The Law: Liberty in Privacy

In Indiana several years ago. a wife settled a fight with her husband by having him arrested for sodomy, "the abominable crime against nature" that is forbidden by nearly all the 50 states. Result: the husband received a maximum 14-year prison sentence for doing what many people now regard as unobjectionable. Fortunately for him, a federal court of appeals reversed his conviction, implying that Indiana's anti-sodomy law itself might well be unconstitutional.

A three-judge federal court in Texas has now made that implication explicit by throwing out Texas' sodomy statute as an unconstitutional invasion of privacy. At issue was a suit by...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!