5-14-111, Sodomy, 1 year/$1000, same sex only
Bill passed unanimously "aimed at weirdos and queers who live in
a fairyland world and are trying to wreck family life." Signed
into law by governor in 1977.
CALIFORNIA Repealed effective 1976
COLORADO Repealed effective 1972
CONNECTICUT Repealed effective 1971
DELAWARE Repealed effective 1973
FLORIDA
M 800.02, Unnatural and Lascivious Act, 60 days/$500
GEORGIA
F 16-6-2, Sodomy, 1 to 20 years
Upheld as to homosexuals on the grounds that there is no
fundamental federal constitutional right to "engage in sodomy."
Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986).
M 16-6-15, Solicitation of Sodomy, 1 year/$1000
HAWAII Repealed effective 1973
IDAHO
F 18-6605, Crime Against Nature, 5 years to life
ILLINOIS Repealed effective 1962
First state to repeal sodomy laws, in 1961.
INDIANA
M (Code unknown), Sexual Deviancy (defined as oral/genital or
any anal contact).
Earlier effort to repeal said legalization might "give us an
opportunity to study it more openly, and to see what causes it,
in the hope that we can eventually eliminate it."
IOWA Repealed effective 1978
KANSAS
M 21-3505, Sodomy, 6 months/$1000, same sex only
KENTUCKY
Held unconstitutional by state Supreme Court 1992.
Commonwealth v. Wasson
LOUISIANNA
F 14.89, Crime Against Nature, 5 years/$2000.
Held unconstitutional by Orleans Parish Court, appeal pending.
MAINE Repealed effective 1976
MARYLAND
F 27-553, Sodomy, 10 years
F 27-554, Unnatural or Perverted Sexual Practices, 10
years/$1000
Found not to apply to noncommercial, hetrosexual activity in
private. Schochet v. State, 1990.
MASSACHUSETTS
F 272-34, Crime Against Nature, 20 years
F 272-35, Unnatural and Lascivious Acts, 5 years/$100-$1000
Crime Against Nature applies only to anal intercourse. Unnatural
and Lascivious Acts has been held not apply to private consensual
adult behavior. Commonwealth v. Balthazar, Supreme Judicial Court
1974. It has been suggested that such a ruling would apply to Crime
Against Nature.
MICHIGAN
F 750.158, Crime Against Nature, 15 years
Held unconstitutional as applied to private, consensual adult
behavior. Michigan Organization for Human Rights v. Kelly (Wayne
County Circ. Ct. 1990), no appeal taken, only applies to Wayne
County. Held consitutional by Michigan Court of Apeals (People
v. Brashier) 1992, effective outside of Wayne County. Decision is
needed from the Michigan Supreme Court.
MINNESOTA
M 609.293, Sodomy, 1 year/$3000
Minnesota's law also prohibits sex between humans and birds.
MISSISSIPPI
F 97-29-59, Unnatural Intercourse, 10 years
MISSOURI
M 566.090, Sexual Misconduct, 1 year/$1000, same sex only
MONTANA
F 45-5-505, Deviate Sexual Conduct, 10 years/$50,000, same
sex only
NEBRASKA Repealed effective 1978
NEVADA Repealed effective 1993
NEW HAMPSHIRE Repealed effective 1975
NEW JERSEY Repealed effective 1979
NEW MEXICO Repealed effective 1975
NEW YORK
Held unconstitutional by state Supreme Court 1980, People
v. Onofre
NORTH CAROLINA
F 14-177, Crime Against Nature, 10 years / discretionary
fine
NORTH DAKOTA Repealed effective 1975
OHIO Repealed effective 1974
OKLAHOMA
F 21-886, Crime Against Nature, 10 years
A 1977 effort to repeal sodomy laws was met with a vote-delaying
"chorus of giggles."
OREGON Repealed effective 1972
PENNSYLVANIA
Held unconstitutional by state Supreme Court 1980.
Commonwealth v. Bonadio
RHODE ISLAND
F 11-10-1, Crime Against Nature, 7-20 years. Includes
"ordinary extramarital intercourse."
SOUTH CAROLINA
F 16-15-120, Buggery, 5 years/$500
The law actually legislates the "abominable crime of buggery."
No further statutory explaination given.
SOUTH DAKOTA Repealed effective 1977
TENNESSEE
M 39-13-510, Homosexual Acts, 30 days/$50, same sex only
TEXAS
Found unconstitutional by state Court of Appeals, England
v. Dallas, no appeal taken. Effective 1994 with the dismissal
of Morales v. State.
UTAH
M 76-5-403, Sodomy, 6 months/$1000
In 1982, the Republican State Convention added a plank to its
platform stating that homosexuals should be denied the civil,
political, social, and economic rights guaranteed to others.
VERMONT Repealed effective 1977
VIRGINIA
F 18.2-361, Crime Against Nature, 5-20 years
WASHINGTON Repealed effective 1976
WEST VIRGINIA Repealed effective 1976
WISCONSIN Repealed effective 1983
WYOMING Repealed effective 1977
U.S. POSSESIONS
D.C. Repealed effective 1993
AMERICAN SAMOA Repealed effective ?
GUAM Repealed effective ?
N. MARIANA IS. Repealed effective ?
VIRGIN ISLANDS Repealed effective ?
PUERTO RICO
F, "Crime Against Nature", 8-12 years. Does not apply to
consentual sodomy within marriage.
AGE OF CONSENT IN THE UNITED STATES, BY STATE.
AS OF AUGUST 6, 1994
Alabama........16
Alaska.........16
Arizona........18
Arkansas.......16
California.....18
Colorado.......16
Connecticut....16
D.C............16
Delaware.......12
Florida........18
Georgia........14
Hawaii.........16
Idaho..........18
Illinois.......16
Indiana........16
Iowa...........14
Kansas.........16
Kentucky.......14 [1]
Louisiana......17
Maine..........14
Maryland.......16
Massachusetts..18
Michigan.......16
Minnesota......16
Mississippi....18 [2]
Missouri.......16
Montana........16
Nebraska.......16
Nevada.........16
New Hampshire..16
New Jersey.....16
New Mexico.....13
New York.......17
North Carolina.16
North Dakota...18
Ohio...........16
Oklahoma.......18
Oregon.........18
Pennsylvania...14
Rhode Island...16
South Carolina.16
South Dakota...16
Tennessee......18
Texas..........17
Utah...........14
Vermont........15
Virginia.......16
Washington.....18
West Virginia..16
Wisconsin......18
Wyoming........18
US Possessions:
Puerto Rico....15
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Age 16 if the man is 21 or older.
[2] If the female is over 12, the statute applies only to virgins.
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