SCOTUS Axes Virginia's Bid to Revive Anti-Sodomy Law

Supreme Court shoots down AG's appeal
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2013 1:43 AM CDT
Updated Oct 8, 2013 4:00 AM CDT
Va. Loses Bid to Bring Back Anti-Sodomy Law
This Saturday July 20, 2013 file photo, Ken Cuccinelli answers a question a debate with Terry McCauliffe, at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's attempt to revive his state's ban on oral and anal sex has been shot down by the Supreme Court, Raw Story reports. The court—which banned anti-sodomy laws in its 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision—refused to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that declared Virginia's law unconstitutional. Cuccinelli had argued that the 2003 decision did not apply when minors were involved.

"This case was never about sexual orientation or private acts between consenting adults," a Cuccinelli spokesman tells the AP. Virginia's law "only applied to offenses committed against minors, against non-consenting or incapacitated adults, or in public," he says. An ACLU spokeswoman, however, says that while it is obvious that "sexual acts with children are not constitutionally protected and should be punished," Virginia should "not rely on an out-of-date, overly broad, unconstitutional law to prosecute those very serious crimes." Cuccinelli, who is the Republican nominee for Virginia governor, has also spoken against ObamaCare's contraception mandate. (More Ken Cuccinelli stories.)

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