Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law!

North Carolina seems to be having a bit of a hubub concerning the rights of unmarried adults, which prompted me to do a little research.

From the website for the American Association of Single People:

Criminal Laws:

Eight states have statutes on the books which make it a crime for an unmarried man and a woman to cohabit together: Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia fall into this category.

Seven states and the District of Columbia have laws which make it a crime for a man and a woman to engage in consensual intercourse in private: Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and D.C. fall into this category.

Twelve states have statutes which make it a crime for an unmarried man and woman to engage in consensual sodomy in private (which is defined as oral or anal sex or both): Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia fall into this category.

Laws prohibiting consensual sodomy have been used to put defendants in prison for consensual heterosexual sex with another adult. Even when juries have found defendants not guilty of rape, on the rationale that the conduct was consensual, they have found defendants guilty of sodomy because the judge had instructed the jury that, unlike rape, consent is not a defense to the crime of sodomy.

A decision by the United States Supreme Court, Lawrence v. Texas, filed in June 2003 has effectively declared that all of the statutes mentioned above are unconstitutional. Now it will be up to the legislatures in these states to repeal them or for the Attorneys General in these states to declare them invalid and unenforceable. Although these laws are theoretically invalid due to the Supreme Court decision, lawmakers or enforcers in these states must take some action to officially acknowledge that the Supreme Court ruling applies to these laws.

Fun. Discrimination against single people is actually a serious issue, and there's more reading on the website if you're interested.

To address the immediate point, however: I think I'm guilty of violating 14 of the 28 statutes listed above. Since all of those statutes are now unconstitutional, I'm rushing to snag the additional 14 credits before the legislatures fix the books. Anyone interested in a road trip, or in providing hospitality to a traveling Minister?

Believe.