Last edited: April 11, 2007

 

Michigan

  • Statute: 750.158, Crime Against Nature. Unconstitutional under Lawrence v. Texas. 
  • Penalty: 15 years
  • Classification: Felony
  • Restrictions: None

Invalidated by local trial court, Michigan Org. for Hum. Rts. v. Kelley, No. 88-815820 CZ (Mich. Cir. Ct. Wayne Cnty. July 9, 1990), The State has not appealed. In late 1992, there was a decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals to uphold the statute, which has effect statewide effectively reversing MOHR v. Kelly. See People v. Brashier, 496 N. W.2d 385.

Statute

750.158 Crime against nature or sodomy; penalty. [M.S.A. 28.355]

Sec.158. Any person who shall commit the abominable and detestable crime against nature either with mankind or with any animal shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 15 years, or if such person was at the time of the said offense a sexually delinquent person, may be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for an indeterminate term, the minimum of which shall be 1 day and the maximum of which shall be life.

History: 1931, Act 328, Eff. Sept. 18, 1931 ;--CL 1948, 750.158 ;--Am. 1952, Act 73, Eff. Sept. 18, 1952.

Former Law: See section 16 of Ch. 158 of R.S. 1846, being CL 1857, § 5871; CL 1871, § 7706; How., § 9292; CL 1897, § 11705; CL 1915, § 15479; CL 1929, § 16831; and Act 57 of 1923.

750.159 Emission need not be proved. [M.S.A. 28.356e]

Sec.159. In any prosecution for sodomy, it shall not be necessary to prove emission, and any sexual penetration, however slight, shall be deemed sufficient to complete the crime specified in the next preceding section.

History: 1931, Act 328, Eff. Sept. 18, 1931 ;--CL 1948, 750.159 ;--Am. 1952, Act 73, Eff. Sept. 18, 1952.

750.338 Gross indecency; between male persons.

Sec. 338. Any male person who, in public or in private, commits or is a party to the commission of or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of any act of gross indecency with another male person shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or by a fine of not more than $2,500.00, or if such person was at the time of the said offense a sexually delinquent person, may be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for an indeterminate term, the minimum of which shall be 1 day and the maximum of which shall be life.

750.338a Gross indecency; female persons.

Sec. 338a. Any female person who, in public or in private, commits or is a party to the commission of, or any person who procures or attempts to procure the commission by any female person of any act of gross indecency with another female person shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or by a fine of not more than $2,500.00, or if such person was at the time of the said offense a sexually delinquent person, may be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for an indeterminate term, the minimum of which shall be 1 day and the maximum of which shall be life.

750.338b Gross indecency; between male and female persons.

Sec. 338b. Any male person who, in public or in private, commits or is a party to the commission of any act of gross indecency with a female person shall be guilty of a felony, punishable as provided in this section. Any female person who, in public or in private, commits or is a party to the commission of any act of gross indecency with a male person shall be guilty of a felony punishable as provided in this section. Any person who procures or attempts to procure the commission of any act of gross indecency by and between any male person and any female person shall be guilty of a felony punishable as provided in this section. Any person convicted of a felony as provided in this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or by a fine of not more than $2,500.00, or if such person was at the time of the said offense a sexually delinquent person, may be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for an indeterminate term, the minimum of which shall be 1 day and the maximum of which shall be life.

History

            1897     Michigan enacts a unique law forbidding the debauching of boys, either by a male or a female.

            1903     Michigan outlaws oral sex with the term “gross indecency,” a unique choice of words in the U.S. This is the term in the law that sent Oscar Wilde to prison in 1895.

            1935     Michigan becomes the first state in the nation to enact what became known as a “psychopathic offender” law. This law, usually limited to sexual offenders, sentenced those convicted of any sexual offense, including private consensual sodomy, to an often nightmare ordeal in state mental institutions, often for many years.

News

Editorials

Advocates

Triangle Foundation
19641 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, MI 48219-2721
Tel:  313-537-3323; Fax:  313-537-3379
Email: Sean@tri.org

Talking Points


  • Michigan’s "sodomy" law is outdated and archaic and needs to be removed.

Michigan’s "sodomy" statute is actually known as the "Abominable and Detestable Crime Against Nature" statute passed in 1893. The language is nearly identical to Paragraph 175 used in Nazi Germany to persecute nearly 20,000 homosexuals.

  • Michigan’s "sodomy" law is too broad and criminalizes most adult sexual behavior.

Michigan has a solid and strong body of both misdemeanor and felony statutes criminalizing sex that involves a minor, money, coercion, force, and public sex. As worded, the law criminalizes nearly all sex that does not produce a child, even within heterosexual marriage.

  • Most states have removed or stricken down their "sodomy" statutes.

At one point nearly all 50 states had sodomy laws. Now only 15 or so remain and mostly in the South. Most states have removed their sodomy laws through the legislature, sometimes by adopting the Model Penal Code.

  • Michigan’s "sodomy" law has been ruled unconstitutional by Wayne County Court.

In 1987 in Michigan Organization for Human Rights (MOHR) v Kelly, the Wayne County Circuit Court ruled that Michigan’s "sodomy" statute was unconstitutional and should no longer be enforced.

  • Michigan’s "sodomy" law is rarely enforced.

Because of other existing laws, most law enforcement agencies do not choose to use this old law. The legislature has already removed a number of arcane laws that are never used, and this one should be removed too.

  • "Sodomy" laws are used to block equal rights and parenting by gays and lesbians.

Sodomy laws are frequently used by judges to deny qualified gay and lesbian people from foster care, adoption, and custody rights. Some Judges have argued that gays and lesbians are "unconvicted felons" and should not be allowed to be parents. With so many children looking for good homes, this is curbing the growth of strong families.

  • A majority of Americans do not support "sodomy" laws.

Even as early as 1978, 64% of the American public said states should not be allowed to criminalize adult, consensual private homosexual sex. ("Public Opinion and State Sodomy Laws" Gregory Lewis)

  • The government should stay out of people’s bedrooms.

This law prohibits adult, consensual, non-commercial sexual acts in private.

USE PORTIONS OF THE LAW (EXERPTS)

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