CONSTITUTIONALITY OF ADULTERY LAWS: Dappled Things blog

In the Commonwealth of Virginia, if a person enters into a state-sanctioned marriage and then violates the fidelity pledged in that state-sanctioned marriage, it is a crime. There's a consistency to this: if the marriage institution is so fragile and vital to society that the state must regulate it and establish all sorts of laws to protect it and to benefit those who enter into this contract (a point which remains to be proved), then it is also in the interest of the state to punish people who violate the contract. A naughty Virginia attorney was convicted of just such a crime last year and now is contesting the constitutionality of adultery laws.

"A Luray, Va., attorney who was convicted of adultery last year believes that Virginia's criminal adultery statute is unconstitutional and has turned to the American Civil Liberties Union for help in appealing his case.

"John R. Bushey Jr. will argue that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last year striking down anti-sodomy laws also should apply to adultery, said Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU in Virginia. ..."

This will be an interesting case to watch. It's really about much more than Bushey's private right to sleep around: he has publicly asked the government to recognize a life-long marriage between him and his wife, has made promises before a representative of the government to remain faithful to his wife, and has accepted tax perks and legal benefits from the government because of his status as a married man. It seems as if he wants to have his cake and eat it, too.

link
posted by Eve at 2:19 PM | link

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home