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Tx4obama

(36,974 posts)
Tue Apr 9, 2013, 09:53 PM Apr 2013

Full Federal Appeals Court Unanimously Rejects Cuccinelli’s Bid To Reinstate Anti-Sodomy Law

Full Federal Appeals Court Unanimously Rejects Cuccinelli’s Bid To Reinstate Anti-Sodomy Law

Late last month, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) filed a petition asking the full United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reinstate Virginia’s “Crimes Against Nature” law, which makes oral and anal sex a felony. A three-judge panel of that same court had struck down the law, noting that it cannot be squared the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which prohibits laws criminalizing non-commercial sexual activity between consenting adults. Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit issued an order rejecting Cuccinelli’s request. Notably, not one of the court’s judges requested a poll of the court to consider Cuccinelli’s petition, so his petition received no support whatsoever from the court’s members.

As ThinkProgress noted last week, this case involved a felony prosecution of a 47 year-old man charged with soliciting oral sex from a 17 year-old girl. While a blanket ban on oral sex is unconstitutional under Lawrence, Virginia is permitted to pass laws criminalizing sex with people who are underage. Indeed, the Virginia legislature considered a bill which would have done exactly that, by bringing the “Crimes Against Nature” law in compliance with Lawrence, in 2004. Cuccinelli voted against that bill because he wanted to keep an outright ban on gay sex on the books, even if that ban was unconstitutional.

In other words, if Cuccinelli had not refused to bring state law into compliance with the Constitution, he wouldn’t have lost his case before the Fourth Circuit.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/09/1843231/full-federal-appeals-court-unanimously-rejects-cuccinellis-bid-to-reinstate-anti-sodomy-law/




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Full Federal Appeals Court Unanimously Rejects Cuccinelli’s Bid To Reinstate Anti-Sodomy Law (Original Post) Tx4obama Apr 2013 OP
Ken Cuccinelli is a total wacko. blue neen Apr 2013 #1
That appears to be pretty much settled..Terry McAuliff is the only Democrat running (that I know of) Rowdyboy Apr 2013 #2
Cuccinelli should be disbarred. nt SunSeeker Apr 2013 #3

blue neen

(12,306 posts)
1. Ken Cuccinelli is a total wacko.
Tue Apr 9, 2013, 11:46 PM
Apr 2013

Let's hope the Democrats come up with someone good to run against him in Virginia.

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)
2. That appears to be pretty much settled..Terry McAuliff is the only Democrat running (that I know of)
Wed Apr 10, 2013, 12:25 AM
Apr 2013

so he's pretty much going to be the Democratic nominee.

On edit: On April 2nd the Democratic party of Virginia certified McAuliff as the party's nominee for governor.

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